By the time morning came around, the Golden Clover was bathed in soft sunlight, its empty hall eerily quiet. Reese sat at the counter, idly flipping through a well-worn novel, though her eyes barely stayed on the page.
It was only nine o’clock, but for a merchant guild, the silence was a stark reminder of how far they had fallen.
Even though she didn’t have high hopes for this “Ventus Zising”, but the thought of failing to deliver even a single Egg Peach to their client still gnawed at her. Sure, it was just a “leftover” commission, but failing a trusted client could further damage the already fragile reputation of the Golden Clover.
“Not that we have much of a reputation left to protect,” Reese sighed as her eyes landed on the guild’s signboard, tucked away in the cabinet, gathering dust. “If Uncle’s around, he’d never let things fall apart like this….”
Her uncle, Verner Endalyn, the current guild master of the Golden Clover, had left Hazelton six months ago. Handpicked by the kingdom to lead a trade delegation to the elven kingdom of Antaurius, Verner’s departure had been a grand event. Even Roger Dreslam, the head of Hazelton’s largest merchant guild, had personally come to offer his congratulations. For a brief moment, Golden Clover had stood proudly in the spotlight.
But not long after the trade delegation set out, rumors began swirling in Hazelton, all targeting the Golden Clover. At the same time, the trade delegation vanished without a trace. Despite Reese’s repeated inquiries with the officials, all she ever received were vague, bureaucratic responses, claiming they couldn’t share any details.
Now that she has the time to sit on the matter, she finally realized everything felt too coincidental.
“Roger Dreslam personally recommending Uncle for the trade delegation, even going so far as to visit our guild in person to congratulate us… That’s way out of character for the likes of him.”
Unfortunately, that uneasy feeling was all Reese had, a gut instinct with nothing to back it up. Without evidence, there was nothing she could do but watch as the Golden Clover’s standing crumbled. One by one, their clients left, their influence shrank, and in the end, the guild was left barely hanging on, its operations all but shut down.
Knock knock knock ——
A sudden flurry of knocks jolted Reese from her thoughts. She rose from her seat and walked toward the guild’s front door. As she swung open the oak doors, she froze at the sight in front of her.
Standing outside was Zi-Cheng, grinning from ear to ear, with an entire wooden cart piled high with Egg Peaches behind him.
“You… you got all that in just one night!?”
“Not exactly.” Zi-Cheng chuckled, casually waving her question away. “Actually, do you have another cart lying around? I’ve still got another load to bring over.”
“Whaaaaaat!?”
Reese’s knees buckled as her jaw practically hit the floor. She slumped against the doorframe, completely dumbfounded, as if the entire world had stopped making sense.
News of the Egg Peach harvest spread like wildfire through Hazelton. By mid-morning, the entire city was buzzing. Everyone was asking the same question: What did the Golden Clover do to pull off the impossible? How had they managed to collect several years’ worth of Egg Peaches in just one day?
Curious rival guilds sent scouts to the riverbank, but all they found were bald, fruitless Egg Peach trees surrounded by slimes that looked ready to explode with rage. The clever trenches and waterways? Long gone, restored by Zi-Cheng’s [Terraform] before he left the scene.
Back at the Golden Clover, Reese placed a small pouch of coins on the counter with a satisfying clink.
“Here you go—sixty silver coins,” she said, her tone professional. “That includes both your commission reward and the amount we’re paying you for the Egg Peaches.”
Zi-Cheng blinked. Sixty silver coins? That was even less than what that smug rich kid at the combat academy casually tossed at him!
“Just sixty?” Zi-Cheng narrowed his eyes, suspicion written all over his face as he stared at Reese.
“Of course,” Reese replied smoothly, completely unfazed by his reaction. “I deducted the rental fee for the wooden cart, it’s all there in our contract.”
Zi-Cheng sighed deeply, shaking his head.
(Merchants, huh? No matter the world, they’re all the same. The devil’s always in the details.)
Even though he felt a bit cheated, Zi-Cheng held his tongue. If he wanted to keep working with the Golden Clover, it was better not to push his luck.
“Hey, by the way, Ventus, what are you planning to do with the money?” Reese asked suddenly.
(Sixty silver coins... If I use it to stay at an inn, it’ll barely last me a month. If I’m going to settle in this city, I’ll need to find somewhere cheaper to stay.)
“Do you know any places I can rent for around twenty silver coins?” Zi-Cheng asked.
“Twenty silver?” Reese frowned, tapping her chin as she thought. “That’s a tough ask. These days, even the cheapest rent starts at fifty silver. If you want anything halfway decent, you’re looking at eighty silver or even a full gold coin.”
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“F-Fifty silver coins for basic rent?!” Zi-Cheng’s eyes went wide in disbelief.
Doing some quick math, he realized that with one silver coin equal to one hundred copper coins, fifty to eighty silver coins meant five thousand to eight thousand coppers. And yet, a single apple at the market only cost three coppers!
(Chris said three silver coins could get me a night at an inn with dinner included. That price actually seems like a bargain now. How on earth is rent this expensive? How do people even afford to live here?)
Then it hit him.
(No, they probably can’t afford it. That’s why Chris took on those commissions outside the city… Even as an ex-captain, he has to risk his neck just to make ends meet.)
“Well, there are some cheaper options if you’re okay with sharing a flat with someone in the old town district,” Reese said cautiously, “but… the conditions there are… let’s say, not ideal.”
