Chapter 16: Buying Broken Magic Tools, Weapons, and Monster By-products (2)

As soon as the price of Sylvinas Tea Leaves was revealed, a commotion broke out among the people who had gathered, drawn in by Cain’s awkward acting and Lone’s dazzling sales pitch.

“What, what?! You’re saying that scraggly weed costs 300 silver?!”

“One gold?! The grass that’s scattered everywhere out front is worth one gold in the Empire?!”

“So that’s Sylvinas Tea Leaves? I’d only ever heard of them back in the Empire, never actually seen them before.”

Most of the goods traded in the Helpion Duchy go for about 10 to 50 silver.

When you consider that ingredients at the grocery store sell for just 1 or 2 silver, it’s really not that expensive.

But what if someone is willing to buy what looks like a trivial trinket for ten times that price?

“W-wait! Miss, how much for this item?”

“Ah, a Basilisk Scale in pretty good condition. Right now, the Northern Sea Warriors are buying these up in bulk to make monster-hunting armor. At this moment, I can give you 500 silver per kilogram.”

“Five hundred silver?! If it’s Basilisk Scale, I have about 100 kilograms at home! No, damn, if I count the stuff I tossed out because I didn’t know what to do with it, I must’ve had a ton!”

“Hahaha, bring it all in. But since we’ll be buying a whole ton, we’ll have to give you a little discount—so we can only pay about 4,000 gold. Transporting it will be a lot of work, after all.”

“Miss, this, this!”

“Is this Ogre Tendon? Impressive. I’ve never seen tendon in such good condition. With this, you could make a bowstring even finer than the famed Elven Bow braided with elven hair. For this, I’d gladly pay one gold.”

“Haha, who’d have thought the tendon we used for jump ropes would go for a gold each! Those kids were playing with golden ropes, then.”

“And what did you use for what, exactly?”

Once the market truly opened, Lone’s abilities shone.

She said she’d dealt with all sorts of products from all over the world, starting with potion deals and picking up whatever she could.

Maybe that’s why, even with just a casual glance, she was able to give accurate appraisals for almost any item.

And she was skilled at price negotiations.

She made it clear which goods were within our budget and which weren’t.

“Onii-chan, help me out a little!”

“Uh, sure.”

Customers came in endless waves, and we kept selling until every other grocery store in the area had closed their doors.

It was only our first day open, and already rumors about our store were spreading like wildfire.

At last, night came.

We had bought up around 43,000 gold worth of items—that is, in just one day, we’d managed to acquire items worth about half our starting capital.

And our profits? Several times that initial capital.

“If we sell all this… I think we’ll easily hit 300,000.”

It seemed Lone had the same thought.

Three hundred thousand. That’s not just several times, that’s almost ten times our money.

It didn’t quite feel real.

“You didn’t exaggerate when you told people 30%, did you?”

“What are you talking about? I told them exactly the average market price among the Empire’s top five merchant guilds. The average.”

Ah, average.

So there was a catch.

“And you’re not planning to sell at the average price, are you?”

“Of course not. All these goods are rare here. I’m going to sell them to the ones who need them the most, at the highest price I can, hehehehehe.”

Wow.

She’s really become a true merchant while we’ve been apart.

For some reason, my little sister seems like a stranger now.

“We can really leave all this here for the night?”

“What, you don’t trust us? Our Magic Tower’s reputation is built on trust!”

“No, it’s just… there’s so much stuff…”

“Stop talking nonsense and get lost already. Not even a Swordmaster could break in here.”

“Haha, in that case, Miss Jamie, I’ll leave it all in your hands.”

With that, we left the Magic Tower and headed home.

Outside, the darkness of midnight had fallen completely.

The beautiful moon and stars sparkled in the sky, and far away, the soft cries of magical beasts echoed.

“Phew.”

At the same time, Lone let out a sigh—after spending all day haggling and running around, smiling at customers.

“Good job today.”

“This wasn’t even hard. Back when I went to the Gezaile Principality, things were way rougher than this! This doesn’t even count as a tough day!”

For someone so young to say ‘back in my day,’ or ‘when I was your age’…

She’s like a little old lady.

I ruffled her hair for good measure.

“Today was just the first day, but tomorrow will probably be even busier.”

“Don’t worry. No matter what trouble comes up, I can handle it!”

Well, can she really?

My worries aren’t just about troublesome customers—I’m expecting a fight for survival against a certain giant bear.

Tomorrow, will the bear finally wake up from hibernation and come out of its den to pick a fight?

The next morning, what awaited us at the Magic Tower wasn’t a bear, but one—no, three—gorillas.

Each looked over 2.2 meters tall.

Massive bodies that looked like they were covered with muscle from head to toe.

And, shiny bald heads.

It’s a little unusual that all three of them are bald.

“Gordem Merchant Guild? Let’s see your Head Merchant.”

“That’s me!”

He glanced briefly at Lone, then shook his head and looked straight at me.

“Then, never mind the representative—let’s see the Sage.”

Trying to play a battle of nerves right in front of people?

Annoying types.

“Were you looking for me?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Darenberg, commander of the Grizzly Mercenary Corps.”

“I am Laward Gordem, Steward of House Helpion.”

