"Ok, with that I think we are ready to go", a merchant said while finishing the maintenance on the engine of his vehicle that seemed much like a crossing of a truck with a wagon.
"Are you sure that this engine won't explode in a cloud of black smoke like in the previous time?" another man approached, cocking an eyebrow. He was sweating due to the hot afternoon sun. Despite the heavy rain a few days prior, the weather wasn't chilly whatsoever.
"Hmph, you bet it won't. Besides, at that time, it wasn't my fault at all! You were the one choosing to go to such a faraway county to sell rice."
"Come on, brother. Everybody knows that the counties far away in the east have a problem with the rice supply. The population doesn't eat it as much as we do here in the West. That's a good opportunity to make a lot of money."
"We don't need to go so far away in the east to sell rice, man. You know, even when we don't do it, we sell everything we have. We never came back with a single gram of rice..."
"But we sell it faster over there. We can come back earlier and have some free hours to do what we want with the money. For me, that's a better working schedule."
"You just want to have time to visit the entertainment houses in the red district, you bastard..."
"I am a young man, after all!"
The two of them kept discussing for a while before they settled on what route they would take on that day. In the end, since they went too far east before, they wouldn't take such a long trip that day. The brothers had in mind that another discussion was bound to blossom on the next day as well, but that was just routine.
With no more time to lose, they hurried to the east, going past the borders of the county.
Everything past the county was greenery. Plains and meadows surrounded that place. Emerald green grass coated the ground, with groups of different flowers infesting the view, coloring the landscape. Farther away, the number of trees increased, going from lonely trees here and there to a dense forest.
"The wind is a bit spicy here... I guess that the weather will get worse. The tendency is to get hot as hell", one of the brothers commented.
"Don't mention. I am melting here... Thankfully, our friend here is fast and strong. Some tons of rice won't slow us down too much. Soon enough we will reach Kigayo. We always make good trades in that city. I bet this rice will disappear in a second."
"Oh, Kigayo... I always forget this one, for some reason, even though it's one of the first cities we usually visit. Are there any pretty men there?"
"Even if it has, they would cut your thing off if you tried something. This city is dominated by the Sekitan clan. These guys hate the Buki clan, so they will hate us automatically. Remember that they just don't kill us because we go there for business."
The man sighed as he lit up a smoking pipe. That news seemed to crush his spirit.
"Sometimes it's a hassle being part of the strongest clan of the continent, you know? People will hate you for no reason, even when you have nothing to do with the nobles' problems."
His brother nodded his head in agreement. He had a poker face while driving the truck-wagon vehicle.
"These damn nobles have their grudges against each other and the rest of the population is obliged to pay for this as well. That's the kind of system we live in."
"It just doesn't make sense to me how a county inside the Buki's province will fall in the hands of the Sekitan..."
"It must be some kind of contract. Affairs of the upper class. It's useless trying to figure it out."
As they talked about the political situation of their district, someone else was having a hard time inside their wagon.
'I wasn't expecting it to be this hot inside this place... But I bet that the wagon of those guys selling hay and wool would be two times as hot. I just feel slightly guilty for sweating on their rice. I don't know if someone will notice it, but if it ruins their business, that would be a hassle. They seem like good guys.'
Hayato sighed, then realized what he just thought.
'There you go again, worrying more about other people's affairs rather than taking care of yourself. Just stop it, man.'
Hayato took a fan out of his pocket and waved it in front of his face. Since the air inside the wagon was hot, it didn't help that much, but it was a little relief to that hellish experience.
'Well, I should have guessed that the illegal way would have risks and struggles. I just didn't think that this was the kind of struggle I would need to go through.
'Anyway, being here was better than I thought it would be. Now I know that this district has provinces within and each province is dominated by a different clan. I think this place is going through a political struggle since the clans seem to hate each other, at least the two that these guys talked about.
'I wonder how many clans are there and if the others also hate each other. But, at least, now I know that the county I was in before is part of the Buki clan, which seems to be the strongest.'
When thinking about this detail regarding the clan's power, Hayato could not help but get restless. His mind went wild about what the future beheld to him.
'The strongest clan, huh? The one that currently rules the empire... and the one which Trevor is a member of. I bet that being a royal guard is enough to make you more influential, but, depending on his ranking, his power might be more frightening now than I imagine. Meanwhile, once again I have nothing. No friends, no family, no protector.'
The difference in power between him and Trevor was bigger than he thought. The gap separating them extended immensely like a huge ravine.
'Guess I need to work harder than I thought to affect him somehow... Trevor really made me play this game in hard mode.'
Regardless of whether it was bad or good news, Hayato was just glad that he could get new information about that world. He didn't have the time to socialize with people after Mr. Satoshi's death and the latter only taught him the basics as they were always occupied making ramen or smoking while drinking sake.
'Even if I wanted to socialize, I wouldn't be able to do it, though. With the guards of the entire city looking for me, it's too risky to get myself involved with new people. In the end, going to another province was the best choice I could make. I will have the freedom I need to stabilize my life.'
Although it was still hot as hell inside the wagon, Hayato closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. Probably, that would be the worst nap he took in his entire life, but at least it would make the time pass by quickly.
"What the hell!?" Hayato heard a voice coming from the entrance of the wagon, which made him wake up immediately. His heart pounded against his chest like a demolition ball.
He looked at the entrance, only to see a man staring at him with glazed eyes as if he saw a ghost.
"Hmm... hi?" Hayato waved his hand. He was so nervous that this was the first thing he came up with to do. His instincts told him that running would be worse and fighting was out of the question. In the end, he just accepted his destiny.
'If things get complicated, I can always teleport back to the city. I am fine.'
"What are you mumbling about there, bro?" another man approached the entrance of the wagon, looking at his brother's perplexed face. When seeing that he was not fooling around, he glanced at the wagon's insides, only to end up with the very same expression.
"Are we trafficking humans now, Hiro!? Why don't you tell me these important things, damn it!?" the one who just got there exclaimed.
"H-Hold on, Gen! I am just as surprised as you! I thought he was some of your affairs!"
"Why the hell would I put one of my affairs in the middle of the rice we are going to sell? Besides, don't talk too loud! You know that people will crucify me if they find out about my... night adventures. Besides, this is just a brat. Are you calling me a pedo?"
"N-No! I am not! I am just desperate. What do we do with him?"
During their awkward silence and waiting for a divine response, Hayato slowly raised his hand. Both of them turned to him once again.
"Can we start by taking me out of all this rice and... talking... maybe?"