NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Caravan Part 1
Chapter 6: Caravan Part 1
It’s the third exploration.
At the triangular rocks to the north, I wait eagerly for someone to arrive.
In the previous two explorations, I ended up not meeting anyone.
This time, I’m determined, and I brought plenty of food. I plan to stay for up to three nights.
At noon, I light a fire and roast smoked meat.
While flipping the meat, I anxiously gaze into the distance.
After a while, I notice something faintly shimmering on the western horizon.
“Finally, the time has come…”
I’m incredibly nervous. I want to make this a friendly encounter somehow.
To avoid arousing too much suspicion, I purposely maintain a seated posture, though I’m filled with anxiety about what might happen if they suddenly attack.
The silhouettes of people and camels are approaching.
There are about 30 camels in total, with 10 of them carrying riders.
That’s more than I expected…
The group stops about 15 meters away from me.
They all have hoods covering their heads, so I can’t see their faces.
They seem to be discussing something among themselves.
After a while, three of them come closer to me.
One is a woman with white hair. She looks young, but there’s a certain elegance about her.
She doesn’t seem hostile, but she’s observing me carefully.
The other is a well-built young man with sharp eyes. He’s holding a large scimitar-like sword in his hand. He’s terrifying.
Lastly, there’s a chubby middle-aged man with a soft expression. He seems the most approachable of the three, perhaps serving as the negotiator.
They all have a deep tan, and their skin has a grayish hue.
And all of them have light purple eyes.
I feel like I’m about to vomit from nerves, but I try to smile warmly.
“Hello~”
“――――――。――――――――――――――？”
Ah… I’ve never heard words like that in my entire life.
I thought as much… this is tough.
I feel like giving up.
No, now’s the time to push through.
I’ll have to rely on gestures and enthusiasm.
I can do this.
“I’m Bonus! My name is Bonus! I am Bonus! What’s your name?”
“――――Bonus――――――？――――――――――――――”
“Oh, I’m cooking meat right now. Want some? It’ll be ready soon, let’s eat together, okay? My name is Bonus!”
“――Bonus.――――――Gazat――”
“Is Gazat your name? Nice to meet you, Gazat! Want some meat?”
“Meat―――――？”
As we both realize that words aren’t getting through, the tension seems to ease slightly.
I had been thinking about having difficult negotiations, but when words don’t even get across, it all starts to feel a bit foolish.
My energy is a bit off because it’s been a while since I talked to anyone.
However, as we continue talking like this endlessly, it seems like the other party is also loosening up slightly.
The young man sheathes his scimitar.
After attempting to communicate with gestures and broken language, I manage to learn the names of the three.
The white-haired woman is Menas, the young man is Fabios, and the friendly chubby middle-aged man is Gazat.
After a while of what seems like mutual introductions, Menas instructs Fabios to do something.
Fabios heads towards the rear squad.
He’s probably calling for reinforcements.
From then on, I just kept talking.
I went around and introduced myself to each of the ten members of this caravan.
The smoked meat I brought this time is some sort of imitation of bison.
It’s the tastiest meat I’ve had here.
But it’s prepared by a shady guy I just met.
Even though it smells delicious, no one dares to touch it.
After munching on it to show that it’s safe and exaggerating how delicious it is, Gazat finally tries some.
Eating the smallest piece of meat, I skillfully use the knife.
After chewing for a while, I open my eyes wide and place my hand on my cheek.
It’s the chubby middle-aged man who’s doing it, so I can’t help but want to laugh.
It’s probably a gesture expressing typical deliciousness.
I’m not sure if it’s an act or genuine, but it’s a relief that nobody spat it out.
Gazat touching the meat acted as a catalyst, and the others who had shown no interest in it before now start crowding around the meat.
When I try to cook more meat, Menas brings over a metal plate-like object used for cooking meat with a smile.
After arranging the meat on the metal plate, she gestured to ask if it’s okay to sprinkle something salty on it. I responded by making a circle with my whole body, and she smiled elegantly.
Actually, the saltiness after so long made me feel like crying because it was so delicious.
Perhaps because of how I acted with the meat and kept talking, I feel like I’ve become quite friendly with the members of the caravan.
After finishing eating, while the members of the caravan quietly prepare for camping, Menas becomes my conversation partner.
