As the returnees came home, in Northeast Rus, departures were also underway.
In the Moscow market, Anton Ivanovich Scherihov had just picked up the weapons and armor he ordered from the Blacksmiths Guild; they were piled on a cart and covered with canvas.
The quantity of these weapons and armor was considerable, enough to arm over thirty people.
Moscow's streets had returned to their former prosperity, and Anton's cart was at one point blocked by the crowd, so numerous it was as if no trouble had occurred here before.
The only place where the impact of the war could be seen was among the militiamen on duty in the crowd; normally, there weren't so many militiamen.
This prosperity in the capital of Northeast Rus was due to the return of the army, who brought back countless gold and silver.
This gold and silver needed to be spent, and not just in Moscow; many cities in the Northeast were in a similar situation.
The immense demand naturally led to commercial prosperity, and the local guilds in Moscow clearly felt the market's boom; the consumption of goods they put into the market significantly increased.
Even the weapons and armor from the Blacksmiths Guild were no exception; it seemed that with money, people were daring to spend it, and there was an endless stream of people buying weapons and armor, as an expedition could arrive at any time, and preparations had to be made.
Due to the strong domestic market demand, the guilds had to temporarily stop taking external orders and instead focused on completing existing orders and meeting the demands of Northeast Rus.
However, the number of foreign merchants did not decrease because the guilds stopped taking orders; on the contrary, it continued to increase.
Because no matter what they brought, it was easy to sell in Northeast Rus, and they might even sell out their goods on the way to the towns.
Currently, Northeast Rus had no shortage of wealthy people, and these wealthy people needed to spend; how could this not make merchants frantic? They swarmed from all directions like sharks smelling blood.
The arrival of a large number of merchants gave space for bandit gangs to operate; some rebels, after hiding in the forests, quickly degenerated into bandit gangs, needing to obtain supplies through plunder, and these merchant caravans were the best choice.
This led to many complaints being sent to Rostislav, which gave the Moscow Prince quite a headache, and he could only urge the speedy strengthening of road safety construction, as safer roads would lead to more vibrant trade routes.
After passing through the crowd, Anton and several Rus' people pulled their cart out of the city, where Radko was waiting for them; behind him was a camp with many armed individuals.
Anton handed over the work to his subordinates, then sat down in front of Radko and began to complain to him.
"God, the Blacksmiths Guild messed up half of my order; they said it was due to the war's impact, and now they won't even give us more stock when we buy, they're truly bastards. Fortunately, these guys were still somewhat sensible; they compensated me three times the market price for the missing goods, otherwise, I would definitely have caused trouble."
Anton's tone was very dissatisfied; a perfectly good order was messed up, so of course he was angry, but causing trouble was just talk; few people dared to cause trouble with the Blacksmiths Guild.
"Three times? And so readily? It seems the Blacksmiths Guild is truly raking in the profits."
Radko was not surprised by the Blacksmiths Guild's actions, as it was a seller's market, but he was very surprised by the three-fold compensation.
"Exactly! These blacksmiths have even enjoyed the Prince's privileges recently..."
Mid-sentence, Anton's voice lowered, and he whispered,
"Who are those people?"
Anton was pointing to the group of guys in the camp wearing fur clothes and looking ill-tempered.
"Who else could they be? Bandits from the forest. I've looked into their background; they're a group that's been eliminated, looking to try their luck as mercenaries outside. They're perfect as cannon fodder."
Radko said in an equally low voice, without changing his expression, and Anton nodded, indicating he had no objection.
"Then it seems we can only buy in Kiev. Don't worry, there are places to buy equipment everywhere," Radko then resumed his normal speaking tone.
"That's the only way. I'll go check on the brothers; we're about to set off, so let's not have any trouble."
Waving to Radko, Anton went to inspect his subordinates.
Just as Anton and Radko had planned, they were to leave Northeast Rus and head to the Imperial Capital to see the big world there.
And to make a living in the Imperial Capital, as a barbarian, it was best to bring a team of mercenaries, so in the month they had been in Moscow, the two had been recruiting people everywhere.
As an experienced mercenary of Rus', Radko's reputation allowed him to directly gather over a hundred people at once.
Radko did not have stable subordinates, only temporary mercenaries who came because of his reputation, and now he had gathered such a group again, ranging from mercenaries to novices hoping for adventure.
Anton, on the other hand, found dozens of people, plus about ten greenhorns lured by the promise of being soldiers and getting paid, and a few individuals dismissed from the Rostov Camp due to faith issues, and he still had to add his own existing people to barely make up a hundred.
However, most of these dozens of people were chieftains who had lost their strongholds and their retainers; having lost their strongholds, they no longer wanted to stay in Northeast Rus and chose to take a sum of money from the Moscow Prince and leave.
Rostislav had always been very lenient about coming and going; if you wanted to come, you could come, if you wanted to leave, you could leave; he would never stop anyone.
But the premise was that all accounts were settled; if you still owed Rostislav, then you would never be able to leave.
Then they were drawn in by Anton; going to the Imperial Capital was, after all, a very attractive option.
And they also had the confidence to make a living in the Imperial Capital; they had retainers, armor, weapons, and combat power, so why not try? Maybe they could become the next Harald; the success story of the Norwegian King had always been circulating among people.
Then Anton bought weapons to strengthen his own people, but he only received half the goods, but there was nothing he could do; they had to leave soon.
Then Radko gave him a surprise; he didn't expect Radko to find another group of bandits to serve as their meat shields and cannon fodder in such a short time.
Anton took a good stroll around the camp, talking with these people, some strangers, some familiar, to see if there were any other issues; they had to set off in two hours.
Finally, as time approached, people began to pack up the camp, and some were bidding farewell to family or lovers; amidst the hustle and bustle, the team packed their luggage, ready to depart at any moment.
"Let's go, brothers, let us go to Constantinople in the south, let us witness true greatness!"
Anton said this before everyone, having already painted a beautiful image of Constantinople in everyone's hearts, and now, facing Anton's words, everyone naturally gave countless cheers.
Looking at these warriors before him, Anton was filled with hope for the future; he would surely achieve great things in the Imperial Capital!
Listening to the cheers, Anton's heart was filled with anticipation for his experiences in the Imperial Capital.
As for Radko, he only cared about what kind of enemies he would encounter.
Thus, this typical adventurer team set off; they headed south for that exciting and dangerous adventure, leaving Northeast Rus behind.