Chapter 163
Chapter 163 Kill the Dragon (7)
Greet, the owner of the store run by the Midas Merchant.
First of all, if it's money, he rushes at anything and tries to catch customers somehow. Although people around him pointed at him as a vile merchant and cursed at him, Grit did not bat an eye.
“joy! The guy who sold without knowing the market price is an asshole. Did someone forcefully rob it?”
He usually has a very bad mindset that the victim is the problem rather than the cheater. Although he was a notorious merchant who ate all sorts of swear words, he nevertheless had a pretty decent eye in his own way, and he was able to rise to a fairly high position in the upper Midas.
It happened very rarely, but because Grit proved his ability by purchasing very expensive items at ridiculously low prices, the upper ranks of Midas also trusted him. And he did not betray the trust of Midas.
“Hey... you've had a really big accident.”
A secret space in a dark secret room. Looking down at the black shard that exudes pitch-dark aura from within, Goldberg, the owner of Midas and the real power of the city, murmured with a face that could not hide his surprise.
“Quack. no. I was lucky too.”
Perhaps the fact that even the owner of the store, who would normally never see his face, was acknowledging the deal he had made with a shocked face, Grit made a fuss with his mouth wide open, unable to hide his smile.
“Isn’t that old man who seems ignorant of the world not knowing the value of this thing at first sight? I closed my eyes and called for 5 gold when I was asked to hit the price of scrap metal properly, and accepting it again willingly... It was a moment when my hands were really sweaty, wondering if I had noticed something suspicious.”
Greet is unraveling the elongation with a proud face. However, Goldberg didn't pretend to hear the words in one ear and looked at the old man carefully examining the item with a serious face next to him and asked.
“What do you think? Did you find out anything?”
An old man with a reputation as a prominent archaeologist and relic appraiser in Arcadia's Third Continent. But he groaned in a trembling voice, unable to hide his astonished expression.
“I can't believe it... that relics like this exist in this world.”
No matter how you look at it, he is trembling all over as if he can't believe that he exists in reality. Full of wrinkles, he shuddered at an intense sensation he had never felt before, even though he had been involved in archeology all his life and had been appraising numerous artifacts.
“Answer me. Can you figure out the origin of this object?”
Goldberg urged, as if he was frustrated by the old man's actions, who, after examining the artifacts for a long time, could not explain properly, muttering to himself with a shocked face. Then he looked at the pieces with perplexed eyes, thought about something, and then shook his head and opened his mouth.
“I'm sorry... but with all my knowledge, I can't figure out where this artifact came from. I don't know if you know where the ruins were originally discovered, but... With this alone, it's impossible with my own abilities.”
“Is that so...”
Goldberg muttered with a disappointed look in his eyes. But the old man said with his eyes shining as if that wasn't all.
“But there are still a few things that can be confirmed.”
“Things that can be confirmed...?”
An old man who makes the original shape by attaching the pieces to each other in response to the question of what it is. He then pointed to the letters engraved on the blade and said.
“Here is this part. I don't know exactly what it means, but I've seen letters similar to this in the past.”
Unfamiliar characters that cannot be found even in dozens of languages of ancient kingdoms and various heterogeneous tribes that have already disappeared into the dark side of history.
However, when the old man said he had seen the letters, Goldberg asked with his eyes wide open.
“Do you know what language is inscribed here?”
“That's right. I have also found it in ancient ruins that I have explored myself before.”
The old man started talking with a reminiscent look as if he was recalling the past. Goldberg, who had been silently listening to the secret facts that began to come out of his mouth, looked at the old man and asked after a long time after his story.
“So... you mean that these letters written here are the language of the demons who tried to completely devour the continent of Arcadia in the past... and this sword is a relic they used?”
Holy War.
The fierce and brutal war between the heavens and the demons.
Among the lifeforms of Arcadia, which were almost annihilated among the transcendent beings, no one remained who remembered the events of that time, but he was nonetheless convinced that the great mythical event had existed.
“It's not a definitive record, but... Judging from the records I've obtained from some different races in the past and the ancient ruins of demons and angels found all over the continent, it's clear that this too was a relic used at that time. .”
He speaks strongly in a tone as if he is sure of that. At the old man's words, Goldberg nodded with a troubled face and said,
“I guess that's enough. You may go back now.”
He nodded his head as if he had heard all the necessary information and issued a congratulatory order. At Goldberg's words, the old man put on a slightly uneasy expression and mumbled as if he was trying to say something.
“Um... may I ask what you plan to do with this artifact?”
