"My name is Bang. The guy with the shield is Ligi."
Bang formally introduced himself since he will now be traveling with this caravan until they reached Suno town.
The fat man, who called himself Tab, couldn't help himself and looked at Ligi. His curiosity got the best of him and he finally asked Bang.
"So what's the story with you two? Why were you there in the Hadlang forest?"
Bang finally knew the name of the forest they were in. Apparently, it was called the Hadlang forest. Bang knew he could have bought the information with the store, but he doesn't want to waste wisdom points on something so trivial.
"Well, we were chased by a Limaw because of some group"
Bang placed emphasis on the word group. His intonation became harsher and he clenched his fists hard.
This did not escape the eyes of the experienced merchant. He quickly exploited the clear hatred of Bang in order to make a better impression and gather more information.
Another thing that was impressive in the eyes of Tab was the fact that they survived an attack from a Limaw with just the two of them.
"Oh, who would dare do such a thing?! Can you tell us the name of that group and maybe, just maybe, we could do something."
Bang gathered his thoughts. In order to exact his revenge, he would need a lot of firepower. He would need the help of everybody he could get. That was the normal way of thinking.
However, this is Bang. He would not feel good if he didn't exact his revenge himself. He wanted to destroy the steel muscle group with just a few people so they could see the difference in superiority between them.
With Ligi acting as his right hand, and other future crew members, he would exact the dish best served cold.
"Nah... It's okay, I'll deal with it."
Bang didn't want to say the name of the group because there might be a chance that the merchant was affiliated with the Steel Muscle group.
Tab the merchant misunderstood some statements from Bang. If Bang could deal with the problem himself, that would mean that he is powerful or he could have a powerful background.
Tab decided to be more respectful to the potentially powerful Bang and try to curry his favor. He will not miss this moment to have a wider connection.
"Hey, can we have some food for the road? We were trapped in there for what seems like a long time."
Bang held his stomach and caressed it implying his hunger. Tab did not hesitate and immediately replied.
"Yes, yes, sure. It must have been a tough journey. How about you stay with me in this caravan while we travelled?"
Tab said this with a smile on his face. He also had his hands rubbing together while speaking.
"Oh, yeah sure if you insist."
Bang would not refuse such a luxurious offer. He was tired of going running in the forest barefoot. Back in his apartment back on Earth, he would feel lazy and tired after going down his building. Now, he was running and standing all day for who knows how long.
Ligi still looked around warily for any signs of threat. He definitely felt obliged to always stay on guard and ensure the safety of his savior.
Although the road was made of stone, it still felt a little hit rocky here and there. It isn't like the highways back on earth where the roads are smooth.
With the caravan walking until sunset, the farmers started to look for a suitable place to stay the night. They walked a long ways away from the road and set up a camp.
They took out some supplies from the caravan and set it up in the middle of the camp.
The camp is now filled with tents with a campfire in the middle. Some livestocks were taken out of their cage, killed, and cleaned for all of them to eat.
The meat were put in a big bowl and with some water put in, it became hot soup for all of them to eat to endure the cold night out here in the open. After that, a small piece of bread was given out for everyone.
This was out of expectations for Bang. He always thought adventurers were poor and that they had trouble eating when adventuring. This couldn't be more wrong.
Sensing the confusion in Bang, Tab spoke up to him.
"Surprised at how well I treat my guards? Not everyone can and will give care to the hired help, but I know it will be worth it in the long run."
Bang didn't understand because he himself wouldn't give out such precious supplies when out adventuring.
Ligi just stood near Bang and listened to the story while mowing down his food. He did not hesitate to eat nourishment in order to be able to fight when things go wrong. He also listened to any information that may be useful in the dangers of this journey.
"......"
Seeing that Bang wasn't convinced, Tab continued.
"When a danger occurs, they would more likely stick to guarding me instead of fleeing. They would feel more indebted to me because I took care of them."
Bang could understand theoretically, but personally he wouldn't do that. He would rather store the food for himself incase something happens where they get stuck without any communication. If they were stuck in the cave back then and they had food, they would have survived even if they had to stay there for a long time.
"Hmmm.... how long till we get to Suno town?"
Bang decided to change the subject since he just decided to agree to disagree.
"About 2 days more at most"
The sudden revelation broke a sweat in Bang's back. If he had decided to continue on this journey by himself, he wouldn't have survived. Even if he had food secured, he was sure he would have given up by day one. Walking all day like that seemed like hell.
"Wow, thank gods you have a caravan here or else it would have been hell."
Tab noticed the details in Bang's remark. By the fact that they traveled to Suno town without knowing how long it gets there means they weren't from here.
"So you aren't from here, where are you from?"
Bang didn't know that this guy was that insightful. He quickly told a half truth.
"Yeah, I'm from very far away from here. I can't even see the horizon where I'm from."
Tab thought that Bang sailed from the oceans and landed here. He didn't think that Bang was transferred here to another body because that would be unimaginable.
A person who can traverse the oceans unharmed is someone with great courage and strength. This brought Bang's prestige even higher.
After a little bit of chatting and small talk between Bang and Tab, Bang found out more about the merchant. Tab was from a group called the Lockbay troupe. They were essentially a traveling merchant group that deals in export and import from all over different towns. They would usually hire guards and men for their caravan but this time they hired two groups.
"Why did you hire two groups?"
"There has been some sightings, gossip, whatever you call it about a thieves group stealing from caravans. Especially those who carry any armor, guns, swords and anything that can kill. As a full pledged merchant, I should not ignore those warnings lest I lose my life or worse, lose my cargo."
Bang contemplated on the newly found information. With the added danger of thieves amongst the already threatening Limaws, this journey would be more harder than it already was.
After the merchant left to do some things, he quickly decided to look in the direction of the two groups of guards. It would be beneficial for him to find out more about them and if they would be a help or a threat when the going gets tough.
Like the antisocial kid that he was, he didn't directly walk over to the guards but slowly and silently waddled his way there.
He was immediately noticed by the two groups because of the misunderstandings that happened before. The farmers looked at Bang with a cold stare meaning it was a no go in communication.
The sword wielding group however were nonchalant and didn't care about the presence of Bang. One of the men there, a tall ball faced man looked in Bang's direction and called out to him.
"Hey, is there something you want to say?"
Surprised at the callout, Bang quickly turned at the guy who spoke. He thought he was good at hiding and surprises but they surprisingly noticed him.
"M-me?"
"Yeah you, both of you."
Bang looked at his back and there he saw Ligi. Ligi was not looking at the sword wielding group, but at the farmers who looked hostile at Bang. There was currently a staring contest happening between them.
'Fxxx you scared me, where the hell did this guy come from?'
"Why are you here?!"
"I'm here to protect you."
Bang was tongue-tied. Now that Ligi had found a new purpose, it seemed like he hung on to that purpose very firmly. He had his whole focus on protecting Bang, which was nice but sometimes it was also very tiring.
Seeing their cover blown, Bang decided to walk over to the guy who spoke. Ligi saw this and suddenly walked faster and overtook Bang. Ligi was now at the front, ready for whatever comes. Bang ignored this and kept walking.
Before he even sat down, he heard the sharp ball faced man speak.
"Don't trust that merchant."