A knee hit the stone floors of a large, and magnificent palace, followed by a single fist. "Lord, there is a visitor that has come to see you."

"Who is it?" said a voice from behind the door.

"I don't know. He says he is a merchant."

"Send him away. Who do I look like? Why use would I have for merchants?" The voice rumbled angrily.

"No, my lord, I think you should meet with this man. What he sells is, well, amazing. You should at least take a look."

"Are you telling me what to do, boy?"

"No sir, forgive me for my brashness, but what this merchant sells will change Ariah forever."

The large door burst open, and a middle-aged man walked out with quick steps. "Change Ariah, you say? You better not be wasting my time, boy."

The man kept walking, and the servant jogged behind.

The two entered a sitting room where three people sat waiting for him. Two guards and the so-called merchant. They were posted to watch the merchant, and the other was a smiling young man with a pockmarked face. He wore a white shirt, green pants, green shoes, and a green hat. He had jewelry everywhere and his body slang with every move he made.

The man frowned when he saw this merchant. His first assessment was that this was a fool who had come to waste his time. He glanced at the man behind him with killing intent. But he was already here, might as well he hear what this man has to say.

He sat opposite the smiling youth. "Who are you, merchant, and what are you selling?" The man said in an unpleasant tone.

The youth smiled unperturbedly. "I am Nail from the Falling Stardust Trading Company. We are new to the Western Region and have set out to introduce our products and seek new customers in the underserved Western Region..."

The youth spoke confidently as he, one after the other, took out items from his void ring and explained their use and functions. From Artifacts to potions, to materials, to food and meat. In the end, the Lord's eyes were shining, he couldn't believe such things existed.

"What are your prices?" The Lord asked impatiently. His only concern now was that these things will be too expensive.

"We accept two currencies, crystals, and knowledge." The young man informed.

"Knowledge? What kind of knowledge?"

"Knowledge that might be of value. Anything about cultivation, the environment, other powers, dungeons, ruins, resources, regions with high Imperium, polluted areas or places where strange phenomena occur, etc. We prefer essence stones, but we accept other forms as well." Nail was a fast talker, and a smile never left his face.

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"As for our prices, I can tell you now, healing potions are ten pounds of crystals per vile, moon potions ins thirty pounds of crystals per vile, lighting potion is eight pounds of crystals per vile..." Nail listed off hundreds of items and their prices. And the discounts available from bulk buying.

The Lord remained silent for a few seconds before he stood up. "I will be right back. Wait here," He said before he left the room.

Nail simply nodded and waited patiently for his return. After an hour, the Lord returned with a scroll in his hand, then handed them off to Nail.

Nail unfurled the scroll and read its contents. "That is quite a big order. We can fulfill this order within three days. You will simply have to pay twenty percent now and the other eighty once everything is delivered."

"Three days? This quickly? Twenty percent? You expect me to trust you with all those crystals and hope that three days later, the things that I have ordered will appear?" The man asked in anger.

"No," the youth said calmly. "We will make a sales contract here. This is no ordinary contract. If either party brake this contract, they and their organization will suffer greatly."

Nail took out his Peacock feather and a piece of paper packed with Imperium. The Lord gasped when he saw it. Nail quickly jotted down the terms of the agreement before signing it with his imprint. Then handed it off to the Ariah Lord.

The lord looked at the contract, then had his manservant look it over once again. "What is with this contract? Why can I feel such powerful Imperium and your aura tied to it?"

"This is a soul contract, it is tied to our souls. Once we sign it, if the conditions are broken, the offending party will have their souls burned until death and if the offending party represents an organization."

The man frowned at the contract. "Such a horrible thing exists? Why would one subject themselves to such a thing?"

"For benefits, this contract simply ensures one keeps their word. If you plan on keeping your word, you have nothing to worry about. If you don't, it is best you don't sign it."

The man grew angry. "Are you saying that I, Luther, am not a man of my word?"

The young man remained calm. "I do not know you, Luther, whether or not you are a man of your word is foreign to me. Even if you are, there would be no difference. This is how the Falling Stardust does business. Everyone signs a contract, everyone remains honest, and good business is always conducted. Nothing is left to chance."

"Do you think I won't kill you, boy?"

Nail still had his calm expression. "I came here knowing full well that I might die. My organization may not set out to avenge my death, but they will blacklist your organization. You will never be able to buy any of our products. This may not seem too steep a price, but your neighbors will buy. Their strength will increase and I'm sure you have offended a few, at least. You know exactly what will befall Ariah should that happen."

Luther grit his teeth. He placed his imprint on the contract and tossed it back to Nail. He said to the servant behind him, "Give the man the twenty percent he is owed."

Luther angrily stormed into a room and slammed the door behind him. Everyone else sitting around the room looked at the man in alarm. "What happened?" A man with wrinkles on their face asked.

Luther grunted and sat down. "Our plan failed. We could not swindle those fellows. It was foolish of us. They have been doing this for years, of course, they would have a fail-safe."

"So we will not be getting those items?" Asked another red-haired man.

"Of course we are. We will buy them using the crystals we have. We may even buy more with knowledge. With the benefits those items will give us, we can make a ton more crystals than we even used to buy these things." Luther said confidently, his mood had improved.