Conquest

Shaar’s room was both clean and exquisite, the furnishings were also not bad. He rests as his leisure for a while. Taking a look at the yard, the residence was not overly large. The walls only reached up to a person’s face and the neighboring yard was also visible. This room had most likely been a warehouse that was emptied out. The group from Atlantis moved in next door to the slightly bigger courtyard. The few carts had been squeezed to fit into the yard, each cart was fully loaded with wood barrels, and tied up bundles, all covered with a large canvas. The Atlanteans was busy tending to the horses.

Shaar could not stop laughing at the scene. He did not expect them to have moved in, and even be his neighbors. He saw the fat one leave the room, who saw Shaar standing in his yard next to the wall. Dumbfounded at first, he immediately smiled, the two men nodded each other across the wall. The man seemed like he was scrambling from the room just now, the confrontation earlier seemingly forgotten. "Hello, mister. Are you on a journey as well? Where are you from?"

"North." Shaar answered vaguely. He asked the question back, "Are you from Atlantis?"

The fat one laughed, "Yes, though we normally come from the sea."

Shaar is peering at the carts in the yard, point at one of them, he asked, "Are you a merchants? Where are you going to sell your goods?"

The fat man's face lit up in a smile standard of a merchant, and said in all friendliness, "We are the Gallon Trading Company. We are preparing some goods to sell in the south. Our purpose is to earn some money, otherwise, who is willing to travel during such a cold winter?"

Shaar nodded, "Gallon Trading Company, I've heard of it." He remembered, in the dark streets of Primal Wildfire Town, there were Gallon’s shops. This trading company is quite well known.

The fat seems to be good at dealing, smiles more enthusiastic now, "My name is Guro. I am just an attendant. How should I address you? From your appearance, you must have something to do with the military.

"Yeah, I'm Shaar." Shaar replied casually, "I’m headed south too."

Largely because of Ruhr, Shaar had more affection towards fat people.

"Well, you must be a general in the army." Guro deliberately complimented him and laughed, "I travel extensively. Your attire and bearing is quite exceptional, if we see each other again someday, please take care of me."

"I'm not a general." Shaar shook his head.

A tiny flash of pleasure when through Guro’s eyes. Shaar, after all, was inexperienced. He only stated that  he was not a general, but has not denied that he was a soldier.

In Guro’s heart, he had been able to gain some information on Shaar’s identity—Not a general? In the Byzantine Army, not anyone can dress like this. Besides, his fine horses, if he were not somehow a general, how could he have them?

Two of exchanged pleasantries for a while before Shaar went back to rest.

When Guro returned, the room had already been made. The thin man respectfully stood at his side, a young, ordinarily-dressed attendant leisurely sat, holding a bowl of tea in his hand.

"Did you ask?" The young man put down the bowl.

"Well, that guy really is from the Byzantine Army. He is called Shaar, it should be his real name." Guro replied, "See how well he dresses? Perhaps he is not a lowly soldier."

"Shaar…” The young man frowned in thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly stirred, "Gee, this name where have I heard…” Could it be the guy from the Byzantine Army who stirred up a storm in the army some days ago? Rumors say the man gave Hasting some trouble on the battlefield. If that was really this guy, it would be interesting…”

The skinny man whispered, "This… This time, we do not want to make trouble. You are a noble, before we reach Osgiliath, it is not good to stir up trouble. General or not, I think—”

"Stupid." The young man shook his head. As his mouth spat out the rebuke, the thin man quickly bent down his head respectfully. The young man said, "Have you forgotten our aim? This is a good chance, if this man really is the one who stirred up trouble in the Byzantine Army some days ago… Well, if it is really this guy, he may be like us, going to Osgiliath. Such a good opportunity. We might as well try to get along, maybe he knows something we don’t."

