*Tack* *Tack* *Tack* *Crash*

"Is that enough?"
"Yes, I think we have enough. Let's pack everything up and head back."
"Finally! When are we going to hire some workers, turtle boss? You hired me as the leader of your guard team. I can't exactly protect you well if I'm tired from chopping down trees."
"I know but we still don't have enough money."
"I thought we made a lot from that herb trick you did back in the tiger's territory."
"It should have but we had to use a lot of the initial funds to buy the wagon, the six-legged workhorse, and the registration fee. We don't have that much left, so they are all reserved to buy goods here."

Finances are a bit tight right now thanks to that but we are out of the danger zone now. This is the squirrelkin's territory. They have the densest, and most varied, forest.

For a small fee, we can chop down any tree and collect any fruit we could find. The territory of the squirrelkin is very large and they are protected by the king because they maintain the forest very well.

We can chop down trees but that offer is only available for teams smaller than ten. They also can't be an organisation. If they are then they need to register. They aren't really enforcing those rules very hard because the squirrelkin have magic-users. They can speed up the growth of trees.

This is also the main fighting force of the squirrelkin. They are great at long range attacks using groups. Each team also has at least one magic user in their group.

However, rare as they may be, those magic users don't do much. The most they could do is sprout bushes and vines to create obstacles for the enemies. They also don't have that much mana, so they aren't able to cast that many spells. They are there to disrupt enemy formation or delay them as the team runs away.

It looks like I won't be able to train my mana capacity that much while being in this continent. However, it is also a good thing. I now have a special skill that is rare in this current continent. I won't be doing a lot of fighting myself but having that as a backup plan is always good.

The squirrelkin isn't that keen on the whole survival of the fittest rule imposed on the continent. They care more about food, so as long as you follow their rules, they won't attack you. They set up this forest for food, they made it a business also for food, and they import food from other territories. This is a good place for trade, which is why this is a good place to start our merchant empire.

"I've already secured everything. Let's go! If we don't leave now, we won't be able to arrive there before nightfall."
"Don't worry too much. This horse might be a workhorse but these six legs of it ensure a fast speed."
"I know, even with that the beaverkin territory is far. We also have a lot of logs. Its weight would slow us down."
"The path isn't that dangerous. We can make it there safely."
"Fine, however, are we really going to make money by selling these logs."
"Not just logs, we also have some fruits and berries."
"Ok, but are you sure this will turn into profit?"
"The beaverkin territory is always short on wood. They have their own forest but since they live in a flooded city, they don't have enough of it for the entire population. They need food and shelter, so they could alway use wood. This trip of ours isn't going to net us a lot of profit but it is still a profit."
"When are we going to get into those big profit jobs you enticed me with?"
"Soon, very soon. We just have to keep doing these little things to build our reputation. The beaverkin is close to the molekin. I'm hoping to increase my prestige with these small businesses that we bring. Once we build up a sufficient amount of relationship, I can get a discount on the ore's that the molekins mine."
"Thinking long term, I see. Good, You deal with all that but once we have enough money, I want some new guards that could help us. They don't even have to be guards, they just need to be helpers. As long as they could throw some rocks to help in case we are attacked, I am fine even if they don't have actual combat experience. I can train them if need be!"
"The team would increase once we finish our business deal with the beaverkin. I'll leave the selection to you. As long as they are trustworthy then I don't have any other preference."
"As long as the benefits are good, we don't have to worry about betrayals. However, we do need to add a traitor once we have sufficient people."

Traitor? Why would we actively need to recruit those? The whole point of hiring trustworthy employees is to avoid them.

"I know what you are thinking but to get the team really loyal, they need to be betrayed by someone. Only when they have tasted betrayal will they truly solidify as a group and be loyal to us. They would be wary of future potential traitors that they will monitor and report to us if they find anything suspicious."
"Oh, once burned, twice shy."
"Exactly! However, that would have to wait until we have a sufficient number of people. Once we form a decent group, we will enact this trick. Leave the damage control to me but you have to pick casual business during that time."
"That is easy enough to arrange. Tell me first when you want to start it."
"Good!"

That is something for the future. It really is a nice tactic to use when training our employees.

It would be a disaster once we did it intentionally but I think I can trust bunny girl here. I don't have to worry about her until our merchant group becomes a merchant guild. By that time, I would make it so that the business wouldn't be able to exist without me.

She is more suited to battles and battlefield tactics. I'll overwhelm her with so much maths and paperworks that she won't be able to completely take over my merchant empire. Hahaha!!!

"You look like you are thinking of something despicable. Are you going to trick the beaverkin like you did those peddlers?"
"What? Of course not. I want a long standing relationship with them. They don't leave their territory and they won't attack you without just cause. They are the perfect clients. I want to protect my relationship with them as much as possible."
"Hmmm~"

She seems suspicious about me but it's still fine. I really do need her as a co-founder. It would speed things up.

Anyway, we would have to do this log delivery service a couple more times and then move on to the molekin.

I need a large amount of ores. I know I said I don't want to be known for my smithing skills in this continent but I want to take advantage of the current situation to speed up my progress.

The survival rule has only been introduced. Well, it has been some time but the state of the continent is still in the introduction phase. The dust still has not settled. They were in an age of peace but this rule plunged the whole continent in chaos.

There has been a lot of change in the status quo in the continent. I need to take advantage of this chaos. I need to be one of the more famous merchant groups once the dust settles because this rule will capsize those who can't flow along with the change, and I will take their place the moment they fall.

The first step is to be the one to deliver necessities to the herbivore territories. They typically don't move far from their territory, so will deliver what they need to them. I'm sure there are other merchants that know of this but my merchant group is still small, so I can only be one of the small fries fighting over the crumbs they left behind.