The Scales of Trade
I puffed on my pipe and spoke up. “Would saving all of your comrades be part of the trade conditions? If there’s no downside to answering honestly, please just tell me the truth.”
“No! That can’t be!”
“That son of a bitch Wilson—.”
Whoosh. A red line carved through the world. Amid the corpses of the mercenaries whose heads had burned to ash, I exhaled a plume of smoke.
“You’re choosing to give up without even hearing the trade conditions.”
“…The magic I possess simply isn’t that valuable.”
“Sir Wilson, you really are quick with calculations, aren’t you?”
Tap. I knocked the ash from my pipe, extinguished it, and asked Wilson, “The magic you hold is Refinement, correct?”
Refinement
A specialized magic system used by knights to reinforce their weapons and physical bodies. Created directly by the First Emperor. Deeply traditional with a long history.
At my words, Wilson answered in a rush. “That’s right. It’s Refinement magic. All I have to do is teach it to you, yeah? Even a guy like me learned it in a week. Someone as smart as you, Miss Mage, could probably pick it up in three days if I stuck by your side and—”
“My master spent decades rolling around in the mercenary trade. He’s practically your great-great senior.”
Refinement was a magic that even bottom-tier mercenaries could learn if they got lucky—though most of them only used it to fleece others in one big score because they lacked the confidence to climb any higher. There was no way Kelton wouldn’t know it, which meant I had naturally learned it as well.
“The results of my experiments showed that I’m the type who simply cannot learn Refinement. My master told me I had no aptitude for knighthood and that I should stop getting distracted and focus on raising my elemental understanding instead.”
Even if Wilson taught me Refinement, it would be meaningless. I couldn’t learn it. Besides, I already knew the magic itself.
“……Ah.”
Despair flooded Wilson’s eyes. He thought the magic he possessed was useless to me. If that were truly the case, would I have kept him alive? It seemed the terror had gripped him so completely that his intelligence had plummeted to dolphin levels. Intelligence was always like a rubber band, stretching and snapping back depending on the situation. A perfectly natural phenomenon.
I extended my left hand forward and whispered, “Sir Wilson. This is a trade.”
Creeeak. Something was grasped in my hand. As if someone had cut and pasted a piece of the world itself, it appeared without warning or precursor.
Balance
Kelton’s unique magic. Also called the Scales. Allows the user to trade magic, talents, life, or concepts based on mutual consent and equal value. Places a heavy burden on the user’s soul.
I presented my demand. “What I want is to permanently receive Sir Wilson’s Refinement magic. If you accept this trade, you will never be able to use Refinement magic for the rest of your life.”
“I can give away a magic like that any time.” Wilson answered.
At the same time—
Thud. Something settled onto one side of the Scales. It was a small dagger.
The Scales tipped toward Wilson’s side. The weights were not equal.
I told Wilson, “Please state your condition.”
“Let me live. That’s enough.”
“That’s entirely possible.”
The Scales tipped once more. This time toward my side. Immediately afterward, the unbalanced Scales found equilibrium. The price was equal.
In that case—
“The trade is complete.”
Ding—! A clear chime rang out. A sound only Wilson and I could hear. The Scales transformed into white flames, and those white flames flew toward us and embedded themselves.
I immediately shouted to Leon, “Sir Leon! The dagger!”
“Here it is.”
I took the dagger Leon handed me and activated the newly engraved magic within me. Mana was consumed, and magic wrapped around the dagger. It felt like putting an outer coat on the blade. A blue dagger shimmered and overlaid itself onto Leon’s blade.
I fiddled with the now-blue dagger. Since it could only be used on the dagger itself, its reach was short, and I couldn’t even achieve the body reinforcement that was one of Refinement’s main characteristics.
“Magic….”
Yet I stroked the dagger in a daze. The mere fact that a new magic had fallen into my hands filled me with ecstasy. I dismissed the magic and handed the dagger back to Leon.
“Let’s get going.”
“You’re just going to let him go like that? He tried to kill us.”
“Should we capture him and throw him in prison?”
“That’s what I would have done.”
“It’s true that the trade conditions only specified letting him live. Capturing him and locking him up wouldn’t exactly be a lie. But such wordplay isn’t fair. I promised to grant him the perfect freedom he truly wanted.”
Even if I didn’t want to, I had to. The Scales operated under those exact restrictions.
“Sir Leon is free to kill Wilson or capture him, but in that case I would have no choice but to stop you with all my strength. Please keep that in mind.”
“…Understood.”
Leon withdrew obediently. His expression was puzzled, as if he were replaying the recent events in his head. The moment our conversation ended, Wilson scrambled away in a panic. The gruesome talk of killing and imprisonment had clearly terrified him.
“Wow. You’re incredible.”
Then Chris approached, clapping her hands. Having worked as a merchant and seen all kinds of ugly sights, she remained perfectly calm even after watching several people die.
