Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

As she spoke, Aisha took out the badge of the Chamber of Commerce to prove her identity.

"You guys?" The other party had obviously received the news long ago, and his guarded expression relaxed a little. "You're finally here—but are you just a few of you?"

"Just a few of us."

"Come with me, I'll take you to see Mr. Ebusen."

Elsa and the others followed, and at the same time, Elsa observed the caravan ahead.

The caravan consisted of entourage and freight wagons. In the front were people dressed as adventurers, who were well-equipped and seemed to be undergoing simple repairs. The wagons at the back were loaded with goods covered with waterproof oilcloth. The people traveling with them were either riding high-horned reindeer or black-fur horses.

A driver brought a batch of goods into the city from the rear of the caravan, and more goods remained untouched. Others rested on the spot - they came from afar and seemed to have no intention of entering the city. It was obvious that they were either in a hurry or their destination was not Dammas Fortress.

Elsa counted and found that there were about thirty people in the caravan, which was a considerable size for a caravan. More than half of them were hired adventurers, and the rest were coachmen, guides and accompanying guards.

Soon, Aisha met the owner of the caravan - merchant Ebusen.

Ebusen was in his prime, his most striking features being his thick beard and chubby cheeks. He wore light half-leather armor and had a wide knife at his waist. If one did not know his identity in advance, it would be difficult to mistake him for the owner of this caravan.

"Welcome, I'm Ebusen, the leader of this caravan," Ebusen welcomed Aisha and the others in a tone that suited his appearance, grinning broadly. "Are you the people Miss Morton introduced here? Can I see the letter of introduction? Haha, please forgive my rudeness, I just want to confirm its authenticity - you know, I don't know how many people are targeting a weak, unarmed man like me."

Weak?

Elsa believed that she was not mistaken. There was something of a martial artist in Ebusen's every move. The broadsword at his waist was probably not just for decoration. Moreover, his steps were steady, and the distance of each step was almost the same. His shoulders were level and his arms were wide, and he stood there as straight as a pine tree - he looked like someone who had served in the army.

It doesn't matter, Aisha doesn't care about these things.

"Here, please take a look."

Aisha took out the letter of introduction she had prepared in advance and handed it to Ebusen, who took a quick look at it.

"Oh?" He uttered a surprised "oh," but quickly wiped away the doubtful expression. He put the letter away and smiled brightly at Elsa. "Well, everyone, welcome to join my caravan. Our safety depends on you."

"No problem. If you need anything, please let us know. Also, when will we leave?"

"It will be soon," Ebusen turned and looked at the rear of the caravan. "As you can see, we still have a batch of goods being loaded and unloaded, and our men and horses also need a short rest and replenishment."

As he said this, Ebusen sighed.

"Two days ago, we encountered a monster. We finally managed to resolve it, but we lost some manpower. Originally, two teams of adventurers had accepted our escort commission, but the monster was too terrifying, and one of the teams escaped. So, I had to hurry here to replenish my medicine and go to the guild to file a complaint against those cowards."

Ebusen said angrily.

In fact, Ebusen's caravan was not going to stop in Dammas, but was heading directly to the North. However, they encountered an accident on the road and had to come to Dammas to replenish supplies and manpower. It can only be said that fortunately, the monster did not chase them, so they escaped safely.

So there was an opportunity for Elsa to join the caravan.

Elsa nodded thoughtfully, a rather intriguing thought flashing through her mind - two days ago? Could it be that all of this was staged by Sifreya herself?

That shouldn't be the case, right? Does Shifreya look like that?

Although appearances are not to be judged...

Elsa decided not to think too much about it.

……

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293. All Silver Medals (3K)

After a brief greeting, Ebusen went to inspect the carriage behind and took the letter of introduction with him.

"Why does this Ebusen seem unreliable... He reminds me of my dad."

Charlie muttered as she watched Ebusen leave.

Elsa said, "He didn't ask for our names. The letter just now must have mentioned something obscurely. I'm sure he's destroyed the letter of introduction by now. He's a qualified businessman, despite his rough manners. Sifreya has her reasons for making such arrangements, and I'm willing to trust her judgment."

In addition, this caravan did not stop in Dammas; they all came directly from Klindkren, which provided us with a lot of convenience."

Klindkron is a southern port city, quite a distance from Damco.

"Yeah... I understand. This way they won't know your identity, Aisha."

"So we just need to be moderately disguised."

Elsa ruffled Charlie's hair, and Charlie rubbed Elsa's palm with an affectionate expression, which surprised Becky and Alman beside them - Charlie always gave them a very strange feeling. It was very strange that every time they saw Charlie, they felt awe from the bottom of their hearts. It happened that Charlie always behaved in a rigid and serious manner, which made them always have a strange fear of Charlie.

