Fortunately, no other unexpected incidents occurred during the remaining time.
We didn't run into any other monsters, nor were there any bandit ambushes.
After roughly a week of travel, we arrived at the big city of Cailen. Having finally reached our destination, the mercenaries breathed sighs of relief.
"Phew, we finally made it."
"Damn it. For the time being, I'm gonna hole up in a tavern and not come out."
I had taken care of the Troll all by myself, and there hadn't been any other battles after that, but because everyone had been busy filling in for the missing porters, they all looked quite exhausted.
A medieval city visible beyond huge castle walls and the main gate. Even to someone like me who was used to modern cityscapes, it was a pretty impressive sight.
The very first place we headed was Bernard's destination, the trading post.
Either way, thanks to cutting across the plateau, we had arrived before the delivery deadline, and the sale of his goods seemed to have gone smoothly.
"The journey ended safely. Thank you so much!"
As if he had closed a satisfying deal, Bernard's face was quite bright as he walked out of the building.
All that remained now was settling accounts.
Paid the exact amounts promised in advance, the mercenaries left the trading post one by one with beaming faces. Most of them looked to be heading straight for a tavern.
"Um, Master Kael."
Right then, Mercenary Captain Jackson approached me hesitantly. Given that he hadn't left right away even after getting paid, he seemed to have some business with me.
"May I ask what your plans are going forward, by any chance?"
A cautious question. He seemed to want to travel with me.
After I had displayed skill that could never be seen as that of an ordinary apprentice mage, parting ways right on the spot seemed to leave him with some regret.
"Well, I'm not sure yet."
With a gentle smile, however, I subtly hinted at a refusal.
The places I would be heading to from here on out were filled with tremendous rewards—and dangers proportional to them.
Sorry as I was to say it, it wasn't a level a mere Silver-Plate Mercenary could handle.
"...I see. That's a shame."
Fortunately, Jackson didn't press any further. He seemed to have half-expected a refusal in the first place.
"It was an honor meeting you."
"If fate allows, I'm sure we'll meet again. Take care."
After a brief farewell, I headed back toward the merchant Bernard.
"Ah, Master Kael. Right this way."
Waiting for me, he guided me to one side of the building. It was a place that bought and sold byproducts from all sorts of monsters.
"The commission here is the lowest. I've used it several times myself."
The reason I had stayed behind was to sell the Troll byproducts we had loaded into the spare space at the back of the wagon.
Rather than wandering around the city on my own, going through a merchant like Bernard would probably let me finish selling them much faster and more efficiently.
Bernard gladly lent a hand. On top of being in a good mood from his own deal going through smoothly, he seemed eager to stay on good terms with a skilled mage like me.
Stepping inside alongside Bernard, who already held a pass from the Merchants' Guild, I was soon able to meet a guild buyer in charge of Troll byproducts.
"Let's have a look."
Coming outside with us, he began checking the byproducts loaded in the back of the wagon.
Troll blood contained in leather waterskins, neatly bundled tendons, molars, and the like.
Opening a waterskin and dabbing a bit of blood from the top of the stopper onto his finger, he carefully examined its color and smell.
"Hmm. Good."
He nodded with a satisfied look. Because it had been sealed in the skins right after the creature died and the weather was cool, the blood seemed to be in pretty good condition.
"Only a few days old. There's no preservation magic cast on the wagon or the waterskins, either... Where did you hunt it? There aren't any Troll habitats near Cailen."
A question asked out of curiosity. Dealing with a seasoned merchant, there was no reason to lie.
Shrugging my shoulders, I answered honestly.
"We hunted it on the plateau past the upper reaches of the Levain River."
"The plateau... near the Levain River? Did you say the plateau?"
Puzzlement crept onto the merchant's face at my words. Recalling that moment when he had come face-to-face with a Troll out of nowhere and sensed his own death, Bernard gave a bitter smile.
"Yes. We were ambushed by a Troll on the plateau."
"Huh..."
Looking back and forth between me and Bernard, the merchant realized it wasn't a joke and trailed off in surprise.
It seemed to be the first time he had ever heard of a Troll showing up on the plateau, too.
"...How surprising. Wait, does that mean you didn't set out planning to hunt it?"
