At dawn on the fifth day since Jonn and Elia left the village, Elia woke early under a blue blanket in her tent. She opened her eyes to the bright morning light and the sound of burning wood. Jonn was already awake.

As Elia exited her tent, she saw Jonn finishing boiling water for tea.

“Good morning,” she said, yawning, still wrapped in her thick blanket.

Jonn replied, “morning,” as he poured two cups of cinnamon tea.

She sat next to him on a log by the riverbank, waiting for Acelin’s group.

Jonn looked west, sipping his drink slowly, and said, “They’re coming.”

“Coming? From where?” She looked around, seeing and hearing nothing.

“They’ll reach us in 10 minutes. Don’t you hear the horses and carriages?” Jonn continued to gaze west, toward Lost Treasures.

“Jonn, you have a dog’s hearing, did you know that?” she teased. “I hear nothing.”

He smiled as he walked to two horses closer to the carriage, and said, “Drink your tea and eat quickly.”

While Elia followed his advice, Jonn massaged the horses’ necks, using [Magic Breath] around them.

Jonn had fed the two animals with crystals he had created himself over the last few days. He didn’t intend to do the same with all the animals in the village, but as he didn’t have much to do here, he took advantage of these days to help the two animals. Since then, he had been using his new {Spell} to help them cultivate faster.

The horses neighed, one showing its teeth, asking Jonn for more. He laughed at the bold animal but didn’t give in to the creature’s wishes.

“No, boy, you’re asking too much,” Jonn said, massaging the mane of the horse that once belonged to Acelin. “We barely have enough food for you. I can’t let you turn into beasts now.”

While he talked to the horses, Elia watched him from a corner, finishing changing, but thinking more about him than the supposedly imminent meeting. Jonn had a special talent with animals that she still wanted to find out where it came from. But her thoughts were shattered when she heard the sound of approaching horses.

The earth seemed to tremble in the presence of horses. A loud sound grew from the west, and soon Elia and Jonn were looking at the group of six vehicles approaching them.

Acelin’s carriage was in the middle of the convoy, while they had with them a load equal to or heavier than the one that had passed through the area previously.

Elia identified some faces around the group, seeing tired, dusty and dry looks on their faces.

The life of a merchant shouldn’t be easy. Traveling for months, risking ambushes and attacks from thieves, being away from family, and much more, were the downsides that someone who followed this path had to accept.

Strangely, Elia wanted this life for herself!

But she saved that goal for the future. Now her focus was different. “There are some strange people in this group. We’d better be careful.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out. But stay close to me. If I need to act, it will help us.” He indicated to her, while the group arriving in the area had already realized who was waiting for them.

Acelin’s group stopped a few meters away from Jonn’s small camp. The guards spread out around the area, keeping an eye out for enemies hiding nearby, while also keeping an eye out for the two youths.

The group’s servants paid no attention to Jonn or even the group’s own guards as they set up their own camp. Now that they had reached this point in their journey, they would need to wait in that area for their ship.

There was no way for them to know where their boat was. They would camp and wait for days or even weeks, if necessary, to make their way back to their home.

Acelin climbed down from his carriage next to a man as well-dressed as himself and made his way over to Jonn and Elia with a broad smile on his face.

“Jonn, Elia, it’s good to see you well!” said the fat man, dressed in a purple cloak.

The two greeted Acelin, before the man introduced the black-clad man next to him. “This is Lord Uranius, a mining lord from the Lost Treasures. We met during my last few months in Lost Treasures, and now he’s accompanying me to do business in Sylvestria.”

“Nice to meet you, senior.” The two brought their open right hands to their closed left fists and shook them, a symbol of greeting in Valorian.

“Nice to meet you, juniors,” said the man with shiny black hair, who didn’t look much older than them, but carried undeniable experience in his voice.

Acelin invited Elia and Jonn to accompany him, once again persuading them to eat alongside his group. “How were your last few months? I hope you’ve had good results with your plans, haha. I see you’ve brought a bigger vehicle for your trading this time.”

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Jonn beamed and responded, “We didn’t do as well as we would have liked, but we’re surviving. Life in the Barren Hills of Deepshadow is hard. Every day we have to overcome a new challenge.”

“I imagine that’s the case.” Acelin became more serious as he sat down by the fire that had just started to burn.

Uranius sat down next to Acelin, agreeing on how complicated it should be to live in this area.

“We’re here to check what you have with you. We need materials for the village,” Elia said, getting straight to the point as soon as she had the chance. There was something about this group that made her feel uneasy.

Acelin received the list from Elia, which was significantly larger than the one from months ago. He quickly scanned through it and responded, “I have most of the items you need, but finding wood has been quite challenging lately. However, we do have a supply of bamboo.”

As the Barren Hills of Deepshadow continued to encroach upon the agricultural and forestry areas of the continent, procuring tree trunks for building timber became increasingly challenging.

“How much will that cost us?” Jonn asked.

Acelin glanced once more at the list. It encompassed an assortment of items—building materials, tools, animal food, human food, meat, and, to his surprise, a book. “It won’t come cheap,” he remarked. “However, for 10 gold, I can provide you with 90% of the items you’ve listed. As for the remaining 10%, I can deliver them to you in five months when I return to the Lost Treasures.”

