Arc | Chapter. 12: Traders (Patreon)

Chapter. 12: Traders

I dodged the wolves, luring them away from my companion.

“Ceylon, get the man to safety and gather the other people,” I commanded.

“On it!” She called, and the wolves attacked once more.

This time however, I counter-attacked.

* * * * *

Ceylon did as told, quickly helping the man behind them get up ⁠— some sort of trader or traveler she assumed ⁠— and quickly called the rest of the people over as they all huddled together. All while, she ensured no one was critically wounded.

Finally, the last person arrived. It was a woman that was the best dressed out of everyone, her hair was brown and she was average looking. And then, mutters broke out. However, before Ceylon could assuage the worries of the surrounding people, the woman turned to her.

“Thank you for saving us, but we should run.”

Ceylon blinked. “Wait, why?”

“Your companion can stall for time, but they are all Nightmare Wolves, C Tier Beasts.” The woman shook her head. “There is no way for a single person to defeat them⁠—”

And at that moment, a yelp broke through the air as a gust of wind passed. Ceylon blinked as a rock shattered, and what she saw was; a bludgeoned monster embedded in it; dead. The woman looked with wide eyes, at the wolf.

“How did that happen⁠—” And she paused looking at the battlefield.

Ceylon turned only to see a spectacular sight.

Arc was just evading the wolves with a wide grin, no matter how many times they pounced at her, they would completely miss. She wasn’t moving particularly fast, but it was as if she had eyes on the back of her head, or even just predicting the future.

The woman stared with bulging eyes. “How…?”

Even the other five people had stopped talking as they stared at the impossible feat. Ceylon still found it hard to comprehend herself. And then, after a moment, Arc took a breath, and punched.

A wolf went flying into the forest, breaking into a tree, and once more, instantly died.

Ceylon blinked for a moment. Well that was expected… Meanwhile, the other people couldn’t work their jaws as she too gasped.

Arc then punched another, and another, and another. The dry hits echoed through the air along with the yelps of death as they instantly died. And not before long, only one wolf remained, and Arc effortlessly dodged as she let out a sigh.

“Way too weak.”

And her elbow collided with the skull of the wolf, bludgeoning it into the ground for an instant kill. Ceylon could see that Arc seemed a bit disappointed, then again she did say she enjoyed fights. That was…

A bit hard to digest, but eventually, she hoped to be able to help her find fights if necessary too… All in order to repay her.

However, the people behind her were too preoccupied just… staring.

Arc shook her bloodied hand as mist poured from it, to the confusion of everyone, but Ceylon quickly noticed the filth was being completely frozen off. And before long, she turned towards them, and everyone but Ceylon flinched.

Arc blinked.

“Is something wrong?”

* * * * *

Ceylon shook her head at me.

“They are just surprised. I am sure it’s not common for C Tier monsters to die in a single punch,” she awkwardly chuckled. “But you know, it makes sense seeing it’s you.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair I guess. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.” A sigh left me.

I just wanted to have some fun with the wolves, that was all. I needed to let out some steam after what happened in Ranedale, and I had hurried to kill the Emera Spiders as well, so I couldn’t enjoy myself there either.

Before I could try to communicate with the group of people, the brown haired woman and seeming leader, let out a small cough to get my attention.

“Thank you for saving us, mighty warrior.” She gave me a polite smile. “We’d like to compensate you, but…” Her smile turned bitter, looking at our surroundings. “We have incurred heavy losses in this trip.”

“Are you people traders?” I asked, raising my brow.

“Yeah, we were a caravan, but our guards died to the wolves.” She gestured to the bodies. “Such business expenses are expected when traveling in the dark forest after all.”

Ceylon frowned but said nothing.

“Alright.” I nodded. “Well good luck with that.”

I turned to Ceylon.

“Let’s leave?”

She hesitated but ultimately nodded, and just as she was about to grab my hand, the woman called.

“Wait, you’re leaving just like that?” she asked with surprise. “Aren’t you going to escort us to town or something?”

“Am I supposed to?” I asked, confused.

“Okay, wait!” she called. “We are transporting very important cargo, allow us to hire you? We will pay you handsomely upon arrival.”

The people behind quickly nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll chip in!”

“Me too.”

“Make that three!”

