Eliron observed the warriors who had surrounded him from the corner of his eyes.
They had co prepared indeed...
Each of them was holding high-quality blades, most likely from the blinking rchant’s stockpile. This was definitely ant to even up the playing field if they were ever to cross blades.
’For them to co this prepared...’
It was likely they had information about his fight with the rcenary head, and because of that, they were taking the necessary precautions against him.
It seed while he was tracking the blinking rchant, they were also keeping tabs on him.
This was not unexpected... Considering the blinking rchant’s connections, it made sense that they would have eyes all around the city.
’How long has the rchant been watching ? From the mont I t Charlie? Or had it been even before that...?’ There was no way to tell.
Even in the face of a sheer display of hostility, neither Eliron nor Ash batted an eye nor pulled their weapons.
They could sense that at least for now, the rchant had no intentions of being violent, it was more of a performance if anything.
Besides, even if they were to attack, it would be to their own detrint. Among the dozen people here, only two had reached the realm of Knight.
Ash was already at the pinnacle of the Knight realm, aning he was stronger than both, and Eliron was even considerably stronger.
Nothing good would co out of them baring their fangs at the two.
"Sorry for the rather... unpleasant reception Elven Lord Eliron." The rchant’s voice was deep and distorted, most likely the effects of an enchantnt.
"But you see, when you are in this line of work, you have to have the utmost caution. And you are quite an interesting man are you not?"
Eliron shrugged. "Well, I wouldn’t consider myself interesting. I’m as basic as basic gets..."
A small chuckle ca from the mask. "Indeed.... Just on your first day at Kingsbridge, you have managed to anger the baron’s son, maim a powerful rcenary leader, and beat Charlie’s undefeated record."
The blinking rchant crossed his legs. "Not so ordinary are we?"
"Well, when you put it like that you make sound like so sort of villain..." Eliron sighed.
"Anyways..." Eliron waved his hands dismissively. "That is not why we are here are we? You are a rchant, and I am a custor, that is all there is. Why don’t we get right into business?"
"..."
There was a short second of silence wherein the blinking rchant just stared blankly at Eliron.
Then out of nowhere, a gold coin appeared right out of thin air, slowly rotating around.
On one side was the face of a demon, and on the other was a balanced scale.
It was a coin known as the ’gold standard’, a symbol of the demonic rchants’ ideals.
"Bright and temptious, rigid and reliable. Such is gold, such is power, such is life, such is salvation. At the right weight of gold, even the devil’s soul will be bought."
"What would you like to get? Weapons? Bombs? Transcontinental ballista?"
Eliron blinked. ’Why are they calling out weapons? Do I look like a terrorist?’
The blinking rchant’s voice grew colder... "Slaves?"
Then he paused to let it sink in.
"Consider our stock to be akin to an abyss that can never be extinguished. Make your demand and we will see that it is fulfilled."
Eliron took a mont to think things through.
The demonic rchant was not truly as he seed. In fact, the demonic rchant in front of him was not the only demonic rchant on the Continent.
In each major city, there was a demonic rchant, each of them working under a guild. That was how they were able to pull together such a vast amount of resources.
They were like-minded people whose only goal in life was to pursue wealth.
But notwithstanding, every rchant was different. Although they had a general set of principles, each demonic rchant had their own extra set of rules they followed.
And above all, they valued the continuity of their business.
If you wanted sothing that could risk their inco, then the value in gold would be so high that it was practically impossible to pay.
He could not be careless with his next words, because it might very well decide if he would be given an audience or rejected...
"I would like to do two things..."
Eliron summoned his pouch and slowly pulled out a monster claw, just before tossing it to him.
The demonic rchant snatched it out of the air and brought it to his face for closer observation.
"This..." there was noticeable surprise in his deep voice. "How is it so well preserved?"
"The quality is exquisite as well... I see, this is where that confidence of yours stems from..."
Eliron smirked. It was a given that the monster parts he had would be the best of the best.
Artaris was not just a breeding ground for monsters, because of how deep into the forest it was, adventurers never dared to wander that far.
So unlike regular monsters in regions that were often under constant assault by rcenaries and adventurers, so of them never even reaching maturity, it was different in the forests of Artaris.
This ant that they were given an undisturbed habitat to thrive and grow. At least... that was until Eliron got involved.
"Only the best for a person of your caliber..." Eliron said.
"It is good, but I will need to hear the other part of your deal before making my decision." The rchant tossed the claw back.
"No problem at all."
Swish!
The mont he unsheathed his sword, he could feel the temperature in the room drop. The guards imdiately stiffened, the glint in their eyes sharpening.
"Jeez, relax."
Eliron lifted his blade, showing it to the rchant. "As you can see, I seem to have exceeded the level of an ordinary elven steel blade..."
Granted, his current blade was not true elven steel, but an impure version of it. A pure elven steel sword would have lasted longer, but Eliron wanted sothing more powerful.
Especially considering the fact that he might et ’them’ soon...
"You call elven steel ordinary? I guess the rumours of your strength are not exaggerated."
Eliron placed his sword back in its sheath. "I will also need high-quality weapons for my compatriots as well..."
The rchant nodded. "I see."
He sighed and rose to his feet.
"I wish you good luck in acquiring these items, and I pray you have a good bargain on your goods."
"?!"
Eliron’s face fell the mont those words left his lips.
"Wait, what do you—"
"I’m sorry, Elven Lord. You do have fine rchandise, and I would love to make thousands of coins off your purchases..."
"But I’m afraid I cannot carry out any sort of transaction with you..."
His voice grew even colder, a hint of regret in it.
"...Because you, my friend, have already been sold."
He lifted his hand and a magic circle suddenly burst into life below their feet.
Ash sucked in a sharp breath as he felt a paralyzing spell taking hold of him.
He imdiately unsheathed his sword and raised it. "My lord, this is—"
But Eliron was not listening...
It was at that point that he realised... the entire conversation had been a hoax.
He stared at the demonic mask, and the cold grey eyes behind it, clenching his jaw tightly.
"You bastard!"
Right from the beginning, the rchant never had any plans of striking a deal. All he wanted to know was their motive for visiting Kingsbridge.
They had been played.
Such was the price of bargaining with a demon...
The floor had paralysis and spatial magic circles etched into it. It could not hold Eliron for long, but it would be long enough. Any second now, the spell would be fully charged.
Dark purple energy, resembling fractured glass, imdiately surged from Eliron’s body as he used his spatial manipulation.
The tendrils shot forward at the demonic rchant, one digging into his shoulder, while the other was racing for his neck when—
Whoosh!
Both Eliron and Ash vanished into thin air.
The demonic rchant ran his hand over the wound, drawing blood, then stared at the ground that was now oozing smoke, before walking away in silence...
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