Elia thought about these figures for a moment, while Jonn asked, “Are you coming back so soon? I thought merchants like you traveled to more than one territory.”

Acelin chuckled. “And you know what? We often do just that, until we stumble upon a gold mine, haha. Lost Treasures presents plenty of opportunities at the moment. That’s why I’m shifting my attention to my friend’s home here.” He playfully gave one of Uranius’ shoulders a gentle squeeze.

Uranius invited Jonn and Elia, saying, “In a few months, you are welcome to join us on a journey to the Lost Treasures. I will personally receive you in my city, whether it be for business purposes or to assist you in finding a suitable location for your people to flourish.”

Jonn was skeptical about the tempting offer from Uranius, as it seemed too good to be true. “Who knows what the future holds,” he replied, avoiding an immediate refusal. “At the moment, we’re unable to make any changes... However, I’m curious about Lost Treasures. Is that territory performing so well?”

Acelin and Uranius nodded in unison.

“Certainly.”

Lord Uranius opened his arms and gestured, showcasing the magnificence of his home, as he remarked, “There are numerous opportunities where some individuals are achieving success effortlessly, without even having to fight.”

“That’s quite impressive,” Jonn said to them, when he saw a servant place a large spit of meat above the fire. “But what I’m really interested in isn’t the gold from Lost Treasures. The meat from your region is famous, Lord Uranius.”

The man smiled in agreement. “The meat you will taste today comes from my farm. Although my business is gold and other metal derivatives, we have enough meat to export.”

Besides its mineral wealth, the Lost Treasures was known for its economic strength in the production of meat and food products of animal origin. The territory was not interesting for agriculture, but generations of gold diggers have made it one of the richest places for cattle herds, among other things.

When the group had finished talking about how good Lost Treasures was, almost urging Jonn and Elia to consider going to that region, she agreed to Acelin’s request.

“We only have 8 gold, but we’ve brought some items with us to exchange that we can include in this deal, if you agree.” She looked seriously at the fat man.

“What do you have?” Acelin frowned in doubt.

What could the Eternal Village produce?

“We have iron bars and weapons,” she said before adding something critical. “We also have some vegetables from our plantation.”

Uranius and Acelin changed their casual behavior when they heard her words. Vegetables were a luxury item in present-day Valorian!

Only socially well-positioned people could buy vegetables in the remaining cities of Valorian!

“Can we see those vegetables?” the fat man asked as he stood up.

Jonn waved to them and led them to the side of his carriage. Halfway there, he warned the two men. “Don’t expect much. We only have one basket of vegetables.”

“That’s enough.” Acelin didn’t underestimate the Eternal Village’s surplus production.

A single surplus basket was already a lot in this decadent world!

“I won’t be able to sell your vegetables, but they’ll serve us well.” Acelin added as he reached the side of Jonn’s carriage, where the horses tried to shy away from their presence.

Uranius ignored the animals and said, “I’ll pay half the value of your vegetable basket. And if you have more in the future, contact me. I’ll buy everything you have.”

“Oh? You clearly don’t respect me, my friend,” Acelin observed with a disappointed laugh.

“Old Acelin, this isn’t business, it’s survival.” Lord Uranius was sincere. “I’ll pay the price for the final product, Jonn and Elia. This guy here will pay you less so he can make a profit.”

Acelin’s eyes widened, but against his ally, he had no choice but to put up with this abuse.

Elia and Jonn smiled at their dispute, but the white-haired man secretly looked at his horses, realizing that something wasn’t right.

This hasn’t happened before, but the horses now are different from those that were with us at the last meeting with Acelin...

In any case, it seems that either Acelin or Uranius, or even both of them, has something with mana in them. Is it possible that one of the two is a mage?

Jonn considered the possibilities while Elia introduced the men to the village’s weapons, iron bars, and vegetables.

As important as the village food was, the two men couldn’t help but focus on the weapons. These were brand new weapons and of good quality, by the way.

Acelin remembered how Jonn had asked for weapons the last time they met and asked, “Did you produce these weapons? I thought you were looking for weapons months ago.”

Jonn tried to put his concern that he was getting involved with a mage aside and said, “I just wanted to compare our weapons and find out what mine were worth. I’m sorry.”

“So that’s it. You really are clever. Looks like old Hewet left his genes to you.” Acelin sighed before agreeing to this arrangement.

With Hewet’s name mentioned, Uranius glanced at Jonn out of the corner of his eye, but the boy’s next line made him look at the vegetables again.

“Actually, my grandfather Hewet only raised me. I’ll always carry him in my heart as my grandfather, but we don’t share blood.”

“So that’s it.” Acelin looked at Uranius, and the man turned back to the fire nearby, almost sighing.

“Well, I’ll take your vegetables, your iron bars and some swords to make up for the two golds you’re missing.” Acelin concluded the deal.

Elia strangely felt the earlier feeling pass, which relieved her, but also made her look at Jonn, eager for their return.

But she didn’t even need to talk to Jonn about it. He clearly sensed what was on her mind and considered the situation for himself.

There was something related to my grandfather on these men’s minds... Elia was right. These people can’t be trusted. I’m glad I took her advice.

He looked at his companion’s face and remembered how she had told him to use any opportunity to say that he wasn’t actually related to Hewet by blood.

Grandpa certainly had his story. Was he a mage, too?