After leaving The Shitty Place Wolf had many questions. Archibald did his best to answer them. It’s just that the topics were serious, and he wasn’t sure whether or not his son could understand them.

“I think that the Emperor is trying to strengthen the human race as a whole.” Archibald began explaining. “For instance letting the brigands run wild will give rise to those who will oppose them. I’m guessing that a large number of youths want to go bandit hunting. Mage Academies and various Sword-Sage dojos are probably issuing a lot of related missions for their students. Which is good. It means those youngsters will be tougher.”

“He also did us a favor by killing Eagle. It would seem that the man had settled our family’s grudge for us.” Archibald sighed with relief as he said this.

“That’s for the best. Even though he was killed by another’s hand, what's really important is that the bastard is dead...”

“... The Emperor must really be powerful to have slain Lonely Eagle. That elf was widely recognized as one of the strongest World Powers in recorded history. Thankfully, the era of elf has come to an end. I guess it’s finally humanity’s turn to shine and dominate the ten empires.” Archibald spoke with zeal and reverence which freaked Wolf out.

“Dad, why are you so concerned with humanity?” the boy asked. He had known that his father honestly had the human race’s well being in his heart. But he couldn’t understand why a person would care about the entirety of their race. Wasn’t caring about one’s family enough?

The question seemed to trigger Archibald.

“Look son, a leaf can’t survive without a branch, while a branch can’t survive without a tree,” he began explaining using an allegory. “A person is like a leaf. Our lives are short. We are born, grow up and die in a measly span measured in decades. Families are like branches, a place that nurtures us, they help us grow and prosper. A family can last for centuries, or even millennia. However even this is but a blink of an eye in the lifespan of a species. A race gives birth to families, sees them rise to glory, fall and eventually die out. A race is to a family what a family is to us...”

Wolf listened to what his father had to say, but didn’t seem to buy it. In fact he thought it was just rambling. If the race as a whole was like a family to families, why did it let families decline and die out? Would people let their family members die out or barely eke a living without caring? Wolf was young, and thus naively thought that families were all about helping and supporting their members, like he and his dad were.

Archibald remained unaware of his son’s doubts. He continued to explain what he guessed to be the motive behind the Emperor’s actions, as well as the importance of the human race.

As he spoke, Archibald led the way to the local Adventurers’ Guild branch building. He wanted to see whether there were any caravans they could join, as well as how much it would cost to hire guards and guides.

If the job paid well enough they could always apply as guards and earn some money while traveling. That was assuming there was a caravan heading towards Silver City.

The man was bound to be disappointed. The daily wage really had gone through the roof. What used to be two to five silver pieces per day now paid twenty to forty. But that kind of money wasn’t worth the hassle.

The caravan would take between a year and fifteen months to reach their destination. During that time they could earn about two hundred and forty gold pieces on average. That was assuming there was a caravan willing to hire Wolf as a guard, which was highly unlikely.

Two hundred and fifty gold pieces wasn’t just a decent amount of money, it was also an indication of how dangerous the journey ahead was. As far as Archibald was concerned, it was better not to take any risks and simply meditate on their way to Silver City.

“And how much would it cost to join a caravan?” Archibald asked after discarding the idea of working while traveling.

“The next caravan that’s due is Johns and Josh from Silver City. The price for a person riding on a wagon is thirty copper pieces per kilometer. The trip to Silver City is around ten thousand kilometers, so the price for the two of you would be around sixty gold pieces. If you’re willing to walk instead of ride a wagon, but still enjoy their protection it would be fifteen gold pieces…”

“Are the meals included?” Archibald asked, and naturally they weren’t.

Eventually he chose not to pay for the meals. The food expenses were fairly reasonable, unlike the protection money and the fee for riding an uncomfortable covered wagon.

However, even though the meal pricing wasn’t a blatant robbery like everything else, Wolf and Archibald still had a large quantity of rations. Not to mention that a very limited number of chefs would be able to compete with Archibald’s cooking. And not just that, even Wolf was now a proficient cook. He was probably better than whoever drew the lot to prepare meals for the caravan.

“I think we’ll pay sixty gold pieces to hitch a ride. When is the caravan due?” Archibald chose the most unfavorable option with hardly any thought.

