Chapter 83 Winter Road

◎The wheels rolled back and forth on the ground, leaving two thick layers of ruts.◎

Gulu, Gulu~

The wheels rolled back and forth on the ground, leaving two thick ruts.

It is not a wise choice to travel in the middle of winter. Most nobles who love traveling prefer late spring and autumn to avoid being frozen into popsicles.

However, from the perspective of merchant profits, the more scarce the goods, the higher the profit can be obtained through barter. After a busy autumn, everyone had some extra money.

When Melia was leaving, she suddenly had an idea to disguise herself as a merchant caravan and follow them to Athens, selling goods along the way - this was of course very dangerous, as the candies, spices, ready-made clothes and special biscuits loaded on the car were all in high demand.

The employees were all very confused. Why wasn't the lady worried at all?

She only brought a small group of slaves skilled in horseback combat, and said with a smile, "If you can't win, just run away! Let the goods help us hold the enemy back!"

Fortunately, they were lucky and did not encounter any trouble when passing through the two city-states.

Melia sat on a tall sack, swaying with the carriage. "Teacher Pados, how long will it take to get to Athens?"

She was wrapped in layers of fur, with sacks on her feet, and she was wrapped like the most fragile commodity on the carriage.

Pados sat on the yoke and observed the surroundings with a telescope. Ronnie and Taffy were guarding the flanks on horseback, and the other was hiding beside Melia. As long as the lady didn't speak, she would not make any sound.

Pardos held down the brass tube and put away the telescope. "Athens? The wedding won't be that soon."

"Uh, well, I'm not worried about the wedding." The small sack rolled over and leaned against the other sacks, pretending to be a bag of roasted sweet potatoes.

Pardos didn't care about girlish sentiments. He spread out the map and thrust it directly into Melia's face: "Look, this is how they're going to go."

After saying that, he drew a line that was as winding as an earthworm, connecting the dots representing different city-states.

If I hadn't walked through some places twice, I would have thought I was playing a one-stroke drawing game.

"That's too much... Is this a picnic? Even a fool can see that they don't want to go to Athens—"

"? Why do you think so?" Pados put away the map. "This is a normal pilgrimage route. Although Greece is an aristocratic republic without a royal family, the pursuit of ritual is common."

"Pilgrimage?"

"That's right. As long as the family isn't in decline, the parents of both the bride and groom will support the young couple in spending a large sum of money on their trip. The more city-states they pass through, the higher-ranking friends they meet, and the more expensive the souvenirs they buy, the more prestigious they will be."

Pardos explained seriously: "When my cousin got married, our two families spent a total of 2,000 Roman gold coins, and sold many rare stone tablets to pay for the travel expenses."

Only at the end did he reveal a bit of his personal feelings: "They didn't tell me in advance, haha, they were afraid I would ask to buy it."

Well, you're definitely going to buy it, right? And you probably can't afford it, and you'll have to waive the fee for your relatives, or you'll die on the stone slab.

Melia swallowed her complaints and agreed in a gentle voice, "Yeah, yeah, since they're going on a pilgrimage, we can sell goods along the way~"

"Of course, you can also buy the latest parchment scrolls along the way. I hope paper will become popular as soon as possible."

Pardos continued to fiddle with the wooden model in his hand, and Melia lay back comfortably in the sack: If it weren't for these shock absorbers, her internal organs would have been shaken out.

The wheels have been improved and smooth animal skins have been added to reduce friction. The simplest shock-absorbing device has also been tried to be installed in the middle: in fact, it is the ancient Chinese Fu Rabbit. A groove is dug out in the block, and a small piece is stuck into the axle, which reduces the vibration a lot.

It's funny to say that she has been in the candy and cosmetics business for so long, but in the end, the product with the highest profit margin per order besides luxury goods is actually - a shock-absorbing carriage!

It is no exaggeration to say that Rome in this world is the center of the West. The most popular things always radiate outward from the Roman royal city or capitals like Athens in Greece and are absorbed by foreign nobles.

As a well-known playboy in the royal city, the original owner Melia was a famous troublemaker. She wore jewel slippers and a golden helmet every day, and went hunting and playing tricks on people with a group of friends, bringing a wave of golden and magnificent style to the countryside.

Since her arrival, candy, ceramics, cosmetics, cheap clothes, bread rolls, and advertising have slowly begun to influence Rome, allowing other city-states to witness the power of branding: a small plum blossom symbol engraved on a gift box can have such a powerful sales effect! They began to shape or imitate brands without any guidance.

