Paine was a merchant from Minagarde City.
Unlike the common image of a pot-bellied, jewel-adorned businessman, Paine was not tall, had large, gnarled hands and feet, strong muscles, and dark skin, looking more like a fisherman than a merchant.
In reality, only the heads of large merchant guilds, who only needed to move their lips for vast sums of gold to automatically flow into their pockets, would acquire the 'mark of a successful person'—a potbelly.
For traveling merchants like Paine, who led a dozen or so cargo carts and ran trade routes for their guild, their living conditions were naturally much better than those of ordinary farmers and small vendors, but traveling between cities and towns year-round with their caravans, trading goods everywhere, it was impossible for them to gain much fat.
Instead, the muscles in his legs grew considerably.
This kind of traveling merchant life, where he wore out two pairs of shoes every month and was exposed to the wind and sun, was certainly hard, but he still persevered.
In this world filled with monsters and dragons, caravan merchants were a very dangerous profession, and incidents of caravans being attacked in the wild and slaughtered by monsters were not uncommon.
Some large caravans transporting valuable goods would hire Monster Hunters for protection, but the commission for hiring Hunters for full escort was very high, making it difficult for ordinary caravan merchants to afford.
Paine was considered lucky among caravan merchants because the route assigned to him by his guild belonged to the safer category.
This trade route started from Minagarde City, departed fully loaded with goods, passed through the coastal city of Melchior City, exchanged some goods, then turned southeast to sell them in Metabeta Te City in the Alkris region.
A one-way trip was nearly a thousand kilometers, and a round trip took almost three months, but the profits were indeed good.
Throughout the entire route, the most dangerous part was from Minagarde City to Melchior City, where the trade route almost skirted past the West Shuretsusen Hill, a frequent haunt of monsters.
At their closest point, they were less than ten kilometers apart.
It could be said that Paine and his caravan were also gambling their lives for money.
He was not a miser; he did not have a pathological desire to accumulate wealth like many merchants, but he had his own goals.
Paine was over forty years old and still unmarried; few parents were willing to marry their beloved daughter to a man who was rarely home all year and could make his wife a widow at any time.
But he had an older brother, a few years his senior, who had taken great care of him since childhood, and their brotherly bond was very deep.
However, an accident more than ten years ago caused both his older brother and sister-in-law to pass away, leaving behind a young orphaned girl, only two or three years old, with no one to care for her.
Paine naturally adopted this niece and treated her as his own child, pouring all his affection and love into her.
After all, she was Paine's only remaining relative in this world.
The girl's name was Hayata, which in the northern dialect means "Xiang Lan."
Paine lived frugally, only willing to wear the most ordinary cotton and linen travel clothes costing three or four hundred z, but when he saw a beautiful little Western-style dress priced at two or three thousand in a shop window, he would buy it without hesitation.
Speaking of his life goal, it was to save enough money before Hayata came of age to buy a small house with a small garden in front in East Doruma, the most prosperous city in the center of the continent, and then find her a good family to marry into.
After that, he would be willing to close his eyes immediately; of course, it would be even better if he could hold his grand-niece before he passed away.
Paine, who was deep in thought, was suddenly startled by a shout.
"Uncle ~ How much longer until we arrive!"
A lively little head poked out from the top of the cargo pile on the large cart pulled by the Herbivore Dragons.
The girl's pupils were a light green like new sprouts, and her soft brown hair cascaded down her cheeks, swaying with the bumps of the cart, just like her lively personality.
Paine looked up, his gaze filled with doting affection for his niece, and his tone carried a hint of helplessness: "You're bored, aren't you? I told you earlier that traveling with a caravan is very tedious, but you insisted on coming along.
This is only the fourth day of our journey; we haven't even covered one-fifth of the one-way trip yet."
Hayata pouted, clearly dissatisfied with the answer, and with a flip of her body, she jumped down from the high cargo pile, using her hands to grab onto the ropes tying the goods to slow herself down, then nimbly and smoothly landed on the ground.
Paine's eye twitched violently.
This child, Hayata, compared to an ordinary fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, wasn't she a bit too... lively and agile?
Normally, he spent at least nine months of the year traveling for business, while Hayata stayed home in Minagarde City, cared for by a nanny.
He had once thought Hayata would grow up to be a gentle and virtuous lady; now it seemed she might have lacked some discipline?
Well, he couldn't bear to discipline her; if she was lively, then so be it.
Thinking of this, Paine couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.
He was still too doting on Hayata; as long as she acted cute, or at most shed two tears, he couldn't help but agree to whatever she asked.
A month ago, on Hayata's fourteenth birthday, he promised to grant her any wish, but who knew the wish this child made was to follow him on a business trip?
"Slow down, be careful not to fall!"
"Got it ~!"
After reminding his niece, who had started darting between the carts, Paine sighed again.
He must be crazy; how could he, how dared he bring Hayata to this dangerous wilderness?
His caravan companions patted his shoulder, laughing and saying he was worrying too much; although they were close to West Shuretsusen Hill, hadn't nothing happened for over ten years?
"Haha, why is your courage still not as great as little Hayata's? Those monsters all have their own territories; this area of the trade route isn't within their territory, so nothing will happen."
Another companion also laughed loudly, it was unclear if he was teasing or comforting.
Paine forced a smile, his anxiety still lingering.
For his niece's safety, he had originally planned to hire a Monster Hunter at his own expense to escort the caravan through this relatively dangerous section of the road.
But the hunting ban hadn't lifted yet, and the Hunter's Gathering Hall in Minagarde City was as quiet as a library; even the Receptionists were on holiday, and he couldn't even hire a single Hunter.
The on-duty staff suggested he wait a while longer and come back to hire a Hunter escort after the hunting ban was lifted.
However, the caravan's schedule wasn't something he could change at will, so he ultimately had to depart as planned.
At present, all he could do was pray that this trade route, which had been safe for over ten years, would continue to be so.
The unease in his heart urged Paine on. He quickly approached the lead cart and greeted the old cart driver, who skillfully took out a map from his satchel.
Paine carefully compared the surrounding terrain, combining it with the caravan's speed and time to calculate and finally determine the caravan's current location.
"At this speed, the caravan will be far from this hilly area before sunset, and then we'll enter the safe section. I hope everything goes smoothly."
The old cart driver, who also seemed somewhat worried, nodded and continuously used the leather reins to gently whip the pulling Herbivore Dragons, urging them to move faster.
Unfortunately, the remaining snow on the road made it difficult for the heavy carts to pick up speed, and the lengthy caravan moved as clumsily as an aged Mammoth.
Slowly but steadily, they advanced.
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