Neigh! Whinny!
The coachman did his best to calm the horses and stop them, activating the carriage’s braking system.
‘Damn it. Why are there monsters already…!’
The merchants riding inside the carriage had already heard the word “monsters” and immediately locked the doors and windows tight.
However, the coachman couldn’t leave his driver’s seat because he had to control the horses and carriage.
‘Even at a glance, their numbers…’
Moreover, fierce and agile snow leopards were approaching in packs from both sides.
Of course, having worked as a coachman, he was somewhat accustomed to situations where monsters appeared, so he knew that the escort mercenaries would quickly rush out to protect his life.
‘But if the horses get hurt by mistake, that would also be a big problem.’
If the horses became targets and died or got injured while rampaging in fear during the fight with the approaching snow leopards, it could disrupt the carriage’s movement on this remote snowy mountain path.
‘I can’t imagine how much those schedule-sensitive merchants would complain.’
Just thinking about it was terrible.
‘The family disciples have joined us, but it’s hard to have high expectations.’
From what he could see, they were just green kids with little real combat experience.
Thinking he somehow had to keep the horses from rampaging too much, the coachman gripped the reins tightly.
And at that moment.
The coachman felt as if the air around him had rippled.
‘…?’
A strange sensation as if even the sound of the snowy mountain wind constantly brushing his cheeks and earlobes had suddenly stopped.
And through that gap, he heard a faint incantation.
“Fire Arrow.”
Along with that short and concise incantation.
“Kege-geng!”
“Kegeng!”
“Kke-eak!”
The approaching snow leopards collapsed one by one from the front, letting out single screams.
Thud, thud.
It took less than ten seconds for all dozen or so snow leopards to fall with fire arrows lodged in their mouths.
“What the…”
The coachman, momentarily speechless, stuck his head out to the side of the driver’s seat and looked in the direction the arrows had come from.
The guard post of the escort carriage.
Standing on top of it was a disciple from the Thiers family who had joined as additional escort.
Among them, a boy with snow-white skin, silver hair, and deep, vivid red eyes was slowly lowering his raised hands with an expressionless face.
‘That child is…’
Suddenly, the coachman recalled how the mercenaries had suddenly treated the boy respectfully during the earlier rest time.
-Lord Cain, we’ve completed a thorough search. Nothing unusual.
-If you’d like to rest a bit more, I’ll go and inform them.
‘So that’s why those rough fellows were bowing their heads so uncharacteristically.’
Now the coachman felt he understood the reason.
He stared blankly up at Cain and after a moment realized their eyes had met.
“…!”
A gaze that seemed to see through to the depths of his pupils, impossible to read.
The boy’s eyes, showing no emotion even after annihilating the pack of snow leopards in such a short time, seemed for a moment like those of a battle-hardened demon, though that couldn’t be possible.
Gulp.
Just as he instinctively tried to look away, Cain’s figure disappeared.
And soon appeared right in front of the coachman.
“Eek!”
Cain, who had landed lightly, stared piercingly at the startled coachman’s eyes with a cold face.
‘What, what is it? Is there something else that displeases him? Anyone can see he doesn’t look to be in a good mood…?’
To the coachman, who was frightened that he might also learn the detailed reason why the mercenaries had suddenly become respectful, Cain said:
“I’ve dealt with all the snow leopards, so please calm the horses and prepare for departure while we process and load the carcasses.”
“Yes? Yes!”
Cain was in quite a good mood.
‘Not a single shot deviated from the expected margin of error.’
No, all the Fire Arrows had actually hit more precise locations than he had thought.
Even though he had fired over a dozen simultaneously, none had gone out of control or decreased in power.
‘It means I’m gradually getting more accustomed to fire magic.’
Of course, it still couldn’t compare to the completeness of his ice magic, but considering the training period, this was a satisfactory result.
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down, calm down! Stay still!”
“Hee-hee-neigh!”
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I’ll calm them down quickly!”
However, despite taking no damage at all, for some reason the coachman kept glancing anxiously at Cain while trying to calm the horses.
“Please calm down first yourself. If the person doing the soothing isn’t composed, it’s hard for the horses to settle their excitement too.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
In the end, Cain had to calm the coachman first.
‘This requires a lot of attention.’
Instead of the struggling coachman, Cain informed the merchants that the situation was over.
Then he immediately began processing the snow leopard carcasses with the disciples.
When he unhesitatingly drew his dagger and began separating the flesh and hide from the carcasses, Ed and Fon took a slight step back.
Bolio also said with a slightly frowning expression:
“Ugh… Cain. Do we really have to do this right now?”
Without even looking back, Cain skillfully moved his hands while answering:
“It’s easier to skin them before the blood coagulates. Especially in a low-temperature environment like this.”
“…I understand that. But can’t we just load them whole and sell them later? There’s plenty of room in the cargo carriage.”
“The better the condition, the higher the monetary value. What are you doing? You should help too. You must have learned how to process game.”
“We did learn, but…”
“I’ll pay you a share from the sales proceeds for the processing work. I’ll give you double the usual rate.”
“Let’s do it right away. You have to use what you’ve learned to improve!”
Thus, Cain and the children began processing the carcasses as quickly as possible.
“When cutting the belly, keep the knife tip up and be careful not to touch the organs. It’s best to cut in as straight a line as possible from the lower jaw to the anus.”
“Ugh. Since they’re big, it’s harder than I thought.”
