As Florence had said, it was nearing dusk when Jared and the others finally saw the artifact in the barren landscape. It was more like a village than a town. From a short distance away, there were only a few dozen scattered households. Outside, deep trenches were dug in place of walls. With the exception of the two stone roads leading in and out of the village, the rest of the area was hollowed out and appeared to be a suspended island. According to Florence, because of the shortage of stones here, even building a house is barely enough, so they have no choice but to use this earthly method to defend themselves against foreign enemies. After all, this wilderness is still very dangerous, there are also many terrible wild animals in this place, if there is no defense, it is also unrealistic.
"According to the rumors, this was just an ordinary landing spot."
Florence resumed her role as tour guide and spoke to the two men.
"Because merchants travel at about the same speed, they all converge here in the evening. Occasionally, some shrewd merchants would take advantage of the opportunity to do some bartering with others. One day, an old merchant passed by and decided to stay here. He started to build a house here, and traded his goods with other caravans for food and other building materials. Sometimes he would also exchange some other goods and wait until other caravans came here to exchange again, and gradually, came here, specializing in this kind of exchange business is also more and more people, so over the years, it formed such a small town ... it is very famous among us travelers. The old man was a merchant from the south, and the name 'Tavare' means 'merchant's town' in the southern language. Though even now, I don't think it's a city ..."
At the end, Florence shrugged his shoulders with a bitter smile, and then he drove his carriage through the only road into the legendary town.
The town may be small, but it was quite large, and Jared and the others noticed that in the square in front of one of the large houses, there were various wagons parked. Those who looked like mercenaries were in charge of protecting these wagons, and there were also some soldiers in armor with swords in their hands, vigilantly watching every move around.
"Those are mercenaries who have strayed here ..."
Noticing Jared and Caroline's confusion, Florence explained to them.
"Some mercenaries spend their lives, for some reason can no longer follow the mercenary corps to run around, but also not willing to go home to farm, so they chose to stay here as a guard, get some money every month, not only to live a stable life, but also to continue to feel that kind of adventurous journey in the atmosphere ... yo! Lloyd! It's been a long time, how have you been?"
Noticing Florence's greeting, one of the mercenaries with a broken arm turned and waved at him, then pointed to the clearing beside him and made a gesture of affirmation. Then Florence drove the cart in that direction, and it was not until it had come to a stop in the corner by the wall of the inn that Florence jumped out of the cart and stretched himself out comfortably.
"Hooah... have arrived, guys, I'm going to go prepare the room, you guys go around the neighborhood first."
(Mr. Merchant, what about your goods?)
Caroline asked with some concern, to which Florence waved her hand with a big grin.
"Don't worry, the mercenaries here will take care of the goods for us, no matter how valuable they are, they won't take anything. This is the rule here, no one who wants to make a living here doesn't understand this. Don't worry."
Although they were a bit worried, they didn't say anything when Florence said so.
As soon as Jared and the others left the square, they were immediately struck by the spectacle before them.
There were all kinds of carriages parked on both sides of the street, and from time to time there were merchants in strange costumes talking to customers or other merchants. Some of them laughed and waved their hands away, while others smiled with joy and patted each other on the shoulder. Then they took down a leather bag of something from their pockets or the wagon behind them and exchanged it with them. The lively sounds of shouting and the characteristic clamor of merchants filled the crowded place. Kula, on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected by this chaotic and orderly scene in front of her, she was still just wandering around holding her own muppet, following closely behind Jared and Caroline.
"Yo, Mr. and Miss."
The three of them hadn't gone more than a few steps when suddenly a man came out of nowhere and blocked their path. Jared stared at him in disbelief while taking half a step forward.
"Can I help you?"
"Ah, no no, please don't misunderstand."
The man's thin face was like a monkey's, but he smiled solicitously.
"I take it you three are travelers, you look very impressive, and as you can see, I'm a traveling merchant. I wonder if there is anything I can do for you? I have a lot of ... prices here, but they are very cheap."
With that, he approached Jared and gave him an affectionate squeeze. He then opened his pocket and saw that it was filled with luxurious jewelry and precious stones. Jared looked at Caroline and shook his head.
"Sorry, we're not interested in that."
With that, he didn't even look at the businessman for a second and just pushed him away.
"Hey, this gentleman, don't you busy ... you ..."
Seeing Jared raising his steps to go, the merchant hurriedly walked up and was ready to say something, but before he could say anything, the three of them disappeared in the sea of people. Seeing them leave, the merchant coldly grunted, the original thin face immediately turned cold as ice. Just now the warm business smile is not in the slightest, he quietly turned his voice, and then secretly looked at Florence's carriage, eyes flashing a strange light.
