Upon hearing Cambrona’s introduction, Hopes was silent for a while before saying, “Should there be an internal war in the Commonwealth, it would also only be along the Republic’s borders. We’re heading to a place of our own, and it would be isolated as well… surely the risk wouldn’t be too big then?”
Hopes had really wanted to earn that large sum of money. Furthermore, the proposal of the expedition meant that it was highly likely for mining veins to be found. Thus, it would be easy to receive five times the pay.
His original pay was already rather high as he worked outdoors. Five times of his pay was a large amount!
This was like how on Earth, prospectors were paid rather highly—Sui Xiong used to have a neighbor’s child who specialized in this and had graduated two years before him. His salary had been about six thousand each year, and this was two times Sui Xiong’s pay as a store man.
Of course, Sui Xiong had not been envious of that neighbor’s child as he had his own side income from being an illustrator. That pay had been higher than that of his store man job, and if he compared his overall income to the neighbor’s child, it was much higher then.
However, if his neighbor’s child had gone to a place such as the Himalayas or the Antarctic or other dangerous areas, his pay would have been scaled higher—those jobs took a few years to complete without much rest.
The Republic of Northwest paid explorers highly, higher than that on Earth. This was because while the job was lucrative, it was also dangerous—this world did not have such useful protection measures and utilities, and those who were not fit enough were unable to go. If anything were to happen, they would not be able to request immediate help.
Hopes Wilder felt that he was not in much danger at the moment. He was alone and did not have any social commitments; if he really perished in the wild, it would not matter much. His parents were dead to him once he had left the family, and they acted as if he did not exist anymore, as did he. If he had not uttered his name previously, he could have forgotten it over time as well.
To Hopes, the most important thing was to earn disposable income for his house, wedding and future family.
His old family was no longer his business. He wanted to start his own family and start a family line of workers. So despite the risks, he still wanted to accept the job.
After listening to his point of view, Cambrona and Jane glanced at each other in silence.
After a while, Jane said. “If you’re not afraid of the danger, then the job is indeed decent. However, the risks are not as low as you think.”
Hopes was stunned, and he stared at her in panic.
“I just thought about it, if I were an aristocrat and should the merchants start a war with me and cooperate with the Republic at the same time, what would I do? I would definitely want to spoil their union. I would definitely send men to kill all from the Republic. If these men from the Republic died on the merchants’ land, the merchants would be answerable. If they could not answer, it would definitely sour their relationship.” Jane spoke in a calm tone, but her words spooked Hopes, who broke out in cold sweat.
“But well… is it really so serious?” He began to stutter out of fright.
“Maybe not, but we should always take precautions against the worst-case scenario. In that case, you could lose your life,” Jane rationalized calmly.
Hopes was silent again for a long time before he sighed deeply.
“Looks like this job is impossible. Maybe I should just give it up.”
“That depends as well. One can only receive great treasure by taking some risks. In life, we will always meet with obstacles. We can only hope that we don’t attempt to conquer them in vain. While this job is dangerous, if you can stay alive despite the killings, you’d get a large sum as compensation.” Cambrona presented an opposing point of view.
“How do I ensure that I stay alive though? I have limited skills, and I’m rather new to this.” Hopes smiled bitterly.
“I believe the government will make the necessary arrangements. If we could think of these issues, I’m sure the higher-ups did as well. If they want to work with the merchants, they’d make sure that you don’t die on the job. You will probably have high-level, hidden protection.”
Jane did not agree with her husband, though. “However, whatever we can think of are things that the aristocrats would consider too. If they are sending out assassins, it means that they would ensure that they have the means to carry out the killings. When the two sides attack each other, you may well be one of many side casualties caught in the crossfire.”
Hopes felt torn as he heard the two sides, and he creased his brow in frustration.
After dinner, he returned to his dorm and lay on the bed to think. Should he go, or not? If he went, the danger was certainly there. However, as per what Cambrona had said, the pay was worth the risk, even if the risk meant putting his life on the line. Yet, when he thought of playing with life, he felt apprehensive. Death was still too scary to think about!
In the day, it was easy for him to look at death lightly. However, in the dark of the night, he felt alone and scared. It was terrifying!
“You’re such a coward! Why do you keep changing your mind?” He chided himself.
Such a dilemma was due to his family background as he was half wolf and half rabbit. While the wolf tribe was one of the craftiest and fiercest among the beasts—they were hot-headed and unafraid of danger—rabbits were soft at heart and were easily frightened by the smallest things.
Hopes, spanning the two tribes, was brave in the day like a wolf but was easily scared at night when left alone, and this was where his rabbit side showed.
It took him a long time before he could calm down and fall asleep.
That night, he had several nightmares and dreamt that he met with danger which caused his death on mountains, mountain peaks or by mystical creatures. He also dreamt that he did not meet with any accidents but was killed by assassins.
However, he grew brave again the next day while walking on the streets.
“Cambrona is right. One has to take some risks in life!” he convinced himself.
With the command in hand and some simple luggage, he set out for city hall to claim his traveling money and boarded the public bus towards Pyrotech City.
