Chapter 646

Arrival at Catastie
After we finished roughly going over the Parfe wagon’s problems and points for improvement, the city of Catastie finally came into view.

Our first stop was the Tamer Guild facility located outside Catastie’s city wall.
There, we would have them look after the Parfes and the Parfe wagon, as well as the two Kiblinki Saltas serving as the Parfes’ escorts.
The remaining one would stay with us, acting as my bodyguard.

In terms of combat strength it was excessive, but I’d been told that in my position, one could never have too many guards.
Still… just how many are “enough,” I wonder.
I can block attacks myself with Adamant Body, Talat is here, and if needed I can teleport both Talat and myself to a safe zone.
Well, only a handful of people know about the Goddess’s Cabin, so I guess it can’t be helped.

Elsa also entrusted all Rock Wolves except Cole, the pack leader, and then we finally entered Catastie.
We had already passed the entry inspection at the VIP gate.
It’s the gate reserved for nobles and people of high status, and of course that included me.
Or rather, when I tried lining up for the regular entry inspection, Fanny pulled me over to the VIP side.

Guildmasters of major guilds like the Adventurer Guild or Trade Guild, as well as Gold-rank adventurers and merchants, can apparently use this inspection lane.
Actually, it seems they must use it.
I suppose it means VIPs shouldn’t mix with regular visitors.

… Wow, I really have become someone important.

By the way, the branch manager from Lumnite Company is a Silver-rank merchant, so normally he would need to line up for general inspection.
But this time, he and everyone else were considered part of my group, so we all went through the VIP inspection together.
Naturally, no one stopped us.

“Then, I will head to the lodging prepared by our company’s associates. I shall see you again on the day you return to Vardmoi.”

From here on, the branch manager would act separately.
He had work to handle at Catastie’s local office.
As for us, we didn’t have any urgent tasks.
Starting tomorrow, we planned to spend about ten days leisurely sightseeing around Catastie.

It had been around four years since I last came here as a tourist, and I’d heard the city had changed quite a bit.
I was looking forward to it.

“But still, Catastie is quite a large trading city, isn’t it? Lady Lily, are you planning to establish a base here?” Elsa asked.

I wasn’t too familiar with the specifics.
But since we would handle imports, we would at minimum place an office here.
Whether we’d establish a storefront was another matter.

“Is that so? It seems like you could make a lot of profit though,” she said.

“If you can transport imported goods from overseas without damaging them or worrying about theft, selling them in Vardmoi yields greater profit. There are caravans that leave directly from Catastie to other territories, but in reality, most goods pass through Vardmoi.”

“Oh, I see. So Vardmoi prices are higher.”

“The road between Vardmoi and Catastie is well maintained, and patrols travel it frequently, so bandits rarely appear. However, there are still occasional incidents involving stray monsters. When you consider the risk of damage during transport and the cost of escorts, it’s more economical to buy in Vardmoi even if it’s slightly more expensive.”

As expected of the daughter of a civil official—Shelche was knowledgeable about economics.
In reality, there were a few cases each year where traveling merchants acting alone were attacked by stray monsters and severely injured.
In this world, no matter how much you try to ensure safety, you simply can’t eliminate the threat posed by monsters.

That’s why when traveling between major cities, caravans were formed so that many merchants could move at once with many guards.
Being in a small group made you an easy target—some things never change, no matter the world.

There were exceptions, such as high-speed transport via magic-powered vehicles, but that really was an exception—meant for those with money to spare or those needing to cross multiple territories in one go.

It was only much later that I learned the magic bus I’d used when I first came to this world was not a general mode of transportation.
Yeah… that was surprising.

Actually, the Trade Guildmaster of Neist had recommended it to me, but now that I think about it, that trip must have been really expensive.

What do you think about this chapter?