CHAPTER 34: JOURNEY TO BLACK ROCK CITY

As Ray and others began sailing on the river, he observed that the water passage could accommodate at least a few ships simultaneously.

The ships navigated through the edges while maintaining the same formation as before: two ships at the front and the rest following, with Ray effectively positioned at the tail end of the fleet.

When the water flow was slow, they paddled to speed up the ships. When the flow reached the optimal stage, they rested and focused on maintaining the speed of the ships, efficiently controlling them to enter the middle of the passage and being dragged away by stronger currents.

Ray saw many monsters in the water that were much less strong than his pet fish when he first encountered them, but none dared attack the ships due to the presence of his contract pet.

This made the journey uneventful and safe.

For every 10 to 12 hours of the journey, they would halt sailing, and everyone would disembark in the nearby area to rest and recharge for the next day's arduous journey.

This significantly extended the journey beyond expectations due to the frequent unloading and reloading of items such as tents and cooking utensils after use.

These items had to be securely bound after reloading to prevent them from rolling on the ship's surface during sailing, which could cause accidents and injure the people on board, wasting a majority of the time.

Although everyone was fatigued on the journey, no one voiced any complaints, and all had cheerful smiles while envisioning their future in the city.

Ray had anticipated encountering at least one group of thugs or water bandits, but after a discussion with the chief, he learned that there wouldn't be any in this area, where a first-rate city is scarcely found within a thousand miles.

Without the resources and infrastructure of a first-class city, it would not achieve significant gains by banding and forming groups to steal in the monster-infested waters.

If they possess such strength, they could consider forming merc groups to hunt monsters. They can earn more money through this.

Four days passed, and on the evening of the fourth day, they saw various mercenaries and merchant caravans passing by them.

Ray saw an area densely covered with tents a mile away from the city.

Their ships stopped at the gathering spot, and all aboard got down and started making tents for their stay.

The chief came to their ship and informed them that city gates would be closed during the night and thus would be staying there for the night.

Tomorrow morning, we will arrange for a few warriors to protect the villagers, and he, with others, will leave on foot to reach the city. Meanwhile, he asked Ray to separate from them and drive the ship a mile from there to a harbor where they could safely dock ships for extended by paying a certain amount of money, Ray with the chief, got out of their ship after the talk and started roaming near the gathering point.

Noticing Ray's interest in the gathering point, the chief explained that this place was established by the mercenary organization after discovering that mercenaries stayed outdoors in the wild, facing the danger of monster attacks and having their items stolen by thieves after the city gates were closed.

They will allow villagers who are going to the city and arrive late after closing the city gates or the mercenaries who are returning late from the hunt or after completing their mission to stay safe in the wild until the city gates open in the morning with only a protection fee of 1 copper coin per night.

Later the gangs in the city took a fancy to the gathering and joined hands with the mercenary guild to expand it and made it into a night market for mercenaries to sell and buy the items they got through various means which are impossible to sell openly.

Ray understood it as a black market of the city, he didn't believe the city lord mansion didn't have a hand in the formation of the market.

He saw a mercenary pay some money to the supervisors to set up a stall at the market and began spreading a cloth on the floor of the street and placed his items such as monster skin, and fangs to sell and herbs he found in the wild to sale on the 

Within a few minutes, all the items were sold, and he collected the money and went to the nearby Traven to drink with his buddies with a happy smile.

He also saw several drunkards fighting, but a few mercenaries took them down by force, made them pay money for the damages, and let them go.

While the mercenary guild provides security, the gangs manage the shops and buy the items from the mercenary for cheap prices while providing entertainment that is not available in the place where the order is maintained.

The chief asked Ray to stay put while he visited the supervisor's office to pay money for their night stay and brought some food supplies while employing some potters to carry them to the place where they were staying.

After that Ray asked the chief to leave him and do his work, he would roam for some time and return in a few minutes.

The chief consented and allowed him to explore the market, then he directed the potters to their current camp at the edge of the market.

Ray visited the tavern, ordered a drink, listened to the mercenaries' conversations, and familiarized himself with the intricacies of the city.

After getting enough information Ray sat at the table where they were playing the game and played a couple of games and then lost, later he got to know that every member except him was from the same group, and they usually cheated the new members who visited the city for the first time and collected the money for their drinks.

Ray decided to never play gambling after getting to know that he got cheated of a few copper coins.

After knowing about the incident Lily and Ryan laughed at him throughout the entire evening for failing to notice such simple details.