The Witcher: Elder Blood

As soon as we met up with Detmold again, who had managed to find the wagon we needed, we went straight to purchase it. Our purchase was in the crafts district, which was closer to the edge of the city, so that it would be easier to bring in materials and goods from the harbour by the Lixell River, and then more convenient to bring back the finished goods.

- The thing is, they ordered three whole wagons, but there were some problems, I didn't go into details. So, we ordered three, but we could buy only two of them, we didn't lend the third one, so it was waiting for us,' Detmold grinned, who had managed to find a cheaper wagon in good condition.

The wagon was bought without any problems, and then harnessed to two horses waiting to be driven somewhere.

- Great, the hardest part is to find the first customers, and then buy the goods with their money.

- Then let's go, there's no need to sit here, - Detmold jumped down from the purchased cart, on which he had been sitting earlier. Taking the halter in his hand, he wanted to pull the horses towards the shopping district.

- And what do you think we took the wagon for? - I asked him. - Get back in, it's time to learn how to drive it.

Galanthea stood beside him, watching Detmold's attempts to handle the wagon, but he was beginning to get the hang of it, the rest would come with practice.

After half an hour of transporting the wagon to the market square, we managed to set it up in the right place. We put it next to the covered shop, which we had rented for a day in advance for our own use, having paid a decent amount of marks for such a pleasure. There was no choice, as there was no place of their own, and the location was not suitable for cheap.

The wagon was placed right next to the shop, slightly ajar. Inside we conjured up the illusion of crates of goods. We needed such a trick, otherwise future customers could realise that we have no goods of our own and plan to buy everything at their expense. Then there would be a lot less such clients. At first I wanted to add a couple of illusions of guards standing next to the wagon, but I was dissuaded by Detmold, who told me that guards rarely hang out with traders in the city itself (if the city is well guarded by guards), but rather rest in taverns and brothels, and go out with traders only on the way to another city. I found confirmation of this immediately by looking at the other shops in the market square.

I sat down inside the shop with a large notebook and a pensive face.

Galanthea even joined us, playing a tune on her newly acquired lute, which added to the bored atmosphere. At first, however, we had a little dialogue:

- So are you planning to scam people? - she asked before opening the rented shop.

- A little bit, and what cheating is there? I mean, we actually plan to return their investment with a portion of what we earn in the form of profit. We just happen to be misleading them a little bit.

- Enough with the bullshit. We'll deceive them and we'll deceive them, so what's the point,' Detmold put an end to the conversation, making me close my eyes and cover my face with the palm of my hand.

But, as it became clear later, she didn't care about our actions, or she just didn't show it. As she played her lute, people began to pay more attention to us, though the second warlock's merit in our party was no less.

- Professionals of their trade, the merchant wizards offer you an easy way to increase your money! - Detmold has been soliciting the most richly dressed passers-by in the market square, offering our services to help them make easy profits. - Invest in a caravan of wizards! Better protection for goods, faster movement through the kingdoms! Come and see my partner Eren for details, he'll tell you all about it!

Before all this performance we had a dialogue about theses that we will use to attract customers, apparently he wanted to use them all, and not stingy on verbiage. His calls to the shop continued intermittently, repeating every twenty minutes.

- Do I understand correctly, having given you a thousand marks, the next time you visit the city I'll get a thousand two hundred back? - One of the local knights was interested in our 'scene', as it seemed to me, at first he was attracted by Galanthea's game, and only then he decided to ask what we were doing here.

In Ard Carraig it was not uncommon to meet a local or visiting knight, which was facilitated by the jousting arena located near the Royal Palace. The arena is a regular venue for knights to compete, an event that attracts them to the city. To our interest, many of these knights have extra money, and so successfully they can be invested in our business.

- Exactly so, the more coins will be invested in the caravan, the more we will be able to buy and sell goods, therefore, we will be able to earn, and from the earned money we will pay you your marks and additional for your investment, - I offered each of the clients to familiarise themselves with all the points of the 'contract', written down in a notebook. I also wrote down the clients themselves, their place of residence and their names, so that I could return the money to them after a second visit to the city.

First clause: The caravan would travel along a certain route, covering several kingdoms at once.

