Chapter 353

“I would prepare many Runic Notations and sell them for a disgusting price, but they know that I can draw extremely good Runic Notations. So if we flooded the market with that,” Jacob says, as they walk through the enormous market in Zamorye, “they would immediately know it was me.”

Guards had been running around the place, but the powerful disguise that Jacob had crafted for them was flawless. And so they went completely undetected.

But they still had a problem. How would they make the amount of money they needed to acquire enough resources to burn to contact Liuthkrav?

Thankfully, Taya was a very positive person.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” she says. “I think we should keep an eye out, see what’s going on at the market, and if we can, you know — find a good deal. Sell, resell. It had always been a dream of mine to become a merchant. And we could also dive into a Dungeon if we find something. We should check out the Adventurers’ Guild. I don’t think they would be looking for us there.”

“Fair enough. It does sound insane that, you know, I’m freeing you and then we just stay in the capital to hunt monsters, I guess.”

So they walked around. But as it turns out, getting a million Adamantite coins just by looking at the wares on display was a pretty naive approach.

And so, after a few hours, Jacob and Taya looked at each other, disheartened.

“This is not turning out the way I imagined it would be,” Taya said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right. It was worth a try. Maybe—”

But before he could continue, someone shouted, “Gem appraisal! Gem appraisal! Come and bet on the best gems mined straight from Mana Crystal Stone. They didn’t become Mana nodes, but they are the second best thing. Enchanting gems!”

As soon as Jacob heard that, he raised both eyebrows and said, “Ooh, that sounds very interesting.”

Jacob and Taya follow the man advertising the gems inside the pavilion.

“So, what’s this all about?” Jacob asks.

“Oh, you don’t know? They find these rocks inside of Rafnov’s Bounty. Inside each rock there’s a gem, but since the Mana inside the rock is so thick, they don’t really know how big the gems are. So many soldiers and adventurers who get these rocks after killing Nightmares are more interested in selling the rock for a flat price rather than gambling with it.”

Jacob nods slowly. “Can’t anybody see what’s inside the rocks?”

“Appraisers have a few ways to guess, but as I said, the Mana is too thick. So it is gambling.”

“Oh, interesting,” Jacob mutters, and then he eyes Taya.

Taya just had a massive windfall, and Jacob didn’t really bring much money with him. But this seems like the best place to start gambling to win some money.

Yet, before he can fully enter the pavilion, he sees the man flashing a badge to the guards, and stops.

“Um, sorry, do I need a special permission to enter here?”

The guards look at each other and then turn to Jacob.

“You would need the Merchant Association token, sir. All special auctions and events like these are handled by the Merchants’ Guild.”

“Oh,” Jacob frowns.

He had already been anticipating all the money he would have made from scouting the biggest gems with the Grimoire, buying them up with the money Taya had found. But now he wasn’t sure what to do exactly.

“I’m very sorry, uh, how do I get one of those?”

“You have to ask the Merchants’ Guild for a token. There is a registration fee and a small test to make sure that you know how to spend your money.”

Jacob was confused by the second part, but he just nodded, and then he went back out on the street with Taya, who said, “I didn’t know that that system was still in use.”

“Oh, you know about that?” Jacob asked.

Taya nodded. “Grandpa Rafnov created that system. He didn’t want anybody to participate in specific Merchants’ Guild events without having good knowledge of how they would unfold. Merchants are severely, severely forbidden from taking advantage of people. It’s a crime punished by law. It’s a very serious matter in Zamorye.”

“That’s nice, I suppose,” Jacob nods. “Uh, we should go to the Merchants’ Guild. If this is not the only event that’s behind their organization, we might need to get this token. Um, what about identification, though? Do you guys use anything?”

“Not that I know. As long as you have the money, the Merchants’ Guild shouldn’t be asking.”

“All right, we’ll go take a look, then.”

Jacob asks for directions until he finds a gigantic building made of white and red marble. He enters a massive hall where many clerks are sitting at different marble desks. The desks are red, and their marble is polished so much it reflects almost like a mirror.

