Chapter 74: How to get further

Excluding the part when Fen had to insist on one of the Inn's servants leaving his bed unattended through the night, he had to right to complain about his sleep. After cleansing himself from all the sweat and dirt that this young man accumulated over his recent, long journey and dealing with the insistence of the young girl that looked to make some money, Fen finally had a proper rest. 

Sleeping in a real bed instead of a pile of leaves or even some tree's branch made the young man extremely energetic. Even without using the service of the young girl that offered herself to him, Fen it was hard to imagine how relaxed this young man was. 

"Morning!" 

Shouting from across the street, a local vendor smiled to his first potential client in the day. Fen was extremely used to waking even before the sunrise. As such, it was a huge surprise to him that someone actually had his stall already open!

"Morning."

Nodding his head in response to the greeting, Fen realised that this exchange kind of forced him to approach the stall. While some might consider it wasteful both in terms of time and money that he would most likely leave there, given how Fen had absolutely no strict deadline for moving out and earning a reasonable amount of money only required him to hop into the forest for a moment, treating himself to something nice couldn't be that bad.

"How about some pelter skins? Maybe would you fancy some of the finest Natarian leather? Any material or clothing that you want, you can find it here!"

Seeing how his sale's pitch managed to work, the stall-keeper smiled wildly as he continued to point his hand at different items displayed on a small shelf in front of him.

"Do I look like someone who can properly sew those obviously expensive materials together? Unless you know where I should go to turn those things into an actual set of clothes, I won't be able to make business with you."

All the comfortable robes that Fen received from the archarity were now buried two meters underground in a randomly chosen spot beside the forest path. With how they were the biggest giveaway of his identity, the young man had no other choice but to craft a set of spare clothes himself.

And it went without saying that the feeling of pulling a set of dirties and bloodied rags on his recently cleaned body felt like an absolute waste and disaster! But even if Fen were to go and waste his money on the processed materials that he used to sell just yesterday, the fact that he didn't have the necessary skills to turn it into proper clothes made the entire thing rather pointless.

"I do know a good tailor nearby, but it will take a while before he will open his shop. Would you care to tell what kind of clothes are you looking for?"

Instantly catching the opportunity, the salesman smiled before inquiring a bit. When it came to making clothes, it wasn't the craft alone that decided their quality and designed usage. If one were to use some kind of extremely stiff materials without even a shred of flexibility, then as much as this kind of robe could serve as armour, it would most likely prevent someone wearing it from moving around as freely as without it. 

"I would like to say that I need travelling clothes, but something fitting for the freelance caravan guard would be even better. One can't go on with hunting alone forever, can he?"

Explaining his wishes, Fen smiled to the merchant. In a few moments, he left the stall with a huge package of all sorts of materials that according to the stall owner, could be used to make a pretty comfortable and unrestrictive outfit that was recently quite popular amongst the mercenaries and adventurers around this parts.

After dropping his new purchase and leaving the payment for another night in the Inn-owner's hands, Fen was finally free to walk around the city. 

Returning to the main road with his pouch far lighter than before, Fen was quite surprised to realise that most of the shops around the area were already open. It seemed like it was only the deeper parts of the city that woke up in a more humanly hour, with literally every shop on the main street already bustling with activities!

"Best swords for the best swordsmen! Only here for the small price of three silvers! Come and check it out!"

"Fresh sweet-bread! Its taste will rejuvenate your energy for the entire day!"

"Looking for the guards and participants for the caravan leaving to the north! Sign in to get insane profits!"

It seemed as if the morning was the most active part of the day in this city. Compared to how it was busy but generally calm during the late hours, Fen couldn't even begin to compare how it looked now!

"Excuse me."

Catching one of the interesting voices amongst the crowd of the salesmen trying to catch his attention, Fen approached the man announcing the matters of the caravan.

"How can I help you, dear sir? Could you be interested in joining the caravan?"

Instantly moving to the business, this man didn't waste any time on idle talking. Given how quickly he would most likely fill all the slots that he had, lingering with someone only remotely interested in joining would be counterproductive for him.

"Yeah, my expertise lies mostly in hunting, but I find it hard to believe any human could pose a greater threat than the monsters I'm used to facing. But before I sign in, I would like to ask for the guard's pay."

Never do anything for free. That was the ultimate maxim of everyone travelling through the merchants' highway. Once someone would spend his time, effort and resources on doing something without proper remuneration, everyone around him would only see him as someone to use, instead of recognising him as a partner. 

"A silver for each day, three silvers if we happen to face some bandits, third of the price if we catch any fugitives."

This kind of condensed information was exactly what Fen was looking for. Just the basic wage was enough to put his earning as a hunter to shame, as he would get entire silver a day without doing anything! 

Obviously, this money wasn't free. In case anything bad were to happen, it would be Fen who would be responsible for turning the tables on any potential attackers. Obviously, the bigger the caravan would get, the more guardians would accompany it, lessening the danger, yet this random treat of just dying to some banding remained.

"The last question then, when are you guys going to depart then?"

At this point, Fen was almost completely certain that he would join this group. As long as he could get someone to accompany him on his way to the imperial highway, the opportunities to learn more about the basic knowledge that Fen was still lacking would be literally everywhere!

Suddenly, another person approached the man that Fen was speaking with, whispering some words to his ear. 

"I'm sorry, sir."

The message that this man received had to be of the better kind, as it was hard to find the end of his smile as the announcer turned back to the young man.

"It appears that our employer managed to contract an official group of mercenaries for the guarding task, so unless you are in possession of a cart of your own along with wares in it, we will have to end our talk here."

From the slight ridicule that was included in the latter part of the man's speech, Fen was certain that his window of opportunity to join this caravan sadly closed.

"I understand. Would you be as kind as to tell me how can I get to the city of Birkaz?"

Even if joining this specific caravan was out of the picture right now, it didn't mean that the man announcing it wouldn't be able to help Fen. Given how he suddenly retracted the offer that the young man was about to take, there was a chance that this man would feel bad about it enough to give freebie advice!

"Birkaz you say… If you just want to get there, getting a random coach would be the cheapest and quickest option. You can find them at the north end of the city, and it should cost you about one or two silvers to rent a spot. Now, I'm sorry but I need to return to my job."

After helping the young man out, the announcer cut any further discussion, before his slightly modified shouts joined the choir of innumerable voices carried by the winds.

"Northern end of the city you say…"

Even though Fen knew that the man no longer paid any attention to him, those words still escaped his lips as he started to ponder over this possibility.

The city of Birkaz in itself was nothing more but a stop on Fen's way. With the ultimate goal of reaching the land of Kinar to the north and joining the academy there, reaching the Imperial Highway was a must. With the task of getting his clothes done already on the list, once he could change his appearance once again, reaching Birkaz would be the next step to cover!

Once there, joining some kind of caravan headed towards Kharag would be the most likely course of Fen's action, as it was this city that the last step of Fen's road, the next bit of merchants' highway was located!