"...Wh...Who's there?!" A well-rounded man loudly asks.

Gathering behind the bulky man are a few armed adventurer-looking men, presumably his guards as well as some non-combatants. I look over and count five people armed before setting my gaze to the man with black hair who is aiming his drawn bow my way from the safety of being behind two heavily armored enhancers from the Relentless Waves.

"Calm down, we're just some adventurers on the road that your vehicles happen to block. So we're checking to see what's going on here." I speak while holding my hands up.

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought you were band---" The fat man tries to respond before getting cut off by one of the armed men standing near him.

"How can we trust your words? Especially after you guys snuck up on us." The armed man with black hair who also happens to be the closest combatant to us questions while pointing his sword our way.

Black hair too huh? It's rare seeing people with the same hair color as me, everyone else's hair is like they randomly picked a color from the rainbow.

A brief moment of silence takes hold as I feel the tension start to rise. Got to defuse this...

"...If we really meant you harm, we would've attacked while we had the chance and wouldn't have approached you as we did." I quickly use one of the agreed-upon hand signals right after my words.

Responding to my signal, the sound of something emerging from the bushes rings out from behind me. Everyone's attention immediately snaps to the new arrivals; Faris and the two mages from the Relentless Waves.

I hear a few sounds of startled cries coming from mostly the fat man and the non-combatants.

Turning back at the supposed leader of the adventurer party on the other side, I give him a glance that conveys 'See? It would've been easy for us to ambush you.'

The man continues staring at me for a moment as if in deliberation before raising one of his hands, clearly giving out a signal to his allies.

"I'll believe you, we'll stand down first to show our sincerity."

His men all sheathed their weapons and undraw their bows to my relief. I exchange looks with our allies, prompting them to all stay down as well.

Another moment of silence fills the scene, but this time, the tension is replaced by awkwardness on how to continue.

Sensing the situation and no longer wanting to waste time, the well-rounded man that seems to be also well-dressed upon closer inspection speaks out to break the awkward atmosphere.

"I am Macer Fide, the merchant in charge of this small caravan and these are my employees as well as adventurer escorts."

Macer continues to introduce each of his companions. I choose to save energy and only remember Macer and the leader of their adventurer team who I talked to earlier, Keith. Like a textbook merchant, Macer continues to go off on a tangent about their adventurers to convince us to help them out.

I don't care about the small details like each of your names, now hurry and get to the point damn it...

"...and that's how those monsters managed to kill our horses and damage our transports in the process." Macer finishes his story in one go without a pause.

I move over to confirm their story, looking at the wounds on the corpses of their horses. Yuck, what a horrible end after a life of servitude to us humans.

Seeing how we've confirmed the identity of the target as confirm that they are not a threat, I give the go-ahead for one of the mages to signal Vorn and the rest of our caravan.

The mage from Relentless Waves starts casting a waterball toward where our caravan is, aiming at an angle up to the sky before firing it once the waterball reached the size of a car tire.

The waterball flies straight into the sky before being coming back down due to gravity and splashing into the ground somewhere out of sight.

Is there more to the signal or is it really something just so simple? Well, the simpler it is, the less margin for error.

Fifteen minutes later, we rendezvous with our caravan.

Now that the escorts of both parties have cleared each other, it's up to our employers to call the shots on what is to come next.

"Nice to meet you, I am Robert Lensly."

"Likewise, my name is Macer Fide."

The two men shake hands as I return to Neri at our wagon with Faris, leaving the people from the Relentless Waves to look over the two men conversing.

"Neri, we're back, did you miss your master?" I ask while holding my hands open towards Neri.

Neri ignores my questions and responds while only looking at Faris.

"Welcome back."

Tch, lucky we're in view of other people right now or I'd sure teach you a lesson.

With our front occupied as the meeting place with Macer's caravan, our security duties can be completed while lazing around on our wagon.

"How do you think Mr.Lensly will respond to their request for help?" I ask to cure my boredom while laying flat on my back.

Surprisingly the voice I hear responding to me comes from Faris instead of Neri.

