Chirp. Chirp.
As soon as dawn broke, I opened my eyes and took a cross-legged posture. I steadied my breathing and entered meditation.
The round trip to Oxhorn Pass would take a little over two days. But there was a reason trade had been half blocked even across that short distance.
In the past, whenever wolf packs appeared, people could somehow come and go by hiring caravan guards from the Mercenary Guild at a cheap price, but a few years ago, circumstances changed.
Ever since lycanthropes appeared—
Almost no one crossed that road anymore.
“Hoo…….”
When I breathed in, residual heat rose from below my chest.
Hum— Hum—
A low vibration spread from somewhere inside my body.
I could feel mana.
‘It is faint, but it is definitely there.’
Thump—— Thud. Thud.
My heart beat a moment late.
My senses were slowly returning.
Since I had returned to my body from fifteen years ago….
I would have to build up mana again from the beginning.
“Haa.”
I relaxed my posture and went to Father.
“Father, are you awake? I am thinking of going to Uncle Grape's place.”
“You are going alone with two mules? I will go with you today.”
“…Understood.”
“I also have something to say to that man. He saw a little boy come and just swallowed the deal whole?”
“Ha ha… I will hurry and connect the mules to the cart!”
Hm… It seemed the second round was about to begin.
A tactical retreat.
“Right. With 100 crates, I suppose we will have to go back and forth twice. Thanks to my son, it seems I will be seeing the vineyard twice. How very rewarding, ha ha.”
“R-Right….”
I smiled and headed toward the stable.
The dawn air was chilly.
***
Fifty crates of wine were loaded fully onto the cart.
Perhaps because we had set out at dawn, the fog had not completely lifted even on the way back.
The view was still dim, and only the sound of the cargo cart's wheels and the mules' cries filled the road.
Neigh! Neeeeigh….
It seemed the load was quite burdensome for our family's finest means of transport, the two mules.
They groaned under the heavy burden.
I did feel a little sorry for them, but it could not be helped.
‘You will have a friend soon.’
Of course, it was not as if I was doing nothing.
I barely managed to speak while pushing the cart from behind.
“Father, once we unload the cargo at home, I will stop by the guild for a while.”
“The Merchant Guild? The Mercenary Guild? Why are you going to a guild?”
A strange look flashed briefly through Father's eyes.
It seemed like suspicion, or perhaps worry.
“The Merchant Guild. Other than the Southern Market… there might be somewhere else to sell the wine, right?”
“Other than the Southern Market…? Well, if that is the case. Fine. I understand.”
Rattle. Rattle.
Father, who had been walking in step without speaking, looked at me.
“Mikael…… Seeing you make the cart yesterday reminded me of something.”
“Yes, Father.”
“It was your grandfather's will….”
“Yes?”
……His will?
Was it because the past had already changed?
Had Father ever said anything like this?
“He said you must not take up the sword.”
“Why……?”
“I do not know the reason. But if your grandfather said so, there must surely have been meaning behind it.”
“……Yes, Father.”
“Let us hurry.”
The road home was long.
By the time my back was damp, we unloaded the cargo, and I set out for the Merchant Guild.
***
“It has been a while since I came here too.”
I muttered as I looked at the entrance of the Merchant Guild. It is still crowded.
The Empire had recognized trade as the Merchant Guild's exclusive right.
It must have been difficult to pay attention to trade too while waging war day after day.
“Oh, Mikael? What brings a handsome young master all the way here? You have become a little merchant now. What is the matter?”
A guild clerk recognized me and waved.
But what was her name again?
“Ah, ah… Sister Lisa! Hello.”
“My, why are you suddenly using polite speech?”
Ah, were we not on formal terms?
“Ah… Ha ha. It feels a little awkward, right? You are an imperial official now too.”
The Merchant Guild was a private organization, but the Empire dispatched officials to oversee it.
Each city branch had one imperial official and guild employees stationed there.
“I came to look at the merchant company board.”
“You are looking somewhere besides the Southern Market?”
