Volume 8 Chapter 4 PaRT 1
Current Levels & Equipment:
Diver Lv.32
Equipment:
Rapier
Iron Shield
Hardened Leather Helmet
Chainmail
Hardened Leather Gloves
Hardened Leather Boots
Sacrificial Misanga
A few days have passed, and then the holiday when the auction was supposed to be held was already fast approaching.
When we arrived at home in the evening, we find Luke’s message at the entrance to our house.
「Master, there’s a message from Mr. Luke. He asks of you to visit him as soon as possible.」
It’s most likely related to the Holy Spear. I wonder if he’s already received a response of some sort from the buyer in regards to my proposition. I think it’s too early, though, for the buyer’s broker to contact us, since that other broker didn’t look as reliable as Luke.
That being said, I probably shouldn’t make fun of someone else’s broker, or it may anger them, and angering a broker is the last thing that I want to be doing right now.
I don’t want to go, but if it’s about what I think it’s about, there’s no other choice but to do it. Strike the iron while it’s hot and all that. That, and because he asked of me to visit him as soon as possible, I decide to go meet to him immediately.
「Well then. I’ll be leaving for the merchants’ guild. I’m leaving the house-watching duties to the three of you.」
「Okay master. Take care.」
I jump to the waiting room of the Quratar Merchants’ Guild. Luke comes over immediately after I called for him. There’s one more person with him as well. 「Identify」says that his Job is…. Weapons Merchant Lv.8. Judging by the way he looks, he appears to belong to a well-off family, because he has this air of nobility about him.
Is he here to appraise my staff with 「MP Absorption」 Skill? But I didn’t bring it with me here. In fact, I haven’t even gotten around to making it yet.
「Ah, I have been waiting for you, Mr. Michio. Would you please come with me?」
「Okay, I understand. Lead the way.」
We head to the usual meeting room, where I take a seat. Luke sits across from me. The other man takes a seat next to Luke.
「This is the broker I talked to you about.」
「Is it true that you have a staff with 「MP Absorption」 Skill and that you’re willing to trade it with my client in exchange for the Holy Spear?」
The man cuts right to the chase after we exchanged the usual greetings. Is he the broker who made the successful bid for the Holy Spear? I couldn’t see him properly during the auction, so I cannot really be sure. Was that why he was in such a hurry to call me so urgently? But did he really have to go to this extent in order to do so? Because if you asked me, then I say that this is more than a little excessive.
「Yes, that’s true.」
「Well then, in that case, you must know the name of the weapon with 「MP Absorption]」Skill, right?」
The man asks me a rather peculiar question. I see, so he wants to check if I know my stuff about it to make sure that I’m not trying to swindle him. A clever move on his part.
When you attach「Increase INT x2」 Skill onto a rod, it becomes the Rod of Offerings, and when you attach「Chant Delay」 Skill to a Copper Sword, it becomes the Copper Sword of Obstruction, so as you can see, there’s a predefined naming scheme here. So going by that logic, there must be one for the staff with「MP Absorption」Skill, too.
However, I don’t know, obviously, because I haven’t made it yet. Am I supposed to know its name if I have it? Am I, really? Isn’t that kinda presumptuous on this guy’s part?
For example, the Duke of Harz’s Ring of Determination. It’s his family’s heirloom, passed down from generation to generation, so it wouldn’t be unusual if he didn’t know its name.
「Because I made it myself, I don’t know its name. But even though I don’t know it, if there’s a trusted Weapons Merchant around, then there shouldn’t be any problems with it.」
I tell him honestly that I don’t know the name of the staff with 「MP Absorption」. Actually, no. I will be able to know its name immediately thanks to my 「Identify」, but this Weapons Merchant doesn’t need to know that.
I’m not honest with him at all, but I’m not going to dwell on this matter too much.
Also, I can’t say that it’s a family heirloom of mine because it won’t look old from any angle. Furthermore, he may use this fact to bargain the price down, and I won’t allow anyone else but me to utilize that tactic! Even if I will later be required to show it to him, I will be able to claim that it’s new because I have already told them that I made it myself.
「Very well. Then, why would you let go of such a precious weapon that you made yourself? Would you mind sharing that with me?」
So now he wants to know why I want to part with it, huh? What should I say to him? If I say that I don’t need it anymore, I will be giving him an even bigger reason to bargain the price down. If I made it myself, why would I let go of it? That’s the problem for which I need to find a believable justification.
If it’s an heirloom, it must be old, but it’s not, so that option’s out.
If I stole it, I must know its name, because there’s no way that I would steal something without knowing what that something was. Therefore, if I know its name, it will be suspected to be a stolen item, so that option’s out as well.
Damn, it seemed like a simple question at first, but it’s actually quite a tricky one. As you would expect from a broker. Shrewd and cunning beyond belief. But in that case, maybe the simplest explanation possible might be the best one here.
「I have a Shrine Maiden in my Party who can use spears and I want her to become stronger, and The Holy Spear is going to be considerably helpful in that endeavor.」
「I see. Do you have the staff with you?」
「I don’t.」
I seem to have deceived him successfully.
「I want to have it as soon as possible. Do you think that it could be arranged?」
「I could bring it right now, but have you received the approval from your client already?」
「To tell you the truth, the one who needs the staff with 「MP Absorption」is not a single person, but rather my own family. It has been decided that the heir of the main family is going to present it to his mistress as a wedding gift during their marriage ceremony.」
「That’s great to hear. Congratulations.」
「It has been decided for a weapon with 「MP Absorption」 Skill to be presented to the bride at the marriage ceremony. The task was first commissioned to an acquainted Master Smith of my family, however there has been no success at creating the weapon even after numerous attempts at it have already been made. Although The Holy Spear is an excellent weapon in and out of itself, if I can get the staff with 「MP Absorption」Skill in exchange for it, then I am going to consider that a worthwhile trade. With that said, after it has been appraised, I’m willing to exchange the weapons at the terms of your own choosing.」
So, the staff with 「MP Absorption」Skill will be used as a betrothal gift, huh? I don’t know if the bride is going to be a princess or maybe just some duke’s daughter, but apparently she’s important enough for the family of the groom to be going to such lengths to obtain a suitable betrothal gift for her. And because it has to be arranged before the marriage, he would definitely like to have it as quickly as possible, and that’s why he’ll probably be willing to accept any conditions that I am going to set for the trade.
With that in mind, I leave my seat.
「I understand. I’ll bring it right away.」
「Please do.」
I head back to the waiting room to use 「Warp」to get back to the house.