第１７１９堀：行商人と村の関り (Part1)
**Chapter 1719: The Peddler and the Village Connection**
Business might look simple from the outside, but for us, it’s a life-threatening gamble. Well, it seems public perception has been shifting lately, likely due to the influx of stories focusing on the nitty-gritty of trade. But in reality, it’s every bit as grueling as they say.
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**Side: Vilia**
*Rumble, rattle...*
The unpleasant vibrations traveled straight through the seat of my pants. I never thought I’d have to experience this again—riding in a crude... well, I suppose "crude" is a bit rude, but it was your typical peddler’s wagon. The last time I’d been in one of these was when Lady Seraria first brought me to see my brother.
The sky was clear, perfect weather for a journey. And yet...
"How much longer until we arrive?"
"Let’s see... We’re pushing as hard as we can, but it will still take another day."
Lady Kagura sighed at the merchant’s answer. He was a regular on the route to these remote hamlets, but the sheer slowness of our progress left her speechless. We had been ordered to depart immediately in the middle of our training, yet this wagon moved at a pace that could only be described as a leisurely clip-clop. This, despite the fact that the lives of the villagers might be at stake.
"Shouldn't we just switch to the car? Or just run for it?" Lady Enora suggested with a scowl.
"We can't do that," I replied, matching her frown. "It would defeat the purpose of sneaking out of town in disguise. We have to maintain our cover as peddlers."
Yes, there was a reason we couldn't hurry. We were traveling as simple merchants, not as representatives of Weed. While we had used a car to move under the cover of darkness until we reached the border and kept our luggage in item bags while running, we had to change tactics once we neared the towns close to the remote villages. We needed a verifiable record of being peddlers, so we stayed in a town, made "preparations," and set off as if we were on a normal route.
Naturally, our arrival time at the village had to be consistent with a horse-drawn journey, or we would arouse suspicion. More importantly...
"We *are* actually hurrying," the merchant added. "The trip from the town to these hamlets usually takes seven days. We’re framing this as a forced march because of the emergency."
As he said, we were pretending to rush because of reports of illness in the village. We were squeezing a seven-day journey into three. Normally, that would be madness—the kind of pace that would kill a horse—but thanks to the recovery magic we inherited from Lady Lilishe, we were keeping the horses in peak condition while subtly augmenting their strength to keep them moving.
"Calm down, Enora," Holy said. "We haven't received any reports of soldiers moving out from the town, so it’s not like the village is going to vanish this very second."
"...You’re right. I guess I’m just restless."
"No, Lady Enora, I understand how you feel," the merchant said. "Knowing those villages are being pushed to the brink of destruction... it’s hard to stay composed."
"Come to think of it," I said, realizing something, "I heard you’ve been trading with the villages where the disappearances are happening. Have you been going there long?"
We had been so focused on the rush that I hadn't really asked about his background. Most of our time on the road had been spent discussing our local strategy with Holy and the others, or how to handle the villagers. But since the core of our cover was the trade itself, it was strange that we hadn't talked about his history yet.
"Well, not 'long' in the grand scheme of things. I started around the time Weed was founded, so maybe five to seven years? I began as an apprentice, so I’ve only been visiting this specific area as an independent peddler for about four years."
"I see."
I remembered Lady Ratz mentioning that a merchant with seven years of experience is considered a solid mid-tier professional. Of course, quality varied, but it wasn't a profession soft enough for a novice to survive in for long. Apparently, only about twenty percent of independent merchants last a full year. If you don't balance your buying and selling perfectly in that first year, you end up drowning in debt. Even passing that one-year mark is no guarantee; you have to keep grinding as a peddler until you can afford a permanent shop. Owning a storefront in a town or village is an immense hurdle.
"I was steadily saving up my coins when I met Master Asu," the merchant continued. "Now, I handle this route as part of a national policy led by Weed."
It was a countermeasure against the decline of peddlers caused by the Gates.
"But doesn't that conflict with your goal of owning your own shop?" Lady Kagura asked, tilting her head. "Joining Master Asu’s company sounds like you’ve given up on independence."
"Oh, I’m under his umbrella, certainly, but my income is higher than it ever was before. And if I perform well, I’m allowed to strike out on my own again. Plus, being able to source goods directly through Weed is a massive advantage."
"I see. So there's enough value in the partnership to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, no one would choose the unpopular life of a peddler," Holy remarked.
"Actually, it’s not quite like that..."
"It’s not?" Lady Enora asked, curious.
"No. When Weed was first established, you could sell almost anything to the neighboring areas. But lately, Weed’s distribution networks have expanded so much that unless you’re heading to brand-new territory, things don't sell quite as easily. Now, we take goods that have flowed from Weed into Roschur and use our own unique routes—peddling—to sell them where the big networks don't reach. That’s how we secure a profit."
"So, the number of peddlers hasn't actually decreased that much?"
"That’s the tricky part. Villages with money are fine. But the remote hamlets we’re heading to now offer almost no profit, so the number of merchants visiting them is plummeting. Weed’s goods are simply too high-quality; there’s no benefit in going to a poor village to trade for their local goods because their products can't compete."
"""Ah...""" we all murmured in unison.
The villagers in these remote areas need cash to buy things, but because Weed’s products are so superior, the things the villagers produce—to put it bluntly—aren't worth buying for resale. There’s no incentive for a merchant to go there. Even the Elves, Lady Eris’s kin, used to bring rather questionable items for bartering.
"So, visiting these hamlets has become more about 'duty' and old ties than business. If there were any actual local specialties worth having, other peddlers would be swarming the place, duty or no duty."
"True. It’s a difficult situation. I suppose that’s exactly why they remain 'remote hamlets,'" Holy said, nodding in understanding.
It was a harsh reality—they were impoverished because they lacked the elements necessary for growth. It made a grim kind of sense.