“Yeah, there might be somewhere else? Ha ha….”
“Sure, sure. Then take your time.”
I stood in front of the guild board.
No matter how I thought about it, I had no plausible reason to go to Oxhorn Pass alone.
‘It would be nice if there were a merchant company heading to Oxhorn Pass.’
If I asked to go with them, who would bother refusing?
◈━━━━ Guild Board ━━━━◈
⚖ Merchant Companies Scheduled to Depart
Arise Merchant Company (Medium-Sized) - 10 days until departure
Other peddlers: 17 - 5 days until departure
⚙ Major Destinations
Southern Market (17)
Oxhorn Pass (1·⚠ High Risk)
⚔ Mercenary Guild Support Status
‘Silver Dove’ Escort Unit [Contract Pending]
‘Stonehound’ Escort Unit
◈━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◈
‘Oh, there is one!’
My eyes flashed open.
A merchant company accompanied by the Silver Dove Mercenary Corps would cross Oxhorn Pass.
That was probably the Arise Merchant Company.
“If it is now…… I might be able to add a small premium and tag along.”
When I muttered to myself, Lisa poked her head out from the counter, her eyes wide.
“What? You are going to Oxhorn Pass?”
“Yeah. How should I talk to the head of the Arise Merchant Company?”
“Hmm…… The merchant company head did tell me before he left. He said one gold coin. Is that not too expensive?”
“…….”
One gold coin……?
The desire to just go alone raised its head. What was one lycanthrope, anyway?
“Sis, then instead of one gold coin, if there is any leftover space in their wagons, could I borrow some?”
“Hmm. Fine. I will ask the merchant company head later. But I heard it is very dangerous. Do you really have to go?”
“It is a medium-sized merchant company. It will be fine.”
Lisa tilted her head, but my mind was already made up.
I left the guild and headed straight home. I had to persuade Father, and there were mountains of other things to do as well.
“Father, I am back.”
“Right. There should not have been much to see there. Did you find anything?”
“Yes. The thing is… I heard a medium-sized merchant company is going to Oxhorn Pass. What do you think about joining them and going together?”
“……?”
Father's eyes went round.
“You know that wolf-man, what was it? That lycan-something, appears there, and you are still saying this? Mikael?”
“Yes, I know. But we have too much wine. I do not think we can sell all of it at the Southern Market….”
“So you are saying you will take that dangerous road? Jumping into danger for no reason is not a merchant's job.”
Of course, that was the orthodox argument.
But with almost no capital, there was no answer unless we took some risk.
“I looked into it…… With their escort unit, a lycanthrope should not be a problem.”
Father said nothing for a while.
“Well… Western wine is far too popular. But those dwarf bastards live around Oxhorn Pass. Are you planning to sell it there?”
“Yes. Everyone knows dwarves like alcohol, do they not? If we go there this time and open the first deal… I think it is worth trying.”
“…….”
Father said nothing for a while.
“……Fine, I will trust you once. Selling only at the Southern Market has been reaching its limit anyway.”
And so, in the end, he gave me permission.
Ten days passed quickly.
Eight days until departure.
I finished negotiating with the Arise Merchant Company.
The reason they had demanded one gold coin from the start may have been because they disliked small-scale peddlers clinging to them.
Five days until departure.
Fifty crates of wine were loaded onto the Arise Merchant Company's wagons. The remaining fifty crates were loaded onto the cart pulled by our family's two mules.
Three days until departure.
My eldest sister sighed and handed me one silver coin.
“Spend exactly this much. If you do anything strange again, you are really dead, got it?”
It was quite a large sum for pocket money.
With that money, I bought a dagger. Even if I could not use a sword, I should at least carry a dagger.
The day before departure.
From dawn, the village square was noisy. A messenger dispatched by the Merchant Company Guild came and posted a notice.
『Western Grape-Producing Region Completely Burned』
News that the vineyards around Ruiver had all burned down in a demon attack.
— Imperial Merchant Company Guild
‘History is flowing as it did before.’
