"Help!!!"
"Team B, Go and help. Safety first!"
"Yes, sir!"

It looks like we found some lucky merchants. Other than wreckages, we had some lucky ones like these but they died from the injuries.

I hope these ones hold on until our rescue squad reaches them. The worst one was when the merchants were down to the last one but got hit by a stray arrow. That merchant was unlucky but I blame the intercepting army students. They were too careless and let an arrow slip by but at that time they were outnumbered too, so I can't really complain that much.

"They are heading our way, they are pushing their mount to the limit."
"What should we do, sir?"
"Tell Team B to switch to support. Ask for the combat healers to be ready, we can't let them die. Also, Move team C to the back in case of ambushes. The bandits chasing them are persistent, so it seems that the merchant killed one of their more important members. Don't expect them to give up soon."

Haha, I heard that little quiver in your voice when you said 'combat healers', it looks like you are still scared of them after what they did at the bandit siege some time ago. I didn't get a good look at what happened but between the army leader being carried back unconscious, the bruises you received, and the dents in the armour, I can guess the full picture.

"We are already here."
"Good, We will be counting on you. I don't want a repeat of last time where the merchant died after we rescued him. Teachers, please slow down so we can intercept them easily."
"Keep Team C at the back to keep watch but spread the other's around to show off our numbers and emblem. Look at the enemy before acting first. What you are doing is optimal when doing school exercises but not everything will go according to theory. Didn't you see the bandits slow down when they saw our intercepting force? They were shocked to see reinforcements and are currently judging if it is worth it to continue the pursuit. If we show off our numbers and the army emblem, it might dissuade them from continuing. If you understand that then go do as you are told but prepare in case they continue."
"Yes ma'am!!"

It looks like the combat healer leader can't stand the recent losses. She is now actively directings things. This should be for the best, since we need to keep to a schedule and leave this place as fast as possible.

*Shoot* *Tink*

"They are attacking, prepare for combat!"
"Shut up!! You, the one who was hit!! Retaliate with earth arrow, five times!"
"Yes ma'am!! [Earth Arrow] x5"

*Pierce* *Pierce* *Run* *Run*

"Look, they ran away. That attack was just to probe us. It was a waste of mana but we took out two of them. It's not much compared to their total numbers but they should back off to relay what happened to the leader. We still don't know if they would truly back off but this should give us time to take care of the merchants."
"Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am! It was very informative, thank you for the lesson! All of you! Prepare to receive the wounded merchant group! I also need all the blacksmith course graduates to help repair their wagons as fast as possible. Team A, help protect them!"

It looks like we are needed. I can't really see the state of the merchant group's wagon but I hope they don't have a lot of cargo. If we don't have to worry about the cargo's safety, we could make do with reinforcing the wheels and the structure. The suspension would suffer but if we don't have to worry about that balance, we can continue travelling in less than 30 minutes.

"Let's go victor. Wake up chatterbox, we have to do this quickly."
"Got it! I'll take one side and you take the other. Help keep an eye out to protect our classmates."
"Of course, I will. Don't mind this side and concentrate on your side."

Our classmates are mostly from blacksmith families sent to the academy. Teaching and nurturing them to be good blacksmiths is best done at home because each shop has their own flavour of how they do things. Naturally, it's best for their own children to learn how their family business does things but it's cheaper for them to send them to the academy as they learn the basics. After that, they return back home to work as rookies.

There are some like victor and chatterbox, and me faking my background, who came here looking for a new profession after leaving their old one. However, those who came from a fighting background are rare. In our class, only me and victor can fight and defend ourselves. It can't be helped since most of the fighters either choose the army course or the mining course.

The oddest classmate background we have is a daughter of an elder's grandson's caretaker. The most popular girl, albeit only, in our blacksmith class came from high society. She isn't born in high class but to be able to work with anything related to the elders, they need to be educated with a lot of things. Manners, history, dance, etiquette, and political knowledge, they learn this to provide help where it is due and not shame the elder's family. Our classmate is only a daughter of the actual worker but since all workers needed to live on-site, she needed to be educated as well. She should be better than most of the children from the political scene.

