Mike was sitting in his usual spot, holding the reins and watching the back of the horse. As it usually happens, the border between the Altarcia Kingdom and Empire lied on the verge of two different areas.

Hills on the Imperial side and vast grasslands of the eastern counterpart. Said hills were once a prosperous area of the Kingdom, protected from the west by a huge number of hillside forts.

Sadly for Altarcia, the emergence of Vindean Empire and great conflict that followed right afterwards kept moving the border to the east all the way to the former core of the Kingdom.

Lucky for them, just before the Imperial army could pour out of the conquered defences and swarm unprotected, rich lands, one of the great lords of the Kingdom stepped in. History says that in turn for making his fief independent, he agreed to stop the invasion himself!

Since that time, the border didn't move at all and after the reformation of the Empire a few decades later, the conflict officially ended. Heroic Lord didn't live to see the end of the struggle, but his efforts made his son a king of a new country.

Losing most of the western area of the Kingdom and dire aftermath of the prolonged war resulted in Altarcia retracting its financial and political help to its semi-vassal state. While the south became independent, it remained a loyal friend to its former overlord.

Nowadays, western plains became rather barren, abandoned for the sake of a safe perimeter. While Mike could see some military camps here and there, there were no sights of any villages or civilian settlements.

Almost unbothered by human hand, nature quickly reclaimed the area, resulting in a rich life of plants and animals. Rumours said that this situation extended all the way to the northern great forest, which had to be kept under constant watch to prevent it from expanding too far south.

"I'm glad we managed to avoid any troubles."

Verkel informed his companions, apparently bored out of his mind. Pretending to not notice hateful glare from the other two carriages, he wiped his forehead with one of the many handkerchiefs stuffed in his pockets.

"You are really trying out your damn luck!"

Veil, Bern's bodyguard muttered through his teeth as he put his hand on the sword hilt in an obvious threat.

"If you had overestimated your gift capability, we would have all been screwed!"

He almost shouted those words. While his attitude could be considered negative, his body, comfortably lying on the back of his employer cart, belied those words.

"Stop arguing" - Mike ordered. There was no point in bullying Verkel at this point.

"We could have made him dump some of his cargo before the border, we can't blame him now. But that doesn't mean that you are not in the fault!"

He added while staring daggers at the fat merchant.

"How about we just kill him and take his stuff? We can later report that he had an unfortunate accident..."

Xyenna suggested out loud while playing with one of her many daggers. What could scare the others were not her words, which were often harsh – but her face and tone, devoid of any hint of joking.

"Come on, I know you are just..."

"And you just shut your mouth!"

Apparently still angry at an earlier situation, the girl over-shouted Mike's unfortunate attempt to fix the situation.

"This fat bastard had to try his luck, that's a damn fact. He risked not only our time but even our money!"

"How can that be? Neither Mike nor I have broken any rules regarding..."

Bern tried to interject with a logical argument while awkwardly scratching his nose.

"Are you dumb or naïve?" Xyenna swiftly interjected, "You seriously think they would let us go?" Young sword mistress became so agitated that she stood up from her usual lying position. For those unaquitanced with her, this situation would look like a sign of small outburst, but Mike's company knew better than that.

"Let me explain it, sister."

To prevent a disaster that this whole situation was heading towards, Veil decided to make a move.

"Even if those guards were rather amiable and uncommonly, this is but a part of the profession they are in, just a mask."

As someone who rarely spoken, his words always carried a certain weight to them. While he wasn't an absolute mute like Verkel's bodyguard, a burly warrior preferred to keep his word inside his mouth.

"There was a shitton of merchants there, and most of them are rather observant. Unless given the opportunity, they couldn't bother us. But if any situation appeared where they were obviously in right..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence, as his colleagues were smart enough to see the potential outcome of the presented situation.

"Get off my ass"

Vertel suddenly shouted, unable to bear this kind of discussion any longer.

"Didn't Mike said it already? You could have told me off before the border and anyway, nothing happened so why you keep blaming me?!"

Angry at the escalating situation when he was the main target of everyone's blame, fat merchant finally burst out.

"You dare to think of killing me? It's not like you have any chances against Horien!"

Unknowingly, by threatening them with his bodyguard, he crossed Xyenna's line.

She instantly gathered herself, about to jump out of the cart. Noticing the situation, Mike immediately left the reins from his hand and threw himself at her, holding her in place.

"We can't fight here!!"

Despite his valiant attempt, the nimble girl swiftly freed herself from his embrace and tried to jump. Proving his insane instinct at reading the situation, Mike gave up at holding her, and with no other way, grabbed her legs, stopping the jump in the last moment. As they both fell on Mike's wares, Xyenna instinctively grabbed one of her daggers to protect herself. Only when she met young merchant pleading eyes, did she came back to her senses.

As this situation unfolded, both Veil and Horien armed themselves, but with a vide discrepancy in their postures. Berns bodyguard was visibly hesitant, while Horien appeared annoyed. It was hard to say if he didn't like fighting or just the way his employer acted.

"Are you okay?"

As their emotions cooled down, Mike straightened himself and grabbed Xyenna's hand to help her get up. Still infuriated, she slapped extended hand away and stood up by herself. With no additional word, she just fixed her usual sleeping place and instantly lied there down, sulking.

As the situation ended, the whole group felt the glares on themselves. Only then did they realise that despite how empty the road appeared compared to the checkpoint, it still had some other travelling merchants on it.

Embarrassed by the amount of attention they drew, both bodyguards quickly sheathed their weapons and sat on their preferred spot. While the whole action halted, the atmosphere remained tense, making all of them silent. With no other word, they travelled forward.

*****

As the day was swiftly coming to an end, the whole group finally found a place to rest. Putting a value to every moment with sunlight available, they promptly put their carriages in the triangle shape, with a comfy spot for sleeping and firepit in the middle, secured from all sides.

