Actually, asking about someone's trade route is very taboo, easily arousing suspicion of being a bandit's accomplice or a spy gathering intelligence.
Fortunately, all four of us were dressed in non-local attire, and Roxy and Elinalise's appearances clearly showed they weren't natives of the Bekalite Continent.
Thus, no major misunderstandings arose.
Perhaps we were lucky. When we asked the fifth caravan, we encountered a turning point.
AI Model: gemini-3.0-flash
After asking around, we learned that this caravan was quite famous locally. Its president was a woman named Helen Robert.
The caravan's fame was mainly due to her security team, which consisted of four women and three men.
While a ratio with more women than men was relatively rare on the Bekalite Continent, it wasn't unheard of.
The difference, however, was that in other such caravans, the ratio was usually because the owner brought along many female slaves.
But in this caravan we encountered, the main combat force was those four women; the three men were in relatively weak positions, and one of them had even been recruited temporarily at the start of the journey.
The captain of the guard was a massive woman named 'Great Sword' Darsy Romero. True to her name, she carried a giant sword on her back that was wider than my entire body.
That strength was definitely at the Saint-level.
The one communicating with the caravan was Rudeus.
"Hello, ma'am. There are four of us who want to go to the Rapan, the Labyrinth City. I wonder if you are heading the same way?"
The one who replied to Rudeus was the captain of their guard, Darsy Romero.
"What is the strength of your group? The usual route from here to Rapan goes around the desert via Enkouz, but there have been many bandits on that route lately, making it dangerous.
We plan to reach Karal City to the west first, then detour along the mountains to Rapan. Although this will take three months longer, it will be much safer.
If you can accept that, you can travel with us."
"All four of us are S-Rank Adventurers. I am a Water Saint-level Magician, and these two here, Roxy Migurdia and Daolin Prodia Grellat, are both King-level Magicians. This person from the Long-eared Race is also a very strong swordsman. Even with a lineup like ours, we can't go directly to Rapan?"
The guard captain seemed a bit speechless, perhaps intimidated by our lineup.
At that moment, a woman's voice came from the tent inside.
"Daci, come in for a moment."
The female warrior then went inside. Five minutes later, she emerged from the tent and replied,
"My mistress has agreed to your request. We can take the shortest route via Enkouz to Rapan together. However, you four will need to serve as guards along the way.
We will provide payment for the escort. 1,000 nessa per person, plus meals. Can you accept that?"
We gladly accepted their proposal and set off on the journey to Rapan together the next day.
Because we joined someone else's guard team, the night watch rotation was changed. I was assigned to keep watch with a male warrior named Ben Robert. He was very friendly and told me many things about their caravan.
"Our caravan started out very small. Under the leadership of my brother, Karl Robert, we could only do small-scale business within the Bekalite Continent.
We often couldn't afford powerful guards and were always undercut by larger caravans.
Once while trading, our caravan was attacked by bandits. My brother, Karl Robert, was shot and killed by an arrow. In the end, most of the goods were stolen too.
At that time, we were all prepared to disband.
But then my sister-in-law, the current president Helen Robert, stepped up and led us to complete that trade.
She even used her own dowry to make up for the losses everyone suffered from the bandit raid.
So later, I stayed to continue doing business with my sister-in-law.
Now our caravan is one of the premier caravans on the Bekalite Continent. I've even been to the Asura Kingdom for trade.
It was truly eye-opening; the people there live such prosperous lives. The roadsides are filled with golden ears of wheat.
That is a scenery we on the Bekalite Continent can't even imagine.
My greatest wish is to settle down in the Asura Kingdom."
It seemed the president of this caravan was quite capable. I didn't tell Ben Robert that I was a noble from the Asura Kingdom.
Mentioning such things would only invite trouble.
"I see that the main guards of your caravan are women. Were they all recruited later by your president?"
"Yes, women are also an important combat force on the Bekalite Continent. I don't know what method the president used to recruit so many powerful female warriors.
It's as if they appeared out of thin air.
They suddenly just appeared in our guard team.
Unfortunately, if we encounter succubi, we have no way to find release with them. We can only look for the slaves in the team, or be tied up and sent to the nearest market to find prostitutes.
It's a real shame. Look at that tall, slender woman; her name is Eunice Morgan, the second eldest of the female guards. She's too beautiful, just as beautiful as the long-eared blonde beauty you brought."
I looked over at the female guards patrolling near the camp.
I had actually only communicated with the extremely large eldest sister among them, Darsy Romero.
I hadn't spoken a single word to the others.
Indeed, the woman with long legs and a slender waist was also very good-looking. She had a sort of Central Asian exotic charm. She didn't have the European-like face typical of the Asura Kingdom.
She had a soft and healthy beauty, and her smile was very tranquil. She was chatting with the other guards, and it was clear she was in a good mood.
I asked Ben Robert beside me, "Then what are the names of the two female guards next to her?"
"Oh, you mean Bonchiani and Vera the Cheetah.
Anya is the third eldest in their team, the one who is a bit shorter but has a particularly developed chest. Don't let her small stature fool you; her strength is immense. She can easily shatter a giant boulder with her club.
Every time I see a bandit hit by her club, it's basically a bloody scene of flying limbs. It's terrifying. I haven't had much contact with her.
The other girl, who is a bit fairer, is Vera. She's the youngest, the fourth sister. She's the scout of our team, uses a bow, and basically never misses. Plus, her eyesight is exceptionally good.
Most of the time, she discovers the monsters and enemies on the road ahead of time.
I've heard others in the team say she seems to be a half-blood of Asura and Bekalite descent. No wonder she can be so fair-skinned.
My greatest wish is to have children with her; that way, my children could have such fair skin too!"
She was indeed quite fair, but only relatively so; compared to pure-blooded Asurans, she was still a bit more yellowish.
While we were sitting on the ground chatting, the girl who used the club looked at us. Holding her two-meter-long club, she walked toward us.
"You're the King-level Magician? Why have I seen you slacking off these past few days? You don't even use magic to attack when we encounter monsters.
Are you even performing your guard duties?"
"I am indeed a King-level Magician, but for special reasons right now, I need to use magic as little as possible. I should be considered a swordsman for now."
I drew my meteorite sword.
"Hahahaha, you call this a sword? It's so thin and short, not even half the length of Big Sister's Great Sword. A sword like that is only good for picking a monster's teeth.
I think you just want to be lazy and avoid guard work. Let me tell you, if you haven't done anything by the time we reach Rapan, we won't pay you your guard wages.
Your blonde-haired friend at least provides water and builds houses. You, however, have done nothing.
A real waste."
I was a bit speechless, but it was true that I had been slacking off these past few days; that was undeniable. It's just that no monsters had managed to charge in front of me, so what was I supposed to do?
The formation didn't place me on the perimeter either. I couldn't just run out and kill things randomly just to show off, could I?
"Whether I'm a waste or not is none of your business. If I don't get a chance to act in the end, I won't bother asking for your measly guard wages.
If there's a chance, I'll show you that weapons aren't necessarily better just because they're longer!"
She didn't argue back, just gave a huff and left.
I suppose she just wanted to give me a warning to establish her dominance.
Afterward, we continued our journey through the desert.
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