The new day brought with it a clear mind that Ryan sorely needed. He went through his normal morning routine before packing up the scrolls and heading downstairs. By this time, the barkeep had already heard about his newfound success at the shop. As a result, Ryan was no longer served leftovers but fresh food.

"Good morning, Carl," Ryan said in greeting to the barkeep.

"Good morning, Ryan. Glad to see you sober again. Third day in a row, huh? Things must be moving nicely?"

Ryan couldn't help but smile at the small success of putting down the booze, a smile which morphed into a snort at the last part of Carl's sentence.

"I wish. Life always throws curveballs. At this point, I'm not even sure I can solve the problems I have, and drinking won't help me this time," Ryan said with a sigh.

"Ah, I hear you. My mama always said to take a deep breath and let your mind wander. Every problem has a solution. Anyway, here's your serving of freshly baked bread and some stew," Carl said as he dropped the items on the counter.

Ryan said a quick thanks before taking his food to a table at the other side of the room.

There was just something about the fresh bread and stew that Ryan couldn't help but appreciate. After years of cracker bread and watered-down stew, it was really nice to have good food.

If he didn't think fast and smart, he'd be back to eating cracker bread and leftover stew for a long time. So he mulled over his options one more time to see if he was missing anything.

Looter's Heaven had served him the most diabolical contract ever known, literally pulling strings from behind to twist his hand into having no other choice but them—well, at least that was for sure what they thought.

The contract itself had a few upsides, like working under an established franchise and being assured customers every day. The auto-renewal of his license and the opportunity to meet with other high-end merchants under the banner from time to time were also positives.

Their biggest selling point was the security that came from working with them. Looter's Heaven was known for protecting their investments.

All in all, it was still a terrible deal, but any other merchant who didn't have an offer like Gerhalt's on the table would've been like, "But look at the bright side..." In honest truth, it was simply a predatory contract.

With a sigh, Ryan tore a chunk of bread and dipped it in the stew before eating.

He decided to mull over Mr. Gerhalt's offer. At first glance, it was almost like Looter's Heaven, just a lot more flexible and favorable for both sides.

Ryan would help the Iron Bender move merchandise much faster, speeding up Mr. Gerhalt's turnover process. The daily five hundred silvers played two roles: first, it ensured that Mr. Gerhalt earned on his products even if they hadn't been sold, and second, it was basically a stick up the partner merchant's arse to move the merchandise quickly.

It was a pretty reasonable partnership, sure to earn him some gold, but he wondered why the Iron Benders didn't just sell the items themselves since they already had a shop dedicated to adventurers.

That was definitely something he'd have to ask. Plus, it was pretty weird how a master blacksmith was scouting him out. Or was this some kind of scheme like the one Looter's Heaven had just tried to pull on him?

Blasted schemes. He hadn't even had an ale yet, and his head was banging from all the thinking. Speaking of banging, it was time to pull up his stat screen.

A chime echoed in his head as the screen came up.

[Name: Ryan Lionheart

Profession: Merchant

Class: Alchemist (journeyman)

Coin: 18 gold, 300 silvers

Debt:

- 6 gold (deadline 4 days)

- 35 gold (deadline 6 days)]

That seemed like a lot of gold for him, but in view of his current problems, it wasn't as much as he needed. He needed way more.

The profit from the previous day was outstanding, although it did come with a significant sell-off of his potions. He only had about thirty-five potions left, which meant he'd have to get more ingredients for potions, but first, he'd have to pay a visit to the Iron Bender.

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With his plan set out, Ryan hurried with his food, got out of the inn, and with a focused mind, barely paid heed to the greetings coming from around him.

Ryan was in no way interested in getting burnt, so he just went into the adjacent shop where Vincent was. As soon as he stepped in, he was greeted by him.

"Good morning, Mr. Lionheart. Mr. Gerhalt has been expecting you," Vincent said as soon as Ryan stepped through the door.

Well, that was certainly surprising, as it was very early in the morning.

Thanking him for the information, Ryan headed into the office under Vincent's watchful gaze. He rapped on the door to hear a muffled "Come in."

Stepping into the room, he saw the relaxed figure of Mr. Gerhalt on the chair he sat on the previous day. Mr. Gerhalt motioned for Ryan to have a seat.

"Well, welcome back, Mr. Lionheart. I'm hoping that you have positive news for me," Mr. Gerhalt said with a chuckle.

"Ah, yes sir. After thinking about your proposition, I have a single question to ask before I can accept your offer," Ryan said.

"Only one? Well, ask away," Mr. Gerhalt said, eager to get this over with.

"Well, I'm surprised that you don't sell the stones yourself since you are the one producing them. Can I know why?" Ryan asked.

"Well, that's a good question. In fact, that's an excellent question—one I've been asking the Blacksmiths Guild for years. As part of my licensing agreement, I can't sell artifacts directly to adventurers. I can only sell to statics like yourself. Of course, I'm permitted to sell weapons directly to adventures, but that's where my freedom stops," Mr. Gerhalt paused.

