"O-Oh, you're Alan's friend? I heard he was lending me, someone, as thanks for me helping him in our previous encounter, I just didn't know you would be so strong!" Milo immediately started cowering as he continued cursing himself and Alan.
The others around him were shocked by his sudden change in attitude but only Alex, but mostly Milo, were aware of what happened for Alex to be doing Milo a "favor."
Back when Alan was first beginning his journey, pretty much right after his brother's-in-arms, Tony and Jaeger were killed, he came across a small caravan which he asked to help him get his friend's bodies back to town.
At the time, Milo was also a much younger man and didn't think much about it. Alan had offered everything he had and Milo accepted it greedily since the boy had quite a few silver and a gold coin on him.
Milo at the time was just starting up his merchant business so he needed all he could get. He just rolled his eyes at the naïve kid who loaded his friends' bodies into his cart before driving off.
It wasn't until later, when he got older and he heard of Alan's exploits as an A rank adventurer, and then Captain of the Serketh Army, that he realized just how much he lost out. He wasn't aware that Alan would become such a powerful man in the eyes of normal people.
He even tried to swindle people by saying he was a friend of Alan's and while few fell for it, most scoffed at him, knowing full well that Alan was a loner who rose up to the top by himself. He had never once spent time with other people unless forced and everyone who admired him knew his distant personality.
There was no way this creepy-looking old man was a friend of his.
Milo cursed himself for not offering the kid more help than he did. He was so desperate for that brat's fame, that he even caught him one time at the capital and tried to get chummy with him. However, that once naïve kid was no longer there.
Alan had long seen through his thoughts, but he still said he would do him a favor someday. Alan didn't give Milo a choice on what the favor would be, but never in his wildest dreams would it be such a strong young man that just stole around 500 gold from him!
A pack such as this, which Milo definitely knew had a reward for in the Adventurer's Guild, would have gotten him several hundred and possibly a thousand gold as a reward.
As a man who dealt in all kinds of business if he could, he always kept an ear out for missions in the Guild and the Direwolf pack that was terrorizing the Edenbar plains was one of them. The reason the mission wasn't taken was because the Edenbar plains were an extremely vast area near the Ether forest.
The area was too expansive for just one party of adventurers to travel by themselves and most of the adventurers close to this area were all much higher Rings than the 1st Ring which was the level of these wolves.
It wasn't worth the coin, time, and effort for 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th Rings to waste their precious time wandering these rolling hills. Plus, they could easily earn just as much gold by spending a few days grinding in the dungeons that were in the city of Carson.
They had everything they needed right there in the city so there was no good reason for them to go out in the middle of nowhere to track down some measly 1st Rings.
Alex had a rough idea of the "favor" Alan wanted to give this man. During a few of their drinking sessions as men, Alan would complain about some old swindler who tried to use his name to build his business.
He also mentioned that this was the same man that he would be "helping" on his way to Carson. He got the not-so-subtle hints from Alan that he wanted him to annoy this swindler so he was ready to deliver.
"Yup that's me!" Alex smiled and raised his voice for others to here, "My instructor asked me to help you out of the kindness of his heart so I have delivered. I have taken this Direwolf pack for you so the caravan is safe now, but I think I'm entitled to what I killed since I'm not directly a part of your caravan, right?"
Alex smirked irked him to no end but he was forced to swallow his pride as all his employees looked at him with different looks. Some were surprised, some concerned, some skeptical, and some already started leaving the area, not giving a shit.
It didn't matter what they were feeling since his answer would affect his business as a whole. If he took these goodies away from this man, even if he was physically able to, he would lose his reputation.
There was bound to be at least one person in this caravan who would start gossiping with their friends back in Carson about how Milo the Merchant stole the kills of someone helping him out of his goodwill.
Even if the rumors sounded false, rumors were reputation ruiners after all. It would affect his business negatively.
"O-Of course, they're all yours, if you don't want those corpses is it alright if I buy them off you?"