Although there was no brand protection in those days, the nobles exploited all kinds of unwritten rules to the extreme: the plum blossom was taken by Melia, and there were even more popular roses and lotus flowers. They were quite familiar with semiotics, and an extra circle meant a new brand.

Even the royal family got involved, adding crowns to various floral emblems, which are eye-catching and beautiful.

Later, Melia couldn't stand the rough shock absorption method of stacking cushions on top of cushions anymore, so she worked with Pados to design a carriage that conformed to Roman aesthetics - and unsurprisingly, it became a big hit.

Not only is it exquisite and lightweight, but it also features a dedicated area for engraving decorative emblems and is cushioned with soft leather, almost 20 centimeters thick. The four wheels make no unpleasant squeaking noises when turning, and vibration is minimal.

There is a small foot-operated gong under the driver's feet, which makes a strange clanging sound when he steps on it to remind people in front to get out of the way quickly.

Although Melia's original intention was to reduce the frequent incidents of speeding carriages hitting people in the city, the nobles seemed to prefer the feeling of being superior.

They practically waved gold coins to demand that she increase production at full speed. Some people couldn't wait and bought the carriage parts and wheels at high prices, took them back and had the slaves modify them.

At this rate, in a year or two, all the nearby city-states will have to switch to Melia's special shock-absorbing cars.

…

With a clang, the car stopped suddenly.

Melia's little head hit the sack, and she covered her head and looked to the side: "Teacher, what's wrong?"

"Shh, don't make any noise yet, they might have scouts."

Pardos gestured to Ronnie, and the gladiator nodded immediately and rolled off the horse. The boots on her feet had soft soles, so she walked quietly.

There are fewer caravans traveling in winter, but robbers do not hibernate, and there may even be more of them: many of them are busy farmers in the fields in spring and autumn, but in the winter when there is a gap between the harvest and the harvest, they suddenly change their jobs and go out with three or five brothers and sisters to do no-cost business.

Ronnie took out her telescope and pointed it in the direction indicated by Paddos, and soon saw a group of scattered thieves: it was hard to tell that they were horse thieves because the group only had two mules.

She raised her hand to make a three sign, then made a casual stroke: only three of the group were carrying standard weapons, and the others were at most holding pitchforks to threaten honest merchants.

Those who were blocked in the middle of the road by these petty thieves were just a few unlucky traveling merchants, most likely a family.

The merchants' bags were scattered all over the floor. There was nothing valuable inside. The most valuable items were probably a few gift boxes of red candies that were sourced from somewhere unknown.

Even so, they did not act rashly: who knows if there are any ambushes around, what if it is a trap set by the bandits.

Melia came over in her coat, half of her head sticking out, but Ronnie stuffed it back in: "Miss, hide in the car quickly."

"No need~ I brought you out here, so we have to fight on the front lines~ Hey hey hey, don't drag me down, don't drag me down."

Melia was dragged back to the carriage by Taffy, and she stubbornly leaned out half of her body: "It's okay, our people are highly mobile and can help appropriately. If it really doesn't work, I'll cover the rear."

"You're the rear guard? Just lie in the sack." Ronnie pulled the blanket ruthlessly, and continued to observe the hillside below with her weapons and Pados.

Since the lady said she could help, then let's find a good time to rescue them. Anyway, with these rabble, it's unlikely that they'll get hurt.

…

"Master, this master...we are all small businesses."

Plop! The middle-aged man was hit and fell to the ground dejectedly. His wife was pale and had difficulty breathing.

"Dad! Dad!" His children, one on each side, held his shoulders like chickens, and kept wiping the blood off him with scarves and rags.

The man who hit the man withdrew his fist and cursed in the local dialect: "Gold coins, where are the gold coins?"

"Master, I really don't have any gold coins." The man looked at the scimitars in their hands, tremblingly fell to the ground, and wanted to hug someone's feet, but was kicked away.

Then the second and third feet stepped up.

He dodged the vital parts while whimpering, "Please be kind, I just paid the tax... This is for my life... Ugh."

Blood oozed from the corners of their mouths. The ragged bandits were extremely excited, as if they were treating kicking and shoving as a rare game. Elderly men and women were not worth selling, so kicking them to death was easier.

