“Please, sir, there has to be some way we can come to an agreement,” Nicholas said. He was practically pleading with the well-built man across from him. One would think that status of hero would gain a person enough influence to sway sales, but that was far from the case. This man wasn’t in the mood for deals or trades. Well, he especially wasn’t in the mood for this customer in particular. Nicholas’s face alone irritated the man. He represented everything that had gone wrong as of late, and now he was returning with yet another bizarre request.

“Look, books are expensive. We don’t have enough to be given to every random person.” Sean, the merchant, said. He pinched his brow. The days of viewing this customer as a poor peasant were long gone. He knew The Unnamed Team was given a surplus of gold and platinum coins from the king. It wasn’t hard to imagine how wealthy they were. Sean encountered all sorts of people during his time as a merchant, so he was confident in thinking Nicholas was well above most nobles in terms of finances. That said, it also meant Nicholas could afford what he wanted.

The hero, who was once an idiot peasant, wanted to get his hands on more books. Sean had already given his supply to Nicholas, and the few he had left were reserved for a couple of nobles. It would be wrong to sell those, even if his current customer was willing to pay top dollar for them. The only other book available was written in another language. One that couldn’t be read by any humanoid. To be specific, it was a book written by monsters for monsters. It was demonic. There was no way Nicholas would be able to read it. That was why Sean kept silent about it.

“Can’t you afford it with the money I just gave you?” Nicholas said with a confused expression. It should have been easy to buy more books. Sean was a merchant. He had connections. Why couldn’t Nicholas order more books? It was hard to see the main issue, especially after coming from the capital where books were common. The resources were what was expensive. Paper and ink were rare. White paper in particular was impossible to obtain without emptying one’s wallet. Ink was also rare for the local area given the lack of seas or ink-creating monsters.

“You mean the money that you’re using to repay me for the items you stole?” Sean said with a stern voice. He was just given a large sum of coins in the name of charity. Of course, he knew that was a bold lie. The Unnamed Team wasn’t the type of group to be philanthropists. Donations only aroused suspicions for this merchant. Nicholas was either looking for a significant discount, or he was hoping to hide something. Fortunately, Sean was smart enough to see the truth.

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“Ah, funny you mentioned that,” Nicholas said. He wasn’t sure how to respond. It all depended on how much Sean knew. To be more precise, it depended on the number of items Sean thought were stolen. That was why Nicholas preferred not to say anything. He’d simply let Sean give his guess and respond accordingly. Some skills may have been used during the initial theft, so the range of available knowledge varied heavily. It should have been impossible to be completely sure about any estimate, but Sean had a way of keeping his wares in line.

“I check my inventory every day. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Sean asked. It was standard practice for merchants to keep a close eye on their stock. Even a novice knew to do it. The only outlier was Sean because he took his watchful eye to an extreme. He kept high-quality goods in a locked case until a noble or other wealthy person dropped by. A detailed list of every item, transaction, and shipment stayed by his side at all times. To emphasize his attentiveness, he updated the list frequently and checked it for any discrepancies. That was how he understood it was The Unnamed Team that robbed him and not some other thief.

“Not at all,” Nicholas said, hoping his lie could somehow bypass the facts he’d been given. The Unnamed Team knew there were on borrowed time from the very beginning. The clock was ticking since before the tournament, which was quite a while ago. They had always intended to repay the good merchant at some point, but recent events took them to the capital and gave the team several excuses.

"You arrogant little… Just because you're heros doesn't mean you can get away with that. I expect more to keep me quiet!" Sean said. He tapped his finger on the counter to emphasize his point. Paying back what was owed was a good start, but The Unnamed Team would need to work harder. One could argue that there was interest in those stolen goods. Interest that had been piling up for quite some time. Fortunately, the team in question had more than enough money to right their past mistakes.

"R-right," Nicholas said. He hesitated for a moment, but it was hard to argue with the man. He was right. The team owed compensation for the inconvenience and for not being immediately turned over to the authorities. Nicholas reached into his coin pouch and grabbed several coins. He wasn’t concerned with the exact amount. He just wanted this interaction to be over.

Sean eyed the money presented to him. He stared at the pile of coins then at Nicholas. A small smirk appeared on his lips. He made a more gesture with his hand and tapped the counter once again. Nicholas begrudgingly complied, placing even more coins on the counter. Then, it happened again. And again. Until Sean, the merchant and swindler, was satisfied. It might have been harsh to shakedown a known hero, but what else was he to do? Sean needed to teach these younglings a lesson that they’d never forget. Even if it meant putting a dent in their collective money hoard.

With the rigged transaction finished, Sean threw the demonic book at his customer and chased him out of the store.