And soon, all five people had agreed to pay me. But I was still hesitant, I did need money, but I also wanted to help Ceylon first and get to the next town.

“I’ll…” I sighed. “Let me talk about it with my companion first.”

The woman nervously nodded as I dragged Ceylon to the side. She hesitantly met my gaze as I asked.

“What do you think?”

“I…” She looked to the ground. “I know this isn’t very logical, but I suddenly have a bad feeling about this. The way they just leeched onto you, and also talked about it just being a business expense…” She shook her head, meeting my gaze. “I don’t like it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, they do seem like red flags.”

“But at the same time, I don’t want to feel responsible if they die.” Ceylon sighed. “Let’s just help them? I mean, you are more than strong enough to, you know, protect us if necessary…”

I slowly nodded at her statement.

Perhaps, I should have just left. I did mildly care if they died because of me not helping them, but I wouldn’t be losing sleep over it. I mean, if without my help they would’ve died anyway⁠—

I stopped myself, realizing I was starting to sound like a psychopath. Perhaps it just had to do with training, that I didn’t know. I nodded at Ceylon.

“Alright, let’s help them.”

I walked back to meet with the woman, and at first glance I could tell she was nervous; awkwardly shifting and tapping her interlocked fingers with each other.

“So, what is your reply?”

“I’ll accept the hiring request, however I must also know what type of cargo you’re transporting that is so valuable.” I crossed my arms. “Otherwise, it’s not really worth my time or Ceylon’s for that matter.”

The woman blinked. Looking behind her where she got some nods and some headshakes. For whatever reason, it seemed that everyone was transporting the same thing? That only made things suspicious before the woman seemed to come to a decision.

“It’s best if I just show you.” She sighed.

One of the men behind immediately spoke up. “But if you do that⁠—”

“And if we don’t do that, then we’ll just fuckin’ die,” she growled. “If y’all value money over your lives, then you can fuck right off.”

The other traders immediately went silent as she approached the only standing wagon. Ceylon and I followed right behind her. After a few moments, we arrived to the back that was covered with a tarp. After taking a sharp breath, the woman opened it.

“This is what we are transporting.”

Ceylon and I blinked. “Dirt?”

But she immediately narrowed her eyes. “Wait, that is not normal dirt.”

And soon enough, the System told me what it was.

[ Earth of the Black Forest. Tier. C ]

I raised my brow as Ceylon immediately frowned. “What⁠— why are you transporting dirt from the Black Forest? The inner area no less!” she hissed. “All this thing does is attract monsters! Dispose of it!”

Meanwhile, it finally made sense to me why it was C Tier in spite of it being dirt. I mean, I don’t know, it sounded a bit odd that dirt out of all things could be higher than F Tier, but here we were. The trader woman immediately recoiled from Ceylon’s words.

“What would a girl like you know about its uses?!”

“I know that it’s used as a lure for monsters by adventurers, I also however know that transporting it in large quantities is nothing but begging for death!” Finally, Ceylon snapped, continuing. “No wonder you people didn’t care about the deaths of your guards, you were already planning for them to die!”

The woman gritted her teeth but said nothing, turning back to me as her expression softened.

“We are almost out of the forest, about ten kilometers to be exact. The town at the entrance, Blackcrest, awaits us.” She met my gaze. “It’s not a long distance and the journey is just a couple of hours, can you please escort us there?”

I shook my head. “I can’t help but feel like you’re using me as your cover up for your failed operation here.” I gestured to the wagon. “At the same time, just walking away would be cruel.”

The woman slowly nodded, not quite sure if she was following, but I just continued without care.

“That is why, I will offer an alternative.” I took a small breath. “I can escort everyone here to town without the dirt. And when we get there, you can just hire other people to rescue the carriage, come back for it, or whatever you need to do.”

The woman slowly nodded, thinking to herself. “I’ll discuss it with the others.”

With those words, she walked off. I simply nodded as a sigh left me. Ceylon had a small frown too, so I decided to speak up.

“I wish I could just use [God Step] take them to town and get it over with, but if I show off too much, it might come back to bite me. Sorry, we’ll be stuck like this for longer than needed.”

Ceylon slowly nodded. “I didn’t expect you to do so. I’m just upset they got people killed over their greed.”

