Sammuel raised his sword and quickly dispatched an odd creature that had three limbs on both sides, totaling six. It quickly moved around on the floor using all of its limbs to constantly propel it forward.
[Ego: Runic Bear]
[Earned 0.04% EXP | Star Quality EXP: 1.51/100%]
Sammuel had decided that since he was out of other’s eyes, he could unleash his full power. As for whether Lawrence took note of it, he could only give up. Finishing this job mattered more for the time being.
Traveling by Lawrence’s directions, there seemed to be an actual path within this land. There were much less monsters running about due to how often people traversed this area. That of course meant that despite traveling deeper in, it was actually much safer.
The Colorless area only ranged around 10 kilometers out while the Bronze area was beyond that. Using the main path, the Colorless monsters only showed up at around 20 kilometers in, and continuing on, it was still relatively safe.
Noticing the fauna here be more active with mana, Sammuel understood that the flowers here would be much more valuable than the outskirts.
“What are you looking for?” Sammuel took one of the flowers on the ground and observed it. Holding little value, Sammuel didn’t see the point in keeping it.
“A certain mystical fruit called a Mirage Apple. It should be around here somewhere.” Lawrence brushed by a branch, trying to look all around the trees. “It looks like a normal apple but it’s a little shinier. That and it sometimes looks invisible from time to time.”
Looking around at somewhat odd places, Lawrence couldn’t help but comment. “I just need a single fruit for now. With that, I can go back.”
Now that Sammuel finally understood what they were looking for, he could finally work on it. “I’ll find some.” Saying so, Sammuel disappeared from Lawrence’s side.
“Eh? Sammuel? Where did you go?” Lawrence rapidly looked around and felt his heart drop. “This isn’t funny, you know?”
A mere few seconds later, Sammuel returned with the so-called mystical fruit. Throwing it at Lawrence, he shrugged it off. “I found some. How many do you need?”
Lawrence suspiciously looked at the apple and he scooped out a bite. His eyes showed a pleasant surprise as this was what he desired. “You could… find these easily?”
“I could.” Sammuel casually answered. Seeing where this was going, he cut straight to the chase. “I’m not getting paid to find these, I’m getting paid to protect you.”
“Ah, yes, yes, yes. Ahem. How many of these can you get me? This is an extremely important piece of resource to continue my research, you see.”
“As many as you can afford.”
Unlike Lawrence, he could see through everything. And all around them, these fruits were extremely common though they were hidden extremely well.
“I’ll buy everything you can get me. The higher the quality, the more I’m willing to pay.” Lawrence placed down all sense of pride he had as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “It’ll require a massive amount that you wouldn’t even be able to dream of.”
Sammuel walked over to the side where Lawrence had been searching. He reached out just above and plucked out another one. “Here. That’s two now. How much are you going to pay me?”
“We can negotiate about that later but for now, how about 20 silver coins per piece?” Lawrence carefully stuffed these apples away.
This was a very generous amount. That is if Sammuel was an idiot. Lawrence was willing to spend 50 silver coins to ensure his safety, this meant that he was extremely loaded. To go out of his way to find these himself, meant that there was something special about these.
What was Sammuel to do now?
“Is it only worth 20 silver coins?” He wanted to clear it up. Instead of playing around with useless trickery, being an honest and upright person was better.
“Well… they are valuable but only for me. Except for those really sparkling ones, they aren’t sought after. I’m being honest, I really need this constant supply. People usually take around an entire day to find one or two so it’s not common at all.”
Sammuel looked into Lawrence’s eyes firmly. He didn’t see any signs where he could’ve lied. Of course, Lawrence could’ve been a really good liar, but Sammuel didn’t disregard that. What he was looking after was his character.
If he was going to be doing business with someone, he liked those who were open with what their wants were. That way, he wouldn’t have to grow wary of them. He was still an outsider to this world and looking after himself was his priority.
He won’t stoop as low as Sadin but he wouldn’t hesitate if it came to that. These past two months cemented how much he needed to work to seek a stable life.
“I’ll believe you. Though I’m curious, what do you need them for?”
“It’s confidential but it's something revolutionary! Something that will make all the merchants of Aganth flock to me. I’m so close to a breakthrough that I’m betting my life on this!” Lawrence grandly laughed. “I took out a loan for 100 gold coins from a certain group of people. I’ll be able to quickly pay them back with this!”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
At once, Sammuel started regretting his agreement. “You… took out such a massive loan? Lawrence, that doesn’t seem to be a smart move.”
“It had been looking pretty grim these past few weeks but now you’re here, I can finally make substantial progress!” Lawrence came over and patted Sammuel on the back. “So don’t worry! Keep them coming, I’ll take all of them off your hands.”
Sammuel didn’t feel assured that Lawrence was willing to buy everything. The man before him was risking everything for this one chance. It was safe to assume what would happen if Lawrence failed. Although Sammuel hadn’t been close to Lawrence at all, he still felt conflicted with his current situation.
“Does the quality of the Mirage Apple matter?”
“Oh, why, yes it does. You see I’m trying to mimic its capability to- Oops, I said too much. Anyway, I’m willing to buy a high-quality one for 2 gold coins! Money isn’t an object, just keep them coming.”
Sammuel could see the passion behind Lawrence’s eyes. It was burning brighter than before. Their situations were completely different but as he saw it, Lawrence was more desperate than him.
“What happens if you run out of money?”
“I can just mortgage a few more things. I can still liquidate around 60 gold coins. Don’t worry about me. I’m so close to a breakthrough that I’m not even worried about it! Besides, I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t confident that it would work out.”