"Done!"
"We are also done on this side!"
"Good, get back on the wagon. We will continue our way back home. Merchant group! Line your wagons beside our middle wagon. Keep up, stay calm and pay attention to the space between the two wagons!"
"Ah, yes, thank you for the help."

Good, that went by quickly. We are almost at the entrance to the dragon's road. Too bad that our problem doesn't end once we reach there though.

"I wonder if they could keep up with our caravan with those birds pulling their wagons."
"What is it, chatterbox? Are you getting impatient now that the army students have other people they need to protect?"
"Well, partly but I recognize this group. They are one of our suppliers for materials that come from the central island. We were supposed to terminate the partnership if this 'graduation trip' with the academy goes well but some of the higher staff want to absorb them into the guild instead. Of course only if they agree. They are a very reputable small merchant group and we would very much like to have them with us."
"Absorb them? Is your family business that big? I always thought you were a small roaming merchant family."
"Hahaha, we aren't one of those big merchant guilds. We are more of a medium merchant group. Our line of business is actually delicate. We can't pick up the pieces like those small merchant groups. That would be tedious work for the amount of money we would gain, not to mention the amount of hate we would get for killing the livelihood of the small merchant groups. However, we also don't have the ability to do large business like those large merchant guilds. Those large merchant guilds have their name to back them up, the connection to sustain themselves and the foundation to weather through almost anything."

Hah, Another reason why I don't like merchants. Their price fluctuates too much, not only because of supply and demand but also due to the pressure from other merchant's.

"Then what is stopping your family from being a large merchant group?"
"The most important thing is a huge base. A place where we can sell all of our products. In this business, as long as you have a strong clean looking, people would flock in. The price could start with something reasonable but it will steadily increase along with the merchant guild's prestige. That way, the big spenders would feel better in shopping at your store. The downside is that your first customers would likely leave you due to the price but the returns in profit would be worth it. Don't worry about them though since the medium and small merchant group will be there to take up the low economy customers. The only problem is that the large merchant guilds won't look on kindly while a stranger comes in who wants a piece of their pie, so our family business is still sitting quietly in the medium merchant group's bracket. We need a good opportunity to launch ourselves as a large merchant guild. My father hopes that this deal with the academy is that opportunity, along with a new supply line to the central island. Too bad something like this happened. It looks like we would need to sit quietly for a while longer."

Is it really that simple? I thought you need some kind of noble patron that supports you financially and protects you socially.

If I think about it, in cases like these, isn't the academy chatterbox's patron? and by extension the government? The best thing is that it's not controlled by a particular power in the government but with a working partnership with the academy. This doesn't give them much benefit in terms of money but the backing is very solid since their merchant group would, by extension, be a card in the elder's hand.

The political scene here in the dwarf's continent is not like the human continent's. It is still the same with the lineage being the main factor to be leader but it's not so much who is who's parents but more on who is an [Elder Dwarf]'s species. They are the foundation of this continent, they have the longest lives in this continent and they have the biggest bonus to skills in this continent. After them are the leader of the other species who represent their race.

In theory the other races can also claim leadership if they rank up to something equal to the [Elder Dwarf]'s race but so far there hasn't been anyone who can rank up. The only reason the elders stayed in power is that there is a large chance of their descendants to be born as an [Elder Dwarf]. From then on they are groomed for leadership and every problem and decision will be up to the discussions of all the [Elder Dwarf]. There is a chance that one elder's family would rein control of the council but I don't know too much about it to know if it can be done or not.

"Another merchant group is up ahead. It looks like they are down to the last wagon."
"Continue the current speed, It would only endanger our caravan if we rush towards them."
"Yes sir!"
"Continue with the usual pattern, send the scouts and switch to a defensive position!"

We are seeing more and more merchant groups. If they are lucky then our caravan would only get bigger and bigger. There is strength in numbers but the burden with our defence escort and support team would keep increasing too.