The North Royal Road, as the members of the Eternal Village called the route used by foreigners to pass through the Barren Hills of Deepshadow to the north, was a three-hour ride journey for Jonn’s group.
They traveled along the path, alternating between moments of greater intensity for their horses and calmer movements, taking advantage of the time to chat.
They had set out from the village nearly two hours ago, slowing down after a stretch of running they had enjoyed on descending the one hill in the area.
The Barren Hills of Deepshadow were relatively flat terrain, but there were low hills with slopes and drop-offs throughout the area, and some more mountainous terrain, especially near the river that cut through the region east of the village.
The busiest roads in the region were in the eastern area, where boats from other states could easily reach roads to enemy territories or those that were more difficult to access from other areas.
Six territories surrounded the black terrain and forbidden zones of the Barren Hills of Deepshadow.
Jonn and the others knew the names of these six territories because of the books Hewet left behind. However, they only knew of the current existence of three of them, based on the encounters of the villagers with the merchants coming and going through the area.
Whether there were still six human-ruled territories surrounding them, however, they had no way of knowing, considering the catastrophic Third Magic War.
While they let their horses rest, Jonn and Elia chatted as Eliot remained silent.
“We have to test the trade capacity of the group we’re about to meet. But we have to be careful, Jonn. We can’t risk attracting them into the village.”
“I know. Let’s just talk about the situation in Sylvestria and the food trade. We’ll leave it for the future when we have something to sell.” Jonn agreed with her.
The topic they had talked about most in the last three days had been this trip and how they would eventually need to sell the surplus food to raise the funds needed to improve the village.
Previously, the members of the village had thought of simply surviving. But with the success of farming outside the village’s first greenhouse, they saw a future where they wouldn’t starve and would have a surplus of food.
Even Petyr had given up his earlier idea of robbing travelers on the Royal Roads.
“Let’s focus on getting information and what supplies we can get with the 3 golds Grandpa Hewet left for the village.” Jonn sighed as he thought of the village’s last financial resources.
The next time they went to trade, they would have to barter.
Unfortunately, that red-haired raider left me almost nothing of value except the bracelet. His silver coins will be of little use here.
The good thing was that 3 gold coins were worth a lot in this decadent world. The value wasn’t much for a village of 41 people. But with 3 golds, a man of Jonn’s age could live well in a human city before the disaster. It would have provided him with a decent home, clothing, and food for a decade.
Someone like Jonn would only face financial difficulties with such an amount if they needed medical services or had to travel. Otherwise, it would be enough to live on for a few years.
Elia agreed and then asked something she had been pondering for some time, “How much do you think old Tim’s weapons are worth?” She glanced at the lance on the right side of Jonn’s horse.
“It’s hard to say. I’d need to know the value of a weapon with similar characteristics, then I could make an estimate.”
“Let’s see if the group we meet has weapons for sale. Maybe we can sell some of old Tim’s weapons in the future,” she instructed her village leader.
The Limonite rock was much larger than they had imagined. Tim estimated it would take them an entire year to fully exploit the mine at their current pace. But a year would be enough to produce many weapons, supply enough to build two new villages, and still have excess metal with nowhere to store it.
Jonn had already discussed with Elia the possibility of searching for new mining areas after the first harvest, which could mean more metal for them. But even if there weren’t many valuable ores in the Barren Hills of Deepshadow, trade weapons would be worthwhile.
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Food was the most valuable commodity in present-day Valorian, but weapons would always hold their value!
“I’ll keep that in mind,” the white-haired young man said as he urged his mount to ride faster.
Elia and Eliot followed behind him, with the trio’s archer remaining silent, uninterested in their plans.
He was a simple man, focused on monitoring his surroundings and taking action when necessary.
Eliot had a special connection with his bow. He felt complete, free, and light when holding it. His arms seemed to naturally enjoy the shooting position, while his keen eyes allowed him to identify targets and hit them with frightening accuracy.
Eliot had been greatly encouraged in recent weeks to use his bow, showcasing his skills to the village and earning the title of Arrow Lord.
He cared little for titles, but he appreciated the opportunities to use his weapon. Previously, he was just a boy doing physical labor in the village. Now, he was a guard, serving for the first time as a protector for the Village Elder and Chief Councilor Elie.
Suddenly, something flashed across the sky, and Eliot instinctively moved his arms.
Before Jonn and Elia realized it, an arrow flew, followed by a gray bird that fell dozens of meters in front of them.
The two slowed their horses until they reached the spot where a bird the size of a full-grown eagle lay with an arrow through its heart.