But Charlie is like a different person in front of Elsa, especially now, the relationship between the two of them seems ambiguous no matter how you look at it.

Grace, who was walking at the end, stared at Elsa, the resentment in her eyes almost overflowing.

Tricia, however, ignored this. She surveyed the area and said, "I didn't notice anything unusual. I sensed that a lot of his goods are flints from the southernmost islands. They're all uniform in size and decent quality. I don't think this deal is entirely for sale."

"Flint?"

When she heard the word flint, Elsa's first thought was the flint from her previous life, but she quickly denied it.

"Flint is a magic stone that can transform magic power into fire elemental magic. It is actually the black or red magic stone that your church often uses to make fire."

Tricia said.

"Flint is mined from the outer islands in the south. Due to its inherent difficulty in transportation, flint is usually mined and processed locally, then shipped to the empire or other places for sale. Therefore, the price is not cheap, but it is very durable, so it is not a rare item. Moreover, for the Western Province, flint has limited uses and the demand is not high. In the North, flint is needed more for land reclamation and crop planting in winter and for some magical research. Of course, some wealthier families also choose to use flint directly for heating. The effect is better than fireplaces and it is more convenient."

At least a flint doesn't require adding dry firewood, which is indeed more convenient than a fireplace, but it's obviously more expensive.

As they spoke, Aisha and the others had already arrived in front of the caravan.

Another team of adventurers is here. When traveling in the plains, these armed men will be concentrated in the front and flanks of the caravan, while when traveling in forests and canyons, they will change their formation and distribute themselves in front and behind the team.

At this time, these adventurers were preparing and resting, and the approach of Elsa and the others caught their attention - or rather, they had already noticed Elsa and the others.

The horses chewed the grass on the ground.

Elsa noticed the looks cast at her by the adventurers. Some of those looks were scrutinizing, suspicious, and wary.

"Why are there only six people...all women?"

Some people frowned openly and whispered to the people around them.

Although their voices were very soft and difficult to discern in the rain, Elsa heard them clearly. Even the people behind her could hear their whispers—for sages, vampires, and witches, sounds of this magnitude were not difficult to detect.

"There is still a man, you see, that shrinking fool——"

Alman's expression froze subtly. In the past, he would have taught these stupid humans how to write the word "miserable", but today he could only endure it.

"Oh, there's only one man? Are there no men in Dammas?"

"Being pretty is useless. The prettier someone is, the more dangerous they are. I'm talking about those bandits who don't know their own limits. Some of them are jerkish and troublesome."

"There's only one magician... and it seems there's no priest either... Tsk... Can these guys really be trusted?"

"What can these few people do? They're just temporary replacements, like a cunning shoemaker using a piece of inferior leather to patch up a problem."

"We're going to the North, and the main roads have been damaged recently, so the smaller roads won't be safe. We're already exhausted, and this is a caravan!"

"I thought there would be more than a dozen people!"

Aisha glanced at those people and ignored them.

Elsa didn't care, and neither did Tricia and Charlie. As for Becky and Alman, they hesitated to speak, stealing cautious glances at Elsa's face. Alman, in particular, tensed unnaturally when he heard someone mention him. He didn't want to be compared to Elsa at all, not even in the slightest, even by others.

At this time, someone came over.

He was a tall, middle-aged man carrying a long sword on his back. His brown-black hair was a little messy, his beard was unshaven, and the armor on one side of his arm was dirty, with indelible stains of mud - only the long sword on his back looked particularly shiny, and it was obvious that he maintained it frequently.

He looked towards Elsa with a scrutinizing gaze, then glared at the few people who had just been complaining, and they immediately shut up.

This middle-aged man is the "leader" of these adventurers.

"Hello."

Elsa took the initiative to say hello as a courtesy, and the other party nodded symbolically.

"Welcome, friends from Dammar," the man nodded in return, but his next words were rather blunt: "I heard you're cleaning up the mess for those cowardly moles—with all due respect, you all look like complete amateurs. Oh, my goodness, look at all your equipment—it's all newly bought, right? There's no sign of maintenance or use at all."

His tone was not contemptuous; it was as natural and certain as if he were stating a fact, with a kind of arrogance and impatience that came from rich experience in dealing with people.

His eyes swept towards Charlie, and for a moment they met Charlie's serious gaze.

"I take it back. It should be 'except this young lady'. Everyone else seems like an outsider."

He pointed at Charlie in particular and gave his "approval" - after all, Charlie was the current silver medal adventurer, and he was indeed not wrong about her.

"Especially you, you and you, you really look like amateurs. You don't use a sword at all, and you don't look like an archer."

He pointed at Becky and Tricia.

