The next morning, before the sun had even risen, the caravan had already set out in the cool morning breeze.
Ryle had prepared a warhorse for Simon and Feng Chou.
The caravan exited from the west gate of Fergesack, crossed a field, and entered the forest under the illumination of the morning sun.
The forest here was a typical temperate broad-leaved forest. The trees were dense, and the roadside was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves.
The road in front of them was far better than the one Feng Chou and the others had taken yesterday. Not only was the road wide, but it was also arched. There was a drainage ditch on the roadside, and the road was paved with a layer of stone. It wasn't hard to see that the construction of this road should have involved the participation of magic.
Feng Chou sat comfortably on the horse, his body swaying gently as the horse walked, as if his body had become a part of the horse's body.
Feng Chou actually didn't know how to ride a horse, but this body of his had received knight patrols since young, so his riding skills were quite good. It had even become an instinct of his body. When he touched a horse, he didn't need to think at all. This body instinctively knew what to do.
Feng Chou sat comfortably on the horse, pressing the reins under his buttocks. He only relied on his legs to control the horse, and played with a heavy gold coin in his hand.
Last night, Simon had helped him sell Drow's leather armor.
That set of Drow's leather armor came from a high-grade Drow warrior. It was a set of + 4 magic armor.
When buying weapons and armor, Simon discovered that in Fergesack, the best magic weapons and armor were only + 3.
The difference between + 3 and + 4 magic items was more than double.
In the end, Simon only sold the body armor, leg armor, boots, and helmet of the armor, leaving the gloves and a pair of scimitars.
He used the proceeds of the sale to buy Feng Chou a set of + 3 medium armor, + 3 shield and one-handed sword, as well as the most expensive clothes in Fergesack.
Even so, Simon gave Feng Chou a purse to compensate for the difference.
In addition to about seventy to eighty gold coins, there were also a lot of small change of various denominations. This was the pocket money that Simon had exchanged for Feng Chou.
Feng Chou looked at the beautiful gold coin in his hand and couldn't help but sigh. The craftsmanship of this world was no worse than that of Earth.
It was a gold coin with a face value of ten crowns. It weighed a little more than ten grams and was slightly larger than a fifty-cent copper coin.
This kind of gold coin with 95% gold content had a beautiful golden-red color. It was said that it was because rare metals such as arcanite copper were mixed into it. The mixing of these metals made the gold coin very tough and resistant to wear.
There was a zigzag pattern around the gold coin. This was to prevent people from stealing the gold on the gold coin by filing it.
On the front of the coin was a sculpture of a sitting lion. The lion was the symbol of the Royal Family of Ovendell. The lion was surrounded by a circle of thorns. Around the thorns was a circle of letters. The upper half of the letters meant "Royal Bank of Ovendell" and the lower half was the face value of the coin, "10 crowns".
The reverse side of the coin was engraved with a man's profile. Around the portrait was a circle of letters that read, "Emperor of Ovindale, Olaf IV." This was the current emperor of the Ovindale Empire.
The sculpture was very clear and the lines were very detailed. The craftsmanship was actually not inferior to the modern coins on Earth.
According to Leo's knowledge, this coin was produced by a type of alchemy equipment that was powered by magic. The alchemist who invented this equipment was generously rewarded by the Goddess of Commerce.
Other than the 10 crowns gold coin, the Royal Bank also issued a 20 crowns gold coin that weighed a little more than twenty grams and also contained 95% gold.
Because of the lion sculpture on the coin, people liked to call the 10 crowns gold coin a small golden lion and the 20 grams gold coin a large golden lion.
Other than the 1 crowns silver coin, there was also a 50 peesse silver coin. It weighed a little more than ten grams and was slightly larger than the 1 dollar silver coin.
The peesse was the denomination of copper coins. The exchange rate between the coins and crowns was 1 crown for 100 peesse.
There were four denominations of copper coins: 1 peesse, 2 peesse, 5 peesse, and 10 peesse.
The 1 peesse coin was slightly larger than the 50 cents coin. It weighed 5 grams and was made of brass. People called the smallest denomination copper coins copper coins.
The 2 peesse weighed 10 grams and was slightly larger than the 1 dollar coin. People used copper coins to refer to these coins.
Weighing 15 grams for 5 pence, this copper coin contained about 4% silver.
The 10 peesse coin also weighed 15 grams and contained 10% silver.
… …
Long journeys were always boring, especially when one's mode of transportation was horses.
Bored, Feng Chou used the Qiankun Pagoda to scan all the members of the caravan.
The caravan had a total of seven carriages, a leader, two guards, seven assistants, seven coachmen, and eighteen mercenaries.
This group of people were all professions, without exception. Even the coachmen and assistants were level 2 or 3 warriors.
To Feng Chou's surprise, in the caravan, the person with the highest profession level was the leader of the caravan. This middle-aged man was a level 7 warrior and a level 4 rogue. His two guards were a level 5 warrior and a level 6 warrior. These two guards also had the profession of rogue.
The more than ten mercenaries seemed to belong to the same mercenary group.
Mercenary groups that could accept escort missions were those with relatively high credibility levels in the Mercenary Union.
The Mercenary Union divided the credibility of mercenaries into ten levels, and each level had different privileges.
For example, mercenaries with a credibility level of level 3 or above could buy potions and alchemy items at different discounts in the Mercenary Union's internal shops.
It was said that as long as a mercenary reached level 5, they would be able to receive a monthly pension from the Mercenary Association when they were old or disabled. It wasn't much, but it was enough for a person to live on. The higher the credit rating, the higher the pension. At the same time, level 5 was also the threshold for mercenary groups to accept escort and guard missions.
The credibility level of a mercenary group depended on the average credibility level of the main members of the mercenary group. The credibility level not only determined the types of missions a mercenary group could accept, but also determined the upper limit of a mercenary group. The lower the credibility level, the lower the upper limit of a mercenary group.
More than a third of this mercenary group were level 5 professions and above. Among them, the leader was a level 7 warrior and a level 3 rogue. His two assistants were a level 6 rogue and a level 6 warrior. Below them were two level 5 warriors and a level 5 rogue.
The rest of the mercenaries below level 5 were mostly level 4 warriors or rogues.
Those higher-level Warriors and Rogues more or less had a profession level of a part-time profession.
A few level 3 warriors in the mercenary group looked very young, and they all carried heavy crossbows or guns.
Yes, guns, gunpowder weapons existed in this world.
In fact, almost everyone in this caravan carried more than one gun.
Their guns were very similar to the flintlocks on Earth, but strangely, there was no flint. From Leo's memory, this was probably a kind of gun that was powered by magic.
Leo was not familiar with this kind of weapon. In his impression, the power of this weapon was similar to a crossbow, and it took a long time to reload. Only idiots and cowards would use it. His father had equipped some of the militia in the territory with the simplest guns.
Judging from the familiarity of the mercenaries and the caravan members, this mercenary group and the caravan should have a long-term cooperative relationship.