Although it clearly looked like Alex was abandoning them, he had to give the kid face. He was strong, too strong, plus if anyone else found out who his "friend" was back in Floren, most of the people here would probably worship him.
Alan was a hero to the common folk after all.
Milo also didn't want to look like he was just picking up scraps after the young man. It would make others look down on him so that wasn't an option for him either. He could only hope the young man didn't touch the alpha of the pack, otherwise, that reward was as good as gone.
"Oh that's so nice of you, to buy them off of me," Alex acted happy and surprised which made a few people snicker. The smarter ones were already getting an idea of what was going on so they were just enjoying the show.
"H-How dare you make Mr. Milo pay for these Direwolves!" The pale young guard from earlier gritted his teeth in anger but his fright made him look like a coward, "Y-You should be grateful to him for letting you follow him on this important caravan! Your reckless actions could have ruined all of his goods!"
Although his tone took away any sense of convincing, his words were a bit sharp. It was true that he was basically freeloading once again but that was nothing new to him. And his actions were reckless, but that was only because the guards this man Milo hired were dogshit.
They were just as cowardly as the young guard to the point that they let some of the Direwolves injure them when they easily could have killed them if they dodged correctly and hit them in teams.
As for his words on Milo paying, that just went in one ear and out the other. Alex couldn't be bothered by giving face unless it was to mess with people. His time as the punching bag for everyone at the inn made him grow an incredibly thick skin and he wasn't going to take shit from people any longer.
The only reason he didn't go off on Milo was that he wasn't directly threatening him right now. Milo was probably the only other person who knew who Alan actually was.
"Shut up! Don't speak that way to him!" Everyone looked surprised as Milo scolded the young guard.
Everyone watching the drama unfold were surprised since that was something they were expecting Alex to say. Alex just laughed to himself since he knew what was going on in the head of the old man right now.
"I'm sorry Sir Milo, but I believe Pete is right this time. You shouldn't have to pay this freeloader for these wolves that attacked YOUR caravan." Another player entered the game and put a hand on the young pale Pete's shoulder.
The scared Pete's eyes lit up as his Guard Captain came to rescue him. This man was Johnson and was also a long-time member of Milo's caravan. Unlike Lucy who was just an extra set of hands and didn't get directly involved with internal affairs, Johnson was on the opposite side of the spectrum.
He was one of the main guards for Milo and was also a pretty shady individual who hid his ulterior motives behind a stoic mask. He narrowed his eyes at Alex and directed his aura at him in full, yet Alex didn't budge.
Johnson felt a cold shiver down his back when Alex grinned back at him. This kid was strong! Too strong for him and he felt it in his bones. He couldn't probe anyone just like the rest of the caravan but he could feel parts of his aura were very strong.
Most of the people here were in their 30s, maybe 40s like Johnson while Milo was the oldest, being about 65. He didn't spend his entire life learning to probe unlike Alan so he still wasn't able to feel this kid's actual ring level or stats effectively.
He could only go off of the information Alan told him, which was he was a 2nd Ring.
'No 2nd Ring is this strong though...' He thought as he glared at Johnson in confusion.
They were usually on the same side so why was this loyal dog of his barking at him now!
"Oh? But I'm pretty sure the wolves were growling and biting at me, not the carriages." Alex rebutted and directed a small amount of his own aura at Johnson.
He was still rough around the edges when it came to controlling his aura like that so he ended up hitting Pete and Milo as well. The two of them paled and almost fell to the ground at how strong he was.
Even Johnson's color drained a little at how potent that aura was. Alex only hit them for a few seconds before taking it away. Everyone was surprised at how things were going down.
"How dare you attack the leader of this caravan! Are you asking for your death?!" Johnson gritted his teeth in pain and yelled at Alex.
Alex was getting bored of his teasing now since it was starting to get out of hand with this third-party intervention so he decided to end it now.
