Ignar was a similar size as Holen, and the streets were bustling with people. The large caravan drew plenty of eyes, and those eyes didn't look happy.
They looked… distrustful.
Flying above one of the Graves' carriages was a flag, the flag of Mol. These distrustful eyes seemed to be directed towards that flag.
The Graves guards didn't seem to care, or didn't notice, but Alice and Ash certainly did.
'Roth, they are looking at us like we are enemies. Is this really just a trading trip?'
^Yea… maybe the country relations aren't as good as we thought. Still, I doubt they will try anything. The army back in Holen would have struggled against Earl's men, and I doubt that this city's army is much stronger. Even if they wanted to fight us, I doubt they would risk it.^
Rather than heading to the market area of the city, the caravan headed towards an outskirts area.
It was probably a good thing; a line of fifteen carriages caused quite a commotion on the busy streets.
Near the edge of the city, the caravan finally stopped at a warehouse.
On the trip here, Earl had come up with a plan.
As soon as the carriages halted, Ash jumped out of the carriage he had been sitting in, walking over to Earl.
A simple intimidation tactic.
The merchants Earl would be trading with would have a hard time focusing on negotiating down the price if they were too busy pissing their pants.
A few merchants walk out from the warehouse, but upon seeing Ash, they refused to approach Earl.
"Earl! Get that thing away before we trade! I'm not trying to get bit!"
Earl just stood still, smiling.
He didn't say a word.
He wanted the upper hand in this trade, and Ash would be the perfect tool to get it.
Of course, this wasn't a one man job.
Ash circled around Earl menacingly, his deep blue eyes glaring at the poor merchants.
"Please…"
With this, Earl nodded, and Ash retreated.
The negotiations were settled quickly, with Earl taking the upper hand and getting top price for the spices.
There was a good reason he rushed the opposing merchants; they were already unsettled from Ash, distracting them from making conscious decisions. Rushing kept them from settling down, and was a great strategy against flustered foes.
Alice was taking notes in a notebook as she watched the trade. In the future, when she was the one negotiating, this might just be her go-to tactic.
Unloading the spices didn't take long. Earl had forty men and women unpacking, and along with the efforts of the Ignar merchants' men, only fifteen minutes had passed by the time the carriages were empty.
Women working with merchants weren't uncommon, but they were still in the minority. Gender equality had come a long way in the past few hundred years, and now some women could even be seen enlisted in the armies of various countries.
Nearly a third of the people enlisted under Earl were women, and they were all well trained in combat.
There was only around an hour of daylight left after finishing the trade, so no one left the group to explore the city.
Earl had previously employed a messenger to set up this trade, as well as reserve a place for the troop to stay the night. Sleeping with the camping gear they brought wasn't bad, but it would never beat a comfy bed.
To accommodate for all of his men, Earl had rented out an entire inn. A restaurant sat at the entrance of the inn.
The Sweet Fish.
One of the best reputed restaurants in the city, it was naturally quite busy.
As you can imagine, forty heavily armed men and women bursting into the busy restaurant caused quite the commotion.
Earl tossed four ron to the innkeeper before heading towards the previously booked rooms, the stares of all the customers following his back.
There was a common thought in everyone's head.
'Who is this tycoon who can just toss out four ron like that… and his guard as well! Those mercenaries must have cost a ton to hire.'
After Earl's impressive show of wealth, conversation in the restaurant revolved around him for much of the remainder of the night.
A few of the more frequent customers claimed to have seen him in the past.
"Yea, he's been here before. I think he's a merchant from Mol, but that dude is such a whale! He throws out money like Mansa Musa…"
If Ash had been there to hear this comment, he would have been extremely confused.
How could a random stranger know that name?
But instead of hearing this, he was hearing something quite different.
Disturbing noises were emanating from Alice's mouth.
"Ahhh… How I've missed you, fresh food. I promise I'll never leave you again!"
Earl had ordered for some food to be delivered to his men in their rooms, and Alice had just received her share.
The cooking couldn't be compared to Gary's masterful works of cuisine, but it was much better than the preserved food the Graves' had been eating for the last two weeks.
Earl watched his daughter, who looked like she wanted to make out with her food.
He turned to Ash, who was calmly eating by his side. After giving one more glance at his daughter, disappointment covered his face, and he asked Ash the one question that always came to his mind whenever he saw his daughter and food in the same room.
"Ash… where did I go wrong?"