“Right… it’s a shitty thing to do.”

“It’s just scummy.” Ceylon sighed. “But, I guess there are all kinds of people out there. Not the first time I see something like this.”

I nodded. “I do hope it’s the last.”

Ceylon gave me a small smile. “It probably won’t be, but it’s just how life is. With the death of King Credence, the Kingdom of Draliz is in a highly unstable position.

“I forgot to mention, but the Prince died just a year prior. Right now, the Kingdom’s secretary is preparing to hold a grand ceremony in which the wealth of each noble family will be recounted. And whoever comes out on top… ”

“Will be crowned?” I asked.

Ceylon nodded with a bitter smile. “However, things aren’t so simple. The surrounding Kingdoms are said to be preparing to war against Draliz. Even once a new king is elected, turmoil will follow. People like these traders will be everywhere, because if I’ve learnt anything is that difficult times breed and fester the worst in people.”

I slowly nodded. “That is…”

“That is why you should leave Draliz after helping me, Arc.” She met my gaze. “Don’t get me wrong, adventurers don’t get caught up with guards, for their affiliation is neutral. But the people will be affected, and well…” She looked at the ground. “Since you’re trying to see the world and find a home. I feel that it might be a much more enjoyable experience to go to places that will be untouched.”

“I see, I’ll hm… I’ll think about it.”

Ceylon awkwardly nodded. “Yeah. Draliz is just not in a good situation right now. That is all, I felt like you had to know that, since I feel like I haven’t been doing a good job at being a guide or anything like that.”

“It’s fine.” I waved her concerns away. “If I have questions I can just ask you.”

“Right, please do.” She nodded.

And at that moment, the trader finally came back.

“We have all agreed to leave the carriage behind, however we ask for a few minutes to gather our positions before setting off.” She lightly bowed before walking away once more.

“So, I guess we’ll travel for another day or so by foot?” I massaged my neck. “It sounds a bit tiresome even though I already expected it.”

“Right… Well, it’s not like we are running late.” Ceylon lightly shrugged. “And besides, it’s not like we have to spend our time talking with the traders.” She turned to me. “So, let’s just try and enjoy things just like we did on the way of Ranedale? I can also use this chance to tell you more about things.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

And at that moment, the trader woman approached us, nodding.

“We are ready to set off.”

“Alright, then let’s go.” I gestured towards Ceylon, already walking forward, before turning to the trader. “Follow behind us.”

She nodded, and just like that we set off.

“Oh before I forget,” Ceylon called to me, walking by my side. As she handed me a small wooden box. “It’s for you, Arc.”

I blinked, holding the box as I slowly removed its lid. “What is this?”

“You mentioned how good the soup was, and well… considering you had only eaten raw meat up until that point…” Ceylon gave me a shy smile. “I got you some candy. It’s the best I could find in Ranedale.”

Finally, as I uncovered the lid, I saw snow-white beads inside of the box, all of them sparkling like pearls. For a moment, I was surprised before I slowly covered the lid, intending to enjoy them whenever we stopped for a break. Even then, I couldn’t stop my smile.

“Thank you, Ceylon, I appreciate it.”

She enthusiastically nodded and then, we headed into the night.

* * * * *

Dergan went to see the [Appraiser] of Ranedale. He wished he could’ve asked Arc for the ice spear that was being appraised, but she was nowhere to be seen, her companion had been briefly spotted a few times but never actually found. It was clear to him that they had left the town by this point.

And so, after making his decision, he now waited at a desk, sitting across from the [Appraiser]. An old man with no hair whatsoever and elongated robes. It had been close to an hour since the appraisal process had begun, and yet it hadn’t finished. The old man in front of him was sweating, still casting his skill over the icy weapon.

The more time that passed, the more nervous he felt, until finally he decided to ask.

“How much longer?”

And at that moment, the [Appraiser] let out a long breath. The man looked emptily ahead, reading what the System had to say, and froze. Something that made Dergan’s heart jump a few beats.

“What Tier is it?”

The man was shaking as he looked at the screen. “It’s⁠— it’s…”

There was a silence before the man continued in a low voice.

“S Tier…”

Dergan felt white noise overwhelm all of his senses before he finally registered what the [Appraiser] just said.

“What?!”