Sixty gold pieces was by no means a small sum, and Archibald felt pained for having to fork out so much gold. Back in the day this trip would’ve cost around five gold pieces. However, if they could quietly reach their destination, traveling like this was worth the money.

Archibald still had almost ten thousand gold pieces as well as fifty platinum pieces and several bags of silver and copper in his Ring of Holding. So, even though this was a huge expense, it didn’t leave much of a dent in Archibald’s hoard.

“They should leave in ten days, if they manage to get here at all. Don’t worry. If they don’t show up, you get a full refund. The problem is you’ll have to wait for a month until the next caravan arrives.” The clerk acted impeccably professional. The woman did her best to help them out and explain everything.

Archibald nodded, then handed over the coins which regular adventurers would need months to save up.

They could’ve chosen to walk, but spending the time in meditation and revitalizing his soul was more important to Archibald than a handful of coins.

And Wolf’s time was even more valuable than his. The boy was memorizing various Ninth and Tenth Order spells, while at the same time trying to figure out how to cast Eight Order ones. He had only recently reached the Seventh Order of Mage, but the boy stubbornly refused to believe that this breakthrough would take much longer than the last one.

Wolf also needed to familiarize himself with various new spells from Third to Seventh Order, as well as carve the sixth column of his Mind Hall. The boy needed to split himself in four just to manage everything he had on his plate at the moment…

***

Ten days went by in a flash, and the Johns and Josh merchant group’s caravan arrived.

When the train of wagons entered Honest Man’s Place, a number of people murmured while gazing at the battered wagons. The last one in line still had half a dozen arrows sticking out of it. The third one in line looked even worse. It had a couple of scorch-marks on it, and a part of its tarp was missing.

More than half of the caravan-guards were bandaged, but still seemed to be in high spirits. Archibald and Wolf spotted this sorry sight from the second story of the best inn in town. After taking a moment to pack up the few things they had taken out of their Rings of Holding, father and son settled their bill, and left for the Adventurers’ Guild building.

After they got there several minutes passed before three armored caravan guards entered the establishment. Each of them carried a sack stained with dried blood. The stench was nauseating, but hardly anyone gave them a second look. Apparently, this was a common sight nowadays.

“We’ve come to collect bounties, take on passengers and hire three more people for our troop!” The leader of the trio shouted right from the door, probably hoping to grab the attention of some competent people that were sitting and drinking inside the hall.

Just like everyone else inside the reception hall, the clerk was unimpressed with the performance.

“There’s the board,” the woman said indifferently. “See if any of the folks looking for work match what you need. As for the bounties, bring the heads and the ears over to the back. People are eating and drinking here.”

Caravan guards did as they were told and entered a side chamber, while their leader went over to check who’s looking for work. A couple of minutes passed before a burly man in smart uniform walked out of the side chamber, and took off two posters from the bounty board.

“Hey, hold on! We’ve got the heads of five bandit leaders!” The captain of the guards said.

“Those three are some no-name lowlifes. They don’t even have a bounty, so we don’t care about them. We’ll count their ears just like everyone else’s.” The clerk didn’t even pause to think for a moment before giving the same lines he’d said gods know how many times. Then he walked back into the side room.

“That would be seventy-two left ears at two silver a piece,” Wolf heard the clerk speak from inside the chamber. “Which totals to one gold and forty-four silver pieces. Those two heads are worth three and a half gold pieces each, so, another seven gold pieces. Your total would be eight gold pieces and forty-four silver pieces. Do you have any objections?”

Apparently the captain could hear it as well. The red-bearded man frowned and went over to the side chamber.

“Are those heads really worthless?” he asked.

“They are worth as much as any other nameless brigand. No more no less.” the clerk replied flatly with an air of finality. This was not negotiable.

“Fine, give us the money.” the scruffy caravan guard grumbled with dissatisfaction, but didn’t want to argue with the clerk.

Even if he had something to say, few people had the guts to make a scene here. Adventurers’ Guild clerks outside the cities were all at least mid tier adventurers themselves. Provoking them would be no different from stabbing yourself in the foot.

For a couple of moments the only sound to be heard was the clicking of coins being counted, followed by the jingling when the clerk tossed the two pouches to the leader of the caravan guards.

“Here you go. Thank you for your patronage,” the man said perfunctory. It was obvious that he didn’t care about what this little guard captain thought, nor about his patronage.

“Do we have any passengers?” The red-bearded guard asked.

