In the evening, in the middle of the village of Ancheno, under the big tree surrounded by two people, a roaring bonfire was lit, and the villagers gathered around the bonfire to happily eat roasted winter wolf meat, drink delicious ale, and talk about what they had seen and heard about cleaning up the battlefield in the afternoon.

A young magician, alone in a remote village threatened by demonic beasts, casts brilliant magic, eradicates the raging demonic beasts, and rescues the suffering people. What could be a better story to talk about, which had only appeared in the beautiful melody of the bard's singing melody, but what better story to talk about? Ryan, who had hunted 27 winter wolves on his own, suddenly became a hero in the hearts of the Anchenor.

Ryan didn't drink alcohol in the first place, but in the face of the enthusiastic villagers, he had to refuse with the excuse that "he is a magician, so he must stay sober and can't drink". Facing the villagers of Ancheno, Ryan felt the joy of helping others for the first time, although the bonus of this mercenary mission is not much, but being able to really help others is not the greatest reward for himself? At this time, Ryan has already left the unpleasant feeling at the beginning behind.

The next morning, while the villagers of Ancheno, still immersed in the joy of last night's revelry, fell asleep, Ryan had already embarked on the journey back to the town of Takri.

By early evening, Ryan was back in the town of Takri.

After entering the city, Ryan went directly to the mercenary guild in the center of the town.

When Ryan showed the certificate issued by the head of Anchenor Village that he had eradicated the rampaging demonic beasts, soon, the staff of the Mercenary Guild went through the formalities for Ryan to complete the task, and took out Ryan's reward for this mission, 5 gold coins.

Ryan held the 5 gold coins firmly in his hand, not to mention how happy he was, this was his first real income, almost equivalent to his father's income from three months of hard hunting, this mercenary made money really fast. Ryan decided to wait until he arrived in the imperial capital and use the money to buy a few gifts for relatives and friends in his hometown.

By the time Ryan walked out of the Mercenary Guild, it was already dark outside. The town of Takri was deserted at night, with almost no one walking on the streets, and Ryan found the inn where he had stayed last time, as he remembered. After enjoying the same meal again, Ryan booked a room and rested early.

The next day, after eating breakfast, Ryan went to the Mercenary Guild in Takri Town.

This time, Ryan paid attention to the task and refused to answer those who were too vague. Originally, Ryan didn't like errand tasks, but now he is picky, and the result is: it took half a day to read all the tasks over and over again, but he didn't find a task that matched his heart.

At noon, Ryan felt hungry alone and was about to go out to get something to eat, but he was surprised to find that there was also a rest area in the Mercenary Guild, and if he wanted, he could also spend some money to buy a glass of wine or simple food to satisfy his stomach. This is usually for mercenaries who spend the day waiting for tasks in the Mercenary Guild.

Ryan sat at the table, gulping down on toast. He reviewed his picky behavior: "After all, there are only about 10,000 inhabitants in Takri Town, and there are no big villages nearby, so what task can be too satisfying for you? After all, I became a mercenary to accumulate experience and find partners. After a few more tasks, I will leave for Elfa, which is the seventh largest city in the empire, and there will be many people and many things, and there will definitely be tasks that keep me busy. ”

Thinking of this, Ryan took a sip of juice, and he secretly made up his mind that after lunch, he was going to take the task of capturing the young demonic beast he saw in the morning. Although the white-feathered parrot with a bounty is so easy to find from time to time, there is always a reward for going to the depths of the Hengduan Mountains by yourself, and the merchant who issued the task did not specify a specific time anyway. This kind of bounty task can usually be taken by multiple people at the same time, and if someone can't complete it, there will be no punishment, and the merchant also made it clear that pay by the number, 1 gold coin for a white-feathered parrot, the more the merrier.

At this time, a middle-aged man in his forties walked into the Mercenary Guild, and after he entered the door, he habitually swept the hall of the Mercenary Guild with his gaze. At this time, except for a few staff members of the Mercenary Guild, only Ryan was eating lunch. The middle-aged man's gaze fell on Ryan, who seemed to be a little curious about the young Ryan.

Ryan, who was eating toast with his head down, felt the middle-aged man's gaze and looked up. He saw that the middle-aged man was wearing a black bowler hat on his head, a merchant's gown made of white linen clothes, a badge on his chest that seemed to have a more complex insignia, and a merchant's lower body was black linen trousers.

Judging by the merchant's entire outfit, Ryan knew that he was a purchasing merchant from a certain chamber of commerce in a distant big city. Because local merchants would never wear a dress in such a hot weather, only those who were well-trained by the big chambers of commerce would wear it for the sake of image. However, Ryan himself had not studied badges, so he could not recognize the contents of the badge on the merchant's chest, so it was impossible to guess the identity of the merchant.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and the merchant withdrew his gaze and walked to the place where the Mercenary Guild issued the task.

The staff of the Mercenary Guild received the merchant and asked him if he needed help.

