"How do you intend to look after our business if you leave the city in the first place?!"

If not for the curious glances they attracted since earlier adventure, Bern would have definitely shouted those words out loud.

"You convinced me into joining you, then put out this farce from before, and now you think about leaving it all behind? What was all of that for then?"

The old merchant was obviously furious. It wasn't like he had a grudge with Mike or something. Deep down he understood that young companion wasn't at fault back then, but the way he withheld any kind of information from them, even if for a specific reason, still hurt.

"You saw the vast sea of merchants back at the border. How do you imagine we can compete with them all? For every carriage we bring, there will be a thousand more brought by small merchants. For every caravan we organise, there will be a hundred bigger ones managed by big figures. We are simply too small to fight with them for the comfy share of this town market!"

Mike calmly replied as he rummaged through one of the pouches hanging at his waist.

"Are you implying that the only way to successfully gain a reasonable profit is from venturing east? Didn't you think about all the bandit groups formed by the deserters? Or do you really believe that the Imperial protection will extend far beyond its border?"

Bern asked as he sank deeper into his chair with a resignation brimming from his face.

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Travelling here already costs us quite a lot of food and fodder. We can't afford those fancy horses from the far west that can feed even on the roadside grass. Every step beyond this city means lower capacity of the carriages! Even if you only intend to reach Uveno, the competition will still be great and the costs won't make it worth it at all!"

Old merchant stated his point, as he looked deeply into Mike's unfazed eyes, trying to probe if everything was just a silly joke.

After finally finding what he wanted in his pouch, the young man laid down the sheet of paper on the table, pulling his quill and a small bottle of ink out.

"This is the Imperial Stock Market, here is the border, and this is Burgen where we are currently residing."

Mike drew a few circles and lines on the sheet and moved the improvised map to the left.

"Covering this distance took us in total five days, longer than I would need to reach Uveno. Farther east lies Latavia, Verkses and only then, Altarcia capital, Narieta."

Mike continued drawing to his right until he met the end of the paper. With no sign of annoyance, he placed his ink bottle to represent the Capital.

"The hardest step to take while travelling to the inner lands of the Altarcia lies between Burgen and Uveno. Since Narieta lies on the eastern part of the Kingdom, the closer we get to it, the shorter the distances between cities and denser placement of the surrounding villages."

Mike pointed out some facts about the geography of the Altarcia.

"Just by crossing over to Uveno, I expect the worth of our wares to at least double. The farther we venture, the higher the prices will be. While it is true that there will still be a lot of our countrymen there, competition won't be as fierce as here!"

The young man grimaced with displeasure while recalling the events at the local trade centres.

"While the profits during trade might be higher, you need to double the amounts of the daily necessities for every step east. If you take that into the account, the number of goods that carriage could bring to the Uveno would be far lower than what you would need to compensate for those additional costs!"

Bern argued back, while he unintentionally looked closer at the hand-drawn map. While this young lad was a bit aloof, he rarely spoke nonsense.

"That's only if you were to count this travel as one single trip!"

Mike hastily replied, taking the lead in the talkback.

"What I'm looking forward is not the markets of the Uveno or even Latavia. Where I'm looking for our profits, are the villages around the cities!"

Mike finally got to the point, with slight satisfaction curling the ends of his mouth upward.

"If you think about Burgen, Uveno or Latavia, not as targets but only as checkpoints along the way, you will be able to avoid all of those who seek fast and easy profits in those cities!"

"And how do you think this would happen? Are you going to spend your life marching around desolate villages only to earn a few coppers in each of them?"

"Of course I will not treat local villages as money bags! I want them to voluntarily fill our coffers themselves!"

*****

Despite all the commotion raised in the last afternoon, no one seemed to remember them when Mike and Bern got to the main hall the next morning. It might be because most of the visitors paid their full attention to the delicious dinner they were served, or maybe because events like that tend to happen nowadays in Burgen.

Thanks to being used to the harsh reality of a trader's life, neither one of them looked bothered by the measly amount of sleep they got. On the other side, Xyenna and Veil were nowhere to be seen.

Leaving their bodyguards to get some peace in the morning, merchants used the backdoor to get to their carriages, and after tending to the horses for a while, they directed them onto the real market.

"We need to sell everything that can bring us any amount of profit. Less cargo means less risk of being raided."

Bern stroked his short beard, deep in thought. Yesterday's talk extended far into the night, filled with ideas, reasons, and disagreement. While some may take last night's discussion as a rift opening between partners, it was just a natural process of decision making.

It didn't matter that Mike was a lot more knowledgeable about the state of the Kingdom. In the face of trade struggle fuelled by the Imperial merchant's greed, the past situation didn't matter as much, making Bern experience a lot more valuable.