This day, he had no words. The next morning, Shaar got up, was waited on by Tatara as he washed his face. Soulster readied the horses earlier and preparing to leave. When he went into the yard, he saw that the Atlanteans next door were ready to move too. The fat guy, Guro, greeted him across the wall and enthusiastically called out, "General Shaar."

Shaar stood frowning, "I am not general, stop yelling."

"Ho-ho, I am good judge of people. If not now, in the future, you will be a general." Guro’s face was all smiles now, and Shaar ended up yielding , unable to keep him away. The fat man kept laughing, "We are ready to go to Osgiliath, if it is convenient, it would be better if we went together. We are both travelers journeying together, we should take care of each other as well."

When Shaar was about to refuse, Guro quickly added, "Those of us who travel in caravans all fear trouble. Your presence is like that of a valiant army general. If there is a heroic person like you traveling with us, our hearts can be at ease.  Just treat as me shamelessly begging for your valiant prowess, so that we can have a safe trip."

Since the man said this much, Shaar could not refuse. A country bumpkin liked eating soft food but refuses hard food. The more arrogant one was the more he became defiant; if one used kind words, he would give in.

Thinking for a moment, Shaar said, "Great. I was also going to Osgiliath. We all peers, so it’s not a bad idea."

The two parties decided to travel together. The Atlanteans had six carts, loaded with cargo. They consisted of a dozen people, as well as several drivers and those who did odd jobs, all together but twenty six. With Shaar’s additional three people into the group, they were quite the spectacle.

The skinny one had yet to talk with the Shaar, riding as far away as possible along with the other Atlanteans. The fat one, Guro, was straightforward and rode parallel to Shaar whose two companions rode behind them. The man had said he travelled extensively, which was not false as evidence of his mannerisms, broad knowledge, and eloquence. He spoke in a rush about his year, some thrilling stories and interesting episodes around the world that he encountered, which Shaar listen to with relish. In his childhood, he enjoyed listening to the customers chatting, or the bard telling stories in Primal Wildfire Town’s pubs, and this was no different.

At length, he felt that Guro was a unique talent. Working as an attendant in a merchant group is a waste. If he decided to tell stories, perhaps also can earn a lot.

"That year, the caravan and I experienced chaos in the northeast. The dangers were extreme. We accidentally broke into the elves' territory. If only they were ordinary elves who were gentle natured and would not give us trouble. But we met a group of degenerate night elves. Those guys like forest demons, hiding in the bushes. They attacked us twice and the many hired mercenaries accompanying us suffered heavy casualties when we were ambushed from the back! Fortunately, we encountered a few passing Druids who helped us a bit…”

"Oh, and in Primal Wildfire! I once led a team to the aboriginal Zakou Tribe to trade for their indigenous tobacco with iron. Those tobacco were so good. Ah! The best tobacco. One gram is equivalent to its weight in gold! Do you know? Those natives and us do not have many differences, but they eat meat raw. The tobacco only grows in the cove near their tribe. It is dried and crushed into blocks and wrapped in rolls of tobacco whole leaves… Hehe, they say the tobacco is made by the Zakou women. They pinch the tobacco leaves in between their bare thighs! The native girl makes people envious of them. They toil under the sun only to come out with bronze skin, healthy and full of vitality. They don’t usually wear  long dresses, just a little jacket and a short leather skirt. Their arms and legs are exposed, and the small waist… Alas, when we saw them, our drool flowed, ah…”

While Guro was saying this, he observed Shaar's eyes, expected him to start yearning or at least drool a little.

'Damn, being in Primal Wildfire Town for so many years... ' The Zakou Tribes was the one place he had not been to. He heard the Zakou natives looked just like the dwarves… If he’d known sooner he might have slipped away for a stroll there.

Seeing Shaar eyes filled with yearning made Guro feel some disdain, however, he only showed a warm smile on his face.

'The young boy seemed simple enough, it seemed like… He is not likely to be difficult.'

Behind them, Tatara sees the fat man’s strange look and the magician secretly sighed…

This fat guy is out of luck…