“Do you have a moment?”

“No, I’m busy. We already have a line of customers waiting for us.”

A vein bulged on the gorilla’s bald head.

So what if you’re the commander of the Grizzly Mercenary Corps?

I’m the Steward of the Duke’s household.

“Just because you drove out a Sandworm, you’re getting pretty cocky. You must have some hidden strength.”

“Can’t weak people stand tall? Should I just cower, then?”

“…I could make you play the accordion with your own ribs right now.”

“Just buy an accordion. They’re five silver.”

Wow, what a murderous glare.

Not just a gorilla in body—his eyes have the wild, bestial look of a monster.

Darenberg glared at me for a while before opening his mouth.

“Why are you stirring up a well-running market?”

“Was the market in Helpion Duchy really running that well?”

“Merchants are poison to the market. They take the byproducts of Warriors without sweating a drop and fatten their own purses at low prices. That’s why we made a market just for Warriors.”

“From where I stand, those Warriors aren’t so different from merchants. At least merchants process or produce goods before selling them—you guys just spin things in circles.”

Darenberg gritted his teeth.

He’s getting provoked?

Well, then, let’s get started.

“Come to think of it, a few days ago I had quite the experience. I hired some mercenaries for official business. But rather than complete the job, they tried to bury me and just take the money. Isn’t that a serious violation in the mercenary world?”

Darenberg and his two guards’ eyes grew even sharper.

Of course they did.

I’d looked into it.

Failing to complete a job, or worse, threatening the employer?

That’s a complete betrayal of the trust mercenaries have built over the years.

The world of mercenaries is a small one.

With so many wanderers, rumors really do spread across the whole world.

And the Grizzly Mercenary Corps is the most renowned Mercenary Band in the world.

The more famous you are, the faster rumors spread.

A mercenary from such a group targets their employer?

That would destroy the reputation of the greatest Mercenary Band in an instant.

Those mercenaries who care about their honor would start leaving in droves.

Maybe if you planned to live here forever, you wouldn’t care, but…

But in a situation where their very livelihoods are threatened, it’d sound very different.

“That’s enough.”

“That mercenary kept bragging, too. Said he was with the Grizzly Mercenary Corps, that messing with someone like me wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Sounds like you ran into a swindler. Our proud Mercenary Corps has no one like that.”

His growling voice was proof of his displeasure.

No wonder, given the tension in the air.

Elsia’s Magic Tower is the only grocery in the Helpion Duchy, and it’s where all the rumors gather.

Thanks to yesterday’s buzz, even though it was early morning, there was already a crowd of people waiting to sell goods.

Among them, there must be mercenaries, and maybe some who aren’t fans of the Grizzly Mercenary Corps.

No one was openly gossiping—maybe because of Darenberg’s presence.

But the tingling atmosphere was palpable through my skin.

Even Darenberg’s killing intent was mixed into it.

Maybe this was as far as he could let things go before crossing the line.

But I crossed that line without hesitation.

“Really? Charles, Taylor, Frederick. Those three Grizzly Mercenary Corps members haven’t been seen around lately.”

Without hesitation, I stepped forward.

At that moment, Darenberg’s killing intent exploded, then vanished.

It felt like the wall of Darenberg’s reason had just crumbled.

“They said they were quitting mercenary life and heading home. If they really did what you said, I apologize. But you don’t know the truth, do you?”

“That’s right. The truth is always unknown.”

“It’s almost time for your shop to open, so let’s leave it at that. Next time we meet, I hope you can keep that smirk even if your skull gets split open.”

“Thank you. It’s rare to find someone who says they’re looking forward to me, other than Duke Helpion himself. I feel so trusted.”

“You little bastard, you really want to see how this ends, don’t you?!”

Looks like my provocation worked.

One of the smaller gorillas, shaking in rage, finally couldn’t hold back and tried to grab me by the collar.

Or tried to.

Why did Duke Helpion’s “line” suddenly flash before my eyes?

Before I knew it, I raised my hand like a blade, following that line as if it were a sword.

A noble line that wipes away the filth and grime from this world.

With that line, I caught the wrist of the mercenary who tried to grab me…

“Enough! Do you know where you are, acting up like this?!”

A shrill voice stopped both of us and snapped me out of it.

What was I about to do just now?

“Darenberg. Are you really about to pick a fight with our Magic Tower?”

The owner of that voice was Miss Jamie.

“Are you that old hag Elsia’s daughter? With that damn personality of yours.”

“It’s Jamie! Use my name, you idiot!”

“Click. Anyway, remember this warning. Let’s go, guys.”

With that, Darenberg barked out a threat and stomped off with his men.

Phew.

“Thank you, Miss Jamie.”

“No need for thanks. Who do they think they are, trying crap like that in my grandma’s Magic Tower? Hey, Chamberlain. If those bastards come back, let me know. I’ll deal with them myself.”

Haha.

I let out a silly laugh and glanced down at my hand.

The hand that, just now, had followed that line.

If my hand had touched that mercenary’s arm—what would’ve happened?

But that thought was soon drowned out by the clamoring of customers surging in.

That day.

Before the afternoon was even over, we had used up all our remaining capital and closed up shop early.