“Li-like this, Cain?”
“You’re doing well. Fon has quite delicate hand skills.”
“Re-really? Hehe.”
The disciples, who had learned but weren’t yet accustomed to it, learned techniques from Cain as they cut hide and separated hard claws and teeth.
“…But when did you start doing this?”
“Why, am I not allowed to?”
“I was just asking. Can’t I even ask?”
“I’ve been doing it since earlier. That makes two down.”
“What? Why are you so fast!”
Anyas had also been working quietly but swiftly from some point.
And
“Um… Lord Cain? Should we help too? When it comes to processing, we’re also quite skilled…”
“I don’t need your help. If you want to help for free, you’re welcome to.”
“…”
The mercenaries, who had hoped to make some drinking money by hunting snow leopards, ended up having to smack their lips without even swinging their weapons once.
Meanwhile, the merchants who had heard that the situation was over opened the windows they had locked and were watching this entire scene.
“Well, well… What’s this all about?”
“The mercenaries are the ones struggling instead.”
“That’s right. The atmosphere has been a bit strange since earlier, so something must have happened.”
The merchants were quick to catch on.
Seeing experienced mercenaries treating young disciples respectfully, it was clear that some brief conflict within the family had ended in one side’s victory through some incident.
“First of all, annihilating that many snow leopards in the blink of an eye proves their skill is certain.”
“When the family head sent young disciples, I thought it was simply for experience, but to think he’d send such a skilled person.”
“But was it Lord Cain? I don’t think I’ve seen him much when visiting the family…”
“He must have been busy with magic training. Anyway, I was a bit worried about going to the marshlands, but now I feel more secure.”
“I needlessly closed the windows and prayed there would be no damage. If I had known this would happen, I would have at least watched how he caught them. Hahaha!”
From the moment they realized a reliable ally had joined them, the merchants couldn’t hide the smiles on their faces.
“Not only his magic skills, but look at how he’s processing them now. That’s not the skill of someone who’s done it just once or twice.”
“You can tell just by looking at what’s piled up beside him. With just a little blood removed, it would be good enough to sell as merchandise right away.”
The merchants also had sharp eyes for goods.
At first, they were slightly worried when he tried to do the processing himself, but Cain was extracting the spoils of war with skills as accurate and swift as veteran mercenaries.
“The other disciples are also learning techniques from the side and following along quite well.”
“We don’t need to worry about not being able to sell them.”
Since the merchants could also take a small commission if Cain entrusted them with the spoils for proxy sales, the condition of the goods was important, but Cain dispelled even such concerns in one stroke.
“Damn it! Why is this torn again!”
“Bolio. You’d better step aside. You need to practice step by step starting with smaller monsters.”
“Pfft. I knew he’d be like that. Give it here. I’ll do it.”
“Argh! Give me one more chance!”
Except for one person with terrible talent for knife work.
Under Cain’s perfect escort, the carriage left the treacherous snowy mountain region and traveled around areas within the Thiers family’s territory and sphere of influence, selling goods.
‘The atmosphere within the territory isn’t bad, contrary to expectations.’
While it didn’t look particularly wealthy, it had the ordinary appearance of people living earnestly within their modest means.
“It does seem like the image of the family is quite good, probably because the Finance Minister doesn’t set tax rates too high.”
Fon spoke with clear pronunciation.
As Cain had advised beforehand, Fon moved busily with the merchants selling goods, trying to understand the territorial situation and the people’s sentiment.
‘There’s information you can only get by coming out to the field directly.’
However, one concern was that when Fon made suggestions to the Finance Minister based on the information gathered, he might become soft-hearted and fail to properly present his opinions…
“Still, considering the family’s financial situation, it seems like it would be good to raise taxes a bit more.”
…there seemed to be no such concern.
“Of course, not now, but later when we also improve the territorial environment.”
“Good thinking.”
Cain nodded with satisfaction.
“Young Master Fon, could you help us over here?”
“Yes, yes! I’m, I’m coming!”
Fon’s reputation among the merchants he had worked with was also very good.
First, he showed great strength with numbers, immediately correcting calculation errors that even experienced merchants might briefly get confused about, doing most calculations mentally with ease, and keeping flawless records.
Also, when it came to buying and selling goods, his negotiation skills were quite decent, as proven by successfully selling the snow leopard hide that Bolio had ruined, albeit at a low price.
-Yahoo! The one I cut sold!
-It’s not because you did well, but because Fon sold it well.
-Anyway, it sold, so that’s what matters!
Already doing the work of a full person and learning quickly, the merchants seemed to find teaching Fon enjoyable and would proactively teach him various things.
Even while training in magic with the other disciples, learning business from the merchants, and performing his own tasks, Fon looked extremely happy.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries, who had been unable to earn any additional income so far because of Cain, mainly resided in the village taverns.
‘They said they’d use money earned from catching monsters for drinking, but they’re still going drinking even though they didn’t catch any.’
If they catch monsters, they drink because they’re happy with the windfall; if they don’t catch any, they drink because they’re in a bad mood.
‘At that level, don’t they just want to drink?’
If they were going to drink anyway, Cain found it hard to understand why they inefficiently attached reasons to it.
Anyway, the trading proceeded smoothly heading south.
“We’ll be entering the marshlands soon. We need to go on solid ground, so I’ll reduce speed a bit!”
Crossing the Hibernen region, the carriage entered the southern marshlands.