Becky looked embarrassed. She really didn't know how to use a sword - vampires didn't rely on weapons that were not as strong as her claws. Moreover, she had not experienced many actual battles. Using the blood clan's combat magic was a bit obscure, not to mention the human sword.

Tricia didn't react at all. This kind of scene seemed commonplace to her - she certainly didn't use a bow, but it didn't matter. She could use magic to make her archery skills convincing enough to be mistaken for the real thing.

As for Elsa, she deliberately made herself look more inconspicuous, so the man didn't seem to notice her at all.

However, as the man said, except for Charlie and Aisha, no one present was an adventurer. Although their clothes were disguised, they might seem a little redundant or insufficient in some aspects to experienced people.

The man continued:

"We're all adventurers, so I'll be blunt: Take out your nameplates and prove your abilities—I expect you all to be at least Silver. Incidentally, I'm Silver, and there are two other people in our group who are equally as strong."

The man took out his silver nameplate and continued, "I mean no offense, but my brothers and I are tired of being a burden. I hope you're truly strong enough to handle half the work. The journey ahead won't be easy. If you don't have the necessary strength, I won't laugh at you if you quit now. Leaving Damco will leave us without reinforcements for a long time, and as you know, that would be a disaster."

The man's words were not pleasant to hear, but they were indeed the truth. However, they sounded particularly rude coming from his mouth. Aisha could vaguely sense that the man seemed to be holding back a lot of resentment, because another team of adventurers had escaped halfway, and they had to bear all the work and pressure with just a few people. They were worried all the way for fear of any accidents. Now that they had finally arrived in Dammas, they probably didn't want to go through the same thing again, right?

Charlie frowned slightly. She was a very straightforward person and immediately showed her displeasure.

Normally, she wouldn't mind patiently explaining things, but she couldn't stand Elsa being looked down upon. However, she also knew the purpose of their trip and needed to keep a low profile, so she didn't say much and simply showed her nameplate.

Elsa and Tricia didn't say much, and directly showed their nameplates, both of which were silver.

Becky, Alman and Grace also won silver medals.

——All six people won silver medals, which stunned the man and he rubbed his eyes hard.

"Huh? You guys are really the silver medalists? Did I misjudge you?"

"Empiricism isn't always so helpful, is it?"

Aisha just smiled, her attitude very calm.

The man smiled dryly.

"you're right……"

The man finally calmed down and bent down deeply with a sincere expression.

"Please allow me to apologize for my disrespect just now. Sorry..."

Right is right and wrong is wrong. Men are also very straightforward in this regard.

……

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294. Grace's Grudge (4K)

Aisha and the others were not the last to arrive. Following them were several errand boys who brought supplies from the city - dry food, medicine and hay for the horses.

While waiting, Aisha chatted with the adventurers here for a while. The middle-aged man was named Silbaz. He was highly trusted by this group of adventurers because of his strength and experience, so he naturally became the "captain" of these people.

When Elsa introduced herself, she concealed her real name and temporarily called herself "Fasha" - this kind of name is actually quite common and not too conspicuous.

Tricia calls herself "Cerri", which is actually just an abbreviation of her last name.

As for Charlie and the others, they all used their real names. Anyway, they had disguised themselves to a certain extent so as not to reveal their identities, and their names would not be known to everyone, so there would not be any problem.

"Like the merchant Ebusen, Silbaz also hails from Clindekron. He's considered a mid-to-upper-level talent among the local silver-medal adventurers. However, he's different from the other adventurers. He almost exclusively accepts commissions to escort caravans, and his route is fixed between Clindekron and the North."

Aisha shared the simple information she had obtained with Tricia and Charlie.

To be honest, Elsa felt more and more that this caravan was very suitable in every aspect, and it was very coincidental - so coincidental that it was hard not to speculate about Sifreya. To a certain extent, Sifreya's business level was indeed impeccable.

"Silbaz is very familiar with the route from Klindekron to the northern province of Crossbell, and has been accepting commissions in this area for many years. According to him, he even spends more time in the north than returning to Klindekron."

It was precisely because he had so much experience traveling between the North and the Western Province, and had an excellent reputation, that Ebusen approached him directly to serve as the escort for the caravan.

Tricia also said, "I think both Ebusen and Silvers are people who know the North well. We might be able to rely on them a little for future work. Adventurers and merchants are both easy to trade with, right?"

Moreover, Elsa didn't think she would encounter any major trouble on the way.

It was almost noon when the caravan finally set off towards the north. Rainwater had accumulated in the huge ravines under the Lades Mountains, and half of the original road was flooded, so they had to go around it via the plains in the east.

"Ladies, this plain is the last place we can relax. We are heading towards the western border of the Seavis Territory. Tomorrow we will reach the forest north of Seavis. The road will not be so easy from then on. Please prepare for battle. The borders of those territories are where monsters often appear."