Sales, Purchases, and Auctions (1)
Everything after that proceeded without a hitch. Once the contract was sealed, Luke clapped his hands sharply and declared, "Perfect. Let's start with the cleanup, then."
He cast a spell, and the corpses vanished in an instant. "Our kids were running low on food anyway. This works out nicely."
A magic circle suddenly bloomed in the empty air, and from it surged a swarm of enormous insects. Each had a spike the size of its own body protruding from its tail. They practically screamed dark magic. The moment they appeared, the filthy back alley was scrubbed clean in the blink of an eye. The creatures simply snatched one corpse each in their jaws and vanished back into the summoning circle.
The imperial princess nearly fainted at the sight. It was an utterly grotesque display. Still, the alley was pristine in seconds.
The hero offered her an awkward smile. "As I'm sure you understand, everything you witnessed today is strictly confidential, yes?"
"Of course! Absolutely!" The princess nodded so vigorously her head looked ready to fall off.
After the cleanup, I returned straight to my lodging. I'd already parted ways with the rest of the party. The moment the banquet ended, everyone had scattered, claiming exhaustion. Kamilla headed to her family estate to see her father after so long, the saintess returned to the cathedral, Lily went to the elf mage's residence, and Adel retired to the modest lodgings she'd arranged.
I've always thought it, but... our party really lacks any sense of warmth. I vanished suddenly in the middle of everything, yet no one seemed to care. Well, it gave me plenty of freedom to act as I pleased, so I couldn't complain.
There's going to be a mountain of work ahead.
Even after returning to the Imperial Palace, there was no time to rest. I had to introduce talented people to the princess, acquire books on dark magic, gather useful items and hidden pieces, check the international situation, and more. Ten bodies wouldn't be enough. Still, it was fine. Being this busy meant there were that many things I could improve.
Perhaps because of the genuinely hectic day, sleep found me quickly. The moment I lay down on the bed, I was out cold.
The next day. I rose at first light and immediately set about preparing. After a quick wash, I readied myself to head out. As I'd told myself yesterday, there wasn't a spare moment if I wanted to knock out everything I'd planned. Today's objectives were selling the monster corpses and purchasing useful items. That alone would devour the entire day.
Before stepping through the door, I placed a light suggestion on myself.
Rascal. I am a rascal.
I layered a single mask over my usual personality. It was a persona crafted for dealing with nobles, but there was no reason not to use it on commoners. If I acted like a complete bastard at the banquet but behaved normally on the streets, people would obviously find it suspicious. Of course, the moral dilemma of having to act like trash toward commoners still remained...
Whatever. Doesn't matter.
Honestly, I didn't lose any sleep over it. I knew the perfectly obvious truth that the weak aren't necessarily good. Besides, would the curse spare commoners? They'd definitely try to mess with me one way or another. Better to go full bastard from the start than awkwardly pretend at courtesy.
With that settled, I left the lodging. Hands in my pockets, I swaggered down the street with an arrogant stride.
My first stop was the Butchery Guild—a group that made its living buying and selling monster corpses of every variety. I approached the broker on duty at the counter and showed him my goods.
"I want to trade these."
Thud!
I pulled the demonic beast corpses from my subspace bag. I'd dismantled so many that they quickly piled up into a small mountain.
"S-Sir, this is..." The broker's eyes widened in shock. "Did you return from some massive guild expedition? In ten years of this work, I've never seen this much at once."
"Something like that."
As expected, he didn't recognize me as the hero. I'd left my usual armor behind and hidden the Holy Sword back at the lodging. From the outside, I looked like any commoner—though my clothes were too clean and new, making me seem more like a wealthy young master.
"Let's see here... Wow, this is going to be tough to price. Give me a moment."
His decade of experience wasn't just talk. Though clearly flustered, the broker sorted through the corpses one by one. Sometimes he let out sounds of admiration, other times he startled visibly. That was understandable. Every corpse here had been obtained inside the Demon Realm. He was looking at rare demonic beasts and monsters that were normally almost impossible to encounter. The materials carried both rarity and efficiency, and their magic capacity was undoubtedly high. The price should be substantial.