“Um, hello?”

Jacob is approaching a desk when he sees a middle-aged woman say, “Sorry, I think it’s my turn.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Jacob pulls back and waits as he sees the woman approach the clerk.

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“Hi, I would like a token of the Merchants’ Guild,” the woman says.

The clerk is another woman, chubbier and younger. She tilts her head and says, “Of course, of course. What Rank token would you like?”

“What are Ranks?” Jacob whispers to Taya.

“Probably about what kind of merchandise you can deal with? We should get a Mithril token if we can afford it.”

“I would like an Adamantite token.”

“An Ada— Adamantite token?” The chubby clerk echoed the request, surprised, eyeing up the woman again and taking the plain robes in front of her under scrutiny. “Can you afford that, miss?”

“Of course.”

The woman shakily takes a bag out of her Interspatial Ring and puts it on the counter.

“I would also like a checking account to store the money that I will use for my deals.”

The chubby girl looks at the bag, opens it. Her eyebrows go up. She closes it back and says, “Of course. Can you just sign here and here?”

Jacob sees a contract brimming with Primordial Magic, and then the woman being handed a token.

“Where’s the test?” Jacob asks.

Taya, too, is confused. That woman should not be allowed a token this swiftly, and it’s clear that she doesn’t really have that much money. Her depositing all the money at once means that that’s probably all that she has.

Jacob sighs and decides to check with the Grimoire.

[Anna Pavlovna — History.]

Jacob briefly reads the history and sighs, then turns to Taya and says, “That woman is a widow. Her husband died in the war, and she didn’t get nearly compensated enough for his death. Now her family’s facing a very hard time. I think she’s planning on gambling all that money, hoping that she will make some back. She has three children.”

Taya looks at Jacob with a frown and says, “How do you know?”

“I have ways to know. And I believe she’s leaving.”

They turn and see that the woman is about to go out of the Merchants’ Guild. Jacob rubs his face and ignores the chubby clerk calling him. He runs after the middle-aged woman.

“Miss? Excuse me, miss?”

The woman looks at him suspiciously as Jacob comes to stand in front of her.

“Can I help you?” she asks.

“You can,” Jacob replies with a smile. “I don’t know the city that well. My friend and I,” Jacob points at Taya, “we were hoping for someone to show us around. We are from the countryside, and we have never been to the capital.”

“I’m sorry, I have places to go.”

But before she can go, Jacob says, “Taya, could I have the bag for a moment?”

Taya looks at Jacob and takes out the bag that she found. Jacob takes ten Adamantite coins, then takes the hand of the woman and puts them in there.

“I’m sorry. This is for the bother. If you could wait just a moment while we get our own tokens, then maybe we could explore together? Consider it a small payment. Uh, we could give you more money if you need it.”

The woman eyes the Adamantite coins that Jacob has just so casually put in her hand, but it’s clear that she’s doubtful of this offer’s nature. She doesn’t understand why a stranger would put so much money in her hands — and why her, specifically — and it feels like this is a scam.

Anna hesitates. “I’m not sure I can accept.”

Taya walks forward. “Please accept the money. We mean no harm. We would just like to be shown around some of the places and pavilions that the Merchants’ Guild has been—”

“Excuse me?”

Suddenly, Jacob turns to find the chubby clerk with her hands on her hips.

“If you need someone to show you the city, I am allowed by the Merchants’ Guild to give you a tour as soon as you get your tokens and your account here. And I will do that for free, but you can tip me if you want.”

“Oh, that is a wonderful, wonderful offer,” Jacob says with a smile, but from the corner of his eye he can see that now Anna is looking worried and eyeing wistfully the money that Jacob put in her hand. “But we’ll have to decline. We’ll still open the account and get the tokens, but we don’t really want to disturb the Merchants’ Guild, and we’d feel more comfortable with a normal citizen.”

Jacob thinks he’s handled that quite peacefully and gracefully, but the chubby clerk just says, “What? Why? I know all the Merchants’ Guild’s authorized locations, and if you’re here to make money, I am a way better choice.”

