Chapter 64: Main Quest 2
Less than an hour later, Roderic was already leaving Aldermere.
This time, however, he wasn’t surrounded by dozens of soldiers.
Only Edmund and two of the knights accompanied him.
Roderic had absolutely no intention of dragging everyone else along for what should hopefully be a simple trip.
’Besides, Ravenport is only an hour or two away,’ he thought, letting out a sigh.
As much as Roderic hated spending his time inside the carriage, he knew it was for the best.
Leaning back against his seat, he couldn’t help but glance at the chubby man sitting across from him.
’’Oh, right.’’
Roderic suddenly reached into his coat and pulled out a sealed letter.
’’Would you mind having this sent for me?’’
Edmund raised an eyebrow.
He accepted the letter but glanced back at Roderic right away.
’’Of course, young master... but to whom?’’
A small grin flashed across Roderic’s face.
’’The First Prince,’’ he replied. ’’Maximilian Valdoria.’’
Edmund nodded.
’’Of cour—’’
He froze mid-sentence, instantly looking up with wide eyes.
’’The first prince?!’’ he repeated, stunned.
’’Mhm.’’
Roderic smiled innocently.
’’There’s something I thought he might be interested in.’’
For several seconds, Edmund simply stared at him.
Then he glanced down at the letter again.
’’Young master...’’ he said slowly. ’’If the first prince gets offended...’’
Roderic immediately waved him off.
’’Don’t worry about that. He won’t be offended in the slightest.’’
Edmund’s expression shifted uncomfortably but he still stashed the envelope away.
As he nodded, Roderic spotted the uneasiness on his face.
’Don’t worry,’ he thought, grinning. ’It’ll all be alright.’
The letter contained nothing more than the information he’d discovered about the unpaid taxes, along with enough details to hopefully prove he wasn’t simply making accusations.
What happened afterward was entirely up to Maximilian.
If the First Prince was even half as ambitious as the Archive made him seem, Roderic doubted there’d be a problem.
’It might even earn us some favors in the long run,’ he thought, grinning from ear to ear.
Roderic relaxed back into his seat.
After a few seconds, his mind had already moved onto the matter at hand.
A blue window popped up in front of him immediately.
[Main Quest 2]
Steal the corrupt merchant’s fortune
> Tap to expand
...
For a moment, Roderic remained silent.
’Right,’ he thought. ’I don’t even need to beat someone up this time.’
All he had to do was steal the merchant’s fortune to complete the quest.
’That doesn’t seem hard at all. What is Victor now? A rookie merchant? He wouldn’t have some impossible base to break into.’
A few chuckles left his mouth.
’If anything, I’d have to be worried that he has money I can steal!’
After chuckling for a bit longer, Roderic shook his head.
As he let out a soft sigh, he pressed on the expand button.
Rows of text immediately began appearing one after another.
[Target]
Name: Victor Fenwick
Age: 32
Threat level: Extremely high
Reason For Quest: Has taken over the Kingdom of Valdoria through absolute economic control and many illegal dealings.
[Reward: Golden Appraisal Eye + 20000 Throne Coins]
...
Roderic’s gaze locked onto the reason for the quest.
’Taken over the kingdom, huh,’ he thought. ’And he did it with pure economic control.’
He could imagine the situation perfectly.
Money is needed to do anything and everything in life.
Without it, armies can’t move, civilians starve, and rebellions break out.
That’s more than enough reason for those in power to listen to a wealthy merchant’s every command.
’But to be able to do that,’ he thought, letting out a low whistle. ’Just how capable does a merchant need to be?’
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
Victor had very clearly become corrupt. The System made that very clear.
But Roderic knew the exact reason why that happened.
’If I bring him to my side before any of that happens... it’d be perfect, no?’
The Whitemane territory needed more than just powerful fighters.
If he truly wanted to build something capable of competing with Duchies, kingdoms, and eventually entire empires, he needed people who understood money.
’Sure, I can keep making future inventions to sell,’ he thought. ’But it’d never be as good as having a truly talented merchant.’
Even with Roderic knowing how markets worked from his time on Earth, he understood perfectly that he wasn’t talented at it.
And besides all of that, he simply wouldn’t have time for it!
Roderic leaned further into his seat and let out a quiet sigh.
His mind continued churning, planning out exactly how he’d recruit Victor Fenwick.
...
Almost two hours later, a large city finally appeared in the distance.
Roderic immediately leaned closer to the carriage window.
Just like Aldermere, they were entering a very developed city surrounded by large walls.
But there was one key difference here.
Along one side of Ravenport ran an enormous river, connecting directly to a huge port built against the side of the city.
Even from here, he could see dozens of large wooden cargo ships crowding the water.
’It’s no wonder the Marquis got so wealthy. There aren’t many rivers as large as this one within the kingdom.’
With such a massive trade route running directly through his territory, the amount of taxes alone must have been ridiculous.
Their carriage soon joined the constant stream of merchants heading through the city gates.
Barely fifteen minutes later, they were inside Ravenport.
Roderic didn’t bother looking around for long.
’’You can just stop here,’’ he said, waving his hand.
Only a few seconds later, the carriage came to a halt.
Roderic immediately pushed open the door and stepped outside, followed by Edmund.
The two knights jumped off the front seats right after, lining up behind him.
After stretching, Roderic looked across the crowded streets with a grin.
’’Alright,’’ Roderic said, rubbing his hands together. ’’Let’s go find the Wayfarer Merchant Guild.’’
With that, he started walking down the busy street, curious to see what kind of merchant awaited him.