Chapter 102 Arriving At Baroks

Fourteen days passed in the blink of an eye.

Nothing eventful is happening along the journey aside from them being late by two days.

The sudden rain had made it difficult for the soldiers to move the heavy field cannons on an uneven muddy road.

Either way, the team led by Gerald finally arrived at Baroks. Through the window, Audrey could see the city walls protecting Baroks from enemy attacks.

Audrey spots a number of people gathered in front of the city gate as they approach the city.

"Who are these people?" She asked Gerald.

"I don't know, the Mayor of Baroks and his officials perhaps." In all honesty, he had never gone as far as Baroks. To avoid Gerald mistaking the mayor for someone else, the king merely gave him the mayor's name and a description of his appearance.

He examines the person he believes to be the mayor from head to toe as he fixes his gaze on him.

The mayor is a man in his late forties and standing tall with a height of 185 centimetres. He has an oval-shaped face adorned with a beard and moustache. His eyes are blue while his hair is black with some mix of grey hair. The hair was neatly brushed to the side. All in all, his face showed his attitude as a serious person.

Gerald simply needs to take one look at the man's physique to recognise that he is a veteran soldier. Most importantly, his appearance matched the king's description.

Both Gerald and Audrey step out of the carriage the second it stops at the front of the gate.

The mayor gave them a warm welcome.

"Sir Minister, it's an honour to meet a person of your stature." The man glanced at their face first before finishing his sentence. "Welcome to Baroks City. My name is Samuel Lazo, Mayor of Baroks."

"The honour is mine, Mayor Samuel. Thank you for personally receiving us." Gerald returned with the greeting. There was firmness in his voice, living up to his title as the kingdom's minister. "This is my assistant, Audrey."

Audrey silently bows courteously upon hearing Gerald's introduction on her behalf.

"So, who's going to train the soldiers?" asked Samuel.

"That would be me." A voice sounded from behind both Gerald and Audrey. It attracts the attention of all the presence there.

Duan walks to them in his red military uniform. His hand is reaching out for a handshake with Samuel.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Duan, Head Artillerists of Ryntum Army."

"Nice to meet you too," said Samuel.

After finishing their greetings, Samuel invited them inside the city. Tens of Gerald and Audrey's servants—whom Riz had temporarily granted them—moved to the mayor's house. On the other side, the army is tasked with delivering the weaponry to the city's southern armoury.

Because they come from the north, the horses need to pull the field cannons through the city centre to reach their destination. The weapons naturally draw a lot of attention. But Riz specifically told Duan to do this.

Riz is aware that Inver's spies are present in Baroks and are waiting to observe Ryntum's response and predict Ryntum's next move. The King of Inver must be impatient to get follow-up news. So, he'll graciously let the spies have a feast on the field cannons.

....

At the mayor's residence,

After the servants finish dropping off their luggage, Samuel invites them for lunch with his wife and two children.

While waiting for the food to arrive, Samuel begins to ask some questions. The silence at the dining table has put all of them in an awkward position.

"I'm meaning to be rude but can I ask a question, Sir Gerald?"

"What is it?"

"How long do you plan to stay here?"

"I don't know yet...Two or three days, I think. We're not in a rush to meet the King of Inver. It'll only make us look weak and afraid of them. Furthermore, I need to give rats in Baroks some time for them to deliver everything they saw here."

According to the plan, Duan's mission is to take the soldiers stationed there for shooting practice. Not only to improve their skills but to show off to those spies the destructive power of the cannons.

Gerald's team will have to wait several days before moving to their capital.

"Why do you ask anyway?" Audrey looks at Samuel. She thought it was kinda rude to ask when they were going to leave when they just settled down.

"Well, you see...miss assistant, merchants from Inver keep complaining to me about the possibility of a blockade by Ryntum due to their soldiers' recent action. Inver pretty much relies on us for livestock, animal products such as hides, bristles, wool and also for grains and fruits."

"Don't they have fertile land on their own?" She asked again.

"They do but not enough to support the total population," Gerald interjects.

"Sir Gerald is right. Their daily diet mostly consists of seafood. But the ongoing war with Caberia makes it harder for them to acquire it now as Inver's fisherman keeps getting harassed all the time."

"Then, isn't it a stupid move to pick a fight with us? We're one of their important food suppliers and Ryntum is capable of supplying those products to them at a low price." Audrey is so confused by Inver's actions.

Now Inver only had Sidgean, Turtevekesia and Harkadia as their trading partners. However, compared to them, Ryntum can be said on top of the list in terms of low prices and quality of products. Inver only shares a small strip of land with both Sidgean and Turtevekesia but there are several problems with them.

To start with, between these two nations and Inver are mountainous terrains. Imagine moving goods worth thousands of gold coins across it. Now, add bandits to the equation.

No sane merchants are willing to take such a risk walking into an area full of bandits' camp bases.

Moreover, products from Sidgean are relatively higher than the market price. Whether you like it or not, no negotiation is allowed. Turtevekesia on the other hand doesn't give a shit about other nations except for Sidgean. Harkadia can provide Inver with those products but they are also neighbouring Caberia. There's no way Caberia would let the goods go past them.

"How should I know? Inver is a militaristic nation. Maybe they can't think far enough." Gerald laughs.

Audrey sneered, "Inver focus too much on war. They definitely have no time or manpower to spare on developing land. Not to mention we're the only ones they can get supplies safely. Is this the reason behind your confidence?" She looks at Gerald.

Gerald snickered, "Exactly. We have an upper hand in the upcoming negotiation."