The Emperor and Roa (7): The Big Pot and Lulria

The days we spent at Tsetsie's manor dragged on, each moment agonizingly slow.

If we were thinking purely in terms of efficiency, we should head to the Imperial capital as soon as possible, wait for permission to see the Emperor, and then meet with him.

The reason we weren't doing that was because I wanted to create a situation where the Emperor would summon us.

In the future, when I wandered the continent, I spent some time traveling with a troupe. A traveling merchant named Lapen had asked to join them for a limited time, just as I had.

Lapen was a merchant from the Sixteen Autocratic States. He dealt in jewels and medicine. At first, the combination seemed rather strange, but once I learned why, I realized it was an extremely practical choice.

He would sell medicine to the troupe at a discount in exchange for their protection as far as the next town.

For a traveling troupe with no settled home, illness and injury were a more pressing concern than they were for ordinary people.

Depending on the type of medicine and the size of the town, it could be expensive, or the shopkeepers might refuse to sell it to someone passing through.

That was why every troupe welcomed Lapen with open arms. And for Lapen, being accepted by a traveling troupe was tremendously important.

Lapen's main business was jewels. If he wandered around alone, he would be easy prey for bandits...