Jacob thinks that this clerk girl clearly hasn’t been trained properly, because anybody else in such an establishment should have just said, “Of course, and I’m sorry about the bother.” Who the hell taught this woman to treat clients like this?

But Jacob was surprised by Taya, who looked at the chubby girl and said, “Miss, I would like to speak to your manager.”

“What?” That seemed to be the chubby girl’s favorite word. “Why?”

“I don’t like the tone that you’re using with us. This woman is a friend, and we don’t know you. So do you have ulterior motives to offer your services like this? Do you perhaps endorse certain pavilions over others?”

“I…”

The chubby girl instantly went into a panic that surprised Jacob. Had Taya just guessed that? But with a quick read of the Grimoire and the history of the girl, Jacob found out that that was actually true.

“Uh, I’m very sorry. Uh, there’s no need to call the manager. I can easily do this.”

“And, oh, why didn’t you administer the test, by the way?” Taya asks.

“The test? It’s just an ancient practice, and it’s not that important.”

And Rafnov himself created the test. Jacob puts a hand on Taya’s shoulder and glances at her.

“It’s all right. We’ll take the token and the account. This is our money. Do you need our names?”

“Um, yes. Y— yes,” she says, stuttering.

“Well, I am Mr. Cabbage.”

The girl looks at him with a stunned expression and then says slowly, “Mr. Cabbage? I’m sorry, have I heard correctly?”

“Cabbage. Cabbage indeed,” Jacob says. “I come from a long line of Cabbage people. Do you not like our family name? Are you suggesting it’s not an appropriate name? I’ll let you know, my family has fought Primordial Gods for longer than you can imagine.”

“No, no, no, I wasn’t implying anything.” The girl panics. “I, I will get on it immediately, Mr. Cabbage. And what’s your friend’s name?”

“She is…” Jacob trails off, looking at Taya, who just says, “I am Miss Carrot.”

Even Jacob facepalms at that.

“E— excuse me?” The chubby girl looks about to cry from the desperation and the ridiculousness of this whole situation.

“The Carrot family has been extremely important across the history of Zamorye. Do you have a problem with my name?”

“No, no, it’s, it’s, it’s just the first time I’m hearing of these two families. I’m so, so sorry,” the chubby girl says. “I will get on your accounts immediately.”

Jacob puts the money in the chubby girl’s hands and says, “Please put everything under Miss Carrot’s account.”

“Sure, but you both have to pay the fee.”

“Well, take the money from there.”

And Jacob is about to take out his own Imperium coins when he thinks, I’m not sure that the money here is the same, and says, “Yeah, take it. Take everything from that bag. Miss Carrot and I have an arrangement.”

“All right.”

The girl runs away, dealing with the paperwork, and Anna looks at Jacob and Taya, saying, “Didn’t you just say your name was Taya?”

“Well, we like our privacy.” Jacob smiles and then looks at Taya. “You could have picked a better name, if I have to be honest.”

“If you’re Mr. Cabbage, why can’t I be Miss Carrot?”

“Well, Cabbage comes from… If you, like… Cabbage comes from my name read in reverse. It kinda sounds like Cabbage.”

Taya raises her eyes to the ceiling and then nods slowly. “I suppose.”

“How did you know that she’s taking bribes?” Jacob says under his breath.

“I got a feeling, and it’s like I could see it in my mind.”

“You could see it in your mind?” Jacob mutters.

“Yeah.”

Soon, the clerk came back with a few papers to sign, which were signed with the names Mr. Cabbage and Miss Carrot. And then Jacob and Taya were led around by Anna.

But right when she was about to start showing them the first pavilions, a woman came running for Anna.

“Miss Pavlovna! What’s happening? Why are you here? I looked for you everywhere. It’s— You have to come immediately. Yozhikov is holding your children hostage until you pay back your debt.”

“What?”

Anna looks terrified. Jacob’s about to say they will help — they will come and help her out with whatever is happening — when Taya anticipates him.

“Miss, please lead the way.”