The Arcray Trading Company
Bagan returned the books he had borrowed from the library and decided this time to buy new ones to keep. With all the money sleeping in his subspace, including what he already possessed, there was no need to rent anymore—he could simply own them outright.
“All done picking?”
“Yeah.”
In truth, Bagan hadn’t originally planned to buy anything, but it was Sally who had encouraged him. She had convinced him that during their future travels, there would inevitably be times when they couldn’t visit a library. For her, reading was the ultimate form of healing. If Bagan rested by sleeping or taking a bath, then for Sally, there was no greater happiness than sitting quietly and losing herself in a book.
When he asked if she didn’t usually read while following him around, she replied that floating in the air made it surprisingly hard to concentrate. Yet somehow, she still managed to read quite well.
The book Bagan had selected was titled Everything About Martial Combat. He had flipped through the first few pages out of curiosity and found it packed with information he had never known before. Intrigued, he decided to purchase it.
On the other hand—
“Buy all of these for me.”
The books Sally had brought over were the kind that looked difficult just from their titles. Among them were a few novels, including The Adventures of Fabino, a story no one from the Seiros Kingdom could fail to recognize. It followed the explorer Fabino as he ventured into unknown regions where no one had ever returned alive.
Bagan knew the tale because it had come up during a sub-quest in the game.
In any case, a thick stack of books spanning various genres and fields now sat piled high. The librarian stared at the mountain and clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Y-you were here last time too… are you renting again?”
For a librarian, he had raised his voice rather loudly inside the library. That was how many books there were.
Bagan shook his head.
“I’m buying them.”
“Ah, well… reading this many books within the due date would be impossible anyway. Understood. The prices vary by title, so I’ll calculate everything right away. Please wait a moment.”
Bagan nodded. The librarian pulled out a ledger listing each book’s title and set price and began calculating. As he had said, the process didn’t take long. Though such large purchases were uncommon, he explained that wealthy visitors from the city or large merchant groups occasionally bought in bulk. He then stated the total.
“That comes to twelve gold and two silver.”
Hearing the price, Bagan immediately took out thirteen gold from his subspace. He hadn’t originally carried that much, but among the treasures he had acquired from the warehouse were both gold and silver coins, allowing him to pay without issue.
“Here is your change—eight silver.”
Bagan accepted the change and slipped it straight back into his subspace, then gathered all the books.
Subspace capacity has been updated.
(So what are you going to do now?)
Sally asked as Bagan stepped out of the library and scanned his surroundings.
“Hmm… I want to sort out the stolen goods—no, not stolen. The loot in my subspace.”
(Is there even a place that can buy that much?)
He wasn’t short on gold at the moment, but he couldn’t keep carrying it all around forever.
“Is there a trading company nearby?”
Even if it wasn’t a formal trading company, he needed to find shops willing to purchase large quantities of valuable items. The more options, the better.
‘Though there’s almost too much to sell.’
Even at a glance, he wouldn’t be able to unload everything in a single day. Still, if he didn’t start selling today, it would take quite a long time.
In truth, there were plenty of places he could sell to. Off the top of his head, there were trading companies, specialized purchasing shops, guilds, random passing merchants, and even the option of selling directly to the kingdom.
With so many avenues available, only one thing worried him.
‘The origin.’
Where had such a massive quantity of treasure come from, and why did Bagan possess it?
The countless treasures now stored in his subspace were the fruits of the underworld’s exploitation of innocent people or their various criminal enterprises. If it became known that his goods originated from the underworld, there was no telling what might happen.
‘There’s a high chance I’d lose it all.’
That was why Bagan wanted to sell them off quietly, little by little. He had already prepared an explanation for their source.
“Dungeons and labyrinths.”
(Hmm, that does make sense. If they came from dungeons and labyrinths, where all sorts of rare items appear…)
With Sally’s approval, Bagan organized his plan and set off.
The first place Bagan arrived at was the trading company with the highest chance of buying the most. The Arcray Trading Company.
The somewhat familiar name made Bagan tilt his head in curiosity as he opened the door and stepped inside.
“Welcome! You’ve entered the Arcray Trading Company! How may we assist you today?”
A cheerful employee greeted him with a bright smile.
“I’m here to sell some items.”
“Our Arcray Trading Company purchases all kinds of goods depending on the conditions. Could you tell me what type of items you have?”
The employee maintained his smile and treated Bagan with utmost politeness.
“There’s quite a lot, so I think I’ll need to speak directly with the company head.”
The items resting in Bagan’s subspace required extremely careful handling. The fewer people who knew about them, the better.
At those words, the employee’s smile faltered slightly. But he quickly recovered and spoke again.
“Even so, I’m afraid you cannot meet Lord Arcray. His schedule is completely booked today with important guests. What should we do? Shall I schedule your appointment for another day?”
The employee wore an expression that practically screamed, I got you. This was no longer mere customer service. If one were to interpret it bluntly, it was closer to: You think someone like you is worthy of meeting the company head?
For such a successful trading company, that attitude wasn’t entirely surprising.
‘Their service is absolute garbage.’
Bagan offered a brief internal critique before continuing. He hadn’t wanted to go this far, but the employee’s deliberate rejection left him no choice.
“Go tell them that a friend of Elizabeth has come to visit.”
The reason Bagan said this was simple. He had finally remembered where he had seen the name Arcray before.