After taking care of their horses and lying them to sleep, the party dug a small hole where they placed some newly found branches and a bit of charcoal collected yesterday. As soon as the fire started, two separate buckets with water begun to slowly boil.

Although a few hours passed already and atmosphere kinda of relaxed, usual chattering and laughter was nowhere to be found. Making their meals in silence, all six of them stared tirelessly at the dance of the fire.

Thanks to their formation, heat from the blaze was trapped between carriages, defending them from cold, night winds. The chirping of the birds died a long time ago, making the cracking of the wood the only noise present in the area. For some reason, there wasn't a single group camping nearby, making them all alone in this desolate place.

As the water finally finished boiling, Xyenna added a fair bit of meat and cereal to the pot shared with Bern duo. With no surprise, Vertel once again decided against making one big meal for everyone, arguing that because of his size, his appetite was a lot bigger than everyone else. Sprinkling a bit of spice on top of their pot, Xyenna smiled inwardly.

Suddenly recalling events at the border, a girl almost jumped at the opportunity to exact her revenge, when Mike's preemptive strike landed on her. Understanding the meaning behind small glint in her eyes, he placed a small box in her hands, put a slightly devious smile on his face and covertly pointed at Verkel with his eyes.

When she opened the container, Xyenna saw a small amount of strange powder that immediately attracted her nose!

While receiving those spices cost her an occasion to lash out at him, seeing both angry and envious look that Vertel could not hide, all her negative emotions faded away into nothingness.

As pleasant aroma spread through the air, Bern inhaled it with delight. Only after something struck him to his very core, he swiftly got up.

"What is the spice that you used?"

He almost shouted at sword mistress with eyes wide open in surprise.

"Just some spice Mike passed to me to use. Don't worry. I used just a small bit of it!"

She replied with an innocent and confused look.

"Why is the old man so agitated? It's not like spice is nobles exclusive luxury, while it might be costly, a middle class like us can still afford it sometimes!'

"If I'm not wrong, and I rarely am, this is renowned Virviruta. I had once an occasion to smell this aroma, and I will never forget it!" - He exclaimed with joy while spreading his arms to add more emphasis to his words.

"Virviruta? Are you just making up the names right now?"

The girl asked, confused to no end.

"No, he is not."

Mike, who just jumped on the cart, replied in his companion stead.

"I'm acquaintances with one of Putrani tribe, hence my hidden supply of it."

He explained casually while jumping down inside the triangle. He quickly approached the pot and smelled it for a bit.

"While the aroma it gives is certainly nice, you should add just a bit more. This way, it will show its full prowess."

He added with a smug smile, happy from the impression he made.

"I need to pee, we are leaving!"

Angered by the joy Mike and Bern parties were sharing almost as much as envious of the access to insanely expensive spice, Verkel pulled his bodyguard arm while turning away and climbing on his wagon. At this moment, everyone else could understand the pitiful fate of Horien just from the longing look on his face. It wasn't that he wanted to leave, he just had bad luck when choosing his employer!

Understanding the situation on the spot, Xyenna looked at their pot, then at the leaving bodyguard and sent him a meaningful wink. While they never heard him talking, happiness and a slight bow he made was enough to understand what was going through his mind at that moment.

After the fat merchant left, Xyenna used Mike's advice and sprinkled a bit more of the spice into the pot. This time, she paid her whole attention to not waste even a single drop of it. After seeing approving nod from Mike, she stirred the soup for a bit and turned to her employer.

"I understand how much value you put on placating me, but isn't this too much? Wouldn't you make loads of money if you sold this box to any merchant in the Empire, not to speak about Altacia?"

"It's not something I bought, this bit of Virviruta is something that was gifted to me. While due to my efforts to save as much of it as I can, I never treated it as something I would ever sell."

After saying his piece, Mike sat down near the fire and extended his hands to warm them. Only after rather a long while, he realised that others were still waiting for the proper explanation.

"Sigh… Have anyone told you before that when you are expecting some kind of treat, you look just like an adorable cat?"

Mike parried friendly poke that was aimed at his side.

"This spice is the only thing Putrani people can sell to make a living. They live in a harsh area of Empire and barely make ends met ends. While resources needed for it are common, processing them is both very tiresome and is the best-kept secret I ever got to know. So just from pure respect from the trust they placed on me, I never ever tried making it or selling it. What if I made so much money I would forget about my principles?"

Mike sighed.

"Not only I would lose the trust of people I really respect, but I would also send their whole tribe to the depths of starvation by making the price of their product fall lower than it is now. What's more..."

As Mike went on recalling the story that led him to meet this strange tribe, Verkel finally got far enough from the camp to show his true colours.

"I had enough of this! They don't respect me, they dare to threaten me and provoke me!"

He said in silent but infuriated voice. Apparently, his anger from the previous conflict didn't disappear at all.

"As someone chosen by the gods, with their enormous blessing, I am ought to achieve greatness, yet they treat me like some annoying newbie, who knows nothing about trade!"

He keeps going, not even realising how his bodyguard expression darkened with every word he said.

"That's why here are my orders. When we get back, I will act as if you've scolded me, making me rethink my actions. I will be very sorry and ask for forgiveness. When we will arrive in the town, wait until they sell everything they intend, and then we claim that they stole wares and their carriages from me! With my blessing, there is no way it won't work!"

Verkel got so caught up in his revenge plans, that he didn't even realise that during his speech, Horien hand several times travelled to the hilt of his sword, only to stop midway and helplessly fall to his side.

Finally stopping his hateful tirade to catch his breath, he looked at his bodyguard and asked with a high and mighty voice.

"Do you understand what you will be doing?"

In a reply, Verkel received only a small and hesitant nod.