"I remember hearing from my father when I was little, merchants tend to help in situations like these as best they can because the guild offers a small reward for the helping party regardless of any other agreements made for the helping hand."

"The guild encourages merchants to help each other? Really? Why?" I ask why sitting up.

I see Faris slowly collecting her words while Neri watches on patiently in encouragement.

"Umm... I think it's related to something about the guild having to pay a larger sum to compensate the victim's losses in most situations. The guild encourages merchants to help each other so that there won't be as many damages there to compensate for."

So the merchant guild also acts as an insurance company? Wait, you mean there are insurance companies in this world? Whatever, I'm sure it's not as widespread as my old world anyways.

After twenty minutes, as if to confirm Faris's words, the liaison from Mr.Lensly's caravan informs us about Macer's group joining us. They'll be ditching their two broken-down wagons, moving their goods to our transports.

We're only asked to help move the goods over as they technically couldn't ask to make use of our transports as it isn't part of our contract.

With so many abled bodies, after another twenty minutes, we once again set off on the road except with more people and fuller wagons.

---

Late afternoon

We finally reach our destination village as the sky starts to change color.

"Welcome, we've been expecting you. Please come follow us, I'm sure you're all tired from your journey so hot food has already been prepared."

I can practically feel eyes gleaming at the words 'hot food' from a majority of the caravan.

We follow along with the group, heading into one of the larger buildings in the village, similar to the one we visited from the previous village. At the head, Mr.Lensly is busy chatting with an old man who I presume to the village chief of this place.

Entering the dining hall, we're split into different tables that are spread tightly together like a cafeteria. I take a small table with Faris and Neri in an inconspicuous corner while everyone else also devolves into their own respective social groups.

The meal progresses peacefully, with a friendly atmosphere as everyone is eating and laughing, which includes me and the girls.

As good times past especially fast, the small banquet is over as the old man earlier gives one last parting remark.

"I hope the food was to all your liking, we won't bother you all any longer as I'm sure you all need some well-deserved rest after your trip. They are many rooms that have been prepared upstairs in this building, please feel free to make use of any of the rooms. Now then, goodnight to you all." The old man nods one final time at Mr.Lensly before exiting.

So this is entire building is dedicated to guests? This village must be much more well-off than the previous one. Bringing me back from my analysis, a familiar voice once again makes itself heard throughout the entire dining hall.

"I've been discussing with Mr.Fide here about our travel plans tomorrow but could not come to a conclusion. Can the leader of each adventurer parties come to our table so we can further discuss our future agenda? Everyone else can go rest, thank you for your hard work today, everyone."

Unfortunately for me, the day's work isn't over I guess.

My bath time with my girls is shortening!

I stand up trying to cheer myself up as I reluctantly part from Faris and Neri.

Making my way to where I'm summoned, I take one of the seats at the rectangle wooden table with a rough map laid on it. Mr.Lensly remains silent, giving some time for everyone else to clear the room before opening his mouth.

"To get you all up to speed, our original route is head south like this." He runs his finger through our route.

"But since Mr. Fide requests to be taken to the town of Ellam which means we would have to at least take a small detour from our original route after reaching the next village through here which is the route I prefer most." Mr.Lensly points to the town of Ellam which is located slightly to the west from our southward route.

"Now the problem here is that Mr.Fide has told me he must reach Ellam within two days with his goods in tow which isn't possible with this route. In order for Mr.Fide to reach Ellam on time, we would have cut through this forest, through a more dangerous route than the main roads. What do you two think about this proposition?" Mr.Lensly patiently explains before asking Vorn and me.

But before either of us answers, another voice chimes in.

 

"With all due respect sir, although the new route we propose is using a road that isn't as well maintained and patrolled as the main roads, it isn't much of a threat to our caravan at all with our numbers. Rarely are there bandit groups numerous enough to overcome us." The black-haired adventurer who I recognize as Keith, the leader of the escort party for Macer Fide's caravan, speaks out.

"I understand," Mr.Lensly replies dismissively.