"Three? How did you guys get back so fast?"
At the sight of the three men entering the inn, Florence, who had been drinking and talking with the other merchants, rose hastily to her feet and greeted them with a word of humility.
"I thought you guys would look outside more ..."
"It's too noisy out there, Mr. Merchant, I think we'd better go back to our room to rest ... As for that carriage, do you really not need to care about it?"
Taking the opportunity to speak, Jared cautiously and carefully scanned around the entire hall, from the clothes and position you can tell, those wearing luxury, basically are traveling merchants or big businessmen. And those wearing steel armor or leather armor are basically bodyguards standing behind. It seems that this place is not only an occasion for traders to trade goods, but also a place for expanding connections, after all, for traders, one more connection is equal to one more path.
Many people were surprised to see Caroline behind them, which wasn't a good thing for the two of them, but it was to be expected. After all, two-colored pupils were rare, and even in this world, Jared had never seen another one like Caroline. So wherever she was, she was the center of attention.
(Jared, Mr. Merchant, I'm going to my room.)
As Jared had expected, Caroline didn't hate the attention, but she didn't like it either. She nodded gently to Jared and Florence and left the hall after inquiring about the room. As for Kura, she was still half asleep behind her, burying her face deep in the muppet, looking as if she were sleepwalking.
She's a strange girl.
"Yo, Mr. Florence, is this the great warrior you were talking about?"
Just then, a voice interjected itself. Jared turned in the direction of the voice and saw a young man in a fancy suit, slightly older than himself, sitting on the couch, looking at Jared with an easy smile.
"Yes, His Excellency Viscount Zach."
Florence smiled rather warmly at the young man in front of her.
"It's thanks to these two that my small fortune wasn't robbed by those darn sand pirates. If it weren't for these two, I'm afraid my old life would have died with the yellow sand."
"Have a seat ... You are called Jared aren't you."
In the face of the viscount's invitation, Jared did not hesitate to sit down, he carefully observed the young man in front of him. He is completely different from those people in Jared's image, polite and courteous speech, in his age, this is really a little too far beyond his age. However, Jared was originally in charge of negotiation in the team, so he didn't feel particularly nervous about the current situation.
"That's right. May I ask what your name is?"
"Just call me Zach."
At that moment, Florence also smiled and sat down, while warmly introducing Jared.
"Viscount Zack is not only a famous merchant, but he is also very good at researching and trading in magic and magical weapons, and after hearing about you and Miss Caroline's magical weapons, he is very interested in wanting to take a look."
Does that mean that magical weapons are not so rare in this world?
Although on the surface it appeared that he was only introducing the other party's background, Jared instantly grasped the true meaning of Florence's words. Regardless of how much this merchant knew about himself and the others, Florence must have seen through the fact that Jared and Caroline knew nothing about the world. But in this case, if he didn't try to scam them, he must have been asking for help.
"Indeed, listening to Mr. Florence, the two of you have very rare magical weapons ... I wonder if you can show them to me? In terms of identification, I'm also considered an expert."
Viscount Zach wore a gentle smile, and seemed to be very enthusiastic about the idea.
"I'm sorry, I refuse."
But Jared shook his head, rejecting his opinion. Hearing Jared speak, the guard standing behind Zach grunted, obviously very unhappy with Jared's attitude.
But Viscount Zack nodded as if he understood perfectly.
"I understand. Isn't that what magic is all about? The right to use it only comes with a condition, and looking at the current situation, there shouldn't be a need to use it."
"Since it's a weapon, there's no point in not seeing blood."
Jared took a sip of the wine the waitress had offered him on the table.
"So sorry, it's not something you can just show anyone."
It's not a taboo, it's a rule that Jared and the others have made for themselves over their long lives on the run.
It's only natural to be disgusted by the idea of killing someone for no reason, but in order to protect yourself, you have to do it. But in order to protect oneself, one has to kill. If one suffers for this reason, it is a bit like putting the cart before the horse, so Jared and his companions, after discussing the matter, have decided on a peculiar rule - one has to see blood when unsheathing one's weapon, this is a kind of mandatory shirking of responsibility. Because they had to protect themselves, the moment they pulled out their weapons, they decided to follow the rule. Since it's a rule, those who are killed can't complain, and it's easier for those who are being hunted. The rule itself doesn't make sense, and by following it, they seem to have turned the guilt and pain of killing into a necessary excuse. But it was the only way for them to become enemies of the world.
No matter how much you pretend to be normal, you'll end up being different.
The alien, in a human society that values community, is rightly ostracized and even feared and terrorized.
Is it the same here?
Jared swirled his glass, stared at the man in front of him, and finally made up his mind.