The gates of the three meter tall wooden gate slowly creaked open, pulled by two cranks wound with rope.
The early summer sun shone down on the small caravan of mercenaries.
Karl rode at the front of the group, nodding to the soldiers on the wall before leading his men into the city.
After spending weeks out in the wild, the men of the Red Falcon were excited to finally rest and relax in the city.
This city, Holen, was in the small kingdom of Mol. As a seaside country, Mol relied largely on trade and fishing to provide for its citizens. Holen was the furthest east city in the country, and also the furthest from the sea that bordered the west side of the country.
Despite the looks of the heavily armed wall, the country was not in any conflicts.
They had a neutral relationship with their neighbors, and there was no impending war.
The purpose of the wall was mainly a show of force to scare off anyone who would want to attack, and also served to drive away any bandits who might want to make trouble in the city.
The wolf pups were carted in on the opened back of a carriage, open for everyone to see.
The people in the city were slightly less surprised to see the wolves than the farmers, but still admired the catch.
While books still weren't common in the city, many of its inhabitants had seen or read some in that past.
In addition to slightly better education, many residents had seen similar animals before.
Some of the wealthier members of society had habits of keeping wild animals as pets, and would often show them off to the townspeople.
These people would be the biggest market for the wolves.
The two young dire wolves couldn't be considered overly rare, but they also were not a commonly seen animal. The caravan headed towards a marketplace to sell the pelts.
A greasy looking merchant came out to meet them as they arrived, and began bargaining with Karl.
"I'll give ya five ron for these here pelts… Oh! What have ya got there, some wolf pups? How about ten col for the both of em?
The merchant said with a smile, his beady eyes looking at the wolves like they were money.
"What are ya sayin mate? These here pelts are worth at least seven ron, ye ugly bludger!"
The merchant pinched his eyebrows for a moment before answering.
"Six and it's a deal."
"Six it is."
The merchant's men soon began unpacking the pelts from the carriage, and he turned back to the wolf pups.
"Now how much for these little buggers?"
Karl waved his hand at the merchant and responded.
"Fack off ya greedy bastard. I'll sell these at the auction, then I'll make some real cash."
The merchant shrugged and backed off, realizing he wouldn't be able to get the wolf pups for cheap.
He began calculating the profits he could make off of this trade.
Twelve ron was quite the sum, enough to purchase a small house within the city. The currency in the country of Mol was divided as such:
Sil is the smallest denomination of currency, and was used mainly to purchase food.
Col are worth fifty times as much as one Sil, and were often used for more expensive purchases.
Above col stood ron, the most expensive denomination of currency in the country.
All three of the currencies were in coin form. Not only were they the currency used in Mol, but they were used all over the continent.
The currency was manufactured by the Vosnan Empire, the current largest and strongest country on the continent.
Despite having a ton of influence and power, this empire didn't seek to take over other countries, and instead adopted a peace seeking attitude.
They were pacifists.
Thanks to their peaceful attitude, the surrounding countries saw them as a reliable and trustworthy force, and happily accepted their currency as the standard.
Life in the Vosnan Empire was thought to be a peaceful paradise, quite unlike the life suffered by the citizens of Holen.
Here, most citizens would work for months in hope of seeing a single col. Most would never see a single ron in their entire life.
Only merchants, business owners, and merchants could throw around this kind of money, but these professions took skills, and could be very dangerous.
Making enemies of another merchant could get you killed, so merchants needed to hire guards and try to be as friendly as possible, while mercenaries faced danger constantly. Businesses were also not a safe venture. They faced similar problems as the merchants.
The army stationed in the city didn't put much effort into keeping its citizens in line, and there was no police force to speak of.
If you wanted to get something done, it would take money.
The caravan began moving once again, this time heading towards a slightly more wealthy area of the market.
Most of the mercenaries had left the group to go drinking in taverns, leaving Karl and a few others to peddle their goods.
Another member of their group left with the remaining carriages, leaving only the one containing the wolf pups with Karl.
They passed stalls selling jewelry and exotically engraved weapons.
The wolf pups were fully awake, watching the passing stalls with interest.
In many of the weapons shops, there were some oddly shaped stones.
They looked familiar.
Ash turned his head, looking around the carriage before he found what he was looking for.
A few carefully wrapped stones, which looked nearly identical, lay in one of the corners of the carriage. They seemed to be very important to the mercenaries, it was the only thing Ash had seen them treat carefully.
A man in front of one of the weapon shops harked about his products, but Ash couldn't understand a word he was saying.
'It really would be good to learn the language these people are speaking… but I doubt anyone will try to teach me. Hey Roth, any chance you can understand them, with your knowledge of random stuff?
Roth looked at him with annoyance, shaking his metaphorical head.
^If I could, don't you think I would have spoken up before now?^
'I suppose. I wish we knew what they were saying, it would make it so much easier to make an escape plan. Oh well. I'm sure with the two of us, and Oak, we will be able to find some way to escape.'
Life seemed to have other plans, however. One of the two remaining friends Ash relied on was about to leave his life for a long time.