Tralken's western entrance plaza stretched out before Nickel.
Though it was called the entrance plaza, it had another name. Caravan Plaza.
This was where adventurers came to be hired as guards for merchant caravans. Though hired wasn't entirely correct. They weren't paid money.
Adventurers guarded the caravan, and got free food and travel out of it.
It was the best way to get to where you were trying to go, if you were a struggling adventurer.
As he moved through the crowd, Nickel heard various adventurers trying to sell themselves to the merchants. And the opposite as well.
"Travel to Kine Village!"
"Going to Planli!"
After listening for several minutes, Nickel heard a shout that peaked his interest.
"Travel to Ashbert! One slot left!"
Nickel's head whipped in the direction the shout came from, and he quickly pushed through the crowd toward it.
It was a bit of a struggle, trying to move quickly without accidentally harming anyone. After a few seconds and several rushed apologies, he exited the throng.
In front of him stood several carts and wagons, being worked on by multiple people. Standing a couple meters away was a group of what appeared to be adventurers, the guards that were already selected by this caravan.
Making his way over, Nickel stopped in front of a thin human man looking over a notebook.
The man glanced up, mouth open to shout out his advert again, when he noticed Nickel.
He started, but quickly composed himself, flashing a professional smile.
"Hi there!" He put his notebook in a bag at his side, reaching out his hand. "You here to sign up?"
Nickel nodded, shaking the man's hand.
"Great. Name's Brady. You'll be our last pick up." He paused and raised an eye at Nickel. "Hope you don't mind my askin', but, uh, is this your first time travellin' with a caravan?"
Nickel looked surprised. He didn't look that green. Did he?
"It is," he responded. "Is that a problem?"
"Oh, no. No problem." Brady said, waving his hand. "I just wanted to make sure you knew how this worked."
Nickel hesitated for a second. "Uh… I guard your caravan, in exchange for free travel?"
"Oh," Nickel exclaimed. "And free food. I also get free food."
A wry smile appeared on Brady's face as he shook his head.
"You got the basics, at least." He sighed lightly. Waving his hand toward the group of adventurers, he called out, "Thomas! Come here for a second!"
An elven man left the group and jogged over to them.
He was wearing a mix of cloth and leather armor, and a tricorn. There was a bow strung across his back, and a pair of long daggers sheathed at his sides.
Brady opened his mouth to say something, before turning to Nickel with a sheepish look.
"What'd you say your name was, kid?" The man looked embarrassed.
For a few seconds, Nickel was struck by the irony of Brady calling him a kid, when the man had to angle his head up to look him in the eye.
"Nick." He answered.
Brady nodded and turned back to the elf, Thomas. He didn't seem to catch the awkward look on Thomas' face as he addressed him.
"Thomas, this is Nick, our last pick-up. This is his first time travellin' with a caravan, so show him the ropes, if you don't mind."
"Sure thing, boss." Thomas nodded and smiled kindly at Nickel. "Come with me, Nick. I'll introduce you to the others."
As he led Nickel away from Brady, Thomas asked him a few questions.
"So this is your first caravan." Thomas stated. "Do you mind if I ask how long you've been an adventurer for?"
"...two days." Nickel answered hesitantly.
Hopefully this wouldn't lead to him getting hazed.
It hadn't happened to him before, likely due to the fact that the only people he ever had long term interaction with that were even close to his age were the members of the Wolf Pack.
All the others were adults. And even then, it was only guild employees and the members of the Coin Purse.
While he wasn't kept away from the hard truths of the world, he had little personal experience with them.
Thomas' eyes widened slightly, but he still kept the same smile on his face.
"Two days, huh? You must've been planning to do this for a while."
Nickel nodded, feeling embarrassed.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of, now." the elf said in a warm voice, noticing how Nickel felt. "The most important part of being an adventurer is being prepared."
"Some people think it's all about strength, of course." he continued, "but there's a reason the Guild starts everyone at F-Rank."
He glanced at Nickel. "You know why?"
"So you don't get people killed." Nickel answered immediately.
The man beside him chuckled.
"Well, I wouldn't have said it that way, but, yes. That is what it boils down to." Thomas stopped and turned to face Nickel. "You have to be prepared, because if you aren't, or your party isn't, someone could die."
He patted Nickel on the shoulder.
"So when you say that you've been planning for this, all this says to me is that you are prepared."
He turned and continued on.
Thomas and Nickel joined the group of adventurers that had been hired as guards.
"Everyone, this is Nick." Thomas gestured to him. "He's our last pick-up. This is his first time traveling with a caravan, so I want all of you to be patient with him and show him the ropes."
The eight other adventurers gave varying sounds of assent.
"Nick, this is Malcolm, Seren, Anna, Gabriel, and Jacob." Thomas pointed to each as he introduced them. "Their members of my party. We're Brady's regular guards."
He shifted his gaze to the remaining three.
"And these are Shalen, Klein, and Sabine. They're our other three pick-ups."
Nickel nodded a greeting to them.
Before Thomas could continue further, Brady called out.
"Alright, everyone load up! We're getting on the road."