Ruko's eyes narrowed as he heard Sam. There was a small risk in traveling to Carthage, but it was minimal. Some criminals attacked people going along on the roads, but they targeted people that were alone and coming back from Carthage. Since the group would be going towards Carthage, most people wouldn't think that they carried anything valuable. Seeing the horse could change that but Ruko didn't expect that these people could think that far ahead.

'They don't have a choice but to sell to me. There must be a reason that they're not going farther in but it doesn't matter what it is. I made an easy profit if I can just buy low here and sell high at the city,' thought Ruko.

"Before I can offer a price, I want to examine the horse. Just to make sure that it is healthy," said Ruko. He waited until Sam nodded his head, then he got up and walked towards the outside door. Behind him, Sam got up as well and followed him out. Laina and Xander remained sitting in their chairs.

Ruko went to the outside and reached out to touch the horse. He felt its head and its back. He couldn't find any major bumps or scars on the horse. Ruko then carefully looked at the horse. The horse wasn't old and didn't have any signs of diseases. The horse also wasn't marked by anyone.

Ruko was disappointed since he lost the opportunity to cause the horse to fall. If there had been a symbol or a mark, he could easily accuse the group of three of stealing, and he wouldn't need to pay anything, but sadly there was nothing like that on the horse.

"What do you think?" asked Sam's voice from behind Ruko's back. "I do hope everything is fine, right."

Ruko turned around and forced a smile on his face. He could have easily imagined it, but he thought that he could hear a slightly mocking tone from Sam. When he saw Sam's face, he thought that he must have imagined it since there was a genuine look of worry on Sam's face.

"It's all fine. There is a small scar on its back, but it doesn't affect the horse that much. The horse does appear to be a little aged though," said Ruko. "Let's go back in and discuss the price."

They entered the house and sat back in the original seats. "How about a starting price of five silver. I don't have a lot of coins sitting around since it is right before the harvest, and I don't have a particular need for a horse right now."

Switching perspective from Ruko to Sam.

Sam considered that price for a few seconds. He looked at Laina and Xander to see if they had anything to say, but Laina blankly stared around the room, and Xander just stared off into the distance.

Sam was somewhat glad that he was able to find the conversion rates from copper to silver to gold from Laina before while they were walking. It was forty copper coins for one silver and forty silver for one gold coin. Most farmers from villages made around five silver every year.

Five silver for a horse wasn't a good offer, and Sam knew it as well. Richard had said that Horses could go as high as a gold coin. Sam didn't really consider Richard's valuation too important because this was Richard's first time seeing a horse, and he wasn't a merchant, but Sam thought that Richard was somewhat close.

"No," replied Sam. He watched Ruko carefully for any changes., but there was none. After a few moments of silence, Sam gave a counter offer. "30 silver."

"10?"

"25."

"14, and that's as high as I'm willing to go," said Ruko.

Sam thought about it for a few seconds. The price of the horse wasn't too important itself. He and Xander had enough money for a while, and so did Laina. What was important was that they got rid of the horse without losing too much profit. Sam didn't want to let a good opportunity for a profit go to waste.

Sam suspected that Ruko could go higher if he pushed him but he didn't want to take that risk. They didn't have another choice but to sell to him. If he refused to buy, they would have to take another risk and go into another village, or they could always just let the horse go, but in that case, no one makes any money.

Sam let a sight out and said, "I guess we have a deal." Sam didn't like to admit defeat so easily, but it was the best thing to do. He watched Ruko's face trying to mask a smile in which he failed at.

"Good, please give me a few moments to fetch the coins." saying this, Ruko got up and left the room.

A few minutes Ruko returned, holding a small bag in his hands. He handed it over to Sam. Sam looked down at the bag and opened it up. In it, he could see the silvery glint of silver coins. Using mostly his eyes and hands, Sam counted all of the coins up and only stopped when he counted fourteen.

Sam nodded his head satisfied and got up out of the chair. He let himself out and Xander and Laina followed him.

Sam put the bag of coins in his pocket and looked at the horse one last time. With that, he headed towards the way that they came from. They had agreed before that whatever price they got for the horse, they would split it when they got to Carthage. Laina had wanted to not get anything but Xander figured that if she chose to join them, it would be a good idea to split the money.

