"I've been there twice. The folks up there have a lot of stuff I need."
Maxim said casually, then it hit him that this might be Thane's territory. He asked, "You're not gonna come after me for back taxes on my previous trades there, are you?"
"Don't sweat it—only bandits pull that kind of crap."
Thane grinned and explained, "It's just that lately there've been some bandits prowling around Shadowpine Ridge. I'd watch your back if I were you. Several merchant caravans have gotten hit by those lowlifes."
"That's exactly right—I can vouch for that."
Kralfard jumped in eagerly, saying with conviction, "I got jumped by a gang of bandits, and the lord here saved my hide."
Of course, he left out everything that happened afterward and just sang Thane's praises.
Hearing this, Maxim immediately warmed up to Thane. "You're a real stand-up lord. I hope if I ever get in a jam, I'll have someone like you looking out for me."
Thane smiled, thinking to himself that his appearance fee was pretty steep.
"Got any idea how tough these bandit gangs are?" Maxim pressed.
"Can't say for sure, but them squatting on my land is straight-up theft. If I run into them, I'll wipe them off the map."
When talking about bandits, Thane's face was all business. Then he flashed Maxim a smile. "But you don't need to worry your head about it. I can have my knight Pamin—he's an Intermediate Knight—lead some guards to keep you safe in Shadowpine Ridge and escort you into the Blackstone Mountains."
Maxim's eyes lit up. "If you're willing to do that, it'd be fantastic!"
Thane gave a slight nod and asked, "How much longer you planning to stick around, Mr. Maxim?"
"Three to five days, maybe a week tops."
For merchant caravans, time was money, and Fontdmer Town wasn't exactly rolling in cash. Truth be told, three days of trading was already pushing it.
"Traveling through the wilderness is back-breaking work. How about you get some rest, and we'll hash out the details tomorrow?"
Thane didn't push the conversation, deliberately wrapping things up. He turned to Kralfard. "I've still got some business to handle. Get Mr. Maxim set up with a place to crash and rustle up some grub to treat him right."
Since Fontdmer Town didn't have a tavern, Maxim had no choice but to accept Thane's hospitality.
Cutting the conversation short at the crucial moment made Maxim—being a shrewd merchant—immediately catch on to Thane's game.
This lord wasn't about to let his knight work for free and wanted to get paid.
But Maxim was beat and wasn't in any rush anyway.
"Thanks for being so generous. I'll swing by again tomorrow."
Maxim bowed again, then took off with Kralfard showing him the way.
After Maxim was long gone, Pamin walked over and asked quietly, "Sir, you really want to escort his caravan?"
Thane turned to look at Pamin, the corner of his mouth curling up. "Can you quit playing dumb? You've already figured out what I'm up to, haven't you?"
Back when master and servant barely knew each other, a few hints from Thane would help Pamin connect the dots, and his quick thinking was spot-on.
Now, after spending all this time together and getting tight, Pamin should know exactly what kind of guy he was.
Would I really volunteer to escort his caravan?
Pamin coughed awkwardly a couple times.
"Alright, sir. I'm not totally sure, but I'm guessing you want to deal with those people holed up in the Blackstone Mountains?"
Thane nodded.
Actually, this was peak farming season, and Thane didn't have the time or energy to mess with those mountain folk.
But this was a golden opportunity.
Thane had just rolled into town recently, and intel was scarce. The Blackstone Mountain people didn't know squat about Thane or his crew.
Thane even suspected these people had no clue he'd already shown up.
Taking advantage of this timing, maybe Pamin could slip in with the caravan and nail those people without breaking the bank.
Pamin nodded slightly—it was pretty much what he'd figured.
The Blackstone Mountains were so massive that just trying to hunt down those people was nearly impossible, and finding where they all hung out wasn't a walk in the park either.
"Hit them head-on? You're not planning to sit down and chat with those mountain people?" Pamin asked.
"I think it's better to have a heart-to-heart with swords at their throats."
"Alright, I'm on board."
Pamin felt pretty helpless. Thinking about Thane's earlier moves, he asked, "Then why didn't you keep talking? He seemed really eager for our protection."
"Being too pushy makes people suspicious. Let's sit tight and see what happens."
Thane acting like a money-grubbing mercenary would put Maxim at ease.
Besides, he still didn't have the full picture. Thane needed more intel to figure out if this plan would actually work.
"Spread the word—pile more work on everyone, keep the townspeople busy, and make sure they don't spill the beans to Maxim's people about what's been going down in the territory lately. If anyone wants to trade anything, they come to me first."
With loose lips everywhere, Thane couldn't let Maxim catch wind of anything fishy.
Actually, travel exhaustion left Maxim with zero energy to dig into other stuff. Fontdmer Town also didn't have any nightlife like a tavern, so after Kralfard rolled out the red carpet, the caravan folks all hit the hay.
The next morning after waking up, Maxim got invited by Thane to grab breakfast and talk shop.
Besides farm tools, Thane threw in an order for ten longswords, fifteen chain mail pieces, and twenty round shields.
Actually, Fontdmer Town's blacksmith and carpenter could whip these up too, but Thane needed them ASAP and had to buy them ready-made.
There were also everyday stuff and sweet treats like honey and cheese.
The wilderness didn't have honey this time of year, and Fontdmer Town didn't have any dairy cows. Thane hadn't tasted sweet baked bread in ages.
Most of the everyday goods were bought for the townspeople to trade after their work points got settled.
After collecting taxes, there was plenty of rye, so Thane didn't bother swapping for grain—just some vegetable seeds and potatoes.
Potatoes were solid gold—packed with nutrition, quick growing cycle, and tough enough for cold weather.
Easy to cook too—steam 'em, boil 'em, or even roast them, and they gave decent yields.
But they were bug magnets and disease-prone, needed pretty good soil to grow in, and had trickier growing requirements than rye, so you couldn't just plant them everywhere.
Thane bought 1,100 pounds of potatoes planning to sprout and breed them himself. If unsuccessful, eating them wouldn't be a loss.
Sprouting potatoes was a piece of cake—store them somewhere cool, dry, and airy, keep them out of direct sunlight, don't let them get too soggy or too hot, and under the right conditions they'd sprout in less than a month.
Maxim also wanted some goods. Thane provided some hides, charcoal, and 1,100 pounds of rye to help fill his wagons partially, paying for the rest with silver coins.
Throughout this whole deal, Thane kept his tone friendly, acted generous and big-hearted, always flashing a smile at Maxim, making Kralfard think the lord had been body-snatched.
This also had Maxim constantly singing Thane's praises, amazed that Fontdmer Town had scored such a decent lord.
After a crazy busy day, evening finally gave the two men a chance to sit down at the dinner table.
"I really envy merchants like you who can make a buck while taking in the scenery."
Thane's face showed pure misery as he sighed, "Now every day I wake up to a mountain of stuff to deal with—I haven't even gotten a good look at my own territory."
"I get your pain. It's planting season right now, so things should chill out afterward."
Maxim nodded.
In his mind, Thane was totally a rookie lord who'd just come of age and hadn't been through the wringer yet. Feeling swamped was par for the course.
"But if you're gonna survey your territory, I should give you a heads-up—some spots in Shadowpine Ridge still have nasty beasts roaming around. You'd better watch yourself."
"Oh yeah? Can you fill me in on that?"
Thane put on a curious expression. "I haven't seen what Shadowpine Ridge looks like yet, and I don't know if there are other villages out there."