Chapter 89: Market Value

Unbearable pain washed over him as the green energy, like a vicious acid, ate away at his body. He thrashed wildly on the floor, screams tearing from his throat without stopping.

Beside him, his servants suffered the exact same terrible fate.

"Is that... poison?!" someone in the crowd gasped, stumbling back.

Everyone watched in sheer horror as the nobleman and his servants turned a ghastly shade of green.

Their skin seemed to melt and decay right before their eyes, puffs of green mist rising from them. The crowd scrambled backward, terrified the deadly effect might spread.

Lord Alden yelled desperately, "Quickly, someone help him!"

The leader of the Mage Guild frowned, clearly disturbed, but he still acted. He chanted a complex spell, sending a pulse of cleansing energy towards the dying nobleman, a powerful antidote magic.

But a second later, the Mage leader’s eyes widened in shock. His advanced spell had done absolutely nothing. The nobleman’s body kept dissolving at an alarming speed.

Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, it took less than ten seconds. The Viscount and his servants completely melted away, leaving behind only bubbling puddles of foul-smelling green slime that hissed and popped, releasing thin trails of green mist.

The people nearby were frozen stiff with fear. Even Lord Alden and the leaders of the guilds felt a chill run down their spines, their faces pale.

"Sweet Lord! What kind of magic is that?!" someone choked out, trembling. "That’s... that’s worse than any dark magic I’ve ever heard of!"

"It’s horrifying! Even a high-level antidote from a mage couldn’t stop it! The power of that poison... it’s terrifying!"

Now, when they looked up at the small, delicate spirits floating silently in the air, their beautiful faces no longer seemed enchanting. All anyone could see was danger. All anyone felt was fear. These seemingly lovely creatures were incredibly deadly.

Lord Alden finally spoke, his voice tight and his face grim. "Your Majesty,, we are in the human lands. To kill a human noble like this... that is an extremely serious matter!"

Renjiro simply replied, his voice even, "I’m quite sure even the rulers of your vast Empire know to use respectful titles when speaking to the King of Nature."

Lord Alden went quiet, unable to argue. He shot a sharp, urgent look at the group of merchants, silently telling them to get this over with now. He needed the Elf King and his terrifying army and whatever those flying things were in his eyes... he wanted them gone before anything else could happen.

As for the dead Viscount? Alden wasn’t about to risk anything for him. He’d report it back to the capital, sure, but he doubted the Emperor would start a war with these army elves over one dead Viscount.

At that moment, the leader of the merchant who had first spoken nervously wiped beads of cold sweat off his forehead.

"Y-Your Majesty," he stammered, trying to keep his voice steady, "we’ve finished counting everything..."

....

The merchant leader couldn’t stop wiping the sweat from his face. The man who had been standing right there just minutes ago, a noble, someone who could have been a customer, was now a puddle of disgusting goo practically at his feet. How could he not be scared stiff?

The leaders of the other merchant Chambers were just as shocked and pale. They stood frozen, afraid to even breathe wrong, terrified of angering the Elf King and ending up like the Viscount.

The first merchant leader forced himself to speak respectfully, though his voice shook a little. "Your Majesty, after adding it all up, the magic cores here are worth about 4,358,000 gold coins. The magic staff and Sir Garrick’s greatsword... we figure that this are worth around 400,000 gold coins."

He paused, then added cautiously, "But... Your Majesty must understand, we are merchants. Normally, we can only buy goods like this for around 70% of their market price..."

He finished speaking and watched Renjiro’s expression nervously. If the Elf King looked even slightly annoyed, he was ready to immediately raise the offer from 70% to 80%, maybe even higher.

Renjiro didn’t say a word. He just turned his head slightly, looking towards Miss Lyanna from the Ironcrest Merchant Guild.

Lyanna gave a small cough to get everyone’s attention. "Everyone," she said, looking directly at the nervous merchant leader, "perhaps you remember that just two days ago, our Ironcrest Guild bought quite a lot from the elves? Around many equipment’s plus magic cores and gems."

"Yes... yes, I remember hearing about that," the merchant leader nodded quickly. Word gets around fast in their line of work. Everyone knew Ironcrest had suddenly gotten a lot of valuable inventory.

Lyanna stated calmly, "Our Guild paid ninety percent of the market value for those items."

"What?!" The merchant leader and the heads of the other merchants stared at her, their faces turning slightly green for a different reason now.

"Ninety percent?! That’s crazy!" one of them whispered loudly. "That ruins things for everyone! How can you make any money like that?"

The group of Chamber leaders exchanged uneasy looks. Their minds raced. ’So that’s how Ironcrest got in good with the elves, they thought bitterly. They’re basically throwing money away!’

That was because the Ironcrest merchant guild first exploited them, giving them nothing but pennies for everything.

"Ninety percent..." another muttered. "After paying for transport, guards, and everything else... there’s no profit left!"

Just then, Lyanna spoke again, her voice clear and confident, cutting through their thoughts.

"Gentlemen, leaders of the Other merchants guild, if you find yourselves unable to pay a fair price for these magic cores, then the Ironcrest Guild is ready to purchase the entire lot ourselves. If we need a bit more cash," she added casually, "getting a loan for a few million gold won’t be a problem. As you all know, my father is a Marquis, with huge, wealthy lands. The Ironcrest Guild’s reputation and credit are rock solid."

"Ah, haha! Miss Lyanna, you must be joking!" the first merchant leader laughed nervously, sweat dripping again. He quickly changed his tune.

"No, no, not at all! We merchants are more than happy to take all of these items! Ninety percent of the market value, you say? Yes, that sounds perfectly fair! So, the total is about... 4.3 million gold coins, was it? Yes, we accept!"

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