They had to go back to their camp before they could keep moving because they had to pick Stratus backup and also because they left a few of their things behind. Like Xander's sword and the bag with the food and everything else.

From behind them, Ruko followed their path out the village until he couldn't see them anymore. After the group was fully gone, he untied the horse and led it to the back of the horse, where there was more protection.

Laker, the noble's scout, rode along the dirt path. He had been going at a fast pace, only stopping when the horse needed rest. He had woken up early this morning to start riding. In his mind, the faster he got to the village and back, the better his impression would be for the noble. He could have a chance at getting better rewarding jobs in the future. Even becoming someone with a permanent job for a noble could be an option.

There were many perks for working directly under a noble, you could be guaranteed to have a higher wage than most of the people in the city and you are guaranteed protection. If you were caught in the middle of a battle, as long as the two sides weren't enemies of your noble, you are given safe passage.

There was also a big chance that the noble would eventually cause Drogo to step down from Carthage. If that happened, the benefits that he would receive would increase massively.

These thoughts were going to Laker's mind when he suddenly felt the horse starting to slow down. He tightened his hold of the horse to keep himself from falling off. Laker looked ahead of himself trying to figure out why the horse suddenly stopped.

In front of him by a few meters, were three men. Each of them was holding a drawn-out weapon. Their clothes were covered with dirt and scratches. Two of the men had a sword, while the other one had an ax. Their weapons looked like they had been for a long time. There were dents and scratches on the blades.

All of their faces had some type of scar. One of the men had his ear slightly cut off. The man with the ax had a large scar that was covered by an eye patch. Currently, on their faces, Laker could see joy. The three men were grinning wildly showing off their brown teeth.

Laker knew who these people were and what they were doing here. The two bandits that he was told to get information on were the two heads of a bandit group. There were ten people in that group, not including their two bosses. They targeted small groups of people that traveled between villages. They made sure to never touch a thing that belonged to important people.

Like this, no one that had any power had a problem with them and the people, that the bandit group went after, didn't matter. They didn't have the money or the power to fight back.

Laker stopped the horse roughly twenty feet before the three men. With this distance, he could turn his horse around before the men got to him.

"What do you want? Can't you tell that I am in a hurry?" Laker asked. He was still under the assumption that even though their two leaders were missing, they would still stay the same.

"Get off of your horse and take everything off. If you do it quickly, we might let you die a quick death." Said the man with the eye patch. He lifted the ax, which had been resting on his shoulder, and held it with both of his hands.

Laker was furious. "Can't you see who you are talking to? I am following a direct order from Lord Drogo himself. Do you know what happens to people that go against Drogo? You and your entire group will be put to an end." He gripped the reins for the horse tighter. "Now, I will ask one more time. Move!"

The three men looked towards each other. Their grins had been wiped out from their faces and a look of seriousness came over them, but it didn't last long. They all burst out laughing.

Laker thought that these three people had gone crazy. The only explanation that he could come up with was that they were kicked from the bandit group. No matter what he said, they wouldn't listen.

Laker started to consider his options. He could go through the three men, or he could go back.

He had a short sword to his side but wasn't good with it. He had come from a woodworking family, and he wasn't taught how to use swords. Compared to the three people in front of him, the most he could take on was one, and Laker wasn't even sure if he could win that.

Going past them was definitely not a good plan. The horse could get seriously injured from the men's attacks as it moved past them. Laker could not risk that happening since it would cause the travel back to Carthage to be a lot slower and horses were precious. He would be at fault if it got hurt.

Going back wasn't a great choice either. The three men could just stay here, and if that happened, Laker would have to take another path to that village. He would have to basically have to backtrack an entire day's worth of traveling.

Just as the three men slowly stopped laughing, Laker made his decision. He pulled the reins back and forced the horse to turn around. The eye patch man had caught sighlt of this, but his face didn't have any worry and still held a bit of amusement from before.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said the man.

Laker was about to retort something when he fully turned around and noticed who was behind him. There were two men. One was hidden behind a large wooden shield and the other had a bow. It was drawn and an arrow was pointed directly to Laker's chest.

Laker was surrounded with nowhere to go.