*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Tssssss*

"This should be enough. I just need to clean this up, add the handle and some decorations."

I made enough weapons and armour to sell on the central island. I even hitched a small storage wagon behind my carriage to store everything I made.

It would increase the burden on hornbasher and it would slow us down if we ever needed to escape. I can disconnect it and use it as a decoy, which also works but it would be such a waste.

Another visit to the monster house is in order. At the minimum, a mate for hornbasher is needed. Other than that, I should also add in a separate wagon to put all of my wares. If I hitch it behind my carriage, and have four mounts pull everything, I can still maintain a safe speed to escape with all the added weight.

The only problem is the manoeuvrability. The turning radius will be very wide. It would be nice if I have my carriage as a separate vehicle and the wagon but there is no one to drive it. Remote driving isn't exactly possible for me.

I'll figure it out later, maybe the people at the monster house have some solution for it.

When I am done finishing up this last axe, I'll need to head to the posting board near the town hall to see what available caravans are heading to the central island.

{Small merchant group with two small mercenary groups heading to the central island. Can take in up to 5 more people. Please head to marine inn for more detail.}

This should be that group I saw at the inn. They are a good group but they are too small. They have enough mercenaries capable of protecting the caravan but the number of people they need to protect are too few. They would probably ask for a large amount of money if you want to join them.

There are a lot of small caravans heading to the central island. The mercenary group protecting them would probably delay the departure time just so they all 'coincidentally' leave at the same time. The merchants won't care too much for a small delay since having a bigger group means better protection.

Large merchant guilds will rarely let some random group join them when they are travelling with goods.

I can stick with the medium sized caravan. They are the most fair because they have a sizable caravan, so they prepare enough mercenaries to go along with them. They won't need to stay and look for other groups to offset the cost like the small merchant groups. Their mindset is more on, 'if someone wants to join then good but if not then it won't matter'.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Excuse me, is this the room of Mr. Brill Smith? This is from the Golden Goblet merchant group. We will be departing soon."

*Creak*

"Yeah, I know. I'm ready. I'll get my carriage and join the caravan at the meeting point decided yesterday."
"I'm sorry about that but I am here to inform you that the previously discussed before was changed. The originally discussed meeting area is too crowded. This is my I.D. and this is a letter with the passphrase discussed by the manager yesterday with you as proof. The new meeting area is also written inside. I still have others to inform, so I'll excuse myself now."
"Yeah, thanks."

Hmm, this is the passphrase we decided yesterday. I can agree that a crowded place isn't ideal to meet up with people you just met. Especially with a caravan because security is a priority. They need to separate the group they need to protect with everyone else.

I think this could also be a decoy plan. The original meeting place is not crowded and only selected to be a trap against spies. In case the meeting area was divulged to their enemies, they set up this little play to change the meeting area at the last minute. However, even if they changed the meeting area, most of the people in this town are heading to the central island.

The path is still the same, so for people heading towards the central island, there won't be spies taking the time to join them.

"Stop, please present the letter."
"...Here."

We were given two letters. One was given for the old meeting area along with the greetings of the manager and another one this morning. The fact that he didn't say which letter means that they already have some suspected spies and they only gave the most recent letters to those who they think are 'clean'.

It looks like they are cautious but for those trying to pass through the dragon's road, everyone is cautious by default, especially during these times where the bandits are still competing to establish power now that the board was wiped clean. The most capable group are those who earn more, and the more successful they are from attacking caravans, the more people will want to join them.

"Good, You can bring your carriage on that side. Someone will be with you shortly to explain where your position is on the formation."
"Thanks."

There are a lot of us who are tagging along with this caravan. It seems that the concern that they might use it as fodder is no longer needed, or the other chance that they are in league with the bandits and brought us on as 'toll-fee'. If they started doing that then all of us needed to be wiped out because if even one of us outsiders lived to tell the tale their reputation would crumble.

"Excuse me, Could you possibly be Mr. Brill Smith? I'm here to inform you about our formation and which part of it you will be placed into."
"Yes, that's me."
"This is where you will be placed. Please pay attention to the speed and maintain a 3 metre distance from the others. In times of emergency, please move towards the centre. We will proceed towards the central island and camp twice on the road. As for payment, we agreed on a one-way deal, so half is needed to be paid now and the other half would need to be given when we arrive. This is the contract, do you agree with all of it?"

The contract is pretty standard, nothing really stands out for me. There is a clause that says if you break the contract, you will need to pay five times the total amount of the travel cost. There is this condition that if you can't pay you have to make up the money through other forms but I think it was only a polite phrase to make 'We will work you through the bone, if you don't pay'.

"*Sign* Here, and here is also the first pay."
"Thank you for coming with us on this trip. We hope to have a pleasant journey with you."
"The same for me as well."
"Oh, before I forget, this is an invitation from the manager. If you ever want us to help you market your products, we will give you a very good deal. Our manager's carriage is that one over there. Please feel free to visit when you have any questions. He is very sorry that he couldn't come in person to extend the invitation but he has a lot to take care of during this time."
"I'll consider it carefully. Thanks for the invitation."

Of course the manager didn't come to invite me. My name is famous enough that they know me but not big enough for them to put too much energy into doing something about it.

This is a one-way trip with them, so I have to arrange a return trip by myself. It should be easy to find since each continent has a hub where you can post requests like these. The problem is finding a good enough caravan because I will have a carriage and a wagon plus a few more mounts. I need to find a caravan big enough to accomodate me and it needs to have a mercenary group strong enough to defend us all.

On the return trip, I am going to look like a foot long sub, I need to make sure the caravan I join can protect me.

Other than that, I'm actually excited to return to the central island. Since this isn't a school trip like last time, I don't have to worry about a schedule. I can take my time to observe that temple at the very centre.