harleyscars Chapter 13 Prayer, The Way of the World
Chapter 13 Prayer, The Way of the World
In his eyes, his demands were somewhat excessive.
After all, having just emerged from a wizard's tower, he didn't have a good impression of the wizarding community—in his view, contact with a strange wizard was a rather dangerous thing.
What he wants now is for the White Stone Merchant Guild to take the risks for him, transferring the risk of dealing with unfamiliar wizards to the guild.
It's really hard to feel justified in saying something like this.
Although Luo Ang was able to attack without hesitation when facing that old man and those two pirates, and didn't feel anything was wrong afterward, the old man and those pirates were ultimately different from normal people.
In his words, Luo Ang was already prepared to bargain.
Unexpectedly, Teonton showed a delighted expression at Loon's obviously unreasonable request.
"Does the Wizard mean to accept our White Stone Merchant Guild as a vassal?"
Triton knelt before Loon once again.
His movements were so swift and agile that Luo Ang was caught off guard and couldn't even stop him with his mental power.
In this life, Luo Ang is the son of a baron family. Although it is a hereditary baron family that has been passed down for tens of thousands of years, in reality, he is just a country bumpkin.
The total population of the entire territory is less than that of a single village head in my previous life.
Moreover, the area is remote and poorly informed.
For the White Eagle family, finding out that there were traces of wizards in the Prosperity Lighthouse and finding a way to send Loon here as an apprentice was an effort that took the family to the extreme.
When he was in his family, Luo Ang sometimes heard people talk about how a merchant guild in a certain place was lucky enough to be noticed by a marquis and taken in as a retainer.
But Loen had never experienced anything like this in his own territory, and he did not think that it was something to be proud of for a normal person to suddenly be taken in as a vassal and for his family's hard-earned business to become someone else's.
But at this moment, looking at Te Wengtong kneeling before him, overjoyed but also anxious because he was worried that Luo Ang would refuse, Luo Ang suddenly realized what kind of era this was.
The owner of a chamber of commerce has absolute authority within it, and the captain of a cargo ship wields power akin to that of a monarch on board.
A person who can sail far in this era possesses exceptional courage and decisiveness.
He knelt before Luo Ang, pleading with Luo Ang to "take him in" with an extremely expectant, almost begging, posture.
For a moment, Luo Ang even worried that he had misheard.
"Mr. Shiraishi, I have no intention of coveting the Shiraishi Trading Company's assets."
"I just wanted to ask you to help me find out any traces of wizards in other places."
"Although this is somewhat risky, I am willing to pay extra for it."
Loon explained.
Listening to Loong's explanation, Teonton became even more heartbroken.
"My Lord Wizard, although the White Stone Merchant Guild is just a small guild and doesn't make as much money as other guilds, as long as you are willing to take us in, our loyalty is absolutely unmatched by any other guild."
Triton pleaded, tears streaming down his face, as if his lifeline was about to be pulled away.
In Luo Ang's view, being a traveling merchant should be a relatively stable profession.
According to Triton, the process of traveling as a merchant was full of hardships.
There are no standard tax rates in each place; how much tax to collect depends entirely on the local officials' ideas.
In addition, one will encounter all sorts of dangers on the road of a merchant.
He recounted the hardships he had endured while traveling as a merchant, leaving Lo Ang stunned.
In his words, if given a choice, even a dog wouldn't want to be a merchant.
For these merchants, the best fate was to be noticed by a reliable nobleman, become his retainer, and manage the business of his territory.
In this way, even if they die, their descendants can still have a free profession in the noble's territory without worrying about being targeted or expelled.
Besides becoming a nobleman's retainer, an even better future naturally lay in becoming a wizard's retainer.
Becoming a wizard's retainer means running around to meet the wizard's demands, making life unstable. However, because you carry the wizard's mark or token, you won't be easily harassed anywhere.
Moreover, if you serve a wizard for a long enough period of time, your descendants will naturally have more opportunities than other strangers when the wizard wants to take on an apprentice.
"Please have mercy, Wizard!" Teonton cried.
Hearing about Teuntong's experience, Loen couldn't help but sigh.
He realized once again with absolute clarity that this was no longer his original world—nor could it ever be his original world!
"Then so be it," Luo Ang's voice slowly rang out.
"If you can lead me to the traces of the three wizards, I will provide protection for your White Stone Merchant Guild."
Although Teontong described his experience as extremely pitiful, Loon remained cautious and did not completely believe him. He did not directly accept the White Stone Merchant Guild, but instead set conditions for the three wizards.
In this way, it gives Thon a chance to change his mind, and at the same time, it gives himself a chance to understand the Chamber of Commerce.
"I'll do whatever the wizard says." Teonton nodded excitedly, then stepped out of the cabin.
Two more days passed.
On the third day, pirate warships were seen sailing around the fleet.
The fleet was surrounded by more ferocious sharks, creating immense pressure.
Under the pirates' watchful gaze, the merchant ship leading the fleet simply raised a flag.
On the flag, a mark was embroidered with gold thread, dazzling brightly in the sunlight.
In the upper left corner of the flag, there was a small piece of black cloth about the size of a palm pasted on it.
The black cloth had patterns that were exactly the same as the markings on the flag.
Looking at the patterns on the black cloth, Loon immediately recognized them as the secret mark of a wizard.
Among the pirates, there were also some who knew their stuff and didn't dare to block the merchant ship's path, thus opening up the blocked route.
"Speed up, speed up!"
Seeing this, all the merchant ships in the fleet hoisted their sails and accelerated as much as possible.
On the cargo ship where Loon was, Teonton was personally at the helm, and the sailors had all returned to the hold, pedaling hard on the oars, afraid of falling behind and being left behind by the fleet.
The once orderly fleet descended into chaos in an instant.
Loon also noticed that some of the ships lagging behind in the fleet were also raising a flag embroidered with the mark of the lead ship.