Chapter 288 – Vagrants
We couldn’t send the group off immediately.
No matter how strong the fighting force, once hunger sets in, there's no answer. I took just one wagon and Karl with me and approached the wooden wall.
A colossal wooden barricade tightly encircled the area around the river.
Guards were stationed atop the wall, making it impossible to sneak inside.
Karl looked up at the wall, then tilted his head.
“Why are the guards so tight? I thought this was a safe zone?”
“They’re not watching for enemies. They’re watching the vagrants.”
“Vagrants?”
“To enter, you need money. If you don’t have it, most end up living outside.”
“Wait, you mean those people?”
As the details of the wall came into view, so did the long line of people camped beneath it.
They were packed densely against the outer wall like ants.
Using the solid wall as a foundation, they had built small living spaces from wooden planks—vagrants, living in makeshift shelters.
You could call it a shantytown.
There must’ve been thousands.
“Damn, how can there be so many beggars?”
“They’re not beggars. They just lost their place because they couldn’t afford the toll.”
“What? And how much is that toll?”
“It starts at 5 gold.”
“What? 5 gold? Not silver?!”
Karl’s expression went blank at the amount. Five gold was enough to live comfortably for a month in Tobaron. And they were charging that just for entry?
“Insane. Who the hell pays that kind of money to get in?”
“That just means the place is worth that much.”
I steered the wagon not toward the shantytown, but toward the gate entrance.
The area around the massive gate was clean.
Guards seemed to be preventing the vagrants from approaching.
All around, merchants had set up their stalls, forming a crowded, noisy marketplace that resembled a traditional market.
“I’d like to buy some food supplies.”
From one of the merchants selling dried meats, I purchased a large quantity of food.
It was enough to feed about fifty people for two weeks, so the wagon was packed full.
While checking the sold items, the merchant, chewing a tobacco leaf, tossed a question at me.
“Looks like you’re in trouble because you couldn’t get into the dock, am I right?”
“How did you know?”
People called the area beyond the wall “the dock.” It was a symbolic term—it was actually a sizable riverside city.
“Most folks who buy a lot of food out here are merchants who got caught off guard by the toll and had to turn back. Judging by the amount of food, you must’ve brought quite a few wagons, huh?”
“Quite a few. Also, plenty of mouths to feed.”
“They tripled the tolls last month. Tons of merchants got screwed and turned back.”
“Is there a reason for the sudden increase?”
“It’s because of the ‘Dark Sales’ happening in Aintrier.”
The merchant grimaced as he replaced his tobacco.
“They jacked up the tolls because all the rich visitors are about to pour in. It’s no different than local thugs extorting people, but it’s the lord’s orders, so we’ve got no choice. I’ll be living outside for a while too. Paying that toll now is just plain foolish.”
“Foolish, huh…”
Muttering the word "fool," Karl looked at me, but I ignored him and paid for the food.
After a quick glance around, the merchant leaned in and whispered,
“Do you have a destination in mind?”
“I’m still considering.”
“If you're headed overland, Demtor is the safest. Need people? I’ve got guides, guards, porters, whatever you need.”
He seemed used to this kind of thing. The merchant immediately offered to connect me to a broker.
“If you want info on the Hell Grime area, you can buy that too.”
Wait… hold on…
At his last words, I froze.
The mention of “information” sparked an idea.
Broker, tolls, and vagrants.
The moment those three words came together, the word “information” surfaced, and a certain man’s name flashed through my mind.
“Kamel Blazer, the Mad Butcher.”
In the novel When the Villains Get Stronger, he was the most intelligent of the main heroes.
When he unified Tobaron and first entered Hell Grime, Kamel had implemented a specific plan.
What if I applied that plan to the World Tree Alliance?
It was viable.
As it stood, the World Tree Alliance was being ignored by outside powers. It might be the perfect foothold for infiltrating Hell Grime.
While I was deep in thought, the merchant clicked his tongue and took a puff from his tobacco.
“Haven’t made up your mind?”
“I have. Bring me the broker.”
Having made my decision, I nodded.
My plan was to start it, then leave. To scale it up, I couldn’t do it alone. I’d need to talk with the World Tree Alliance once I returned.
A little while later—
“Here’s the man.”
The merchant brought the broker over, and I told him the people I needed and where we were going.
“…Where did you say?”
“We’re heading to Aintrier by following the Kenline River.”
“You mean—not by boat but overland?”
It was the most dangerous route to Aintrier.
Hearing this, the broker hesitated and gave a hollow laugh.
“Thought I was finally getting a customer, but I guess I just got introduced to dead men walking. Do you even know what that road is?”
“Can you find people?”
“The area around the Kenline River is lawless. One wrong step and you’ll find corpses buried, or floating right on the river. I doubt anyone else would be dumb enough to head into that deathtrap.”
The broker kept grumbling, but I smiled and made my point clear.
“We’re departing at noon. Bring them here by then.”
