AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 134: Opening a tradeline

Year 3, Winter, Second Month, Second Week.

The snow fell heavily painting everything in white, even so, some strong and obstinate trees, that dared to resist the cold, added some green and brown to the picture. On this beautiful natural scene, three horse-pulled carts, seemingly packed full, defied common sense by traveling at high speed towards the west. Without notice, a shadow jumped through trees and approached the leading cart, matching its speed.

There's a pack of white wolves 400 meters ahead, less than a dozen. They're on our way and I can't bait them off, so we'll need to engage..

Eh OK Prepare your bows! There's a pack of wolves ahead and we need to scare them off...

Keller calmed his heart as he observed the girl disappear through the trees again. Even after one day of sudden appearances, he still wasnt used to being approached out of nowhere. However, he couldnt deny the benefits of being informed of every movement around him. Being surprised by a partner was much better than being surprised by an attack.

When he bet his last cards and resources on the villagers, who now called themselves the AKs, he was only expecting an opportunity to do one last trade before leaving the Kingdom, more for the curiosity of how far they would go than anything. Even his subordinates thought he had predicted their development and that was the true reason why he brought his last resources into the Forest. However, the truth was that he had decided to retire and had come to get the best the AKs could offer in exchange for his last resources, which also included his subordinates.

It might appear insensible or disgusting to trade people, but he wasnt selling or forcing them to stay, just like Arnold, they would spend some time with the AKs and decide to stay by themselves. Keller was certain they wouldnt want to leave once they experienced Alchemy, after all, everybody under him was ambitious, they were his most precious resources. So, his last act as their Boss would be putting them on the path to greatness, towards Alchemy.

Keller didnt know how the craft worked exactly, but his decades of experience all screamed this was something that would change everything, something that would destroy the Kingdom's supremacy once and for all.

Unexpectedly, all of Keller's plans had now changed, his Merchant spirit was reborn. The AKs' magnificent offer only palled in comparison to their development. In one year, they left the position of servants of the Kingdom to become players in the game. Of course, they couldnt compare to the Kingdom or the other nations, but that was just a matter of time. Their list of accomplishments was vast, but what Keller admired most was their foresight to focus their energy on exploring the Eastern Forest. A place once considered indomitable was being slowly and steadily dominated by them.

He couldnt help but endlessly praise their every decision, from moving deep into the forest, where they would be protected by the wild nature and could calmly explore its unending resources, to opening a path of trade and innovation. Their only challenge would be operating under the nose of the Kingdom long enough to amass power. Fortunately, the Adventurers they brought to their anything-but-humble hamlet were outcasts and rejected by the Kingdom. Of course, eventually, the existence of the mysterious place should be discovered by the nobles, probably by that Wind Lord.

However, they weren't unprepared for it. The place was far enough into the Forest to discourage aimless expeditions and when a noble decided to finance a thorough search, they shouldnt be able to find the place easily. The strange event of stumbling on the hamlet when they first arrived wasnt a coincidence. In fact, they forgot about it only because they were overloaded with mysteries inside the Adventurers' point, but Keller now knew about it.

According to Karl's explanation, that space was concealed, so it couldnt be easily found unless you're guided or stumbled on it. Nobody noticed later because they left the place and came back without being affected by the concealment again. Apparently, during registration, when they signed the registration book, the managers copied their energy signature and added it as an exception to their design, whatever that meant.

Since it was normal to use their energy when signing a registration book to prevent people from leaving without paying or cheating the rules, nobody objected to it, even though it raised suspicions of how they could afford such a thing. But, Keller knew the book was false, he had traded it with them one year before and it was just a common book. Later, when Karl explained the book was a diversion to get their spiritual signature, he finally understood the ploy.

Only a few minutes later, Keller realized the danger of such a thing. If they could get someone's spiritual signature and use it in one of their designs, they could probably do other things too, even harmful things. Of course, they shouldnt be capable of slaving someone, but harming might still be a possibility. However, he chose to keep the worries to himself, after all, their proposal and telling him everything was a sign of trust.

What Keller didnt know, was that getting and keeping the Adventurers' energy signature was very costly. Karl was working on an alternative, but for now, they were using Contain Runes to store each signature and a re-drawer to refresh it every day. Even disregarding the sheer cost of drawing one Rune for each Adventurer, the re-drawer was amongst their most costly tools. Using it seasonally, or even monthly, was acceptable, but daily was just wasteful.

Anyway, the concealment wasnt their only tactic to prevent unwanted attention, Karl promised they were working on other countermeasures to keep unwelcomed visitors from noticing the place, so Keller decided to trust them and focus on his part of the deal. Talking about the deal, it could be considered perfect, as it only benefited the two sides. On Keller's part, he would need to provide trading options for the hamlet and do some focused advertisement to bring more outcast Adventurers, while the AKs would provide the means for him to cross the forest efficiently.

Keller also promised to help them make the place more friendly to the Adventurers, but this was only in his good faith. In exchange for his resources, only the materials, they offered him some nice tools. He had to leave three carts behind with the materials but the remaining three were engraved with a powerful Lightness effect, which was now much stronger due to Karl's growth. His Guards and Fighters were equipped with elemental weapons and their gear was enhanced with Lightness and wind effects. The pulling beasts were exchanged by wild wind horses, which were stronger than the bred horses of the Kingdom. Last, he received two detoxifying tools to solve any magic poisoning problems.

The exchange was actually outside of their deal, as the agreement only covered the shadow escorting, which Keller learned was the name of the stealthy girl's unit, and improvements to the path which would be done in time. Currently, they could only move this fast because they were using the path opened by the AKs when they fleed from the Kingdom. Later, they would need to think of a way to cover it, otherwise, it would help the Kingdom track them (Probably how the mercenaries got to them so easily).

In exchange for these fancy magic tools, Keller offered all of his remaining resources, only keeping the money and some crystals to use in the tools. The Merchant's treasure wasnt big but was surely rich in terms of quality. Before coming, he had tried to acquire rare resources and resources he knew the AKs would need. Aside from fabric and some utensils, Keller only brought objects that would cost a fortune each. But it was worth it and he didnt regret it for even a moment.

Fortunately, the AKs didnt have use for money, otherwise, he wouldnt have enough to buy the loot from the Adventurers. In truth, if they didnt have placed requests and paid him upfront, he wouldnt be able to afford to bring this much back. He was surprised to discover that practically all Adventurers trusted him enough to pay upfront. Before coming to the hamlet they probably wouldnt, but after seeing that the place was what he promised and even more, and after the managers of the place vouched for him and promise to compensate them if needed, they formed a line, and one by one started to give him requests.

In their defense, staying in the hamlet longer to continue earning in a couple of weeks what they used to earn in one year, was too tempting.

Keller smiled and looked forward waiting for the wolves to appear. One day, the Kingdom shall be the wolves