“I think we created a monster,” Elia joked with Jonn, while Eliot had a silly grin on his face.
----------------------------------------
Two days later, Jonn and his two companions were camped near the banks of the river that ran through the Barren Hills of Deepshadow from the north to the south.
The meeting with the traders could occur at any time in the next few days. They had no way of knowing exactly when the caravan would pass through, so they had to wait, camped near the road.
The Royal Road wasn’t much different from the dirt path the three of them had traveled days earlier. It was an ordinary dirt road like any other, but it was famous for its location, which was known from ancient maps.
Jonn and his companions knew that up to 2 kilometers to the south and 2 kilometers to the north of their location, one of these ancient paths ran. However, it was currently difficult to identify because of the lack of surrounding vegetation.
According to a book written by old Hewet, Royal Roads were constructed with a kind of magical essence capable of poisoning the soil and preventing any living thing from surviving in it for long. As a result, the old roads were black dirt paths where vegetation wouldn’t grow naturally.
In a way, it was what much of the Barren Hills of Deepshadow looked like today.
“Jonn, Elie.”
Suddenly, Eliot’s voice drew the attention of the two, drawing Elie’s gaze out of her makeshift tent as Jonn turned to see what his friend wanted.
Night was falling, but Eliot’s eyes were sharp, even in this situation. He spotted something coming from the north, from the middle of the 25 meter wide river.
Jonn ignored the newly lit fire and stood up when he also spotted the boat coming from the north, the group of traders who should stop nearby to continue along the Royal Road.
As they already knew, the group in question had come by boat from somewhere in Sylvestria and would head west, using the Royal Road to get to the Lost Treasures region.
Elia joined the two as they watched the ship lose speed toward the nearby natural harbor.
They approached the docking area, spotting from afar the horses and carriages waiting to return to land.
In less than 40 minutes, the ship came to a complete stop, and two carriages and two wagons disembarked, with six horses descending from the wooden ship.
The ship’s crew disembarked and met the group of merchants and their wagons. Soon, a large fire was lit as servants prepared meat and vegetables for roasting.
Eliot couldn’t help but salivate at the sight of at least 10 kilos of meat. The last time he had eaten meat was 17 days ago, when Beri and Alise returned to the village from a successful fishing trip.
Jonn and Elia were hungry too, but they held back when they saw the merchants waving them over.
“Are you from Senior Hewet’s village?” a fat man asked, identifying Elia among the people nearby.
Hewet had taken Elia and Petyr with him on most of his travels there. As for Jonn, he had accompanied his grandfather a few times, but he had been a child the last time. Naturally, the man leading this group didn’t recognize him.
Elia approached the merchant named Acelin, a man dressed in silk clothes, with shiny, well-hydrated skin—quite different from what one would see in the Eternal Village. In the village, even the maidens had somewhat dry and dirty skin.
They were clean and tried to take care of their appearance, but working all day and lacking good resources didn’t help them.
“Senior Acelin, I’m Elie, a young apprentice who used to accompany Elder Hewet. To my left is Eliot, our archer and guard. To my right is Jonn, grandson of Elder Hewet. He is the current leader of the village.” She finished the presentation by pointing at Jonn.
The fat, smiling man immediately changed his expression. But not only he, also the two guards, dressed in armor and with swords, became a little more serious, as did their leader.
“Did something happen to Senior Hewet?” Acelin asked, looking at Jonn.
He hadn’t known that the old man had a grandson... He didn’t even know that Hewet had children!
‘Did he make a child when he was old? I’ll have to look into that. He was influential in Eldoria. The middle-aged merchant thought to himself as he looked at Jonn.
But Jonn did not look like Hewet.
“Senior Acelin, it’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s just a shame that our meeting has to take place under the current circumstances,” Jonn began, his tone gradually becoming deeper and more solemn. “Unfortunately, my grandfather died a few months ago. In the end, he left me in charge of the tribe, and since then I’ve taken over the affairs of the Eternal Village.”
Acelin heard what he feared most and couldn’t help but clench his fists as he sighed in sorrow.
“I see... I’m sorry for your loss,” The man said sincerely. “I know how much he meant to you. Please allow me to help you with your current interests as a token of my friendship for him. I will certainly give you some discounts in memory of Senior Hewet.”
Jonn and Elia thanked him with the usual Valorian hand gestures.
But the man surprised them with a request, “If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me about Senior Hewet’s last moments in Valorian?” There was an unusual depth in Acelin’s dark eyes as he asked Jonn.