E-rantel gates, tacit agreement.

E-rantel (gates)

The morning was like any other, adventurers going out to work, some merchants going in, others going out, sometimes a farmer would come to search for instruments to tend the fields, rarely commoners would come to the city to try their luck and search for better jobs.

Once in a while the third or fourth son of a noble, or the untalented son of a merchant would come to "make a living" here. Usually would waste the money their families gave them and run back with their tails between their legs.

E-Rantel was not a bad city on its own, it was just that annually there would be skirmishes between the Empire and the Kingdom and the city would serve as a garrison for the troops that would go to the conflict from the kingdom side. 

If the soldiers were kingdom trained soldiers, thing could be different, but

"Another one leaves, what do you think? Lost his money on games, girls or is he running away since the annual skirmish is near?" Asked one of the gate guards (gate guard 1) to the one besides him

"Bah who cares why they leave those sons of nobles didn't learn anything besides wasting money. Most of them come here thinking they own the world, the fewer of them here the more peaceful it is." Responded the guard besides him (gate guard 2)

"Shhh, don't say that" told the (gate guard 1) to the other, while pointing to a guard that was a little bit more removed from them attending a line that had carts on it (gate guard 3).

The first two guards attended the lines that had commoners, villagers and adventurers. "Heh, he thinks just because he is tending to the merchants and nobles he is more important than the others, fool." said (gate guard 2).

"He might be a fool but the problem here is not that he's a fool but also a snitch, he thinks that if he rats on his colleagues the higher ups are gonna give him a better position, some people think with their butts." respondonded (gate guard 1)

"Yeah… w-what in the world is that?" said (gate guard 2) making the (gate guard 1) look towards the dirt road that extends from the gates out.

"That's aaaa… hmmm well it looks like some sort of… how can a house… I'm not sure, and it's pulled only by two horses? How is that possible? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Mmm the thing is, how can two horses pull something so big, and how can a house be on wheels… I'm confused."

On the road some sort of cart was nearing the line that had carts, the merchant and nobles line. The cart looked like a house on wheels, two horses were somehow moving something so big plus the "driver's" seat in front of the cart that was occupied by two individuals.

One of them had a blue full body armor that looked epic and heroic. His posture was straight and it didn't seem to care about its surroundings, always looking forward. The other one was dressed in a black suit, he was very attractive, with brown shoulder length hair, a strong build and a devilishly handsome face. Both of them were about two meters tall (6' 5").

As the "cart" approached the gate, the view was clearer but the confusion only increased. Didn't houses supposed to have a foundation, werent carts supposed to be small, isn't there a limit on what a horse is able to pull?

The two guards weren't the only ones baffled, most of the people near the gate stopped to look at the cart. The cart in question stepped in line, behind the ones that came before like any other.

The cart had glass windows however, the inside was not visible from the exterior. Standing near the front window unknown to the outsiders were two women.

A cute and energetic looking young girl with blonde hair and a sky blue sundress was watching the crowd. Besides her, a mature but gorgeous and voluptuous woman with the face of a cold beauty wearing a maid dress was standing; her sight however didn't move, she was looking towards the man with the suit.

"So it is a cart, but so big… who do you think is the guy, is he the driver of a noble? Considering the size of the cart and then knight beside him." Said the (gate guard 1).

"Hmmm I don't know… the suit that he is wearing though, maybe he is the noble, don't you think?" Responded (gate guard 2).

"A noble driving the cart? You jest, he could be a merchant with fancy clothing, but a noble driving is like a fish walking,  I'd pay to see that." (gate guard 1)

"Pay? What are you talking about, you never have money, I don't know what you spend your money on… or maybe I do now, paying to see a noble do stupid things, I can do that for free jajaja." (gate guard 2)

"Mind your own business fool" (gate guard 1)

With that mock and answer the guards continued to do their work and the civilians resumed their movement. There were always some onlookers making a quick pause to look, and sometimes inspect, the bizarre looking cart. That day's topic of conversation was already set.

