Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 454 - 453: A Bit Troublesome, Get Ready

Chapter 454: Chapter 453: A Bit Troublesome, Get Ready

Richard was very clear about why the Merchant Group Leader, Bade, had differing fees.

If nothing unexpected happened, it was after Bade successfully invited him that he couldn’t find any other Lone Wanderers to share the cost of the Mercenary Team. Left with no choice but to lower his standards, he was willing to accept whoever he could get, even if it meant charging just one silver coin—judging from the coarse hemp clothes Harvey wore, his economic status was obviously not very good. If he were truly to charge three silver coins, there was no way Harvey would get on the coach.

To this, Richard didn’t mind the difference of a silver coin or two, nor did he want to delay the departure of the merchant caravan. He stopped Harvey, who was about to get off the coach to argue, and said aloud, "You don’t have to argue. Charging me three silver coins is the normal price, while charging you one is a discounted price."

"Hmm, a discounted price, why?"

"Probably because he sees potential in you, so he intentionally charged less."

"Sees potential in me and intentionally charged less?"

"Yes," Richard said, "With your physique, you could actually be helpful in case of trouble, unlike me. If he could invite ten or eight people like you, the Merchant Group could ensure safety even without hiring a Mercenary Team, so charging fewer silver coins should be acceptable."

"Is that so?" Harvey scratched his head, thought it over seriously, then nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Then Harvey showed a comforting expression and said to Richard, "And Richard, don’t feel sad. Although you don’t look very impressive, I’ll help you out if we really encounter danger."

"Alright then," Richard laughed, "I’ll thank you in advance."

"You’re welcome. After all, we are companions, sitting in the same carriage."

"Uh..."

As they were speaking, the coach suddenly jolted. Richard lifted the curtain of the coach compartment and turned to look outside, only to see the long caravan of the Merchant Group starting to move, creaking and winding its way towards the north.

"We’re off," he turned back and said to Harvey.

"We’ve departed?" Harvey’s expression became excited, and the next moment he shouted out loudly, venting his emotions, "Northern Kingdom, here I come! I come, Northern Kingdom!"

Richard: "..."

...

The journey that followed was dull and tedious.

With Harvey in the carriage, Richard couldn’t do anything special, so he chose to close his eyes to rest and ponder various matters. After the initial excitement passed, Harvey became bored and yawned incessantly. After a while, Richard suddenly heard some abnormal noises. He opened his eyes to see Harvey lying stiffly on the wooden floor of the coach, mouth wide open, emitting thunderous snores as he fell into a deep sleep.

"Snore! Snore!"

Richard shook his head but wasn’t annoyed. In fact, this was a good thing for him. The next moment, with a flip of his hand, he took out a scroll from the Black Spirit King’s Island Treasure from the Space Iron Ring and began to browse and study it.

...

The days that passed during the journey were much the same: Harvey lay in the carriage, sound asleep, while Richard silently examined and studied the contents of the scroll from the Black Spirit King’s Island Treasure.

...

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

One afternoon, a week later, the Leader of the Blue Feather Trading Group, Bade, announced that they were approaching the border of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom.

What this statement implied was that the speed of travel on land was embarrassingly slow compared to sea travel—the distance that should have taken two days by ship had taken an entire week by coach.

However, Bade said: once they reached the border of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, they could speed up. Then they would pass through the hinterlands of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, which were not yet affected by war, bypass the entire Luobu Kingdom, and reach the seaport of the Northern Kingdom, re-enter the sea, and the entire land journey would be considered finished.

As for the progress of the journey... they had already completed about one-fifth.

Ah, one-fifth!

An "invigorating" one-fifth!

...

In the afternoon.

"Creak creak..."

The carriages of the Blue Feather Trading Group steadily approached the border of the Black Holy Mountain, with the Coachmen mechanically driving the horses and the assistants listlessly nodding off to sleep. In the back coach, Harvey’s snoring was earth-shattering as he slept like the dead, while Richard listened to these sounds while reading the scroll from the Black Spirit King’s Island Treasure in his hands.

The more he read, the more Richard could feel the advanced nature of the content of the scroll, so advanced that even if it couldn’t compare to modern Earth, it was on par with post-Industrial Revolution Earth. And this was only the tip of the iceberg that the Black Spirit King had secretly displayed. If one could unlock the true secrets of the Black Spirit King, it was hard to imagine what astonishing discoveries lay ahead.

As he was thinking this, there came a "squeak" as the coach abruptly stopped.

Richard’s brow furrowed, and he placed the scroll into the Space Iron Ring, looking outside to see that the whole caravan had come to a halt.

What’s going on?

Richard wondered, and then he saw the Leader of the Blue Feather Trading Group, Bade, rushing over and opening the door of the coach, saying, "Mr. Richard, we’ve run into a bit of trouble ahead, and there may be difficulties... You’d best be prepared."

"Hm? Trouble? What exactly has happened?"

Bade took a deep breath and explained, "The hired Mercenary Team scouting ahead found a dead tree lying across the road. It looks like it was deliberately placed there, probably by some Thief Group wanting to stop us and rob us.

The Mercenary Team is now trying to move the dead tree and has instructed that once the tree is cleared, the entire caravan should pass through at full speed, without any stops, and rush to the border of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom. There are usually Soldiers from the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom patrolling the border, and we’ll only truly be safe once we get there."

"I see," Richard nodded, "I’ll be prepared."

"Good," Leader Bade glanced at Harvey who was still asleep and said, "Oh, and if Mr. Harvey wakes up later, please also inform him to be prepared. Of course, if he stays asleep all the way to the Holy Mountain border, then it’s not necessary."

"Understood."

Leader Bade nodded and left the coach to give instructions to the other members of the Merchant Group to be ready.

Richard watched Bade go off into the distance and then turned his attention to Harvey lying on the wooden floor of the carriage. The next moment, without saying a word, Harvey himself opened his eyes, as if he had sensed the danger in advance, and asked with a flash in his eyes, "Huh? Why has the coach stopped?"

"We might be in trouble. The Leader of the Merchant Group, Bade, came earlier and advised that you and I should be ready," Richard said, briefly recounting Bade’s words to Harvey.

Just after the summary, there was a shout from the front of the caravan—the Mercenary Team had successfully moved the dead wood. The entire caravan started up again, rushing forward quickly, with the four-wheeled coach following closely behind. Because of the momentum, Harvey almost fell onto the carriage floor.