Thanks to her, I was able to gather a lot of information in this short time.
Firstly, Menas seems to be the boss of this caravan.
They deal with a variety of goods and do business spanning two regions.
They seem to mainly trade between a city beyond the eastern mountains and one to the northwest.
Although it’s just a feeling, it seems that these two cities belong to different countries.
And, of course, this place is considered quite remote and very dangerous.
Almost no one else besides Menas does business crossing this dangerous area, which seems to be quite profitable.
By the way, the gesture of making a circle with the index finger and thumb for money seems to be the same here too.
This woman named Menas seems to be around 50 years old, but she has an elegant and charming manner.
Even with someone who doesn’t understand the language, the fact that such an exchange of information is possible shows that she is quite intelligent and empathetic.
It feels like I’m being manipulated to some extent, but there’s a charm in that as well.
Above all, it’s incredibly helpful that even with my terrible gestures and language pushing, she accurately understands my questions and answers politely with gestures.
If we had met when I could understand the language, they would have quickly extracted information about my hideout.
In that sense, maybe it’s a good thing that we couldn’t communicate with words this time.
Afterward, as planned, I asked if they could trade with the items I brought, and they agreed to buy everything.
And it seems they expected quite a bit of value from them.
It seems that collectibles from giant beasts are rare and they were surprised by all the items.
However, it seems that the low circulation makes it difficult to determine prices.
Frankincense also seems to be quite a luxury item, and they seemed to offer a good price for it.
However, even if they were ripped off, I wouldn’t know…
Well, it doesn’t matter for now.
I acquire items such as salt, knives, fabric, iron pots, iron and wooden utensils, and hemp rope.
That alone is a significant harvest.
I’m overjoyed.
My civilization level has risen drastically in one go.
Now I can extract sugar and make chocolate.
The Menas Caravan seems to pass through here almost every week.
I got some good information.
Next time, I’ll ask for a few pieces of clothing, and they agreed to bring them.
By the way, I’m still wearing a suit as usual.
And I even have my tie on.
It’s an important business negotiation, you know.
Honestly, wearing a suit in a place like this seems ridiculous, but surprisingly, it seems to have helped them relax their guard towards me more quickly.
At least, it seems they would have appeared far from violence.
Speaking of next time, they said that if the collectibles I sold this time sell for more than expected, they’ll reimburse me when we meet next time.
I’ll also let them know that I’ll bring frankincense and other collectibles.
It’s surprising how little they pry into things.
Is it our mutual etiquette, perhaps?
Well, if we hardly understand each other, there’s nothing to pry into.
Maybe it was actually fortunate that we couldn’t understand each other’s words this time.
If I had tried to negotiate or act strangely, we might have remained more cautious of each other.
However, Fabios never seemed to let his guard down towards me until the end.
If anything, I felt a slight sense of irritation from him.
After talking with Menas, I was approached by an elderly man named Jeda, who was thin and sinewy like a dried branch.
It seemed he wanted me to tell him about the meat from earlier because it was quite delicious and he really wanted to eat it again.
Since it was difficult to explain, I drew a picture on the ground with a wooden stick to illustrate the creature.
He seemed quite surprised by the explanation and was buzzing with excitement.
Jeda seemed to be quite talkative.
As it got dark, he remained my conversation partner until everyone else withdrew into their tents.
Moreover, he spoke slowly and repeatedly used the same words, which was very helpful for learning the language.
Despite just babbling away in completely unfamiliar words to each other, somehow we felt like we deeply understood each other.
The next day, the caravan quickly prepared to depart and left early in the morning.
As a parting gift, I gave them the remaining smoked meat, which they greatly appreciated.
Especially Jeda, who happily danced around in an odd manner.
He’s a funky old man.
Finally, Menas and I exchanged a handshake while crossing our arms, a gesture of parting.
Perhaps it’s a local custom around here.
Although I had prepared myself for the exchange of lives, as a first interaction, it went quite well, didn’t it?
Well, talking so much after a long time really tired me out.
By the way, Pink has been sleeping in my pocket the whole time.
I’ll start collecting frankincense and other things for two weeks later.
Maybe next time, I’ll let Jeda try eating hippo feathers.
Since I’ve got various things now, when I get back, I’ll make some chocolate.