During the incident when the extreme cold had nearly frozen the Zairan Forest and De Meca to a standstill, Arcray had been the trading company leader tasked by the kingdom with distributing emergency supplies. After being practically driven out of De Seiran and relocating to De Meca, they had somehow grown into a full trading company.
While they may have been a modest outfit back in De Seiran, their status had changed completely upon arriving in De Meca. The local companies here operated on an entirely different scale, and none of them could compete with the larger firms. Most importantly, De Meca had previously lacked any proper trading company. Those that tried to establish one vanished almost immediately.
The reason was the underworld.
Unaware of this, Arcray had built his company anyway. Now that the underworld had been wiped out, he stood to reap all the benefits alone.
And if the Arcray Trading Company had a single VIP, it was none other than Elizabeth. During their days as a simple trading caravan, she had traveled with Arcray and provided them with tremendous help. Though Arcray was greedy for money, he never skimped on managing his personal connections.
When Bagan casually dropped her name, the employee’s face filled with panic.
“Pardon? Why would you mention Lady Elizabeth’s name—”
“Because she’s my friend. Now go tell them.”
“I-I have committed a grave offense! Y-you are an honored guest! I will inform Lord Arcray at once! Please wait just a moment!”
The employee practically flew up the stairs, his feet barely visible.
(He believed you without even checking?)
“Yeah. Looks like Elizabeth’s influence is pretty impressive, huh?”
Thanks to having such a reliable friend, things were proceeding smoothly.
A short while later, the employee returned down the stairs with a pale face. Behind him appeared a familiar figure. It was Arcray, who had clearly been eating well—his body had grown even rounder since their last meeting.
“Oh my, oh my! If it isn’t Sir Bagan, who traveled alongside Lady Elizabeth! Please, come upstairs with me!”
Arcray didn’t offer any fake smiles. He genuinely looked delighted, as if he had been waiting for this moment, and personally guided Bagan upward. Once they entered the office, he ordered his subordinate to bring out his most prized tea. Then he turned to Bagan.
“It is truly a pleasure to meet my benefactor.”
“Benefactor?”
“Yes, my benefactor. Both you and Lady Elizabeth.”
With a benevolent smile, he waited leisurely for the tea to arrive.
The employee who had been ordered to prepare the precious tea carefully set down the teacups. The aroma was refreshingly clean. Bagan wasn’t particularly fond of drinking tea, but he didn’t mind the way the scent alone could lift one’s mood.
He took a quiet sip and waited for the conversation to begin.
It was Arcray who spoke first.
“We were incredibly fortunate. I cannot express enough gratitude to the two of you for protecting our caravan during that crisis. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the two of you are the reason our trading company exists today.”
“What exactly happened?”
Arcray explained everything step by step, from beginning to end. After listening, Bagan realized the company truly owed its existence to him and Elizabeth.
First, they had received a national commission to distribute supplies during the Zairan Forest incident. The contract had been for an entire year’s worth of work. Yet they had completed it in just two weeks instead of several months, leaving them with a massive surplus of funds. They had used that money to establish the company.
Second, expanding a trading company in De Meca normally required enduring pressure from the underworld. But because Bagan had eliminated them, that burden had vanished entirely.
“So you basically own the entire market in De Meca now.”
In effect, Arcray had become the master of every coin that flowed through the city.
But what surprised Bagan most was that Arcray already knew he had been the one to eliminate the underworld boss. Information truly was power, and Arcray’s intelligence network was clearly exceptional.
“That is precisely why I wish to treat both you and Lady Elizabeth as honored guests who helped found this company. Though of course, Lady Elizabeth has always been one.”
Bagan was genuinely taken aback. Still, it was a relief that the man wasn’t ungrateful.
“Well, if that’s how you see it, I won’t refuse.”
“I would be most grateful if you would accept.”
“Anyway, that means you’ve got plenty of money, right? That works out perfectly for me, since I came here to sell.”
“Oh? What kind of goods do you have? Ah! Could it be—”
At that moment, Arcray raised a finger and brought it close to Bagan’s face.
“It wouldn’t happen to be assets from the underworld, would it?”
Bagan couldn’t hide his surprise at the man’s whispered question.
(He really is like a ghost.)
‘No kidding.’
No matter how capable Arcray was, Bagan hadn’t expected him to guess the origin of the treasures so accurately.
“I’d appreciate it if you could assume otherwise.”
“Whether it is or isn’t, what does it matter? If it’s coming from you, Sir Bagan, we will purchase it with full confidence.”
Arcray offered a smile full of certainty. His intentions were obvious. He was doing everything possible to earn Bagan’s trust. Having personally experienced that good things happened when Bagan was involved, he was eager to build a deeper connection.
“Alternatively, how about this? We can launder it for you. We will accept your assets and convert them entirely into clean money.”
“And what’s in it for you?”
Bagan had originally planned to sell the items piecemeal to various buyers. But now Arcray was saying his company would buy everything—and even clean the money. At this point, Bagan was genuinely curious about the man’s true motives.
“Ah, since we’ve come this far, I’ll be direct. I want to build a connection. I want you to think favorably of our company, Sir Bagan.”
His surprisingly straightforward attitude actually made Bagan like him more.
“Looks like you’ve already succeeded.”
If the man was willing to handle everything, it saved Bagan a great deal of hassle.
“Then allow me to show you to the warehouse.”
Arcray rubbed his hands together with visible excitement.