The middle-aged merchant simply said that he had purchased goods in the town of Takri and was ready to leave. I hope to hire a mercenary group of more than five people to escort me.

However, the staff informed him that Takri could not find a mercenary group of more than five people at the moment, and asked him if he had issued a mission to wait for the mercenary group to arrive.

The middle-aged merchant was obviously unwilling to wait, he would rather increase the commission of the task a little, but there was indeed no mercenary group in Takri Town that met his requirements, which disappointed the middle-aged merchant, he shook his head and rejected the staff's offer.

The staff also advised the businessmen to hire separate personnel to protect themselves.

The merchant thought about it and felt that it was also very troublesome to hire them separately, and if something really happened, these mercenaries who had gathered together temporarily did not cooperate with each other in the slightest, and he was afraid that it would make things worse, so he refused the staff's proposal.

The staff spread their hands and said that they had no choice.

The middle-aged merchant thought for a moment, but although he didn't have much hope, he asked again: "Is there a magician?" ”

The staff remembered the certificate of completion of the mission issued by the head of the village of Ancheno, which was handed to him by Ryan last night, which clearly stated that it was a great magician who saved Ancheno, and a bunch of nonsense praising the god of light. Although the staff didn't believe in the words of the village chief, Ryan should have some magic skills, so he pointed out Ryan to the middle-aged merchant and said, "Are you looking for a magician, he is." ”

The middle-aged businessman followed the staff's fingers, but found the young man he had seen as soon as he entered the door, and he said in disbelief: "Is that him?

The staff heard the suspicion in the middle-aged businessman's tone, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn't lie to you, this teenager completed a mission yesterday, hunting 27 winter wolves alone, and the proof of completion of the mission clearly states that he is a magician. ”

The middle-aged merchant was stunned when he heard the staff's words, he could hunt 27 winter wolves alone, which was at least the level of a junior magician. He thought about it for a moment and decided to communicate with Ryan first.

When Ryan heard the word "magician", he had already raised his head to look at the middle-aged businessman. Seeing the middle-aged businessman walking towards him with a suspicious look on his face, Ryan greeted him generously and said, "Sir, is there anything I can do for you?"

The middle-aged businessman sat down next to Ryan and said, "Hello, I'm a businessman, my name is Flanner, can I have a conversation with you?"

Ryan said to Flanna, "You can call me Ryan, don't use your respectful name, I'm much younger than you"

Flanner said, "Hehe, Ryan, I've always had a lot of respect for magicians, and I just heard from the staff that you once hunted 27 winter wolves alone, is that true?"

"Yes" Ryan nodded, in the affirmative.

"I'm curious," Franner asked, "27 winter wolves aren't so easy to deal with, what kind of magic do you use?"

Ryan said, "Fireball." ”

"Fireball, that's level 3 magic!" Flanner exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my God, it's unbelievable." ”

Ryan misunderstood what Flanner meant, assuming that Flanna felt that the fireball technique was not enough to destroy the Winter Wolf, and he added, "My teacher once said, 'A good magician is not judged by how much strength he has, but by how skillfully he can use his powers. 'Twenty-seven winter wolves do sound like a lot, and I had a headache trying to think of a way to get rid of them, but I took a good chance, and so I succeeded. ”

Franner also misunderstood Ryan's words, he thought that Ryan was just an ordinary magic apprentice who had just learned a little magic knowledge. However, during the conversation with Ryan, Flanner felt that Ryan was approachable, polite to people, and should be well-educated, unlike many magicians who are arrogant to people and even unwilling to pay attention to others. And from Ryan's words, Flanner heard that Ryan seemed to be a disciple of a certain master, and he came out to practice. Generally speaking, during this kind of training, the disciple is strictly forbidden to say the teacher's name to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, for this reason, Franner didn't ask about Ryan himself, he now has confidence in Ryan, a trial apprentice of a magic master, at least level 3 magic, should be enough to protect his goods, right?

Franner sent an invitation to Ryan and said, "Ryan, I'm going to go to Elfa City with my goods, can I invite you to come along?"

Ryan knew that although Franner was polite, what a companion was actually hiring himself to protect him. Ryan thinks that he is going to Alpha City in a few days anyway, so it is better to take this opportunity to calculate and get an extra commission.

Ryan's hesitation made Franner confirm his thoughts, it seems that he really has his own trial mission, and he is unwilling to help himself, but Franner has found a magician easily, of course, he will not give up easily, he continues to add weights, hoping to press the balance in Ryan's heart, "50 gold coins, Ryan." I'm responsible for some of the expenses on the road, how about it?"

Hearing 50 gold coins, Ryan's brain was stupid all of a sudden, oh my God, this is too surprising. He quietly pinched his thigh, well, it hurt, not a dream. Ryan nodded hurriedly and said, "Franner, your enthusiasm makes me unable to refuse." I agree"

Hearing Ryan's consent, Franner was very happy and called the staff to go through the relevant procedures. As long as he can reach Elfa City safely, fifty glittering gold coins belong to Ryan.