Standing on the hillside, Ronnie raised her scimitar, waiting for Padus to pull the bowstring, and then she would rush down and kill those scum.

“Whoosh—”

There was a sound of breaking air, and Pados' pupils contracted. He grabbed Ronnie's arm: It wasn't him who shot the arrow!

Swish—several arrows pierced the bandits’ heads simultaneously, and hearty laughter echoed from the forest: “Haha, I shot them first!”

A familiar figure leaped out of the forest on horseback, his golden eyes swirling with a smile: "There are still quite a few left. Do you want to continue the competition?"

"Okay!" The Huns immediately responded from behind. Horses carried rugged young men. They wore open fur clothes, revealing half of their arms - that half of their arms were for drawing bows.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

As soon as the bandits took a step, arrows rushed into their hearts, legs and necks. The Huns laughed happily, as this was their game.

Sonny chuckled and rode his horse to tell the others behind him to catch up quickly: "You guys are killing so fast, won't you leave some for me?"

"Hahahaha." The Huns responded with even more enthusiastic laughter: "That's all there is to it. How much can we keep?"

Their mumbling was all in Hunnic, which the merchant could not understand at all. He simply hugged his children tightly and used his body to shield his unconscious wife.

So many barbarians, God, do they eat living people?!

He had also done business with the Huns, but no matter how tall the Huns were in the city-state, they were all smiling and obedient. They wore pearl necklaces around their necks and would occasionally engage in impromptu dances after drinking. Where had they ever been seen using swords?

"Don't buy Hun slaves; they'll run away and kill people!" Someone's words flashed through his mind, and tears streamed down his face in fear. Were these Huns, these barbarians, going to kill them? It would be better if they were beaten to death by bandits. At least they'd sell their valuable children instead of eating them alive...

"Hey, aren't you going to leave yet? Wait for us to help you?"

He shuddered and raised his head to face the sun. The Hun woman before him seemed to be bathed in firelight, with a carefree smile in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.

She spoke the first half of her sentence in Latin and the second half in Greek, which the merchants could understand.

"Let's go, let's go, I'm leaving now!"

He picked up the bag on the ground, turned around and tried to crawl away. Fortunately, his family came with a cart, so they didn't lose their precious donkey.

"Wait, what's the reward?"

The girl's voice was clear and firm: "We saved your whole family."

"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you, I'll give you a gift..." The merchant fumbled through his remaining items. The cloth was stained from being trampled on, so the nobleman definitely didn't want it. Jewelry and gold ornaments... If he had them, he wouldn't have gone out alone.

Finally, the man took out two boxes of candy from his bag and held them carefully in his palms: "Please, please accept them."

The Huns surprisingly didn't jeer; they could tell that was all he had. The Huns behind him had already dismounted, pulled out their daggers, and cleaned up the guys on the ground, looking for any valuable scraps.

"Okay, I'll take it."

After waiting for the Huns behind him to help him take the candy, Sonny tilted his head and pointed at the mules left behind by the bandits with his whip: "They smashed your cart, you can ride one of their mules and go away."

"Yes - thank you, thank you so much for your kindness!" The merchant finally regained some energy, and ran towards the mule with his family trembling, picking up two packages along the way.

"Heh." Sonny laughed, and when he turned around, his pupils shrank: The one on the hillside waving his arms frantically was...

"Sonny - Sonny!" Melia jumped up and down, waving her arms, with Ronnie and Taffy standing beside her on guard.

Their sudden appearance startled the Huns, and they almost drew their bows and arrows - but it was only when Sunny glanced over that they hesitantly put down their weapons.

Sonny spurred his horse helplessly: "Sister, why are you here? I was counting on you to make a good vest!"

"Hehehe~ Aren't you here too? Didn't you say you were going to the grassland to collect wool?"

Melia rushed down the hillside with a clattering sound: "I'm going to Athens. Are you guys going the same way?" If she could travel with such a mighty team, she would have nothing to fear from horse thieves.

Go to Athens...

Sonny's expression suddenly turned serious: "Sister, which route are you going to take to Athens?"

The author has something to say:

The geographical locations of some countries and city-states are completely disrupted. After all, they are fictional. Don't worry too much about the mountains and rivers of some enclaves. (I am afraid that it will involve real history too much, so historical events are not used as much as possible. If they are used, they will be heavily modified.)

Thanks to Lei Lei from Luchen_piuma~