In the northwest region of the Whitesburg Duchy, on one of the most important and long trading routes that connected the Kahver Kingdom to the Atrana Kingdom going straight to the central region of the Atrana Kingdom where the capital city was located—a large merchant caravan was traveling slowly.

The caravan seemed to be guarded by hundreds of mercenaries and the procession consisted of lanes of carriages, payloads, and supplies.

In one of these carriages, a black haired handsome young boy was sitting leaning on the window as he watched the scenery outside with a smile on his face.

The grass meadows and the hills high and low, like the surging waves along with the sweet spring breeze—the scenery was indeed excellent.

As the caravan made its way ahead, it also passed by the solo merchants or smaller groups of merchants that were traveling on the path, garnering much attention as everyone wondered where such a large caravan was heading to.

But giving no head to the attention, the caravan went on its road smoothly without any issues as the hundreds of mercenaries guarding it painted a mighty picture.

Since the caravan had such strong guards, other merchants also wished to flock to it for a safe escort since the infamy of the bandits was at an all-time high.

Traveling through the hills and plains, time passed slowly as the caravan was large and there were many carriages supposedly filled with precious goods judging by how closely the mercenaries seemed to keep them out of everyone's sight.

As the black-haired young boy inside the carriage sighed with boredom, the two girls sitting beside him said, "Young M-"

Suddenly realizing something, the two girls covered their mouths with their hands and gasped as if they had made a mistake. Seeing this, the young boy smiled bitterly and said, "Maya, what is it?"

The girl 'Maya' removed her hand from over her mouth startled as she muttered somewhat Awkwardly, "K-Klein, would you like to eat?"

'Klein' chuckled playfully seeing the girl's awkwardness as he said, "Do you want me to vomit?"

Maya panicked and blurted, "That- I didn't mean that.."

'Klein' burst out into laughter in amusement and spoke, "Hehe, I'm only joking. I'm not hungry right now. How long has it been?"

"Seven days.."

Klein laughed once again and said, "You dummy, I meant how long has it been since we passed the previous village?"

Maya's cheeks reddened in embarrassment as she muttered under her breath, "Three days Youn- i-i mean.. Klein."

Not minding the earlier blunder, Klein asked, "We haven't rested in a while.. I'm getting tired now. When are we going to stop?"

This time, the other girl spoke, "Mr. Aric said earlier that there's a town up ahead. We will reach there in the evening."

Hearing this, Klein's eyes brightened as he smiled gently. Then he began gazing at the outside scenery once again slightly closing his eyes in comfort.

A few moments passed and just as Klein was beginning to fall asleep, the carriage shook, jolting him awake as he falls to the side.

"What happened?!" Exclaimed Klein.

The two girls sitting with him stepped forward and opened the door cautiously and saw a sturdy, bearded man approach the carriage on his horse.

The man got to the carriage and said, "There's an issue."

"What is it?" Klein asked seriously with his brows raised.

The man outside shook his head and said, "There's no need for alarm. The problem is that a merchant is stuck ahead on the road and they are asking for help."

"What kind of help?" Klein asked in vigilance.

"The wheels of their carriages seem to have collapsed from being overweight. They cannot proceed so they are begging for help."

"How many are they?"

"There are twelve of them. A few guards as well as a family."

Klein fell into thought momentarily, then looking at the man outside he said, "Let me see.."

The man nodded and got off his horse. He then opened the door and Klein got off the carriage.

The man led Klain to the forefront of the convoy where a chubby man was profusely begging while gesturing at his carts.

Klein looked at the situation from afar with the tall, bearded man as he scrutinized the merchant and his family with a keen eye. Seeing him beg passionately for assistance as if his life depended on it, Klein nodded to himself and said, "Fine, help them then."

Then Klein once again returned to his carriage and the burly man wearing lavish merchant clothes went to the chubby merchant to accept his request.

The chubby merchant almost prostrated himself in gratitude and his family bowed deeply. He then tipped the sweat off his face and smiled in relief.

Then in the middle of nowhere, the chubby merchant's carts and carriage were repaired with new wheels and some due maintenance.

After this was finished, the merchant bowed in gratitude once again and asked somewhat awkwardly, "Good sir, I see that you have quite the large convoy here.. I believe you will be staying in the town ahead.. Yes?"

"Yes," The man called Aric said crudely.

"Then.. Since I am also heading that way.. May I join you? We're all merchants here, you know how difficult it is for us. I also have my family with me otherwise I wouldn't bother you." The chubby man said while scratching his head.

Aric sighed as he looked back and saw some of the merchants who had joined in throughout the journey. Although he didn't like this, the young master encouraged helping and so there was no choice.

In displeasure, he said, "Hmph! Fine, just follow the convoy and don't cause trouble!"

The chubby man jumped in delight and bowed happily as he said, "Thank you! There will be no issue I assure you!"

Although with some delay, the convoy once again began moving forward toward the somewhat decently famous average town. This was also the last town that was largely under the Duke's influence as the territories of various nobles began after this point on.

Eventually, as the convoy picked up its speed once again, time passed along with the afternoon as the sun began setting down into the horizon.

Amidst the clanking of wheels and the tapping of horses, a clamor rose as Klein opened his eyes drowsily and looked outside curiously. historical

In the distance, the reflection of the town lights was visible on the horizon as the convoy rapidly approached the town. It had been a while since everyone got proper rest and so all were itching to enter.

Soon, the town became clearly visible to the eye, and since it was evening, the time of curfew was near and no one was outside.

When the town's guards saw that such a large convoy with dozens of carts and hundreds of horsemen was approaching, some of them panicked, thinking that it may be a bandit raid.

It wasn't common to see such large merchant convoys this highly guarded and the visibility was also rather low due to the darkness, so this kind of reaction was reasonable, especially considering the kind of terror the bandits had been wrecking.

As the town's mayor received the reports of a potential bandit raid, he was in disbelief and immediately went to check.

Upon closer inspection and his broad experience, he quickly realized that it was too slow, uncaring, and strange to be a bandit raid.

Just to be safe, he ordered the town's guard to be on standby and waited for the convoy to get closer.

After some time, the convoy stopped before the town's entry gate and the shabby walls, and the mayor realized that it definitely wasn't bandits as he could see the flag of the merchant association.

But even so, he did not dare to be careless and asked for the guards to get proof of identity from the guests.

It seemed that the convoy was prepared for this possibility and handed a letter to the guards without any hassle.

The letter was then brought to the mayor and after the mayor read the contents of the letter, he was very shocked as the letter carried explicit and undeniable identity proof certified by the Duke of Whitesburg and the Merchant Association itself.

The gates to the town were then opened and the convoy finally entered the town of Millfield.

After the convoy entered, suddenly the town bustled with activity as all the inns in the town got filled with people overnight. The merchants who were sticking up to the main convoy disbanded as they went on their own way into the town while the main convoy itself was facilitate near the mayor's mansion.

This surprised everyone whether it be the other merchants or the inhabitants of the town as they grew more and more curious. Everyone wanted to know what this large merchant convoy was carrying so secretively. However, no one pried into this matter for the sake of decency. But the bulky, scary-looking mercenaries and the prestige of the convoy's head perhaps were the true reason why no one did so. Afterall, getting the proof of identity from the house of the Duke and the merchant association wasn't such an easy task. It really made people wonder what the identity of this wealthy merchant was.