Despite his words, the leader of the fourth nature mage division continues pressing Vorn and me for answers with his gaze. Knowing my inexperience in escorting, Vorn is the one who is bearing the main brunt of Mr.Lensly's questioning gaze. Vorn closes his eyes and continues contemplating for a few minutes in which everyone keeps quiet, fearing to disturb his thoughts.

Finally opening his eyes, Vorn replies.

"It shouldn't be a problem taking the proposed route."

Satisfied with having an answer, Mr.Lensly moves on to me. Come on, you really expect me to answer too? As if I know shit...

Not knowing what to say, I can only nod while keeping my poker face.

"Wait a minute, staying on that road will still take too long! I'll barely make it in time if we aren't delayed at all, we should pick this route that leaves some leeway." The fat merchant, Macer, draws a route with his fingers straight through the forest.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT, ARE YOU CRAZY? WHY WOULD WE CHOOSE TO GO THROUGH A FOREST WHEN THERE IS A ROAD TO SUIT OUR NEEDS?" Keith the black-haired adventurer suddenly snaps at the fat merchant's suggestion.

Dude, isn't he your employer? Are you really yelling at him for something small like that? That's sure some customer service that I haven't seen before...

"But---"

"NO BUTS, I WON'T JOIN YOU IF CHOOSE TO GO THROUGH SOME FOREST JUST TO SAVE HALF A DAYS TIME AT BEST." Keith stomps away despite the heeding of his employer.

"Sigh... is it possible to take this route without Keith's party?" Macer weakly asks while shaking his head.

"Cutting through the forest will be even more dangerous, so no, it won't be possible." Vorn mercilessly replies, cutting the merchant's last hope for taking that route.

"I understand, I'll send one of my men to head to Ellam first to inform them of a possible delay." The bulky merchant says dispiritedly before walking away with weak steps.

Come on, why are you being so dramatic? We're still likely to make it on time taking the other route, what the fucks up with those two and their obsession with their routes.

As I contemplate the reasoning behind the behaviors of the two who just left, my gaze wanders over to Mr.Lensly's. The old man exchange gazes with Vorn in a frown while Vorn replies with small nods repeatedly. The two finishes conveying whatever is between them with their gazes before both settle their gaze on me.

Errrrrrrr........... I don't understand a thing you're trying to tell me if you don't speak out. But it'll be a little awkward to ruin the atmosphere by opening my mouth now.

Let's just nod back... Yep, I know exactly what you two are thinking...

The two leave their seats, heading for stairs to the bedrooms. Somehow being swept up by the mood, I follow them as well. With Mr.Lensly leading us into a room at the end of the hallway on the top floor, we enter together without a word.

Is this some secret cult thing? Well, that would be one of the better options as opposed to what popped up in my head when entering a bedroom with two other guys...

Sitting down around a small circular table for four, Mr.Lensly is the first one to break the silence.

"What do you think the odds are?"

Odds? Odds for what? The lottery? Silent listening mode, fully activated.

"Somewhere around 70%." Vorn grimly replies.

"What?! We should get away as quickly as possible." Mr.Lensly almost jumps out of his seat, struggling to contain his voice.

Do I really have to make myself stupid and ask what we're talking about? I guess so, it sounds important.

Here goes nothing.

"Wh---"

Just before I manage to squeak out my voice, Vorn speaks.

"It's too late, Macer or one of his men will just keep following us. He's probably already sent his men out to inform their hosts before the meeting earlier. We'll be chased down and we won't get far with all our luggage."

"Then what do we do?"

"Keep acting like we don't know until the last minute before quickly neutralizing the threats." Vorn motions a slashing motion across his neck.

Having finally received more information, my mind starts to put the pieces together.

"Does this happen often?" I ask Vorn

"More than you would think, especially after that incident became famous, there's been many copycats."

"I think we're half right and half wrong..." I state while deep thought as if having a revelation.

"What do you mean?" Both men ask me while directing their confused gaze at me.

"Actually, from what I remember and noticed, I think..."