Crossroads (5)
The place had once been called Blue Cotton Village, though hardly anyone remembered that name anymore. The instructions Sam had received from the leader were simple.
Always watch your surroundings with care. If anyone enters the surveillance zone, get a rough count of their numbers and report it. Sentry duty was boring, but Sam understood it was also necessary. If he failed to do his job properly, the lord’s forces would crush them without mercy.
Sam wasn’t strong, nor was he fast or particularly clever, but he was diligent. That was precisely why the leader had given him this role. Yet that same diligence had now landed him in a quandary. Someone had entered the area he was responsible for.
That part was fine. It had happened several times before. The problem was the newcomer’s appearance.
“A carriage…?”
And not just any carriage. It was a lavish black vehicle adorned with gold inlays—an ostentatious display of wealth. Sam knew nothing about the crafting techniques, the historical period, the nation of origin, or the family crest engraved on it, but one thing was certain: it looked obscenely expensive.
Four horses pulled the vehicle. On the coachman’s seat sat a blond young man and another youth with the sharp look of a hunter, both holding the reins. Sam couldn’t tell how many people were inside, but judging by the size, there were no more than six.
“What the hell is this?”
Had this been a main road leading to another grand territory or the capital, Sam would have dismissed them as wealthy merchants or nobles and thought little of it. But the path the carriage traveled was a bumpy, neglected trail that had been abandoned for decades, its original shape barely visible. At its end lay not a bustling city but his own village, a place more accurately described as a ruin.
It was far too luxurious for mere wanderers who had simply lost their way. At the same time, the destination and route made no sense for people of the status that carriage implied to be out on a pleasure trip. After a brief moment of hesitation, Sam decided to report exactly what he had seen. The leader could make the judgment call.
Chase, seated on the coachman’s bench, felt the presence that had been watching them gradually retreat into the distance and asked, “I get that we’re here to negotiate, not fight, so moving openly makes sense. But why use a carriage?”
“It’s not exactly a short distance. More comfortable than walking, isn’t it?”
“Still, there’s no need to use something this flashy.”
Chrome clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Come now, Chase my good man.”
“That tone gives me the creeps. Knock it off.”
“Look at the ground. On a rough road like this, a cheap carriage would be worse than riding a horse. You need something high-end, loaded with balance control and shock-absorption spells, before it feels like traveling on a proper paved highway.”
“...Couldn’t we have just ridden horses, then?”
“I don’t know how to ride.”
Chrome stated it with such matter-of-fact innocence that Chase’s gaze dropped to the reins the other boy gripped.
“These are special reins enchanted with multiple spells. Even a beginner can handle the horses like a seasoned expert.”
“...I didn’t say anything.”
“I was lying, by the way.”
“......”
This guy wasn’t like this during the last dungeon run or the southern campaign, Chase thought, suppressing a surge of irritation. He soon realized the cause. Is it because Ligret isn’t here?
Chase had spent enough time around Chrome and his crew to be familiar with them, yet he usually operated separately. That distance allowed him an objective view of the group. The most infamous member was undoubtedly Chrome Midas—first for his notorious duel with Caspar, then for shamelessly hitting on the princess without reading the room, and finally for reaching the absolute peak of infamy through the Midas Cube. But if one had to pick second place, it would unquestionably be Ligret.
Her monstrous talent had been on full display during martial arts classes. Starting with Crow Vein, the genius swordsman from the Nahat Grand Duchy, she had brutally dismantled every opponent. There were wild rumors—some likely exaggerated—claiming she had shattered the princess’s high-tier mana barrier with a single strike and completely dominated the southern legion commander without allowing a single counterattack. On top of that, though she never dressed up, those who looked closely often called her cute.
She rarely smiled, however, and the sheer ferocity she displayed during sparring sessions and academy events had earned her a quiet undercurrent of fear. Many assumed Chrome kept the violent Ligret close to keep her on a leash. Chase had been one of them. But now he wondered if the truth was the opposite.
