MERCHANT ADVENTURER

Letter of Introduction

After Raine woke up, he and I left Mattias' carriage. Although Mattias hadn't asked us to leave, but common courtesy dictated we not overstay our welcome. As I mentioned before, it was not the norm for nobles to mix with commoners.

Garlan welcomed me back with a large grin. The other men were in a good mood. Enola casted me a friendly smile, while Jonas sent me a tight smile. I noticed Enola walked further behind Jonas and the interactions between the two were almost nonexistent.

It seemed the two had agreed to put their differences aside for the sake of completing the journey. However, they had yet to fully make up. I saw Wilber speak with Enola from time to time, their conversations were on ordinary topics, but their mannerisms seemed far friendlier than that of simple acquaintances.

Garlan secretly told me trouble was afoot, and it would be best if I found a new group to travel with in Alesburg. I thought so too. This then led to me asking Garlan if he would like to travel with me.

Garlan thought over it for half a day before he agreed, on the premise I continue to pay his wages in food. I told him I had no issue with this. And thus, a problem which had ben weighing on my mind had easily resolved.

In the late evening, when we were settled around the bonfire, the thundering sound of horse hooves approached our camp. The horseman stopped at Mattias' carriage. Garlan walked over to check upon the situation. It seemed a delivery of seaweed had been made.

That night, we ate the dried rations I had in my pack. Garlan, Raine and I shared the food. I had wanted to scavenge in the forest, but Garlan felt since I had just recovered, it wouldn't be good for me to overwork myself. He told me to take it easy for a few days and wait for a full recovery.

Upon the following morning, I saw Mattias exit his carriage and hobble around a bit. Although his joints were still a bit stiff, but his swollen body had reduced by quite a lot. He also made more frequent stops throughout the day to relieve himself. It appeared his body was ridding itself of the excess water.

A few days later, we were on the outskirts of Alesburg, when Ralph came over to ask me to pay a visit to Mattias. I was rather surprised Mattias had called upon me, but Ralph told me to rest assure, his lordship was only interested in rewarding me.

Reward? I hadn't thought of receiving any reward from Mattias, when I told him of the remedy. Still, I walked back with Ralph to Mattias' carriage.

"Caspian," Mattias warmly greeted me. If not for him calling me this, I would have forgotten I had agreed upon a name change.

"Your lordship," I returned his greeting.

"I won't mince words," Mattias genially said as he handed me a rolled-up parchment.

I unrolled it to find it was a letter of introduction for Caspian. A letter of introduction was worth its weight in gold. Letters of introductions would open doors for me. It served not only as a character reference, but as an assurance. If something should go wrong in a trade, and I were to abscond with the other side's payment, the other side could seek out Mattias for reparations because he had introduced me. For this reason, not many people were willing to write letters of introductions. Mattias must have great trust in me, for him to grant me a letter of introduction when we only knew each other for a brief time.

"Thank you for the letter of introduction," I told him.

"Nothing much," he responded in the same.