"I am limited to finding merchants like you who can move my artifacts as fast as possible so that it remains a lucrative part of my business. It's even hard to find merchants that haven't been snatched up by Looter's Heaven. One piece of advice I have for you, boy, is that if those blood-sucking weasels approach you for a contract, run as far as possible and pray to Veron's nuts that they don't touch you."

Mr. Gerhalt said the last part with anger.

"Wow, they must've snatched a couple of merchants off of you for you to hate them that much," Ryan said.

"Of course they have. They've managed to snatch almost all the promising merchants. I don't even know how they do it. Even the merchants I do get my hands on, they somehow manage to get their hooks into and take them away from me. It's so annoying, I can't even put into words how pissed I am at them." Gerhalt paused as he shook his head and continued, "They have been monopolizing the market, and no one knows how to even stop them. It's really so so infuriating. They're like a cancer, eating into the merchant's heart. They've bought the courts, and even most of the other guilds work for them. In fact, no one knows who owns Looter's Heaven. It is really a mystery."

"Wait, nobody knows who owns Looter's Heaven?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, it's been a well-guarded secret. Most people think it's a group of adventurers from other worlds that founded and maintains Looter's Heaven, alongside a couple of statics. It's just a rumor, though. Nobody knows for sure... Enough of those weasels. Back to business, I suppose."

"Yes, of course. So about your proposition, I accept your terms," Ryan said.

"While I admit that is fantastic to hear, I'll have to admit some details of the terms have changed overnight due to some new information reaching me," Gerhalt said.

Now Ryan was wary. That right there was a red flag. They hadn't even gotten into business with him yet, and changes were already being made abruptly.

That was something that he'd have to take note of. Terms changing abruptly was something that he'd have to be wary of with arrangements like this. He might as well hear the changes; they might be minor things.

"That is unexpected, although I'm willing to listen to your new offer," Ryan said.

"I appreciate that. Unfortunately, I'd have to increase the price of the teleportation stones to three gold and five hundred silvers apiece, and the daily tax is now one gold per day. Is that acceptable?" Gerhalt said.

"Whoa, can I have a minute to think about it?" Ryan said.

"Sure, take as long as you want," Mr. Gerhalt responded.

Ryan had to take a quick breather. He didn't even know what he was going to do at this point. The change of terms affected his profit margin, but it would still let him make enough profit to pay off his debts. It was going to be difficult for him to even get out, but it was definitely possible.

At this point, he was angry with himself for already dreaming of the profits he would've gotten from the previous terms. Heck, he was angry with himself for not accepting the former deal from the onset. But at least he now knew the kind of person he was dealing with—an opportunistic weasel, just a better one than Looter's Heaven. He didn't know how, but he was very sure that Mr. Gerhalt had heard about his Traders Guild problem and knew he needed the money, so he was now negotiating with significantly less power.

"Unfortunately, I can only accept this deal if you reduce the daily tax back to five hundred silvers," Ryan said.

"Aha, Mr. Lionheart, I can only reduce that to seven hundred silvers, and the rest of the terms are non-negotiable," Mr. Gerhalt said while playing with his pinky finger.

Ryan nearly pulled his hair out. He was being played like a fiddle on every side. Somebody wanted to use him as much as possible. By all means, he could at least maintain his freedom with this guy.

"I accept your terms, Mr. Gerhalt," Ryan said.

"Fantastic, Mr. Lionheart. I look forward to a successful partnership," he said while standing up and offering Ryan a handshake.

"So do I," Ryan said as he stood up and shook hands with him.

"Please follow me to the counter so that we can pick out the items for our new partnership," Mr. Gerhalt said.

Mr. Gerhalt led the way out of the office back into the shop, where he started to list different items and their prices, along with the potential amount that Ryan could sell them for. As he moved from item to item, Ryan's head was burning. The sudden switch was alarming, and all he could think about was how to earn enough coin to detach himself from Gerhalt.

The man seemed to be as bad as Looter's Heaven. Ryan wouldn't do more business with someone like him more than he had to.

Ryan stopped the presentation right there and then, with his mind already made up.

"If it's alright with you, I'll only take the teleportation stones. Baby steps and all that," Ryan said.

"Of course, of course. I expected nothing more than that from you, Mr. Lionheart," Mr. Gerhalt said, with a little bit of mockery seeping into his voice.

"Well then, what's the maximum number of stones I can get from you?" Ryan said choosing to let the slight slide.

"I can give you five stones for a start. You can purchase more if you wish to," Gerhalt said.

"I'll take the five plus an extra four that I'll pay for immediately," Ryan replied.

"Vincent, you heard the man. Get his order ready."

Within moments, Ryan was in possession of nine teleportation stones. He'd just lost fourteen gold on four stones and was currently owing an additional seventeen gold and five-hundred silvers on the five he received from Mr. Gerhalt.

With the stones settled, it was time to get ingredients for his potions.