Perhaps Ligret’s timely acts of violence had been the perfect medicine, restraining the boy named Chrome Midas. If so, the academy had made a terrible mistake. Even on ordinary days, watching him made one question whether he was truly sane. And right now, there was no one left to hold him back.
His little sister? When a house was already burning, you brought water or sand, not oil and a fan. Chase recalled how Fiore had somehow managed to “persuade” the two students from the Grand Duchy who had initially opposed this operation after talking at them for five minutes. He resolved that at the very least, he would keep his own sanity intact.
“Halt!”
From the rugged terrain of jagged rocks and shallow hills, a group that had been hiding emerged all at once, surrounding the carriage. Their visible numbers came to a little over ten. Their weapons were a haphazard mix of spears and swords, but the quality wasn’t bad. At least they weren’t carrying farm tools.
While Chase calculated how many he could kill with arrows from atop the carriage before they closed the distance, one man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward. He was quite large, with his head wrapped in a hood. Countless small scars covered his arms and legs—an appearance that would make anyone hesitate to call him anything but a proper bandit.
“Who the hell are you people?” he demanded.
Even while surrounded, Chrome answered with perfect composure. “We are merchants. We’re heading to the village at the end of this road to conduct business.”
“Business?”
The man frowned, clearly caught off guard by the answer. He studied Chrome’s face and the carriage behind him, then sneered. “If you really are a merchant, you’d best turn around right now. I might believe it if you had a cargo wagon, but does it make any sense to bring a carriage obviously meant for high nobility?”
“Come now, why don’t you look at the goods first? We have quite a few useful items. Food, clothing, that sort of thing. Or would you gentlemen like to purchase them instead?”
With a soft thud, Chrome hopped down from the coachman’s seat. He reached into the Thoth’s Bag he had left beside him, pulled out what looked like a mat, and spread it across the ground. The bandits surrounding the carriage murmured at the sudden action, but their leader waved a hand and silence fell. They seemed willing to see what nonsense the boy would try next.
What Chrome produced next was a large paper-wrapped loaf of bread. The white bread looked exceptionally high quality; several pairs of eyes gleamed at the sight. Either unaware or uncaring of those stares, Chrome continued pulling out more items and arranging them on the mat. Bread. More bread.
At first the watchers observed with a mix of curiosity and mockery. But as the pile of bread filled nearly a third of the mat, their expressions slowly shifted to shock. There was simply no way that much bread could have fit inside the bag.
After the bread came dried meats and fruits, then glass bottles of liquor, followed by various medicinal herbs and clean cloths. When the mat was completely covered with goods, Chrome clapped his hands theatrically.
“This is roughly what we have. Don’t you think these would sell rather well in the village I’m heading to? Or, as I said earlier, you gentlemen are welcome to buy them. From the look of things, some of you seem quite hungry.”
As Chrome had observed, although the men surrounding the carriage were sharply armed and carried themselves with discipline, their limbs were painfully thin and their cheeks hollow. They weren’t on the verge of starvation, but it was clear they did not eat well.
The man who appeared to be their leader growled, “That bag is a magic tool, isn’t it? And someone carrying something like that claims his only purpose is trade?”
“Hey now, don’t look down on merchants. The profession that can make the best use of a bag like this is commerce!”
Chrome’s genuinely aggrieved protest left the man with a sour expression.
“Whatever! We don’t have the money to buy any of that anyway! If you don’t want trouble, get lost!”
“Hmm. No money, I see.”
Chrome covered his mouth in a thoughtful pose, but inside he was laughing. How could he not? A group of armed men had the carriage surrounded and were clearly ready to attack at any moment, yet instead of threatening to kill them unless they handed everything over, the man had said they had no money to buy the goods. If these were bandits, the empire wouldn’t even need a guard force.
“In that case, how about this? Instead of money, sell me information.”
“What are you talking about?”
Chrome looked at the frowning man and said, “Tell me about your identities and your past. In exchange for that information, I’ll give you everything you see here.”