[Vol. 8] Chapter 171: Cause and Effect
Doing stable business across the freezing northern lands, that’s something even bigger, more powerful groups like the Cecilia Merchant Guild haven’t been able to achieve. If Xavier really manages to pull off this risky but bold breakthrough and connects trade between the North and South, his name might go down in history as a legend in the business world.
Of course, it’s not that easy. Even though he’s brave, Xavier is also a careful businessman. He wouldn’t send his people to die for nothing. So right now, this plan is still in the discussion and planning stage. And with the world war breaking out fully, they’ll probably have to put it on hold for a while.
As one of the major trading countries, both the Holy Capital, Angel City, and Star Abyss City, the heavily guarded and well-stocked fortress on the eastern border of the Holy Empire, have branches of the Xavier Merchant Guild. This time, the guild accepted a trade job to help their close ally, the Cecilia family, deliver military supplies to the front lines.
But since the Human United Kingdom is also facing threats from the Beast Kingdom in the west and the Nobos Iron-Blood Empire in the south, Guild Leader Xavier rushed back to headquarters the day the Chosen Hero trials ended. Only the caravan’s guard captain, Sasha, stayed behind to lead this journey. Because of that, she and a certain priestess missed each other perfectly.
Back when Violet was traveling inside the Holy Empire, she did have a few run-ins with the Xavier Guild. But back then, she was acting under the name "Dawn". Honestly, after parting ways in the “Forgotten Land”, she hadn’t seen any of those old companions since. So when Edwina suggested working with the guild, Violet had to think for a moment about how she would approach them.
After a bit of thought, she decided to meet them as herself.
After all, Dawn was in the past. That old fox didn’t need to be mentioned anymore. There wasn’t any deep reason for it… it’s just that people need to move forward in life.
Even though Sasha had never met Violet before, she was a straightforward and cheerful girl trained by Crimson Flame Flora, and she had a bold, friendly personality. Thanks to the Cecilia family’s introduction and mutual acquaintances like Xiao Guang, she and the priestess quickly got along well.
What was especially rare and admirable was that, even though she knew that Elunie was the Heaven Hero, Sasha didn’t treat her any differently than the others. She didn’t try to cling to someone famous just to improve her own status.
You really had to admit, that archer had a good eye for people. Her student shared a similar personality, direct and easygoing, but without the arrogance. She was actually much more likable.
After thinking for a moment, the priestess took something out of her pouch and handed it to Sasha.
“Tomorrow we’ll be going separate ways. Who knows when we’ll meet again? I’m just a poor wanderer who’s always on the move, and I don’t really have anything nice to give. So here, this is a magic potion I made when I had some free time. Consider it a small gift to remember me by.”
“A gift? I didn’t know Miss Violet is also a potion maker. That’s a pretty rare and in-demand skill! Uh… but I didn’t prepare a gift in return… Can I make it up to you next time?”
Sasha, the ponytailed girl with short brown hair and a few tiny freckles on her face, scratched her head awkwardly. But she didn’t act overly polite or fake, she just tucked the small crystal bottle containing about ten drops of shimmering golden potion into her clothes. She didn’t even ask what it did, as if she really saw it as a special keepsake.
Seeing how carefree she was, the priestess couldn’t help but shake her head.
“I don’t want a return gift, silly. Even if I told you the name and what it does, it would probably go in one ear and out the other... Anyway, just keep it safe. The world’s a mess right now and not very safe. As a merchant, you never know what kind of weird and dangerous things you might run into. If you ever face a situation where your life is truly in danger and there’s no other way out, drink it. It should at least save your life.”
“Really? That amazing…?”
Sasha still acted like she didn’t completely believe it, but she smiled and nodded to show she got the message. Since the caravan leader was busy with her own tasks, Violet didn’t bother her any further. Instead, she took the others to an open area in the camp to rest and began preparing for the journey tomorrow.
As night fell, for some reason, this year’s late autumn felt colder than usual. To stay warm and light up the camp, several bright campfires were lit. The fire drove away the cold wind from the north and brought warmth and hot food to everyone—thus, dinner began.
Including Elunie’s hero team, ten people sat in a circle around the fire. Each person ate their own meal, chatting quietly or bickering lightly about unimportant things. The atmosphere was peaceful and friendly.
It had been like this for most of the trip. Xiao Guang wasn’t very talkative, and Mia and Selna, as elite maidservants, wouldn’t act too casually in front of their master. Little Eudora also rarely spoke up in front of others. Because of that, most of the time it was the hero team that kept the conversation going and the group lively.
After traveling together for about two weeks, this newly formed team had already built a basic level of understanding and teamwork. They also became pretty familiar with Violet and the others. Although a lot of time was spent on the road, that was actually part of the priestess’s plan.
The newly discovered ancient ruins in the Theo Province were both dangerous and full of opportunity. Violet needed time to observe the character and mindset of these young people to decide how much help to give them when the time came. Otherwise, if they grew at a normal pace, who knows how many years it would take before they could be useful.
Thinking about this, the priestess took a large rolled-up map from her bag, unrolled part of it, and started studying it under the firelight.
This map had been given to her by Sethlin when she returned from the Ancient Spirit Realm to the Origin Realm. It was a newly made world map. Starting from the moment she reclaimed her position as a goddess, Sethlin had poured a lot of time and resources into it. The project took over a year to complete, and it was only finished right when Violet returned, showing how massive the work was.
According to Sethlin, the map had special treatments that made it resistant to aging, damage, fire, and water. It recorded not only the terrain, cities, and race distributions of the known regions in the Origin Realm, but also various cultural and environmental details.
That might sound impossible. After all, a map only has so much space, and it needed to be small enough to carry around. How could it hold so much information?
But when it came to the power of a goddess, anything that seemed impossible could be made real in mysterious and magical ways.
Otherwise, why would Sethlin have spent so long making a single map?
When Violet opened the scroll to the section showing the eastern part of the Holy Empire, centered on the Theo Province, she raised her hand and gently swept the smooth surface of the map with a strand of divine thought.
"Wumm~"
In the next moment, glowing green-blue lights slowly rose from the surface of the map. They formed into mountains, rivers, cities, and plains, like a tiny 3D model of the world built on a tabletop. Even though it was very small, every feature could still be clearly seen.
This was the power of a god.