Pearl Route (Part 1)

The wind swept across the wasteland, and everywhere the eye could see was yellow earth—endless desolation, endless bitterness.

As pioneers, the people of Moonbrook in Westfall had to face all kinds of trouble. It seemed that trouble had become a part of life itself.

Another mine collapse?

Another monster encounter out in the wild?

Mountain dogs?

Corpse-Ripper Birds?

Gnolls?

Bloodfang Boars?

All kinds of monsters could become topics of conversation in Moonbrook's only tavern. Under the bright candlelight, the air was mingled with the sour stink of men after a long day's work, the heavy scent of alcohol, and lively discussion.

Recently, however, the tavern had gained a new topic of conversation: a young mage named Duke Marcus.

"I heard a mage named Marcus killed Hogger?" a farmer suddenly asked his companion.

"That incredibly powerful, over-two-meter-tall gnoll, Hogger?"

"No, no, he must have been over four meters tall. A few days ago, when I passed Sentinel Hill, I saw Hogger's headless corpse. It was terrifying. Even though the body had already rotted, you could still tell it was at least one and a half stories tall," said a traveling merchant who had clearly just returned from outside.

"Where's the head?" the farmer pressed.

"I heard the head and claws were sent to Stormwind and Goldshire in Elwynn Forest for public display."

"That's incredible," a miner exclaimed.

"Of course. Lord Duke Marcus is the second super-genius in the history of the Stormwind Kingdom to advance to a full mage with a ninth-rank talent!" The middle-aged mercenary who cut in wore his pride plainly on his face.

Moonbrook was not large. The entire town only had around a thousand people, so even if they did not know each other's names, they generally recognized one another.

"Oh? You know Lord Marcus?"

"Of course! I'm that lord's subordinate!" the mercenary said without trying to hide it.

"Give it a rest! A mage lord's followers are all powerful—stronger even than Lirok, the greatest knight in our town," the miner teased him.

But the next moment, the miner could not say another word. In fact, no one in the entire tavern could speak.

"Hey, Macaro, you're here!"

It was an ordinary greeting, paired with an eye-catching entrance.

His blue-and-white mage robe and dazzling mage insignia proved his identity, while the five sharp icicles floating above his shoulders left an even deeper impression on everyone.

Icicles floating in midair were unreasonable. But on a powerful mage lord, even the unreasonable became reasonable.

"Lord Marcus, this is..."

"Oh, it's just part of my personal training," Duke answered casually.

Macaro did not ask further. He would not understand the world of mages even if he heard it explained, but that did not stop him and those around him from feeling that, though they did not understand it, it seemed incredibly impressive.

Macaro looked at the bag in Duke's hand, with its many round bulges, and was momentarily stunned.

"Let's talk upstairs."

Macaro had arrived early, along with several of his men. He led Duke upstairs to his room, while his subordinates immediately took up positions at the door.

Downstairs, the rest of Moonbrook erupted into commotion.

"Wow, that was Duke Marcus? He's so young!"

"Truly young and accomplished!"

"What is he doing in Moonbrook? There isn't anything in Westfall that could attract such an important figure."

"Could he have discovered a new mineral deposit or local specialty?"

"How could that be? Other than growing grain and having a few ordinary iron and copper mines, what else does Westfall have?"

None of them expected that Duke really had developed a new specialty product for Westfall.

Inside the room, Macaro and the other mercenaries were dazzled by the treasures spread across the table.

Pearls—pearls of every size.

From the smallest, poorly colored little pearls, to [Lustrous Small Pearls], [Iridescent Pearls], the more valuable [Black Pearls], and finally the most dazzling [Golden Pearls], each as large as a baby's fist—so many pearls that Macaro and the others nearly had their hearts scared into stopping.

Of course, besides pearls, there were all kinds of beautiful coral and translucent yellow tortoiseshell, but the pearls were still the most eye-catching.

"These are..."

"A Westfall specialty I developed. I plan to establish a shipping route and name it the Pearl Route."

"Hiss—" The mercenaries all drew sharp breaths at once.

A shipping route! That was no one-time deal. A route meant Duke had a stable source of pearls.

Even Macaro, the most worldly among them, could not help but grow suspicious. "Please forgive my presumption, but the entire Westfall coast is filled with those Murlocs that can never be wiped out. How did you..."

"Oh, that? By chance, I took control of a Murloc tribe. The ones gathering pearls for me are Murlocs!"

"Ah!" Macaro cried out involuntarily.

According to legend, mages kept strange and unusual familiars as servants, but Murlocs... and those Murlocs at that—crude, savage, and dim-witted. It was simply unbelievable to them.

Yet from the moment he had first met him, Macaro had realized that the young man before him was someone who turned the impossible into possible. He had gone from being shocked by everything at first to becoming somewhat numb, even blindly trusting.

"My lord, what can I do for you?"

"I ordered a batch of ships from old Jackson at the Stormwind shipyard, and I've already paid. Some of them should be finished by now. Bring back as many as there are for me. Hire sailors at the docks. The first batch of boatmen can be paid double wages, paid in full before departure. Also, make sure every ship flies my flag from its bow."

Looking at the several flags Duke produced, each covered in what looked like random scribbles and each different from the others, Macaro was somewhat puzzled. But he did not ask. Instead, he asked, "And what about you, my lord?"

"I can't leave for the time being. As for money, you can sell these pearls first."

"No, no, my lord. There is still plenty left from the bounty for killing Hogger—enough to hire sailors. I do not understand pearl prices, so it would be more appropriate for you to handle them personally."

Duke rubbed his brow. Indeed, there were too few capable people who could work for him. This was an era where illiterates were everywhere. Finding musclebound men was easy, but finding someone with brains was far too difficult. Most commoners would not deal with merchants unless they had no other choice.

But Duke could not leave this place. As long as the threat from the Naga tribe in Stranglethorn Vale remained unresolved, peace here was out of the question.

"Then we'll do it this way. Still, take some back with you as proof that I've opened the Pearl Route. Also, go find Mage Norton at the Royal Academy of Magic and have him help me apply for exclusive operating rights over this route."

"Exclusive rights? That seems..."

"You think the nobles will interfere?"

"As expected of you, my lord." Macaro nodded meekly.

"It's fine. Let them come." A cruel, cold gleam flashed in Duke's black eyes.