Chapter 26

“Everyone, be on guard. We are in enemy territory right now.” Four warned. While it's true the surrounding areas had high rebel presence, it was officially still under imperial control, which meant there were imperial troops everywhere.

To make matters worse, the empire had been tightening their grip on Elesia, which meant there were multiple checkpoints and patrols.

They moved slowly, careful to not accidentally run into any of them.

“Should we consider getting disguises?” Syorin asked. Their next destination was already visible, a town located on some hills, but even entering demanded a lot more carefulness compared to when they were in Monemai.

“Do you have anything?” Astill asked. Neila brought the carriage to a halt on the side of the road, then checked her magic bag. She brought out several sets of clothes. Some were fancy, luxurious clothes fit for the ballrooms, others casual outfits someone might wear when hanging out near a river. She even had a couple different military uniforms in there.

“This is impressive,” Four said, not at the quality of the clothes, not at their amount, but at the magic bag. It looked almost limitless.

“Why do you have all those things in the first place?” Four took a peek. Kakashi had tried looking through it before. It was surprisingly tidy. He could tell which section was dedicated to which kinds of items. Had it been his bag, he would have thrown them all in, and hoped for the best when trying to take them out.

“You never know what you'll need when you're on the run.”

“I see.”

That usual-looking bag had helped them several times. Kakashi couldn't help but respect its presence.

That same bag was also where Neila stored her sword. After the battle against the white dragons, she had been bringing it out more often, but it still spent most of the time in that bag.

“Is that… a chicken costume?” Four's words brought everyone together, looking curiously. Neila reached in and took out the costume Four mentioned.

“Why- Actually, I'm not even going to ask,” Astill said. Neila didn't elaborate, either. She silently returned the costume back to her bag, everyone agreeing to not mention it ever again.

“Well, we can use some disguises like this.” Neila pulled out some clothes. These ones were similar to the ones high-level merchants used. They consist of long robes colored purple made with silk. Even from just touching them, Kakashi could feel the dignity that comes with wearing them.

“We really are rich…”

“Did you grab these from the treasury?”

Neila shrugged. “I took what I can.”

While Kakashi understood why Neila took these clothes with her, he didn’t understand how they would be useful.

“Is there official protection for merchants in the empire?”

Four shook his head. “Trading in the empire is a risky job.”

“... Then why do it? Are the profits that good?” Usually, a riskier job would mean less people willing to take them, hence the higher payout needed to convince people to give said job a chance.

“No,” Four answered. “The profit is slightly higher, but they are not that much better.”

“... Then why?”

“Reputation.”

“The merchants’ guild is similar to the adventurers’ guild in a couple of ways,” Syorin elaborated. “Much like the adventurers’ guild, the merchants’ guild have a good reputation because of their importance. Their higher-ranking members command respect wherever they go, and when they go, they wear those.” Syorin pointed toward the expensive looking clothes Neila was holding.

“Wouldn’t the clothing make them an obvious target?” It would scream ‘I’m here!’ to both bandits and imperial soldiers.

“Yes, that’s why they don’t travel alone. Usually, they bring a lot of guards with them.”

“That is correct. When a high ranking member travels, their army’s number could rival a small lord’s private army. Their travel is more for sending a message rather than actual trading.”

It’s like letting their rivals see just how powerful they are.

“The empire, despite its size, also relied on the merchants’ guild services every now and then. While it’s true that the empire has a much more powerful military, attacking the guild wouldn’t look good on them. It might convince several countries to fight them at once.”

“And we don’t have enough strength to fight a combined army. We can’t even control the lands we already robbed,” Neila said. The way she acted made her look like one of the empire’s enemies, not its own princess.

Currently, the nations surrounding the empire didn’t have a good enough reason to take the initiative and attack the empire, and they feared that if they did that, their allies would just leave them to their fate and no one would come to help. The influence of the merchants’ guild exceeded some of these smaller nations, and they could easily convince everyone to attack if needed.

“And that’s why currently, the empire begrudgingly let the merchants through. You might face difficulty if you’re a lower ranked merchant, but if you’re rich or high ranked enough, they shouldn’t be able to do anything against you.”

Kakashi looked at the clothes in front of him. They were no longer the same in his eyes.

He understood that some items or groups of people could project their power with their presence alone, but he wasn’t expecting such things to work against the empire.

The girls then get changed, while Kakashi remained on guard duty, watching the outside world.

“Kakashi, this is yours.” Neila handed a piece of clothing over. They all waited outside while Kakashi changed in the carriage. That moment reminded him that he was in a group of girls, and he felt nervous all of a sudden. Even the slightest sound made him stop and panic, even if it didn’t come from the girls.

“You’re taking way too long!” Astill complained.

“Let him, Astill. He’s not used to this world’s clothes, yet.”

That’s not really the reason…

He was grateful for Syroin’s help, though. After he finished changing, he noticed that the clothes were very comfortable. Despite its long sleeves, it was easy to move in.

“I’m done.”

The girls boarded the carriage and continued on their journey.