When I nodded, admiration flashed across the merchant's face.
"...For someone so young, you seem to possess considerable skill. Are you affiliated with the Magic Tower?"
An awkward question to answer. I shrugged my shoulders.
As if he hadn't asked expecting an answer anyway, the buyer nodded with an unbothered expression.
"Well, since Bernard said he's vouching for you, there shouldn't be any problem. Very well. I'll buy all of it."
Motioning for the guild porters to come over, he quickly jotted something down on a prepared sheet of paper.
"Three large waterskins, plus the tendons and molars... Fifty-eight gold in total. How does that sound? Would you like to sell?"
Catching my eye, Bernard gave a slight nod. A signal that it wasn't a bad price.
Of course, I knew the rough market rate myself.
I had been figuring on somewhere around fifty to sixty gold, so it was a reasonably satisfactory sum.
Since the guild itself was making the purchase and I was dealing through a merchant, he didn't seem to have quietly shaved down the price. I nodded.
"Not bad. Let's sell."
"Great!"
Offering a warm handshake, the buyer motioned for the waiting porters to carry the byproducts inside.
"Here is your payment. Please check it."
Stepping into the building and coming back out, he held out a leather pouch. Packed full of gold coins, it was quite heavy.
Opening the pouch to check the amount, I nodded. With this, selling the byproducts was done.
All that remained last was the contract pay I was due from Bernard.
On top of the calculation by the day, there was the fifteen-gold bonus for slaying the Troll that he had promised on the spur of the moment.
In all, it came to thirty-four gold and sixty silvers.
"Here you go."
A clean settlement. Wanting to stay on good terms with me, Bernard maintained a polite attitude to the very end.
After a brief farewell, I stepped out onto the street. Perhaps because I was moving around on my own for the first time in a while, I felt quite light on my feet.
Taking in the bustling city streets as I walked, I headed toward where the magic shop was located.
The money I had earned from roughly ten days of travel was nearly a hundred gold.
A huge sum I couldn't have even dreamed of had I come alone. It was more than enough to purchase magic tools.
"Welcome!"
At the same time the bell hanging above the wooden door jingled, a cheerful greeting rang out. The interior of the shop was quite spacious.
Swords enchanted with fire magic, boots with weight-reduction magic cast on them, robes with temperature-control functions, and so on.
Even if they weren't artifacts of tremendous performance, the place was packed with items that would be of small help in adventuring and traveling.
'...Hmm.'
I pondered briefly.
This was a high-end shop that sold only enchanted goods. Even though I had a large sum close to a hundred gold, I had to be careful with my spending.
The most efficient item for me right now would be...
"Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Ah."
The shopkeeper had quietly walked up before I knew it. I answered in a casual tone.
"I'd like to look at items that work by infusing mana into them."
"Hmm... For items like that..."
The reason most people looked for enchanted items was to receive the aid of magic while consuming as little of their own mana as possible—or none at all.
With me, however, it was the exact opposite.
Items used by drawing on one's own mana. Possessing infinite mana, I would probably be able to bring out far greater power from them.
"Right this way. Please take your time looking."
As if they were unpopular goods, the shopkeeper guided me to a display platform set in one corner of the shop, then walked back toward the front to greet other customers.
I slowly looked over the items. There were items I recognized and had considered buying from the start, too.
Like a bracelet that created a barrier when infused with mana, or a ring that shot out fireballs.
'In the game, these were trash items.'
Smirking as an old memory crossed my mind, I picked up several items.
Perhaps because they weren't very popular goods, the numbers on the price tags were quite cheap.
Having picked out a few items like that, I looked for the shopkeeper to pay. No, I was about to look for him.
'...Wait.'
Something caught my eye right then.
A short rod shoved into the back of the display platform came into view.
'What's this?'
An item I was seeing for the first time. Engraved with fine lettering, however, it didn't look ordinary.
A solid metal rod about two handspans long. Just as I was about to turn around to ask the shopkeeper what this was—
"If I were you, I wouldn't buy that thing. Its power is decent enough, sure, but it eats up an absurd amount of mana."
An unfamiliar voice came from behind me. I slowly turned around.