Waiting for everything to be done, Ryan followed Flanner out of the Mercenary Guild. Franner's carriage was parked outside, and a coachman was dozing off in the driver's seat. This kind of carriage is a little longer than ordinary carriages, and the front of the ordinary carriage is the driving position, and the back is the cargo compartment for loading goods. But this one immediately has an extra cabin between the car and the cargo hold, barely enough for two people to sit in it. Of course, the elongated carriage became more bulky with ears, so it was 2 horses that pulled the cart instead of a normal one.

Franner woke up the driver and motioned for him to get ready to go. Then invite Ryan to sit in the cabin with himself to rest.

The carriage soon drove out of the town of Takri and headed for the city of Elfa.

In order to make the cities more closely connected to each other, the empire spent a lot of effort to build roads. Once upon a time, it took a full ten days to get from Elfa City to Takri Town, but with the construction of a post road that could accommodate two wagons walking side by side, the time on the road was greatly reduced, and it took only four days to get there by horse-drawn carriage.

Flanner's carriage was running happily on the post road, this was the first time Lane had ridden in a carriage, and he looked out the window and was amazed to see the trees in the two rows of the post road speeding backwards. The scenery along the way was also something that Ryan had never seen before, and he chatted with Franner without a word while enjoying the scenery along the way with relish.

Franner told Ryan about the interesting things he had encountered in business and procurement over the years, bringing the two closer together, and Ryan also told Flanner about his trip to the trial. Franner knew that on the continent of Eslar, disciples of magic masters were often ordered to come out for trials, and the content of the trials was also strange. For him, having a good relationship with a proud disciple of a certain magic master would have countless benefits for himself and the chamber of commerce to which he belonged.

During the conversation, Ryan learned that Franna was the largest chamber of commerce in the empire, a general procurement merchant under the Dorok Business Alliance, headquartered in the city of Yegnas, who was responsible for the procurement of materials in the southwestern regions of the empire. This time, a batch of monster furs and cores were procured in and around Takri to be shipped to Elfa City. The branch of the Dorok Business Alliance in the southwestern part of the empire in Elfa City has a special person responsible for transporting the materials purchased from various places to the city of Yegnas.

It's a pity that Ryan is too inexperienced in adventure, and he didn't notice the flaw in Franner's words: since it was to purchase magic cores and furs, why not wait for the upcoming Victory Day celebrations, but hurry back? And the carriage is not too big, even if it is filled with ordinary furs and magic cores, it will not be too much, and there is no need to hire more than five mercenary groups at all. What's more, pay nearly three times the price for Ryan to escort you. 50 gold coins, maybe the goods he purchased didn't cost so much money.

After walking peacefully for two days, Franner has been warmly entertaining Ryan, making Ryan feel very useful, and even feels that he does not feel like a mercenary, completing the task of escorting merchants, but going out to play with an old friend who has been friends for many years. Ryan felt very embarrassed in his heart, and he thought to himself that if he reached Elfa all the way safely, he would definitely not be able to ask for as many as 50 gold coins, which would be too sorry for Franna.

On the third day of the trip, Ryan and Franner sat in the carriage and chatted as usual, this time about a counterinsurgency battle that had taken place in Murray City not long ago.

About half a month ago, the lord of Mori City, Count Senat, suddenly gathered an army to rebel. Located in the southeastern part of the Empire, Mori City is an important city connecting the imperial capital, the largest commercial city of the Empire, the city of Yegnas, and the largest port city of Seabreeze. Sennett's rebellion, if not quelled quickly, would have severed the imperial capital's ties with the southern part of the empire.

In order to quickly quell the rebellion, General Orlando, the head of the Imperial Royal Knights and the supreme military leader of the imperial capital, personally led 5,000 royal knights to Mori City and fought 30,000 rebels outside Mori City. After a fierce battle, the Holy Knights routed Senate's army and put down the rebellion.

Ryan admired Franner's source, half a month ago, he was still near Takri, right? He can actually know so clearly about this rebellion that happened in the far east, he is worthy of being a businessman of the Dorok Business Alliance, the largest chamber of commerce in the empire, and the source of the information is too well-informed, so he couldn't help but praise Franna a few words, but he didn't have an idea Franner's face changed.

Realizing that he had lost his words, Flanner hurriedly talked to Ryan about the prosperity of the city of Yegnas and covered up the incident.

At this time, the galloping carriage suddenly stopped, and Ryan and Franner's bodies involuntarily fell forward, Ryan reacted quickly, and hurriedly supported the carriage wall with his hand, and pulled Flanna with his hand, avoiding an intimate release between Flanna's nose and the car wall.

When Franner sat down, an angry look on his face came to his face, and he said angrily to the coachman, "Stupid fellow, how did you drive the carriage?"

Outside, the chauffeur's trembling voice rang out: "Great, there are thieves." ”