Originally, a young merchant intended to travel all the way to Verkses to scout the situation ahead. It took a lot of Bern's shouts and arguments to make him settle on the Latavia as his final destination. It might only be two to three days to reach his originally planned target, but making the round trip would take twice that much, leaving Bern stranded in Burgen for a lot longer than he could handle.

"Don't worry about it. Before going to have a nap, I listed Verkels stuff and I think we can safely get rid of it all. As for my own wares, leaving only the low-grade food will suffice."

Mike replied, after thinking this matter through yet again. He couldn't go there empty-handed, since that would be the shortest route to land in the prison for espionage.

While they were talking and debating how to maximise their profits, the duo finally reached and passed the gates. Once again they were greeted by the unbelievable sight, that belied the common sense.

While Mike was already used to it, Bern quickly started feeling faint headed after trying to internally comprehend this incredible phenomenon. It was the same as with other wonders. If one were to grow up with them, they would never doubt the way the things were, while an outsider would ponder for ages about it.

"Fruits! Fruits for the taking! As ripe as fresh!"

"Low prices! Come and buy! You won't make a loss!"

Even if this area was known from all of those mighty figures behind it, there were still a lot of small traders trying to attract customers by shouting. Even if most of the visitors outright ignored them, one could judge from the bright smile of the vendors that this way of conducting business clearly worked. And in the end, who cares about dignity in front of the coin?

"Where are we heading? The trading area is clearly that way!"

Bern pointed out at the right turn that they just passed with confusion written all over his head.

"Trading there is done in small quantities, and we would need to pay for a trading spot. We would only waste lots of time. I think it's better to just sell it off to at local warehouses."

Mike pointed out the site with multiple multistorey buildings in front of them.

"Yes, we will earn a bit less that we could if we gave our best to do it, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Every prayer that we waste here translates into a bigger risk that someone will have a head-start on us."

Cutting Bern even before he could voice this obvious flaw of his plan, Mike pointed out another reason behind his decision.

"Ok, you are fully right this time."

Old merchant theatrically raised his hands in the air, indicating his voluntarily surrender. Passersby could even think something was happening if not for the small smile on his face.

"But don't you think that this will be enough to fulfil yesterday's deal!"

The young man muttered under his nose, loud enough to let Bern hear it. But contrary to his expectations, his older counterpart only laughed at his reaction!

*****

It didn't matter that they didn't know each other for long, the time they spent together and the troubles that haunted them along the way, pulled all four of them a lot closer than they expected when setting off.

As Mike stated, instead of wasting their precious time away on the trading area, they sold out most of their stuff only after a short two hours. Apparently, this kind of trade deals wasn't new for those big figures at all, they even introduced it at the very beginning of the organised trade in this district!

When merchant's duo walked into the various guild and company cantors, they were immediately greeted and guided to the negotiating table, where they simply needed to pass their list of wares. After just a few prayers worth of time, a local clerk would finish prising their stuff and turn to them for a little bargaining.

Who would've guessed that at the very first stop, they could sell the majority of their stuff! It took them only three more visits to round up and go back!

Discussing how to split the gold, eating a delicious dinner with their bodyguards at the Inn, setting up first arrangements for their business… they did all of it even before the sunset!

"I wish you safe travel!"

Bern extended his big hand and grabbed Mike's.

"I hope we will be able to meet here as soon as possible!"

"Let the dreams of riches carry you on your way back here! If you dare to run out with the gold, I will chase you to the very end of the world!"

Mike smiled back at him. Despite harsh words, it wasn't something that he had to worry about. Renting small warehouse, setting up the deal with local stables, employing few craftsmen for some miscellaneous tasks… All of it cost a hefty sum, leaving Bern pouch to weight just a tad more than when he went to buy out the merchandise way back before setting off to the Altarcia. Knowing his character, there was no way he would even consider giving up such a great perspective for just a few gold coins!

"Take care of him."

Veil asked Xyenna with a slightly pained face. He loved to socialise, making Bern initial group a great party for him. Now, after Verkel's judgment, the disappearance of Horien and the rest of the team splitting up, he would be left with no one but Bern.

"Don't even mention it. Do your job well too!"

Despite all of her irritating behaviours, the young fighter still knew how to behave in these kinds of situations. She abandoned her usually fierce look and allowed her fiery hair to gently fall down on her back, looking a lot more like just a beautiful girl than a berserk swordswoman.

After the last bit of farewells, Bern with his bodyguard turned around, jumped on their carriage and set west. Just a moment later, they were but a small silhouette on the horizon.

"We need to get going too!"

Said Mike just before energetically swinging down his reins.