"I don't really trust him," Asya says once the blacksmith- who introduced himself as Ramor, - went out of earshot. And if looks could kill, the glares that she shot at the man's back would tear him apart, "He sounds very shady- him knowing someone in the merchant's guild is only gonna make it worse,"

"I have a feeling, actually." Jacob said, "he's gonna go behind my back to see if he can create the bronze without my help." His suspicions weren't unfounded either, and Asya had a point, the man was skeevy as hell and Jacob's willing to be that what he said just now will come true in the next few days, or if the guy doesn't have any tin, then when they reach the city. "And it's not like the merchant's guild is gonna be willing to cut a deal with me without taking a leg either."

Jacob started to hum, knowing how bronze is made wouldn't really matter at the moment and Jacob assumes that Ramor would try to mix high quantities of Tin and Copper together to make the coins at the start- which wouldn't work because bronze only needs a small amount of tin, and he's sure that adding a large amount of the stuff wouldn't result in anything important.

"Then how about Horos' church? Those guys value knowledge way too much to let it slip through their hands and go to the merchants," Jacob eyed Asya, "and I'm not saying this because I praise the God- maybe a little bit," she admitted with a grin, "but that's not really important! My point is, you don't need your cut of money from a contract with the merchants if Horos can give you a blessing for your knowledge!"

That can happen? - would've been his first question but maybe it isn't such a good idea when he's trying to sound smart, "I'll... see what I can do." He opened his system and stared at the MAX leveled [Commune] at the bottom of the sheet, he probably didn't need to go to church to talk with Horos himself but then he also assumes that someone from there would want to at least talk to him about that sort of thing- Or, "Do I need to go to church for this? What if I have the ability to... let's say talk to Horos remotely?"

"That's fine too," Asya answered with a shrug, "It's not really all that important to go to the church if you can do that." Her eye's met his, "unless you want recognition?"

Jacob shook his head, his [Energy Mage] class was already doing that and more, "Eh, not really."

"Then... you should talk to him." She muttered something under her breath about "whatever I meant by that." or something of the sort.

Silence for a while, and then, "You know, all this talk about bronze almost made me forget that you said you have things I shouldn't ask you about."

Jacob rolled his eyes, trying to play it cool, distraction? What distraction? "It wouldn't be things that "you shouldn't ask about" if I'm gonna answer them."

Another beat of silence and then... "...Fair."

"So... what now?" Asya asked, turning to Jacob.

"We wait for everyone to leave?" Was his brief answer to which the girl nodded, pulled out a book, and started reading.

Now that he has time to spare, Jacob decided to take inventory, after his talk with the Duke, he managed to fulfill all the things he needed to do before the trip; from buying a bag that was larger on the inside- which the merchant's guild call Portable Storages, or Ports for short - to a bunch of food that ranged from long lasting ones such as cheese, bread, and pickled/smoked/salted meat, to those with short shelf-lives that have been extended thanks to magic, chief among them being an entire box full of fried pig, or flat noses. Same thing really.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Clothes also went into the Port, with some being worn by Jacob himself, gone are his modern jacket and pants, and in their place is a simple, albeit high quality shirt and pants. He also bought a hooded cloak or a Mage's robe to compensate for his jacket; since it's not enchanted, Jacob didn't have to spend extra gold for it.

All in all, after his shopping spree, Jacob's money went down from 22 gold and 250 silver to only 18 gold- Most of that had been spent on the Port.

After his quick check, Jacob pulled his hand out of his Port and the mental image of all the items he put inside the bag disappeared. After closing the bag, Jacob locked it on his belt before turning to Asya, "Do you want to fill your stomach just before we leave?" He asked her, prompting her to look away from her book and eye Jacob, "just so that we don't have to- you know, eat during the road? Or wait for lunch?"

She looked away and turned her gaze to the party, Jacob shortly followed. Everyone was still celebrating, and though most of them were busy talking and cheering, or even drinking, the food on the table was steadily decreasing, even with its slow pace, it wouldn't take long for the food to disappear, "... we're leaving at lunch, technically." She said after a while, then she hopped down from the wagon and held out her hand, "Come on, let's eat."

Jacob returned Asya's smile and took her hand.

People greeted the two of them as they made their way to the table and Asya's actual status showed itself when even the merchants themselves bowed to her when she passed them, that made Jacob slightly curious, but not enough to ask the girl about it. He'd put it out at some point, and Asya didn't seem comfortable talking about it.

When they reached the table, a pair of plates held by Gatian were already prepared for them, "Sir, Maam," he said respectfully, bowing, "Kaxa saw that you two were walking over here and asked me to hand this to you,"

"Thanks," Asya said, giving Gatian a neutral smile before taking the plate, Jacob did the same.

"What do you want to eat?" Asya turned to him.

"Honestly? Anything that catches my interest." Well, not really anything- he knows what he wants to pick, mostly meat and vegetables that look like they'd taste good. Cakes and the like weren't something he was interested in, with him lacking a toothbrush- and he forgot that he needed to buy hygiene products. Silently cursing himself, Jacob started filling his plate with all the food he thought might taste good.

And when he was done, he left the table with Asya in tow.

Disappointingly, it didn't even take a minute before the whole point of the party loomed over them- "Ah! It's good to see the [Mage] responsible for finding the method of cracking the Dungeon!"

Blinking, Jacob faced the thin man walking over to them, he was... not what Jacob expected to see in a merchant; he had long, noodle-like arms and a body that didn't have any signs of fat, his face was long, and his cheeks looked a bit thin, and the man's only saving grace, in the end, were his eyes, which fortunately didn't look sunken.

The iconic merchant smile that's full of oil grew on the man's face as he fixed the collar of the expensive brown suit that he's wearing. "I've been meaning to talk to you-" His eyes wandered to Asya and his smile grew, "-well, both of you actually."

Personally, Jacob wanted to go anywhere else but here but that's not really an option since he doubts that the merchant would appreciate that. His father's words about image and politeness echoed inside his head and Jacob held back a sigh, if he's gonna want to keep his connections, then tolerating the merchants (no matter how much he gets annoyed at them,) is a necessity that he can afford with nothing but his patience- and it's a good thing that he has a lot of that.

He gave the man his best smile, "And why would that be sir?.."

"Ah, Cego would be fine!" The man introduced himself, "But if you're curious, how about we both talk about it discreetly? Can't have others swooping in on our deals and-"

That was apparently a cue for another merchant to come in because another one- this time a chubby merchant who's also tall enough to reach Jacob's neck - came in and wrapped his arms around Cego's neck before smiling at Jacob and Asya, "and I'm obviously included. Right?"

Jacob can only frown at the obvious threats thrown out in public. He looked away from the pair of merchants and into the quartet of knights drinking with each other on one of the tables, they... didn't seem to mind or notice the... bullying? Why is he reminded of bullying at the antics of the two merchants in front of him? He shook his head- better to get things over with, "Sure," Jacob's smile didn't falter, "let's go somewhere quiet."