How does a lord not even know the trade routes used by his own traveling merchants?
"Didn't they come here following you?"
Ecthelion countered with a question.
Garrett thought for a moment, then said, "That's unlikely. I came all the way south from Dale and passed by the Black Gate in northern Mordor to get here."
Only someone like him could have made that journey. Anyone else would have been literally torn apart by orcs the moment they got anywhere near the Black Gate.
Mordor's orcs don't care who's passing by. Sometimes even if it's their own kind carrying valuables, if their squad doesn't have a strong enough captain, they'll get some of their goods stripped away.
"Alright."
He didn't pursue the matter further.
In any case, the people were already here, so they must have had their own way.
"Where are they? I want to take a look."
"They're in the northern part of the first tier market."
"I'll be back in a bit."
After briefly bidding the two in the hall farewell, Garrett immediately deployed his elytra and leaped from the topmost level.
Ecthelion and Thengel nervously rushed over to look down, and the next moment, as the sound of a firework rocket went off, they lifted their heads again.
"As swift as an eagle."
Watching Garrett soar into the sky, the two looked at each other in silence.
In just the second or two they'd taken their eyes off him, his figure had vanished. No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't spot him.
"Was that a wing?"
"No, I think it looked more like split cloth. How did he manage to fly with that?"
"Perhaps it's magic."
"That makes sense."
Ecthelion replayed the scene in his mind and fell into thought.
Maybe next time he met a certain grey-robed wizard, he could bring it up, perhaps that wizard could fly too.
---
As soon as he arrived at the market, Garrett immediately found his target.
The banner raised high on the wagon at the center of the market was all too familiar to him. The banner itself didn't have any special insignia, just a single name on it: "Garrett."
He'd personally signed it himself a few years back.
However...
Standing at a higher vantage point and seeing the wagon completely surrounded by people, he felt a headache coming on.
No wonder Ecthelion had complained that buying things was difficult.
This caravan seemed to be a little too popular. Pretty much everyone in the market had gathered here, and as a result, the other stalls' owners were, wait, where were they?
Where had all those vendors gone?
Realizing that if he kept waiting like this, he might not get a free moment even by day's end, he sighed and had no choice but to join the crowd.
"Excuse me! Please make way!"
On the outer edge of the crowd, he waved and called out while pushing inward. Thanks to the properties of his netherite armor, even though he was surrounded on all sides, nobody could budge him. He moved steadily through like an immovable force.
"Who's pushing from behind?! I'm telling you, you'd better queue up properly, or I'll crack this basket over your head... Oh, oh, please go ahead..."
An elderly woman shouted, but when she turned her head, her heart nearly leaped from her chest, she almost had a heart attack.
Had she been too rude just now?
That might have been her thought, but clearly the person she had scolded didn't care about such a small matter at all. He even reached out to steady her so she wouldn't fall from the fright.
Once she recovered, the woman's expression lit up almost ridiculously.
I touched it. I actually touched his armor just now!
"Sorry, pardon me, I need to get inside."
"N-no problem, please go ahead!"
Sure enough, once people noticed Garrett in the crowd, they automatically cleared a path for him. For a moment the entire market fell silent, and only after Garrett walked inside and climbed onto one of the cargo wagons did the noisy bargaining resume.
"It's the lord! It's Lord Garrett!"
Even from a distance, the caravan's leader spotted their lord making his way over.
"I honestly didn't expect you all to make it this far."
Garrett looked over the goods on the wagon and was pleasantly surprised.
There were quite a few quality items here, distinctive specialties from Wayfort.
These several cargo wagons could carry far more than his inventory and ender chest combined.
"My lord, we heard news about you while on the road a few days ago, but we didn't think you'd actually be here."
The caravan leader felt the same kind of surprise Garrett did.
To think they had actually encountered their ever-elusive lord, that was no small coincidence.
The lord had once said that if you travel enough places, you'll always run into something remarkable. And now it really seemed to be true.
Look at that, they'd literally run into the lord himself. Truly remarkable.
"Head of the First Merchant Caravan, Charlie, greets you!"
"Mm. You've worked hard. How did you all get here?"
"It wasn't hard at all, my lord. We just followed the main roads. Oh, and we really owe it to the trainee Ranger squad patrolling the wilderness and the veteran instructor leading them. They took turns clearing out any possible threats ahead of us. They're the ones who had it tough."
"My lord!"
As he was speaking, two young men came running over, excitedly waving at Garrett.
"Trainee Rangers Arje and Yavin, reporting!"
The two bowed, faces lit up with pure, heartfelt smiles, the kind of energetic enthusiasm only young people possessed.
Their enthusiasm was infectious. Even Garrett felt his own mood lift.
"Not bad. You've got spirit."
He jumped down from the wagon, patted the two lads on the shoulder, and asked, "How's the training going? Run into any trouble?"
As soon as he asked, the two of them perked right up.
"We encountered a barrow-wight! We nearly died in the woods near an ancient barrow, my lord. That first enemy you faced back in the day really is tough to deal with, we threw everything we had at it and still couldn't prevail."
The two young men recounted cheerfully, briefly describing how they took shelter in a village from the rain, met a cursed child, discovered a barrow-wight, and drove it away.
"But thankfully Halbarad arrived in time. He saved our lives."
"I really should have reminded you to be careful with those creatures, they're not something ordinary people can handle."
Garrett responded with a cheerful smile, though his eyes narrowed slightly.
Those barrow-wights still had the audacity to come out and harm people?
It seemed someone needed a lesson.
"Yes, Halbarad told us the same. Next time we encounter a barrow-wight, unless there are at least five of us, we won't act rashly."
"Good. Having that awareness is important. But even with numbers, you still need to stay cautious, don't let your guard down for a second."
"Yes!"
The two trainees nodded seriously.
"By the way, how come you're traveling with the caravan? At this time you should be getting your training results evaluated."
"Our training is actually already completed."
One of them explained: "Under the instructors' leadership, we've experienced over a dozen ambushes and direct battles in the past few months. The orcs in the South Downs were wiped out."
"Later, we encountered the caravan on the Greenway. They'd never traveled this route before and needed guides."
"So we came along."
"I see."
Two Rangers familiar with the southern routes of Eriador, plus the caravan's own guards and the Rangers and other trainees covering them in secret, yes, that was more than enough to get them through safely.
But Wayfort's influence really only extended through Eriador. Once beyond that territory, anything could happen.
Still, these two rookie sprouts...
They had challenged a barrow-wight in a village near Bree to save a cursed child, joined the Rangers in over a dozen battles, and then acted as guides and scouts escorting a caravan through dangerous territory all the way to Gondor...
Garrett waved his hand with a grin and said: "Well done. Arje and Yavin, right? When we get back, I'll give you both commendations."
"Thank you, my lord!"
The two suddenly shouted loudly, absolutely thrilled beyond measure.