The other guard, the one attending the line where Merek was waiting at, was getting a little bit nervous. He had already worked long enough to predict that the weird looking cart and its driver, who was waiting behind the next person in line, would be a headache. 

Fancy looking cart

Expensive clothing

Personal Knight

Things that couldn't be explained by simple logic:

"You can pass, have a nice day. NEXT" He finished checking up on the person he was dealing with and called the next on the line. That one looked like a noble.

He enjoys when nobles came instead of merchants, some people may have arrived at wrong conclusions about why but that doesn't matter. 'I hope these two remaining here are nobles… merchants give me so much work.' were the (gate guard 3) thoughts. 

On the city gate, besides the way they behave, there was a difference between nobles and merchants; nobles would state their names and after making sure they were the person they say they are, they are allowed to immediately go through the gates with whatever they bring. Merchants on the other hand had to pass inspection, the guards had to make sure they were "clean" and make a list of the items they would pass through the gate, registered merchants only pay taxes periodically based on their sales, but non registered merchants would have to pay a toll tax.

All that means that to deal with a noble he just had to give them some sugar coated words and once he confirms the noble is who it says it is, he is done with it, but with merchants he had to make inspections and all that.

Without waiting to be addressed, the driver of the cart that was next in line extended his hand and gave the guard a scroll. The guard took the scroll, once the guard unrolled it, he was surprised. 'Margrave Urovana's seal? What is someone from Urovana's house doing in this remote city? Hmmm whatever, if it's from the six great noble houses with a formal seal just let them pass.'

"Very well sir, your party may pass, have a great day."said the guard as he rolled back the scroll and handed it back to the driver.  The driver answered with a nod and moved the cart forward going inside the city.

'Shit I hope next one goes as smooth as this one'

"Next" yelled the guard towards Merek's group.

Merek approached the guard and stopped near him. After a couple of seconds, since Merek didn't stated his name as nobles would do and didn't gave the guard a sealed document, the guard knew Merek wasn't neither a noble nor a noble's driver, 

"Your name, job and the reason for the visit?" asked the guard admiring the bizarre cart closer.

"Merek Ead Theano, I'm a traveling merchant looking to sell a few wares here and there, maybe I will stay for a couple of weeks if allowed." said Merek, not showing much emotion or enthusiasm.

"I have not seen you before, so I guess you are not a registered merchant?"

"Registered? No I'm not."

"Well sir, in a brief non registered merchants pay a toll tax for all the merchandise they pass through the gates, while the registered do have their merchandise inspected and instead of paying taxes at the gates, they do so every six months."

"Is one option better than the other?"

"Sir I'm a gate guard, those questions are better for another type of worker, or maybe another merchant. Anyways, we are still going to need to inspect the merchandise inside the mmmm, what is that thing called?"

"Ohh, it's just a big cart, or you can call it a trailer, however you must understand this is not only my means of transportation but also my and my companions temporary house while we travel, as such I cannot let people rummage through it."

'Sigh I knew it, things couldn't be easy with this type of person'. "Well sir I can't let people pass carts full of unknown merchandise through the gates."

"Hmm I see, understandable, I guess you are right. Well, I'll be back in a moment."

Merek just turned the cart around and left. 'Hmm weird people, I swear that knight looked as if he was about to attack me... whatever.' 

_______

E-Rantel (20 minutes later)

A very expensive looking carriage was approaching the gates. This time the driver was Osmond in his armor, while Merek was seated on the carriage with Enri and Yuri. Even though he had a carriage that screamed "noble" the guard at the line that handled the nobles and merchants knew he was not a noble.

'Are you kidding me? This guy again, now with another carriage, where does he keep them, what is he trying to do? Don't tell me…' (gate guard 3) was distracted while handling the person that was next in line.

"I-is there anything wrong with my merchant registration sir?" asked a young blonde man with a bob cut and bangs that covered his eyes, he looked somewhat like a hentai protagonist… if the tags were either shotacon or netorare.

