Chapter 19 Minagarde’s Caravan
Pine is a businessman from the city of Minagard.
Different from the image of a paunchy, blingy man in the minds of ordinary people, Pine is not tall, with thick joints in his hands and feet, strong muscles, and dark skin, looking more like a fisherman than a businessman.
In fact, only those big businessmen who have a bunch of gold coins automatically flying into their pockets with just a word of mouth will get the "mark of successful people" like a fat belly.
A merchant like Pine, who leads a dozen trucks to run trade routes for his chamber of commerce, has naturally much better living conditions than ordinary farmers and small traders, but he travels with his caravans to cities and towns throughout the year, doing business everywhere. They are commodities and there is no way they can gain too much fat.
On the contrary, the muscles in both legs have grown a lot.
The life of a businessman who wears out two pairs of shoes every month and is exposed to wind and sun is indeed hard, but he still perseveres.
In this world full of monsters and dragons, caravan merchants are a very dangerous profession. It is not uncommon for caravans to be attacked in the wild and caravans to be massacred by monsters.
Some large caravans transporting valuable goods will hire monster hunters to accompany and protect them. However, the commission for hiring a hunter to **** them throughout the journey is very high, and it is difficult for ordinary caravan merchants to pay.
Pine is considered a lucky one among the caravan merchants, because the route assigned to him by the chamber of commerce to which he belongs belongs to the safer category.
This trade route started from the city of Minagard, loaded with goods, and passed through the coastal city of Melchita. After exchanging some of the goods, it turned southeast and went to the city of Metabetate in the Alcris region for sale.
The one-way trip is nearly a thousand kilometers, and the round trip takes nearly three months, but the benefits are really good.
The most dangerous part of the entire route is the part from Minagard City to Melchita City. The business road almost passes by Xisuletson Hill, where monsters frequently appear.
The closest point between the two is less than ten kilometers.
It can be said that Pine and his caravan are also gambling on their lives to make money.
He is not a miser. He does not have a pathological desire to collect wealth like many businessmen, but he also has his own goals.
Pine is already in his forties and has not yet been married. Few parents are willing to marry their beloved to a guy who is homeless all year round and may make his wife a widow at any time.
But he has a brother who is several years older than him. He has taken good care of him since he was a child, and the relationship between the brothers is also very deep.
However, an accident more than ten years ago caused the death of both the eldest brother and sister-in-law, leaving only a young orphan girl, only two or three years old, with no one to take care of her.
Pine adopted this niece as a matter of course and treated her as his own child, pouring all his affection and care into her.
After all, she is Pine’s only remaining relative in this world.
The girl's name is Hayata, which means "Pandan" in the northern dialect.
Pine lives a frugal life, and he is only willing to wear the most ordinary cotton and linen travel clothes that cost three to four hundred yuan. But when he sees a beautiful little dress with a price of two to three thousand yuan in the window, he will buy it without hesitation.
Speaking of his life goal, it is to save enough money before Hayata comes of age, buy a small building with a small garden in front of the door in "Dondoruma", the most prosperous city in the center of the continent, and give it to her Find a good family to marry.
He is also willing to let him close his eyes immediately afterwards. Of course, it would be even better if he could hug his grandnephew before closing his eyes.
Pine, who was looking down and thinking about something, was suddenly awakened by a shout.
“Uncle~ How long does it take to arrive!”
A lively little head poked out from the top of the cargo pile of the large truck pulled by the herbivorous dragon.
The girl's pupils were light green like sprouts, and her long, silky brown hair swayed down her cheeks, swaying with the bumps of the truck, just like the girl's lively personality.
This is only the fourth day of departure, and it’s not even one-fifth of the one-way trip. "
Hayata flat-mouthed, obviously very dissatisfied with this answer. He jumped down from the high pile of goods with a flip of his body. He pulled his hands on the ropes that tied the goods, slowed down, and jumped to the ground nimbly. superior.
The corners of Pine's eyes twitched hard.
Hayata, this child, is too lively and active, and a little more agile than an ordinary girl of fourteen or fifteen years old?
On weekdays, he spends at least nine months of the year traveling for business, while Hayata stays at home in Minagard City and is taken care of by a nanny.
He once thought that Hayata would grow into a gentle and virtuous lady, but now it seems that there is a lack of discipline?
Well, he is reluctant to discipline him, just be more lively.
Thinking of this, Pine couldn't help but sigh heavily.
I still dote on Hayata too much. As long as the latter acts coquettishly and squeezes two tears at most, I can't help but agree to any request.
One month ago, on Hayata's fourteenth birthday, he promised to fulfill any of her wishes. But who knew that the child's wish was to follow him on a business trip?
“Slow down, be careful not to fall!”
“I know~!”
After reminding his niece who started to rush back and forth between the convoy, Pine sighed again.
I must be crazy. How could I, how dare I bring Hayata into this dangerous wilderness?
The caravan companions beside him patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile that he was really worried too much. Even though it was very close to Xisulet Sen Hill, nothing had happened in more than ten years, hadn't it?
"Haha, why are you not as courageous as Hayata? Those monsters have their own territories, and this area of Shangdao is not in their territory, so nothing will happen."
Another companion also laughed. It was unclear whether he was teasing or comforting.
Pine smiled reluctantly, but his anxiety was still there.
For the safety of his niece, he originally planned to hire a monster hunter at his own expense to **** the caravan through this relatively dangerous section of the road.
However, the hunting ban period has not yet passed, and the hunter gathering hall in Minagard City is as quiet as a library. Even the waiters have gone home for the holidays, and they can't even hire a hunter.
The staff on duty suggested that he wait a little longer and hire hunter guards after the hunting ban was lifted.
But he couldn't change the caravan's itinerary if he wanted to, so in the end he had to go on the road as scheduled.
At the moment, all he can do is pray that this trade route, which has been running without incident for more than ten years, will continue to be safe.
The uneasiness in his heart drove Pine. He quickly came to the lead car and said hello. The old coachman of the lead car quickly took out the map from his bag.
Pine carefully compared the surrounding terrain, calculated the speed and time of the caravan, and finally determined the location of the caravan.
“At this speed, the caravan will be far away from this hilly area before the sun sets, and it will be on a safe road by then. I hope everything goes well.”
The old coachman, who also looked a little worried, nodded, and kept using the leather reins to gently tap the herbivorous dragon pulling the cart, urging them to move forward faster.
Unfortunately, the remaining snow on the road made it difficult for the heavy trucks to speed up, and the long caravan was as clumsy as an old mammoth.
Moving forward slowly and leisurely.
(End of this chapter)