Everything was ready. Food, supplies, horse-drawn carriages, mercenaries were all prepared.
Passing through various roads covered by snow, the city in the north didn't seem to be from the same kingdom where the cave I used to live in was located.
Or in short, we were heading for the border of another country. The country said to be located in the center of the continent, the kingdom of North Rovarn.
I spread the parchment in front of my eyes, there was a picture of the location between the northern city and the southern city, it was amazing when I saw the details that were quite amazing.
Looking around, there are tons of people, about 25 mercenaries and 50 ordinary workers. Of course, some of those people aren't working under my orders, that's someone else's business.
Next to me right now, sat a bloated man wearing neat clothes like a merchant. This man is a friend of Roland, my current subordinate.
Since our business destination was on the same path where he would go west right at the crossroads, while I would continue north, we decided to leave at the same time for added security. However, my business destination was actually following what Mr. Gustaf suggested.
Mr. Gustaf might be trying to trick me with some dirty tricks, but I still had the pride and confidence that I could definitely fight back. After all, a peaceful state of playing pretty was more promising than wartime brutality.
I put my right hand under my chin while continuing to read the parchment in my left hand. Fortunately, the neighborhood was covered by trees so the strong wind did not bother me even though my face was in direct contact with the fresh air.
The pot-bellied man beside me then greeted me, from his tone and posture it showed that he was afraid of me.
"Ah..hmm..miss."
"Do you have something to say?"
I answered without looking at him. With great hesitation, he then said.
"Hahah... If the lady doesn't mind, may I ask why you bought all those furs?"
"I'm just a clerk, all those furs were actually ordered by someone else. But due to some reasons, I ended up being delayed."
"Haha... You're an employee."
"Yes. My superiors put their trust in me, if I don't give them what they ask for, I'm sure they'll send someone else to look for me."
Grabbing the business card, I then gave the bloated man a merchant union member's ID card.
The paunchy man took a look at the card to which he then nodded slowly. The card Gustaf gave me seems to be really effective for dealing with other merchants, unfortunately, I'll have to return it in the future.
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After finishing looking around, I then took back the ID card and quickly put it away under my coat.
The bloated man in formal attire then smiled at me before turning his gaze away again.
"No wonder why Miss can afford to hire so many mercenaries. Apparently, I misjudged, I originally thought that you were just a child of a noble family or an ordinary knight trying to start a business. Haha... beginner's faux pas."
"No problem, anyone can make small mistakes even when being a professional."
"You are wise."
Passing through a forest with trees whose leaves were covered by snow, the people of the caravan I was traveling in glimpsed the sky.
The winter clouds were black and the sun was swallowed up by darkness, replaced by moonlight.
Two days had passed since I left the southern city, it only took three more days to reach the northern city.
This was a reasonable speed for a civilization that used horses and chariots for transportation. There were no cars, electric trains or even steam trains so mobility determined most of the price a merchant had to bear. As a result, the price of quality goods between cities may be unreasonable according to my calculations.
Especially since the commodities I want to sell are only raw materials. I thought about that while closing the parchment in my hand and putting it away.
The horse carriage stopped, and I got off.
The bloated man beside me frantically followed. I don't know why this guy was really clumsy, but out of all the people in this caravan, he was the only one who spoke to me.
"Miss White I have an offer."
I ignored the bloated man, on the right side the mercenaries wearing armor and carrying swords looked away from me as if they thought I wasn't here. Under normal circumstances, it's very rude, but now I appreciate all their coldness towards me, this seems to be their first experience of a woman like me leading an entire mercenary army.
Pausing briefly as the bulky man approached me. There's actually a reason why I always try to ignore this guy.
"To make work easier, you need more hands."
The bulky man played his hands in front of me, he continued to plead with me while putting on a bright smile.
"I'm sure your work is very hard if you do everything yourself. Hiring people will also put a strain on your finances, so as a fellow merchant, I advise you to cut costs."
I stepped away briefly and the potbellied man continued to follow, stopping to look beside me. There was a horse-drawn carriage covered by a thick cloth, the small poles beside the carriage were actually not made of wood, but made of iron.
The big man, with a smile that never faded, passed me and opened the cloth covering the carriage. There were dozens of women there hugging each other for warmth. the paunchy man then said.
"5 silver coins for each girl."
The girls behind the iron bars, they are all slaves.
It's ironic when you think back to humanity's struggle to abolish slavery.
In ancient Greece, Egypt and later civilizations, slavery was the norm and no one cared about it, the culture of slavery was so deeply rooted.
Slaves were people who didn't even deserve to be called human. Working without pay, living only for the master who bought them.
But right after the industrial revolution and the beauty of science began to be accepted, humanity's universal understanding of slavery has changed. Fighting against slavery can be called humanity's effort to enter the next stage in order for the human species to continue to survive in the universe, because in some cases recorded in scientific journals and scientific theories, humanity could have destroyed their own species without them realizing it so that in the end the culture of slavery became an option that had to be changed.
At a later time, the protection of the human rights of women and children became an important issue. This makes perfect sense because the understanding of the principle of cause and effect has made mankind realize through science that their species depends on the safety and comfort of women so that the next generation is not cut off.
Unfortunately, after a long process, the fact remains that slavery has re-emerged. This is an age of decline.
I then looked at the slaves who were only covered by a piece of cloth. Even though I didn't care about their fate, it still felt a bit infuriating to see a human species of the same gender as me being treated as nothing more than an appetizer for men.
But I will not be moved to do anything and why should I? In this world where reality is universal, whoever is stronger wins, demands justice and gets everything they want.
The bloated man beside me was still offering his product.
"You can try some girls if you want, I can lend them for one night."
Hearing that, I then replied in a low voice.
"I'm still normal."
The bloated man then sweated, he immediately looked at the other horse-drawn carriages where the muscular male slaves were. The expression on his face then showed anxiety.
"I'm sorry, It's harder to get charming men than to get some beautiful girls. Most poor noble families don't even pay attention to the appearance of their young men."
Who would be interested in that? How annoying, I don't understand why men only think about their crotch.
Ignoring the bloated man and after one of the tents had been made, I asked the mercenaries to give me some fresh air.
"Leave me alone."
I entered the tent where I would sleep. Alone with the mercenaries who spent the night ensuring security.