Wolf was interested in what was going on behind the wall, so he focused on his hearing, awakening it just a bit. Enough to hear the muffled sounds of the two coin pouches being shoved under the chainmail armor.

“Ask the desk clerk. From what I’ve seen in the ledger, there should be someone,” answered the clerk, who had the appearance of a bouncer.

A couple of moments later they got the same response from the smartly dressed woman behind the counter.

“Those two over there.” The clerk glanced towards Archibald and Wolf to point them out.

“They paid for a fare without meals,” she said in a tone that painted Archibald and Wolf as weirdos.

The scruffy-looking guard was confused for a moment. The price of riding a wagon was a ripoff, while the meals were cheap. That way the customer could feel like they got one over on them. A person not fishing for benefits was strange in these dark times. When he saw Archibald and Wolf his eyes widened.

“Greetings honored customers. I’m the caravan guard captain of Johns and Josh merchant group’s caravan. You can call me Red.” When the man realized that the two people in Mage robes were actually his customers, Red started behaving courteously. Mages were welcome even as paid associates, let alone as paying customers.

“Greetings mister Red. May I ask why isn’t the caravan master here, but rather the head of the guards?” Archibald asked with some interest.

“Caravan master is feeling a bit under the weather at the moment,” Red said nonchalantly. “We were assaulted by several bands of robbers last night and a stray arrow hit the caravan master. There’s no need to worry, nothing serious happened. In fact the event was so minor that the caravan master didn’t want to waste a potion to heal his wound. He’s resting at the moment, and he left me in charge.” The man smiled reassuringly.

Archibald took another look at the captain of the caravan guards. Unlike a moment ago when he tried to pull a fast one on the clerk, the man was acting quite courteously.

Probably raised by the merchant group… Archibald thought. Even though he’s trying to act the part, he’s no adventurer. Rather, he’s a well trained, well educated warrior. He could probably run a small business by himself if he gave up on his current profession.

Uncomfortable under Archibald’s scrutiny, Red cleared his throat.

“Feel free to go ahead. The caravan is right outside. I’ll be joining you shortly, but first I have to find some more people to add to our company.”

Archibald nodded and left the guild building with Wolf. However, father and son didn’t go to the caravan. Instead, Archibald took Wolf for a walk.

“Son, people like that man can be dangerous. If you see someone sharp playing a fool it means that he’s trying to play someone. So make sure to be extra careful around people that act stupid at one moment and smart the next.” Archibald whispered that warning to his boy, all the while thinking how his own son was acting like an idiot one moment and then a genius the other…

It’s just a matter of experience. He still doesn’t understand so many things… Or at least that’s what Archibald hoped.

“Dad, there’s something that’s been bugging me for a week now. Do you mind if I ask you about it?” Wolf asked with hesitation.

“Sure son, shoot.” Archibald gave him a small smile.

I wonder whether he had even heard what I just said about people putting on acts?

“You said that this human Emperor guy is cunning. He’s making plans to improve the human race as a whole. You also said that this guard is cunning which makes him dangerous. But, what’s so dangerous about their schemes?” Wolf asked, then continued with related questions.

“Isn’t only the unrivaled, ultimate might dangerous? All plans fall apart when faced with someone strong enough to ignore these petty games. Isn’t trying to get there the reason why people train to improve themselves? You know, to reach the point when you are strong enough to look down on everything else?”

Hearing these questions Archibald was dumbfounded for a moment.

You are right and very wrong at the same time son. Where did you even get that idea? How should I explain this to a child?

“Listen son, regarding that, just because someone is strong…” Archibald tried to explain, but as he spoke his reasoning seemed flimsy even to himself. That was because it really was true that when faced with overwhelming power every plan crumbled. Before absolute might, schemes and intelligence fell apart…

Archibald’s lessons:

Adventurers are loosely divided into tiers.

Low tier ones do more or less normal jobs that have some level of risk involved. Like being bodyguards, doing investigations outside of the cities and things like that.

Mid tier ones go slaying Monster Beasts that leave their danger zones and threaten settlements or they enter the fringes of danger zones to gather resources and reduce the population of weaker monsters.

High tier adventurers are people that go to the heart of danger zones, and there aren’t many people like that. If you’re already powerful enough you’re supposed to hold the title of a Baron or an even higher noble, not skulk around dangerous places.