“...Why are you asking that?”
Goldberg responds aggressively with a sharp tone. The old man flinched at his spirit and waved his hand as if he had no particular meaning.
“Rice doesn’t mean anything. It's just that I've never seen anything that exudes such strong energy like this relic before...”
Relics of demons and angels whose power has been lost over the course of time that I dare not even dare to count, leaving only faint traces.
However, this artifact that was placed in front of the old man was different.
Whoops.
A sword that has been shattered into dozens of fragments without even remaining intact. However, the old man felt an indescribable sense of fear and anxiety when he saw that the presence was intensely exuding more intense energy than anything else.
But as if he didn't care about that, Goldberg just looked at him with a stern expression and growled.
“Just in case... you know where to go and talk about what you’ve seen and heard here, or you know what you shouldn’t do?”
“That’s right.”
“Then get out of here. Don’t even dare to say something to my upper rank without understanding the subject.”
The old man runs away as if he were running away, unable to find even his own money and receiving only the reward he had promised. After he disappeared, Goldberg asked, looking at Griet, who stood there with a nervous expression on his face.
“you.”
“yes!”
Greet is very nervous that sparks might fly at him. Staring at him with intense eyes, Goldberg asked,
“The person who sold this artifact was the first old man you saw?”
“That’s right.”
“The branch you were managing... was, after all, Beylan.”
Third Continent of Arcadia. Among them, Bailan is a major commercial city located in the center of the continent where products and people from all over the continent gather. Adventurers roaming around this place also boasted a great number, so Goldberg did not reprimand him for not identifying the old man who brought the artifact.
“I’m really sorry. At least if I knew where this thing came from, I would have been able to figure out its value a little more accurately.”
A murmur of sincere regret, without any emotion. However, Grit, who had clearly heard this, cried out with his head bowed while lying on his face with a white face.
“Sorry. I hadn't even thought of that part.”
“.....”
But despite his apology, Goldberg didn't even respond. All I can think about is how to dispose of this artifact in my head.
‘It must be difficult to sell in a normal way.'
The Midas Merchant knocks on the doors of wealthy nobles or vain royal families first when selling precious items or valuables. However, no matter how vain nobles were, they weren't crazy enough to buy metal fragments that were completely broken and lost their function as swords at high prices, so Goldberg changed the subject of the sale.
“you.”
“yes!”
Griet hurriedly raises his head to answer Goldberg's voice calling him. Goldberg looked down at him with emotionless eyes and commanded him as a top lord.
“Take this artifact back to Vaylan. And display this artifact in the most visible place in the store, and spread the word to as many merchants and people as possible.”
“What rumors are you talking about...?”
Greet asked back with stupid eyes as if he didn't know. Seeing him like that, Goldberg said with a meaningful smile.
“This mysterious ancient artifact will be auctioned in a month and sold to the highest bidder.”
* * *
Veilan, where the Merchant Shop is located at the Midas Merchant, where Greet is in charge.
This was a very special place even on the third continent of Arcadia.
[How about creating a place where you can trade freely without any restrictions or restrictions?] [
I hope there is a neutral zone where you can talk comfortably even in the event of a war.]
Dozens of kingdoms and many mighty empires have their own needs. An agreement signed in unison. And Bailan, which was born from such an agreement, was a permanent neutral city-state that did not belong to any place where people of any nationality could freely come and go and trade.
Therefore, commerce had no choice but to develop naturally. Because of its geographical advantage of being located in the center of the continent, it was no exaggeration to say that it was the most prosperous and developed city where all the products and gold of the third continent were concentrated.
“Hey, go to Baylan unconditionally. Everything is there when you go there.”
“When you first start the game, settle in Bailan. It’s easy to find party members to hunt with, and there are so many quests that it grows quickly.”
So, among the users who naturally enjoy Arcadia, more and more people began to use this base as their base. A situation where most of the Japanese users are concentrated to the extent that it reaches saturation and causes various problems. And strange stories began to spread among them.
“Hey, have you been to Midas Upper? They were selling strange things there.”
“Strange stuff? what is that?”
“I don't know. They are fragments of a smashed sword, but the item performance is all full of question marks.”
A product that has not even been appraised. That's why everyone who heard the words snorted and sneered.
“okay? Aren’t you just selling trash?”
Street vendors who sold items with garbage-like performance at high prices, saying they were unidentified items. They tried to curse the Merchant Midas, who used the same technique as them, but to do so, the brilliantly shining artifact's description window sealed their mouths.