"No no, I just got a bit distracted, anyways everything is in order, you may pass, I hope you have a nice day Bareare boy" Answered the gate guard. "Next" said the guard to Merek's party thinking 'god dammit these people just want to give me a hard day'.

Merek's carriage got near the guard "Hi, emm so, em... your name, job and the reason for the visit?" asked the guard to Osmond, Osmond didn't answer and just looked towards Merek.

"Hi, Still Merek Ead Theano, a traveling merchant, can we pass?" Said Merek

"Emm, sure, still need to inspect what you're going to pass through the gates."

"Ok, Osmond, girls, let's get off the carriage, the man is going to inspect it."

"Hai!" Answered by Enri and Yuri, Osmond only gave a nod and they dismounted the carriage.

The carriage, even though it was very luxurious, was rather small and didn't have any merchandise. The carriage was inspected by the guard and a couple other men he was in charge of in less than 5 minutes. While this was going on, the other guards on the gate were watching the events unfold.

"Aren't those the ones that were driving the other thing just a couple of minutes ago? Now they are accompanied by two beautiful ladies." (gate guard 1).

"Yeah those guys were the ones driving, maybe the girls were inside the house carriage thing. The real question is, where did they leave that carriage, that was a weird looking thing and hard to just leave anywhere, also, where did they find that one?" (gate guard 2).

"Well i don't know, now that you mention it, it's actually true, there's no place to leave such things around here, and he came back in that fancy carriage… maybe they had that carriage just waiting nearby to do what they did?" (gate guard 1).

"What? Nah it can't be, who would move two carriages; one as luxurious as that one to wait for when he decides to not pass the other humongous thing, and why would he do that? To show people how wealthy he is?" (gate guard 2).

"Well, I don't know brother. Wealthy people have the weirdest habits." (gate guard 1).

After the carriage was inspected, the (gate guard 3) talked with Merek, "This carriage is empty, I don't know what you did with the other, or what weird thing are you trying to do but do know we'll keep an eye for you."

"So are we clear to pass?"

"Yeah, just an entrance fee of 5 copper per person and the rest is clear."

"Here you go" Merek gave the (gate guard 3) 1 silver coin. The guard gave Merek a weird look and he gave the guard a smile telling him to "keep the change". The guard went to a coin box, put the silver coin, took some copper coins and pocketed them. After that Merek asked the guard for a nice inn to stay, to which the guard recommended the best one (the Shining Golden Pavilion), and a decent one which Merek immediately forgot.

Merek decided to go to the Inn first to get a place to stay, and then work on a couple of things in order to establish his business, it was early so he should be able to do both things. 

In front of the Shining Golden Pavilion a person was waiting, when they arrived and Merek told them they would stay, he instructed Osmond where to leave the carriage. Apparently they had some sort of parking for the carriages of the customers, they would even take care of the horses if you rented a room and didn't come only to eat, for Merek this seemed pretty neat so his stay in this inn was almost secured.

When they entered the Inn some people were impressed by Osmond's armor, others by Merek looks, and others by Yuri's looks, Enri got some attention as well, but not as much as the rest of the party.

Merek went ahead to the receptionist at the counter and she greeted him professionally.

"Good day sir, how may I help you this morning?" receptionist

"I would like to make a reservation."

"What kind of room would you like to stay in?"

Merek looked at his companions, "Hmm maybe two rooms, with two beds each." said merek towards Enri, Yuri and Osmond. Since he and Yuri have not slept together yet, his plan was to set the business running and in a couple of days move from the Inn to a house which he would rent for about a month… or something similar, in there he could get as comfortable as he could get with the girls.

But the girls seemed to misinterpret things as they looked at each other, then towards Merek, then at each other again, and imaginary sparks seemed to collide between them. 

Once Merek noticed the competition, he asked the girls "What do you suggest then?" which made the sparks come to an abrupt end. Enri and Yuri exchanged looks for a couple of seconds and as if communicating.

Coming to a tacit agreement, they nodded their heads and said in unison "We don't mind sharing, master."