It was rare to encounter an Awakened who patiently waited in line to enter the city.
It was even rarer when you needed to do so, and there was simply no other option.
Fortunately for one merchant with a fancy mustache and thick brown hair, rarely did not mean never.
If Garet had wanted to, he could have demanded that the guards let him skip the line or at least go faster than the others. He didn't know this and would hardly have used his position for such a trifle.
He was in no hurry, and perhaps that was what gave him this opportunity.
"Come here! We have something to talk about!"
The man took Garet by the hand, literally pulling him out of the line. Before he could look back, his place had already been taken, leaving him no other choice.
Smiling at the guard, the man led Garet to the carriage.
"Hi! My name is Franz van Straten!" The man extended his hand for a handshake.
Just by glancing at the three rings with precious stones and the heavy bracelet, it was clear that Franz was a wealthy man.
But neither his jewelry nor the carriage full of goods was as remarkable in Garet's eyes as Franz's name.
"Hah, not just Franz, but van Straten! Tsk, how do these people even get such surnames?" Garet thought before shaking hands.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Garet, just... Garet."
In this world, not everyone had surnames, especially ones like Franz's. Some people consciously chose to give them up, preferring to have titles after their names, while others, like Garet, had nothing to give up even if they wanted to.
He didn't know his parents, and the first person who took care of him for a long time and taught him many things was Konrad. He was too decent and upright a man to dare give Garet a surname without being his parent.
This did not bother Garet in the least, but the fact that he, like many others, did not have a surname sometimes reminded him even now that he had become an Awakened.
"Hahaha! Great name!" Franz exclaimed with a deep laugh. It didn't seem to matter to him.
Then, he clapped his hands.
"Alright, now down to business. As you can see, they don't want to let my carriage through, and because of the attack on the caravan this morning, I've also run into some problems. So, some of my artifacts aren't registered!"
Garet tilted his head, confused.
"So? How can I help you?"
"You're an Awakened, right? Ordinary people don't have emblems like yours."
"Yeah, and?"
Franz put his hand on his shoulder.
"Just join my squad! That way they'll let us into the city, but you and I will have to go straight to the Thornspire to register the artifacts. It'll take quite a while, so I hope you're not in a hurry?"
"Wait... I just need to go with you to the Thornspire and wait while your artifacts are registered, and you'll pay me for that?"
'Oh, I didn't notice it right away from his calm gaze, but... this is his first experience of this kind,' Franz thought. At that moment, Franz realized he was dealing with a novice. Well, that only made his task easier.
"Of course. You're an Awakened, you should take advantage of that. You know, it's much more profitable for me to pay you for your time than to go back and do the whole thing twice."
After a few moments, Garet nodded. He had no illusions about Franz. If a person was a successful trader, he had to think about how to make money from every action he took and how to make as much as possible.
If Franz had the opportunity, he used it.
"Let's do this: 50 shield coins right away and another 50 for every hour you wait, minimum 50."
"So I'm guaranteed 100?" Garet asked in surprise, because that was the reward for completing a mission in which he had nearly died.
"Hahaha!" Franz laughed when he saw his confused face. "I should be lucky. Agents at the Thornspire don't particularly like working at night, you know? But anyway, yes, 100 coins is what you should expect from our deal."
Then, he held out his hand.
"Sorry, but I don't have the means to draw up a contract right now. You'll have to trust in a good old handshake!"
Garet grinned and held out his hand in response.
"You too!"
Suddenly, a disgruntled grunt came from behind: "Damn it! You're not the only ones who need to get into the city! Either solve your problems with the guards or get lost!"
"Yes! Stop wasting my time!"
"I agree! Just because you have a lot of mercenaries doesn't mean you're special!"
In the heat of the conversation, both Franz and Garet completely forgot that they weren't the only ones in the central line. The line here wasn't as long, but it was slower because the central gate was for merchants, carts, and so on.
Franz's eyebrow twitched as he clenched his fist.
"Shut up!" he exclaimed, stamping his foot on the ground. "Do you think I like this? If I could, I would have gone inside long ago! I'm doing everything I can, and if I were you, I would keep quiet! All your carts combined are not worth my goods!"
Disgruntled shouts followed with renewed vigor, but Franz paid no attention, leading Garet to the gate.
The first time, Xir had helped him pass through the Iron Gate, but now it was his turn to take on that role.
"Hmm? Awakened?" The guard frowned as he studied Garet's emblem. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"
The guards couldn't remember ordinary people, there were too many of them, but it wasn't difficult to recognize Awakened who often went on missions or were well-known.
Garet smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah, I got my emblem recently. I arrived in the city yesterday, together with Xir."
He mentioned this simply so as not to appear suspicious to the guards, but it elicited an unexpected reaction.
"C-Commander Xir?" the guard muttered as his face paled.
His buddy leaned over and whispered something to him.
"Hey... I heard... He... Refugees... and... One..."
Then, they looked at Garet, at his emblem, and again at Garet.
Without further ado, they stepped aside as the chief guard gestured for the gate to open.
"Awakened, make sure this merchant does everything by the book. None of us want to dishonor Commander Xir's name."
Garet nodded.
"Sure."
Franz, watching silently from the sidelines, grinned.
'Damn! Today is my day! Finally! It's time to make a fortune, and this young man is my lucky ticket!'