I told him where the group was staying in the forest and turned to leave, but the broker grabbed my arm.
“Did you not understand what I said? I told you it’s not that simple.”
I tossed him a gold coin.
“An advance. I’ll pay the rest of the fee handsomely. So bring the volunteers. Make sure to choose them well.”
It was about 10 gold.
The broker glanced between me and the gold for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and asked,
“Thought this was your first time here. Was I wrong?”
“I never said it was my first time.”
“Pfft, I misjudged you. I’ll have the candidates ready by noon.”
The man who was just whining a moment ago now walked away with a blank expression.
Watching him, Karl blinked at me and asked,
“What the hell just happened?”
“He was trying to raise the price. I drew the line.”
“How did you know?”
“There’s always a way to know.”
Since there were more things we needed, I drove the wagon around the area, buying herbs useful for healing and ready-to-eat food. As I filled a basket and checked out, Karl stuck to me, curiosity still lingering.
“Do you really think that broker’s going to bring volunteers? Didn’t he say that route is a deathtrap?”
“A lot will come. So many that I’m already worrying about how to pick them.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because vagrants have families.”
“Vagrants?”
The makeshift homes clustered like a shantytown, so starkly different from the mood inside.
I turned toward the edge of the wall.
It was gloomy and dark.
Vagrants.
It was just one word, but I knew their past, their future, and the grim reality they couldn’t even imagine.
It was a world where even powerful witches could become slaves or test subjects.
The role of the weak is always the same, but for vagrants, it was even worse.
We were now heading back to the forest.
Karl, who had been staring at me, clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“You were thinking about something else just now, weren’t you?”
“You caught me?”
“There’s no need to drag vagrants into a deathtrap. For us, it’s just more of a hassle.”
“If we bring them, they’ll be useful.”
“You know how strong we are. It’s not like we’re going to die out there. If anything, we have too much power.”
“I wasn’t talking about force. I meant information.”
“Information?”
“How much do you really know about Hell Grime?”
“Some knowledge may be useless to some, but to others, even that useless knowledge can be powerful. He exploited that gap.”
“He? Who?”
Recruiting vagrants.
It was the strategy Kamel put the most effort into early on in Hell Grime.
And now, it was my turn to do the same.
They were the final puzzle piece needed to fill the information gap among the ghosts and Reefs.
“You talk cryptically sometimes, you know that? You’re not Natasha, so where’d you pick that up from, huh?”
I rubbed my chest slowly.
Sharing life with Reto must’ve made me pick up some of his old-fashioned speech without realizing it.
I’d have to watch out for that.
Heeheeheeing!
Back in the forest, I saw the group sitting in a small clearing.
I parked the wagon in the center and threw the door open.
From the open door came the smell of food.
Instead of the bulk dried meats, I had brought back freshly made bread, meat, and plenty of food ready to eat.
Even a bit of alcohol.
Since they’d suffer soon enough, I spared no expense on feeding them well before sending them off.
As the delicious aroma filled the clearing, one part of the forest rustled, and Lily and Keros appeared in front of the wagon.
Lily ran over with her arms wide open—
Not toward me, of course.
She poked her head inside the wagon and shouted to one side.
“Meat!”
“Woof!”
Their noses were as sharp as ever.
After waking from a long sleep, Lily seemed hungry and sat in front of me with a fork in hand.
Keros had brought a bowl from somewhere and held it out to me.
Their sparkling eyes were too much.
I gave a small shake of my head and called everyone together.
“Time to eat.”
“Wooooow!”
With cheers, a modest party began in the clearing.
***
“Buurp—!”
Lily let out a soft burp and patted her full belly.
She was brushing small stones off her wide-brim hat, getting ready for bed.
“Seriously impressive.”
Not even a grasshopper could be more carefree.
After a satisfying meal, the others spent time stretching or resting.
I called over Lochter and gave him a brief update about what happened outside.
Since he’d be leading the wagon, I thought he’d react to the vagrants the same way Karl did—positively or negatively—but I was wrong.
“Do as you wish.”
“How many should I bring?”
“As many as you want.”
Seeing him trust me completely and step away to train with his sword left me pleased—but also made me think that Lochter needed someone to advise him.
He was strong, but weak to unpredictability.
Fortunately, we had someone for that.
“Karl’s here, so I’m relieved.”
“Hah, I’m the only one suffering. Ever since I got involved with you, my life’s been exhausting.”
“A hero’s companion shouldn’t say that.”
Like a divine pairing, Lochter and Karl together created real synergy.
“But seriously, when is that broker coming? It’s way past noon.”
“He’ll come. He was paid a lot, so I’m sure he’s greedy.”
I sat down and waited.
Karl still looked skeptical, but I was right.
Clack, clack—
Soon, two wagons appeared from between the trees, and the broker stepped forward.
“Like you said, I was careful with the selection—sorry I’m late.”
“You’ll get paid properly.”
As I said that, the broker nodded, then gestured.
People poured out of the wagons.
They were vagrants.