I fell asleep with one corner of my heart unsettled.
***
The day of departure.
The entrance to the road leading to Oxhorn Pass.
“Even while working as merchants, there are not many chances to see a medium-sized merchant company…… It really is large.”
“……It is.”
That was Father's first impression.
Was it because I had already adjusted to being the sixteen-year-old Mikael?
Even I felt overwhelmed.
As we descended below the hill, dozens of horses breathed out at once.
A flag fluttered.
[Arise Merchant Company]
On red silk, a golden gear emblem.
Beneath it, a short motto was engraved.
— Rise by Trade
One of the large merchant companies connecting the south and the west.
“Hey, kid. Where are you from?”
A man holding a ledger glanced at me.
The ink stains on his hand were dark.
He was the merchant company's accountant.
“I am the peddler who agreed to go with you. My name is Mikael.”
“Ah, the wine?”
“Ha ha, yes. That is right. I look forward to traveling with you today.”
“Your wine is here. Check it before we go.”
As I walked after the accountant, the merchant company's scale gradually revealed itself.
There were around twenty wagons.
At the front, crates of wine and sacks of grain were piled up, and at the rear, bundles of beastfolk medicinal herbs, mana-stone powder, spices, and other goods were loaded.
The scent of grapes and the smell of pepper mingled, giving off a strangely sharp fragrance.
Wheels wrapped in iron, the merchant company emblem carved on every cargo bed, even the coachmen's uniforms—
This was closer to a march than trade.
“Hey, load it here! Be careful with that. Those are spices!”
Porters and caravan guards moved back and forth, loading cargo.
On horseback, guards wearing iron helmets were patrolling.
Our family's two mules and wooden cart looked shabby by comparison.
“Here are the fifty crates of wine your peddling group asked us to carry.”
“…….”
I stopped for a moment.
At this scale, even a single day's transaction volume would be dozens of gold coins, a scale our family would have to work for years to earn.
It was embarrassing to even be called the same kind of “merchant.”
“Kid?”
“Ah, yes, yes. The wine is all here. I look forward to traveling with you today.”
“Right. More importantly, this is a dangerous road, but you are brave. I assume you know what kind of place Oxhorn Pass is before coming along?”
“……Yes, I know it well.”
“Good. Then we will gather soon. Go and greet the merchant company head before departure.”
“Understood.”
However, I had no time to greet anyone.
“We depart! Wolves come out when the sun sets! We move as quickly as possible!”
“Yes, sir!”
The merchant company head's powerful command rang out.
Rumble. Rumble.
The wheels rolled over the mud.
The quiet air awakened, and the massive procession began moving all at once.
Had it been about six hours since we started moving?
Father's breathing gradually grew rougher.
They were either swaying atop wagons or walking slowly, but we were pulling two mules and a cart together…… Of course it was difficult.
“Father. Should I ask if we can rest for a moment?”
“Hoo…… No. There is no reason to let them look down on us.”
The moment I was about to answer—
“……!”
What is it?
A faint but sharp presence brushed past me.
‘Wolves. It is not just one or two…… Twenty, no, more than thirty.’
The presence grew closer and closer.
The wind brushed by. The blades of grass shook.
It gradually turned into certainty.
Should I tell the mercenaries?
Just as I was thinking that.
“Halt for a moment!”
With the shout, the procession came to a stop.
“There is something ahead. Mercenary corps, to the front!”
“Understood!”
The mercenary corps took battle formation at the front.
“…….”
It was broad daylight right now.
The fact that the wolves were moving without waiting for night meant something was going wrong.
Awoooo! Awoo! Awoo!
Their howling felt as if it were giving some kind of command.
Awooooo—!
The cry swallowed the air.
Before I knew it, my hand had moved over my dagger.
Dudududuk—!
The bushes tore apart, and a massive shadow leaped out.
“Huh?”
Fuck, that is not just a wolf.
“Damn it, it is a direwolf. Everyone, fall back!”