The Merchant Guild

Rhode arrived at his destination for this trip: the Free Professional Merchants Guild.

Unlike the Thieves Guild Rhode had visited before, the Free Professional Merchants Guild was vast. Besides a few main buildings for handling various affairs, the remaining areas were designated as merchant group lodgings.

Of course, not all merchant groups could obtain lodgings within the Free Professional Merchants Guild. Unless a merchant group had made significant contributions to the guild, they needed to pay gold and demonstrate the rank and strength of their members to secure a spot.

As soon as Rhode entered the lobby of the Free Professional Merchants Guild, a waiting maid approached him and inquired about his intentions.

Rhode said, "I wish to travel to the City of Wailing and hope to join a merchant group heading there."

After listening, the maid asked, "Esteemed Practitioner, do you have identification from the Free Professional Merchants Guild?"

Rhode understood what the maid meant. With guild identification, one could join a merchant group traveling together and serve as a temporary guard. In situations requiring combat, the guards were responsible for protecting the merchant group's safety.

Upon reaching their destination, the merchant group would pay the guards a sum of money. However, unless they were permanent guards, the compensation for temporary guards was usually not substantial.

The Free Professional Merchants Guild had a specialized set of rating criteria for an individual's identification. As the number of guard missions increased, along with the success rate, the rating would rise, from F-rank all the way up to S-rank. A higher rating naturally made one more easily accepted by merchant groups, and the compensation the merchant group had to pay would also increase.

Rhode recalled that in his previous life, players aimed for the S-rank rating from the Free Professional Merchants Guild, but very few actually achieved it. Reaching S-rank required not only spending a significant amount of time escorting merchant groups but also a certain amount of luck and one's own formidable strength.

Rhode replied to the maid, "No, I just wish to travel as a passenger."

Passengers were different from guards. Guards needed identification to verify their strength and past escort achievements. Experienced merchant group leaders could often determine if a guard was worth hiring with just a glance at their identification. Failing a guard mission would also result in certain penalties from the Free Professional Merchants Guild.

Passengers, however, did not require identification. They only needed to pay gold, and a merchant group would escort them to their destination. In the event of combat, passengers were not required to fight at all.

Passengers were simply travelers being led by a merchant group to another city. Therefore, the Free Professional Merchants Guild did not collect any commission from merchant groups for carrying passengers, nor did it impose any regulations; it was entirely up to the merchant group and the passenger to negotiate.

Rhode had his reasons for choosing to travel as a passenger with a merchant group to Dya, rather than obtaining a map and traveling alone.

Just like with the map Alot had drawn earlier, even knowing the current location of the city, Rhode couldn't simply head in one direction. Instead, he had to find a river as a reference, compare it with the map, and only then locate the town.

Even with a detailed map, without the guidance of a pathfinding skill, it was easy to get lost in the repetitive scenery of the dense forest.

Moreover, there might be other situations encountered along the way. Whether it was roadside bandits, hidden thieves, or the territories of various creatures, avoiding them would require not only pathfinding skills but also high-level scouting skills.

Therefore, choosing to travel with a merchant group, although it would take longer, was more secure than traveling alone.

As a passenger, Rhode only needed to wait in the carriage provided by the merchant group. He could also use the travel time for several deep Meditation sessions. The only drawback was that the gold required for a passenger was slightly more expensive.

After listening, the maid led Rhode to a side parlor. After checking, the maid informed Rhode of the situation:

"Esteemed Practitioner, not long ago, a large merchant group departed for the City of Wailing, delivering a large quantity of goods. Due to the urgent need for these goods being met, not many merchant groups are willing to travel to the City of Wailing anymore. Currently, there is only one merchant group at the lodgings that is heading to the City of Wailing."

Upon hearing this, Rhode seemed to recall something. For a large merchant group to travel to a certain place, ensuring a safe journey required immense manpower and resources. With such a grand undertaking, the movements of a large merchant group could not be hidden from the Thieves Guild in the city.

Without much hesitation, Rhode said to the maid, "Please take me to this merchant group's lodging."

Carrying passengers introduced various variables for a merchant group. Furthermore, this practice was not necessarily safe for the passengers themselves.

It was common for merchant groups to extort passengers on the road, or to kill lone passengers in the wilderness for their valuables. It was also common for passengers to collude with thieves and ambush merchant groups in the dead of night. The Free Professional Merchants Guild remained indifferent to such matters, leaving everything to the discretion of the merchant groups and passengers.

Therefore, both merchant groups and passengers needed to vet each other before confirming any arrangements. This was also why passengers had to pay a high fee to join a merchant group.

After hearing Rhode's request, the maid led the way, guiding Rhode towards the merchant group lodgings in the rear.

The maid led Rhode to the lodgings in the back, walking towards the deeper areas. The sky had gradually darkened. When Rhode first entered the city, he could still see his surroundings by the daylight; now, he could only rely on the candlelight along the path to see.

Along the way, Rhode inquired about the merchant group from the maid and received some information.

The merchant group's name was the Silver Seal Merchant Group. Its core members numbered six to eight, including the manager, decision-makers, and Practitioners trained by the group. The rest were personnel responsible for transporting goods and hired guards, bringing the total membership to around twenty.

The information provided by the maid, while seemingly rich and detailing the entire Silver Seal Merchant Group, was actually just basic information. Rhode could discern it with a brief observation upon entering the lodgings; there was no crucial information included.

As they neared the Silver Seal Merchant Group's lodging, Rhode took a gold coin from his Space Ring and stopped the maid ahead.

"Tell me something truly useful," Rhode said, looking into the maid's eyes.

The maid took the gold coin, smiled, and said:

"The leader of the Silver Seal Merchant Group is named Yusuf, a veteran Warrior whose strength is close to the high-tier. The other core Practitioners also possess veteran-level strength. What you should particularly note is that there is a Mage in the group whose strength is unknown."