"Hey old man, let's stop using these bullshit flowery words and speak to each other man to man so we understand each other clearly." Alex deepened his voice making those around him shiver.
Milo was still pale and he could only watch the young man in fear while clenching his jaw and nodding his head seriously.
"I'm only here to repay this "favor" Alan gave you. You stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours. We are only a day out from Carson so you won't have to see me again after that so why don't we just bury the hatchet and move on. Also, keep a leash on your dogs before they bite the wrong hand."
Alex didn't ask it, he said it. He wasn't going to take this swindler's no for an answer so he already headed toward the back of the caravan. He also looked to Pete and Johnson as he called them dogs so it earned him deadly glares that just bounced right off his thick skin.
"I'm done with my shift Gerald, sorry." Alex patted his shoulder in pity.
Gerald sighed but knew it was best for him to just stay out of sight. He started giving orders for someone to take his place while Milo also made his own orders for people to clean up Alex's mess.
"Store those corpses and process them! If you find the Alpha make sure you bring it to me right away! Give this to that rude child but make him pick it up himself!" He then stormed off after tossing a bag of coins to a guard and Johnson and Pete followed behind like puppies.
"Sir Milo, why didn't you take those corpses for free? You have a right to them since he is contracted to us!" Johnson argued but ended up receiving a slap to the face.
"You fucking idiot! He's not contracted to us! Are you deaf already you old coot?!" Milo spat saliva at him.
Johnson felt insulted but he didn't strike back. He was younger than this old bastard obviously and he wasn't even there at the beginning of the argument. He could only clench his jaw and stay silent.
Pete also wanted to say something but Johnson put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. The two of them were forced to go back to work as if nothing happened. Milo desperately wanted to get revenge but knew that would only be sighing his death certificate.
He may be a swindler, but he wasn't a complete idiot. He was aware of the power that stood behind Alex and he wasn't willing to risk his livelihood just on a few 1st Ring corpses. It was definitely not worth it.
Although his pride and reputation would take a hit because of this, it was better to still be alive and kicking.
"Where's Serena?" He glared at one of the few female guards in this caravan.
The 1st Ring woman paled and said she ran out of the carriage after him earlier.
"That girl! She better not be doing what I think she's doing. Bring her back here immediately!" He spoke aloud before barking at the young woman.
The female guard quickly ran to the back of the caravan to retrieve Serena, while the girl in question was holding out a bag of coins in front of Alex who was already seated in the back of the last carriage.
He raised an eyebrow at her while Grace narrowed her eyes from within her Master's arms. Serena only glanced at Grace for a second before keeping her focus on the attractive young man who stood up to her father.
She smiled sweetly, "Hello sir, this is the payment for the corpses. I'm sorry about my father's attitude earlier he had been looking for this pack for quite a while and was just worked up."
'Interesting...' Alex thought as she spilled a lot of beans for him.
"I thought it was cool though, how you stood up to him. He can get too serious about business sometimes and can make people think badly about him but he isn't a bad person." Serena tried to improve her father's image in this young man's mind.
Alex wasn't having any of it but still smiled.
"No worries, as long as he doesn't bother me, I won't bother him anymore."
"M-Miss Serena! You shouldn't be back here!" The female guard from earlier showed up huffing and puffing.
Serena sighed before smiling again and bowing slightly at Alex.
"Thank you for saving this caravan, and I'm sure my father is also grateful in his own way. As much as I'd like to talk more, I need to get going. Maybe the next time I come to this city on our next trip we can speak over tea?"
Alex smiled as well, "Sure, It was nice to meet you, Serena."
"It was nice to meet you too-" "Alex," "Alex... alright, thank you Alex once again, hope you have a good rest of the trip."
They conversed quickly as the young woman pulled her employer's daughter away from the hot man. Alex chuckled thinking about how good of an encounter this may have been.
'Maybe I'll get some merchant pussy in the future...' He thought to himself as Grace snuggled up into his neck again and he held her on his lap.