Sammuel sighed. This was supposed to be an easy job but it had turned out to be a lot more complicated than he would’ve liked. Lawrence depended on him more than he depended on Lawrence. The power dynamic here was obvious.
“You’re sure you’re going to make it big, right?”
“Positively! There’s not a single shred of doubt within my mind at all. I wouldn’t be risking everything otherwise.” Lawrence’s confidence was contagious.
“How about this, I want a share of your product. Do that and I’ll supply you with Mirage Apples for 5 silver coins each, at that rate, it doesn’t matter what quality I give you. Alternatively, we can just keep the earlier rate of 20 silver coins, increasing the value depending on the quality. In the end, the choice is yours.”
“That’s…” Lawrence could see this in two different ways. Sammuel was a greedy person wanting a larger share of the pie. That or Sammuel was a person trying to help him tide through this difficult time of his life.
No matter how confident Lawrence was, there was still the risk of losing everything. As a smart person, he understood the weight behind each decision. Would he risk everything to try and make it big or take Sammuel’s hand and safely pass through?
“I…” Lawrence sighed, it was time for him to give his answer. He couldn’t just take a few days to think it through as he was on a literal timer. “I’ll give you 1% of a year’s worth of the product’s profits with a bare minimum payout of 1,000 gold coins. In return, I want each Mirage Apple to be of sufficient quality and lowered to 2 silver coins each. But if… and this is only a possibility, if I fail, you get nothing. Which means you’ve wasted your time for nothing.”
“I can agree to that.” Unlike Lawrence, it wasn’t serious for Sammuel at all. Looking around, he could already spot two more Mirage Apples hidden in plain sight. Even if he sold the Mirage Apples at 2 silver coins each, he would still be making more money than slaughtering worthless mobs.
Sammuel proceeded to grab 5 nearby Mirage Apples and gave it to Lawrence to judge. He had quite lenient criteria as only one of the five failed his requirements.
“Anything as good as this would suffice.” Lawrence shook his head. “You really have keen eyes. I don’t know whether it was fate but you helped me out here, Sammuel.”
Escorting Lawrence back to Aganth, they proceeded to create a contract that contained the exact details of how this works. There were a few changes here such as Sammuel requiring to have a daily quota which he needed to achieve. On Lawrence’s side, he was required to give progress on how close his product was to being realized. Both of them were satisfied with this exchange.
After Lawrence paid 50 silver coins for the escort fee and 12 silver coins for the Mirage Apples, Sammuel managed to earn a sizable sum that would make normal people’s eyes water. Finishing his interaction with Lawrence, there was another person that Sammuel had to meet, Xeril.
Going to the agreed-upon bar, Sammuel entered the vicinity. As he was trying to look around if Xeril was there, a man came up to him. From his appearance, he seemed to be a bouncer of the bar. He didn’t seem to be aggressive as he calmly caught Sammuel’s attention.
“Are you Sir Sammuel?” The man lightly bowed with his palm above his chest. “The someone would like to meet with you.”
Answering the question with a question, Sammuel spoke. “Is it Xeril?”
“That is correct. Would you please follow me into a more… private area.” He waited for Sammuel to comply before leading him deeper in. Instead of an open area where countless people drank, they entered a smaller compact room filled with countless drinks for them to consume.
“Sammuel, glad to see you didn’t forget about me.” Xeril stood up and reached his hand out.
Sammuel accepted the handshake, “Likewise.”
“Firm handshake. So what are you in the mood for? Something spicy?” Xeril picked up one of the bottles and started reading the label on it. “Don’t worry about glasses, just drink from the bottle. We have more than enough to make an entire army drunk.”
With such a warm reception, he kindly accepted the gesture. Sammuel and Xeril were left inside, conversing with common topics and struggles they had. Through this Sammuel learned that Xeril was actually from a fallen noble household. He trained himself so that he could try and revitalize his family’s nobility. A far too common story in this world.
Talking about strength, Sammuel began to understand a bit more about the world from context clues. If anything, this had been a very informative talk.
“I think we’ve been acquainted with each other long enough. Do you mind talking about why I wanted to meet you?” Xeril’s face was beet red yet it didn’t diminish the seriousness in his voice.
“I’ve been waiting this entire time.” Sammuel took another bottle and drank it. Unlike Xeril, Sammuel handled his liquor much better. As it turned out, [Ego: Mineral-Clawed Ferron] had quite a high resistance to getting drunk.
“You don’t seem to be affiliated with anyone here so this is what I propose, come under me.” Xeril confidently said out loud. “You’re talented but without resources, you’ll only be left behind. The next time we meet, I would’ve left you so far behind that you wouldn’t have even understood what happened. I have a recommendation to a certain institute and I could add you in. Though if you ever choose to accept, it’ll take me a little while to gather the money to join.”
As Sammuel had expected, he was being recruited. It was bound to happen after showing off his strength among the people here. Xeril’s arrogant words didn’t cause Sammuel to become angry. He would’ve already refused his offer if he didn’t understand one certain thing.
[Name: Xeril Earlstein
Card Quality: Diamond
Star Quality: 1 | 10/10 | 0/100%
Affinity Level: 23.54%
Combat Power: 8.55]
Colorless, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond. Xeril had a Card Quality of Diamond. Sammuel understood just how terrifying the gap between Colorless and Bronze was. As for Colorless and Silver? He still hasn’t understood it yet. And the gap between him and Xeril? It was obvious just how terrifying he would become later on.
“What do you say?” Xeril reached out his hand, waiting for Sammuel to answer.