“Hiring Lady Ruina was the best decision I’ve ever made. If I hadn’t, the gamble I poured my entire fortune into would have gone spectacularly bankrupt.”
“What exactly are you planning to sell?”
Merchants made money by exploiting price differences between regions. So a merchant’s gamble would involve buying up a massive quantity of a specific product to sell later. I was curious what she had purchased.
“Are you curious?”
“Yes.”
“Come this way.”
Chris led me to the wagon and pulled back the cloth covering the cargo bed. Inside were rows of wooden barrels. They were barrels used to store and transport liquids like beer. From the faint vanilla scent wafting off them, they appeared to be oak.
Chris smiled and asked, “Would you like to know what’s inside?”
“Wine?”
“Correct.”
Wine, huh. I recalled our destination and glanced at Leon. Leon asked Chris carefully, “Why wine? Shade Grafton is famous for its grapes, and the grape festival is coming up soon, so there should be grapes rotting in the streets.”
“Well, you see.” Chris gestured. She wanted us to lower our heads. I leaned forward as requested, and she whispered, “There have been rumors for the past few years that Shade Grafton’s grape harvests have been poor.”
“For several years?”
“Exactly.”
“How can a multi-year poor harvest not become public knowledge? Especially in a place that holds such a large grape festival?”
Chris nodded. “You’re right, Sir Leon. A normal poor harvest would definitely leak out. However, this poor harvest is limited to only the highest-grade grapes. That’s why the festival is proceeding normally and everything else appears fine as well.”
“In that case… I can understand why the rumor hasn’t spread.”
“Well, it eventually leaked out and reached the ears of a humble merchant like myself.”
“But what does that have to do with wine?”
It was exactly as Leon wondered. I understood that the poor harvest of top-grade grapes had halted high-end wine production for several years, but what did that have to do with buying up a huge quantity of premium wine in Shade Grafton? They were sellers, not buyers.
At that, Chris raised a finger. Having drawn our full attention, she spoke slowly. “This is where the main point begins. I predict that Shade Grafton will soon be in desperate need of a large quantity of top-grade wine.”
“Why?”
“From here on it’s a trade secret… but since we’re traveling together, I’ll give you a small hint. There’s a rumor that a very important person is secretly traveling to enjoy the festival. In that case, they’ll need plenty of high-class wine for hospitality. And since the quality grape harvest has been poor for years, their reserves must be low. They’ll snap up any premium wine we offer.”
If the information was true, it was a reasonably sound prediction. Still, it wasn’t certain. I muttered quietly, “So that’s why you called it a gamble?”
“It’s the gamble of a lifetime.”
It wasn’t even a guaranteed visit—the important person was only “secretly” traveling. I was impressed that she would risk her entire fortune on such uncertain information. If the VIP didn’t show up, or if they did but neither they nor their entourage enjoyed wine, or even if they did but the territory had plenty of stored wine, Chris would have to hug her oak barrels and jump into a lake.
Success would let her sell already-expensive premium wine at an even higher price, but the odds were correspondingly low. When you factored in the probability of the VIP’s movements leaking out and that rumor reaching the ears of a mere merchant, the chances became even slimmer.
“I believe the success probability is quite high.”
“Do you?”
“Despite appearances, I’m a merchant with considerable experience. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to prepare this much stock, right?”
A noble lady wouldn’t play at being a merchant for fun, so the capital used to prepare all this wine had been earned entirely by Chris herself. She was no fledgling.
Chris stroked one of the oak barrels and said, “The reliability of the information itself is high. That much is certain.”
“Then that’s fortunate. Shall we set off soon?”
“That would be best.”
I climbed into the remaining space in the cargo bed. Leon did the same.
Rattle. The wagon began to move. Leon sat with his arms crossed, sinking deep into thought. Learning that Shade Grafton—where he believed the Holy Grail was buried—had suffered poor harvests for years must have complicated things in his head.
After a long while like that, Leon finally uncrossed his arms and met my eyes.
“Lady Ruina.”
“Yes.”
“Can you… steal magic?”
“It’s not stealing, it’s trading. Anyway, so that’s what you were worrying about.”
He had been replaying the trade I made with Wilson instead of thinking about the Holy Grail. I honestly couldn’t tell if this guy was seriously trying to become a paladin or not.
“Aren’t you worried? They said the grape harvest was poor.”
“I never planned on getting the right answer from the start anyway.”
“You’re remarkably calm about this?”
“I’m used to it.”
If he was fine with it, then it was none of my business. I might as well train. I picked up a lantern and stared at the quietly burning flame inside it.
…….
“Lady Ruina? What are you doing?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing when your whole body is twisting up. Are you okay?”
It was no big deal. My body was simply reacting while I suppressed the urge to swallow the flame. Uuuugh. I have to endure it.
*
“That’s Shade Grafton over there.”
“It’s a pretty village.”
Fifteen days later. I stretched my previously contorted body while looking at the village fence visible in the distance. Finally, I’d get to taste some wine.