She paused for a moment, before suddenly perking up and raising a finger like she’d just had a lightbulb moment.
“Oh! But if you’re not looking for a regular place to stay, I may actually have a spot I can recommend!”
Without wasting another second, Reese shoved Zi-Cheng out the guild’s back door, locking it behind her as she ushered him forward.
“Where are we going?” Zi-Cheng asked, his steps faltering slightly.
“Just come with me,” Reese replied with a sheepish smile.
Leaving the guild behind, the two walked down a narrow alley tucked between weathered buildings. Unlike the vibrant hustle of the nearby commercial district, the backstreets here felt almost frozen in time. Rows of crumbling old houses lined the road, their walls weathered and stained with age. Weeds sprouted stubbornly between uneven cobblestones, while a black cat dozed lazily atop a wooden fence.
“Back then, everyone was dirt poor,” Reese said, brushing her ponytail back. “Most folks lived in the old town district or in places like this. Then the merchant guilds started teaming up with smiths and artisans, next thing we know, Hazelton is exporting to the capital and neighboring cities.”
As Zi-Cheng looked around the backstreet, the stark contrast became apparent. Here, the run-down buildings looked like relics of a bygone era, forgotten by time and overshadowed by the city’s rapid growth. Just a street away, the commercial district basked in the sunlight, its polished stone facades gleaming and intricate carvings showcasing wealth and progress, symbols of a world that dominated the main roads.
“People got rich,” Reese continued, her voice carrying a mix of pride and bitterness. “And they started tearing down the old buildings, replacing them with fancier ones—like they were desperately trying to bury the past.”
Reese pointed ahead, toward a stone bridge, and Zi-Cheng instantly recognized it.
(That’s the bridge I used to tail Chris yesterday!)
“When I was a kid, I used to love playing under that bridge,” Reese said with a soft smile. “Summers were great back then. The stream nearby was full of dragonflies.”
“Wait, there was a stream here?” Zi-Cheng asked, as he could only see an overgrown, muddy ground beneath the bridge.
“Well, there was,” Reese said, her smile fading into a frown. “But it dried up after the Dreslam Merchant Guild built their shiny new headquarters and cut off the waterway.”
With her arms crossed, Reese’s usual cheerful tone quickly gave way to something sharper.
“Roger Dreslam’s a genius, I’ll give him that. And sure, the arena’s brought wealth and prosperity to Hazelton. But that doesn’t mean the merchant guilds can just trample over everything and everyone. My uncle always said a business should exist to serve the people. No matter how profitable it gets, if you lose the heart of the people, it’s all over.”
Though Zi-Cheng’s time in this world had been brief, he’d already glimpsed the harsh reality faced by those without strength or status. Reese’s words resonated with him, stirring something he hadn’t felt in a long time. For a moment, he felt genuinely thankful that he’d crossed paths with the Golden Clover.
“Your uncle’s a wise man.” Zi-Cheng smiled and said without missing a beat, “and speaking of looking out for people, how about knocking the wooden cart rental off my tab?”
Reese blinked at him, then burst into laughter. “Nice try!” she said, sticking her tongue out playfully before turning and walking ahead.
The two chatted as they walked, their laughter breaking the silence of the rundown backstreets. Before long, they arrived at a large, abandoned red-brick house.
“Okay... hold on,” Zi-Cheng said, stopping in his tracks as he stared at the building. Its walls were draped in thick vines, and the windows were boarded up with uneven planks. “This is the place you’re taking me? You’re not seriously suggesting I live here, are you?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Reese asked, tilting her head, her expression completely sincere, like she genuinely didn’t see any problem.
“Where do I even start?” Zi-Cheng sighed, gesturing to the house like he was presenting a crime scene. “This place looks like it could collapse any second! You sure there won’t be ghosts waiting to jump out in there?”
Ignoring him entirely, Reese walked up to the door and brushed away the thick layer of dust caked on its surface. Beneath the grime, a tarnished plaque caught the light, gleaming faintly.
【Golden Clover Blacksmith Workshop】
image [https://i.imgur.com/LUtmCOn.jpeg]
Reese turned back to Zi-Cheng with a satisfied grin. “See? This isn’t just some old house. It’s a piece of history!”
“That’s not the point!” Zi-Cheng groaned, throwing his hands in the air. “And why does the Golden Clover even have a Blacksmith Workshop? Aren’t you guys supposed to be a merchant guild?”
“As a proper merchant guild, having our own blacksmith workshop is just the most reasonable thing to do!” Reese said, puffing out her chest with pride.
(Yeah, common sense… if this place didn’t look like it’s been rotting here for decades….)
“What did you say?” Reese’s eyes narrowed, sharp as daggers.
“Nothing! I didn’t say a word!” Zi-Cheng waved his hands frantically to support his denial.
Reese snorted, clearly unimpressed, and pulled out a rusty old key from her pocket. She jabbed it into the padlock binding the front door, twisting with a grunt. After a few clinks and a reluctant clunk, the ancient chain hit the ground with a dramatic clang.
But just as she pushed the door open—
“Hey! Who’s there! What are you doing here!”
A sharp voice rang out from behind them.
Zi-Cheng slowly turned around, his eyes widening in surprise. Standing there was a blonde-haired girl, glaring at them with arms crossed. She looked as if she’d stepped straight out of a painting, her golden locks glowing under the sunlight.
(Th...that’s the gacha girl from the Sanctuary!)