Second point: The money invested by the customers will be used to purchase goods, pay guards, and repair the cart(s) if necessary.

Third point: The return of the invested money and profit will take place after a second visit to the city (when passing the trade route).

Owners: The caravan is owned by the warlocks Eren Yeager and Detmold of Ban Ard.

Then there was a list of the people (and more) who had decided to invest in our business, the amounts they had contributed and, of course, where they lived and their approximate appearance so that we could find them or they would find us the next time we set up in the same place in the city.

- You need not worry, this is not the first time we have practised such an arrangement. We gained experience from travelling around Temeria, after gaining experience there, we decided to move on to long distance travel. Magic will make it easier to transport the cargo, so we'll make more profit. All you have to do is wait for the next arrival in the city, and then you'll get your money and your earnings on top. Everyone is on the plus side, - I continued to convince our first client, literally weakening his mind a little with the influence of water magic. The effect was similar to the effect of the Sign of the Axis in witches, only more subtle, not so noticeable, and much safer, even if I used it in front of a group of people, as long as there was no other wizard.

- Really, let's... Hmm, would two hundred marks be enough?

- Of course, we accept investments from a hundred Kaedwen coins, - I lied here, of course, we planned to take at least from twenty, but since the first fish was so big, we can raise the minimum amount.

By the end of the day we managed to find two more people interested in our adventure, but none of them gave more than a hundred, they decided to give exactly the limit, more out of interest. Both were local nobles, and had stumbled upon us on a walk together. Apparently one of them decided just for fun to invest a small amount for himself, and the other supported the campaign.

- I'll be honest, it won't be much,' Detmold took a bite of an apple, sitting with me and Galantea quietly nestled in the chair, looking over my client records.

- First day in the first city, that'll do. We'll stay a couple more days, collect as much as we can, and then we'll head to Aedirn. We'll continue to collect coins in other cities, gradually increasing our merchandise.

- I see, but what about travelling straight to Ben Glean?

Ben Glean was in the southern part of Kaedwen, the last major city before the border with Aedirn. We plan on travelling to Aedirn next, visiting the major cities before heading to Temeria next.

The next two stops will be Ben Gleann, obviously, and Vergen, a similarly sized town before the border with Kaedwen.

- You know very well how difficult it is to open a precise portal in an unknown area. Of course, you can use a map to get your bearings, but ... They're so drawn, you can't even tell where to open the portal. No, I'll open it near the bridge over the Lixell, the one that leads to Ban Ard. From there, we can get to Ben Glean.

Opening a portal had its challenges, the main one being knowing where to open it. The easiest places to open a portal were in places you've been to before, or to open it in a place nearby, even easier to open it in an area visible to the eye. At the same time, to open a large portal is even more difficult, an ordinary spellcaster can not do such a thing, so that it was still long enough to pass at least one cart with people, what to speak of large caravans. That is why, and not because of the stupidity of local wizards, the transfer of goods through the portal is not in demand. Mighty mages who are able to perform such manipulations on a regular basis will simply not engage in 'nonsense', especially for a small fee by their standards. And those who are not so skilled in the magical arts are not able to perform such a move of entire caravans, especially in a precise position, and to avoid accidentally damaging anything. The Elder Blood gene played into my hands, making all manipulations of space much easier. Open a large portal for a wagon to go through? Five wagons. The only problem is the exit point from the portal - I need to know where to open it.

- Anyway, it'll be a lot quicker than travelling straight from Ard Carraig. One lap of the kingdoms is enough to make travelling much faster next time.

- Yes, yes, of course. Then we'll go back to the square tomorrow, but now I want to sleep. Let's call it a night, - Detmold got into his bunk, we all sat together in the same rented rooms.

- Then I'll go to my room, - Galanthea got up from her chair and picked up her lute. - I'm surprised I didn't know about wizards who could open portals like this before,' she said at the door.

- They can, but not all of them,' I answered her thoughts.

- Not all, yes... - She whispered before she left, and I followed Detmold to bed, settling into my not-so-comfortable bed. I got used to the beds at Ban Ard Academy after the witches' fortress, now I'll have to get used to them again, or we'll simply go broke for a normal apartment in the cities while travelling with goods.