Yet I waited without much expectation.
Finally, after completing his appraisal, he spoke. "With this quantity... you could easily get ten million gold?"
My brow furrowed. Of course he was trying to lowball me. Without hesitation, I grabbed him by the collar.
"Hiiik?! Sir, what are you doing?!"
"Who the hell do you think you're trying to scam, you bastard? It should be at least twenty million gold. Cutting the price in half? Are you kidding me?"
Had I never used shops while playing this game? The first place I always visited after an expedition was a wholesale guild like this one. I had to offload all the miscellaneous items like demonic beast corpses, after all. As a result, I knew their market rates like the back of my hand. This was half a year's worth of accumulation. Some of these monsters were so dangerous that even large guilds struggled to hunt them. At minimum, I should be getting the equivalent of four mansions. Even accounting for the bulk sale discount, this was ridiculous.
"Sir, please calm down! It's a bulk transaction, right? You have to consider our labor costs!"
"Labor costs worth ten million gold?"
"T-That's..."
I pointed at each corpse in turn, reciting their exact market values. The broker's face drained of color; he clearly hadn't expected me to know this level of detail.
"I-I understand! I'm sorry! We'll pay the full twenty million gold!"
"Too late. Make it twenty-seven million."
"What?!"
His face twisted in disbelief, but I was completely serious.
"Why? You tried to rip me off. Did you really think I'd just let it go? It only makes sense to take extra as compensation for shattered trust."
"Oh please, sir! How are we supposed to make a living?!"
"I already told you—at minimum twenty million gold. If you manage it properly, you'll turn a handsome profit. Can't you even manage that much?"
I glared at him. My ruby-red eyes reflected in his own.
"Or should I step outside and start shouting? Tell everyone how the wholesale guild in the imperial capital tried to scam a customer?"
"Urgh..."
In the end, the broker had no choice but to nod, tears of blood practically streaming from his eyes. He really should have chosen his victims more carefully. I didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. You had to set the tone early, or you'd keep getting taken advantage of later.
"We'll advance you fifteen million gold for now... Please don't misunderstand. It's not that we're trying to withhold payment—our guild simply doesn't have that much liquid capital at the moment. We'll deposit the remainder once we've processed some of the corpses."
"That's acceptable."
I nodded readily. Fifteen million gold was already enough to make me giddy. In the empire, that was the price of three mansions. I could buy nearly anything I wanted.
After that, I made my way through the various districts of the market. Being the capital where the Imperial Palace stood, the quality of goods sold nearby was excellent. I purchased many things: magic-enchanted butchering daggers, magic scrolls, magical catalysts, potions, and more.
Every merchant tried to scam me, but I met them with the same consistent attitude—complete chaos.
Bang!
"You fucking bastards think this is a game?"
"Trying to pull one over on me? Want me to rip your tongue out?"
"I'll give you three seconds to correct the price. Three, two, one..."
Each time, the merchants panicked and restored the prices to normal. Sometimes a few who were genuinely terrified even lowered them below market value. Thanks to that, I ended up spending far less than anticipated.
"That guy's insane! There's a madman loose in the market!"
"Spread the word. There's a real rascal on the prowl, so everyone watch yourselves..."
Merchants fundamentally helped one another. Price fixing, hoarding, scamming suckers—running any large operation required the support of those around you. Their networks spread like vast, intricate spider webs.
The merchants I'd dealt with quickly passed the news along those webs. As a result, barely an hour after I'd entered the market, every merchant who might have tried to scam me had mysteriously vanished.
Convenient.
It was fortunate for me too. Even if it made scamming them in return more difficult, at least I wouldn't have to waste energy arguing and turning red in the face.
I've gotten everything I need from the market...
I glanced up at the sky. Magic towers of every color soared endlessly upward. The Magic Tower. A place lined with countless grimoires and magical items. It was also my next destination.
So I set off toward the Magic Tower.