Chapter 29: On the Road

Once her decree was issued, it wasn't just the young people heading east; even many mercenaries, like sharks smelling blood, abandoned their original contracts to rush toward Dalaroma. Compared to the fixed wages of escorting caravans, war offered much more to see; though the risks were greater, the rewards were equally massive.

Some caravans even abandoned their northward routes entirely, taking their goods east instead—their cargo was, naturally, war-related.

As a result, a massive gap appeared in the security for the northward-bound caravans, forcing them to hire a large number of newcomers, including people like Gawain, who had an obscure background and traveled with a goblin servant.

Gawain's employer was an independent Moon Elf merchant named Adrie Levy, who owned three carriages of her own. In addition to Gawain, she employed a female driver named Viron Tohar.

In other words, Gawain was hired as a driver rather than the guard as originally expected. As for the goblin sorcerer, Wick, he was merely an extra, not even included in the scope of the employment.

Gawain didn't care much about this; his primary goal was to follow the caravan north, so he wasn't bothered by the vast discrepancy in wages between a guard and a driver.

Besides, Wick was the one driving the carriage; Gawain hadn't even driven for half a minute.

Shortly after leaving Tesselburg, they joined a large caravan consisting of twenty-five heavy wagons and eight independent merchants, proceeding grandly toward Baldur's Gate along the Trade Way.

The Trade Way could be described as the largest and busiest commercial route in Faerûn.

Starting from Calimport in the south and reaching as far north as Ilusk, it passed through Tethyr and Amn, connecting a series of famous major cities such as Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep, and Neverwinter, effectively traversing the entire western coast of Faerûn.

On average, they encountered a roadside inn every two hours and a medium-to-large caravan every hour. Even in remote and desolate areas like the Star Mounts, the Broken Tooth Mountains, and the Cloud Peaks, they encountered little trouble; monsters and bandits were nowhere to be seen.

It was possible that seeing such a massive convoy made it inconvenient to strike, so they simply didn't show themselves.

A greater possibility was that because this trade route was so vital, the surrounding nations and cities placed great importance on it, conducting regular cleanups; no monsters or bandits dared to touch it.

Even if Gawain and Wick were traveling alone, the danger level on this route would not be high.

Joining a caravan also had its benefits; at the very least, it was hard to get lost.

It also helped avoid unnecessary trouble. At least when passing through those major cities, the caravan merchants would take the initiative to deal with local power players or merchants, preventing situations like the one they had encountered outside the city of Dalaroma.

There was also a very important point: making oneself a familiar face among the merchants. These merchants, who were constantly on the road, were famous for their extensive networks. As long as one got along well within this caravan, it wouldn't be difficult to find a new employer upon reaching the next city. The stretch from Baldur's Gate to the Rocklands was the most difficult to traverse, and Gawain was preparing for that.

With this mindset, Gawain appeared busier than anyone else after joining the caravan.

One moment, he would gallop to the very front to scout the road ahead.

The next, he would vanish into the wilderness, only to return with either a deer or a pile of edible tubers behind his warhorse, essentially solving the entire caravan's meal for the day.

At other times, he would spend half a day chatting with the other merchants, discussing everything from their cargo to local customs, and from the Northlands to the Vihon Sea.

Sometimes, he would spar with the caravan guards to exchange combat techniques.

He was always present among the night watchmen.

After three days, everyone from the merchants to the guards spoke highly of Gawain, and their relationships were very harmonious. No one disliked a hardworking person, especially one whose diligence was tempered with perfect social tact.

His employer, Lady Adrie, was a woman of few words; as long as he didn't hinder her work, she left him to his own devices.

Another deep impression Gawain left on the caravan members was that of a typical training fanatic.

If he could run fast, he would never jog.

If he could jog, he would never walk.

If he could walk, he would never ride a horse or sit in a carriage.

Even when riding or sitting, he would certainly be practicing something else—such as doing squats or push-ups on the carriage, or practicing spear, archery, or swordsmanship while riding.

He used his actions to interpret what it meant to make rational use of every second.

The above was what outsiders could see, but there was also what they could not. Integrated with this training was the self-hypnosis of a Psion.

Gawain believed that this self-hypnosis was absolutely the premier skill for a Psion in their early stages—at least, it was for him.

Most repetitive physical exercises did not conflict with his memory excavation; in fact, they were complementary.

Because his primary consciousness was occupied with other tasks, he was not very sensitive to the passage of time. By the time he finished a task, he would find that an hour or so had passed, and his body had completed an hour of steady-state running or a thousand sets of push-ups.

As long as he utilized this point reasonably, over the long term, Gawain could fully manage to pursue both spell research and physical training without neglecting either, thereby further improving his physical fitness. After all, he was not yet an adult, and his body had not yet fully matured. In his previous life, his adult height was 1.78 meters only because he had been a slave during his critical growth period with insufficient food; in this life, if provided with sufficient nourishment, he believed he could grow even taller.

Gawain did not follow this caravan to Baldur's Gate. Instead, he diverted at Nashkel, north of the Cloud Peaks. Through the introductions of his newly made merchant friends, he joined another caravan departing from there as a traveler. They would follow the trade routes through the Ul, crossing the Green Fields to reach Westgate on the north shore of the Dragon Lake.

The real reason Gawain chose this route was that he remembered the hometown of a priestess friend from his previous life: Greennest Village in the Green Fields.

At this point in time, she should still be interning at her village church. Perhaps there would be an opportunity to meet her early; ideally, he could get her to join his party. An adventuring party without a priest was not a good adventuring party.

Although this priestess friend had some minor personal issues, her character was absolutely reliable. Based on that alone, everything else could be ignored.

...

"Bind!"

A crisp, clattering sound.

"Sir, Madam... is there... is there... anything... anything I... I can... can help you with..."

The slender figure sprawled on the sacrificial altar jumped up abruptly, stammering rapidly. Her eyes were not yet fully open, her consciousness was in a daze, and a trace of clear liquid remained uncleaned at the corner of her mouth.

The only response to the girl was the cold, biting wind outside the window.

"Bind!"

Another crisp clatter came from the large window nearby. An oak tree outside extended a small branch, swaying gently in the wind, occasionally tapping against the window as if playfully greeting the young priestess.

"It's... it's you again... making a mess." Anna rubbed her large eyes huffily. "Careful, or one day I'll saw you down and use you for firewood."

However, paired with her soft voice and chubby face, her threat lost most of its intimidation.