Chapter 10: Arrangement · Purchase

“Very well, then this is your activity fund!”

Dean raised his foot and kicked the money chest in front of Jack, saying: “Vauban County is a place where Thieves and Mercenaries and the like gather; you shouldn’t be unfamiliar with that, right? Take out one hundred Gold Pultons from it and put a bounty on Meeter’s head. You will find that everything becomes so easy—killers attracted by money will do everything you most want to do but cannot do for you! As for the rest…”

“I will bribe Boss Meeter’s subordinates and make them choose to obey me!”

Jack answered impatiently—it could be seen that this bandit gentleman was not stupid.

“Remember, I need you to help me do some things, therefore, your life is also very important. Take out fifty Gold Pultons to hire some reliable bodyguards—in the names of certain people!”

Dean looked at the other party who was not foolish and gave a hint—although Dean did not really care about the other party’s death, before some things were completed, the other party being alive was more advantageous for him.

Therefore, Dean would not be stingy with his reminders.

“Understood, My Lord!”

Jack did not know these things; he simply thought that this person before him who made him feel terrified valued him. Regarding this, this bandit gentleman was very happy; because, this proved that the other party would not easily reap his life, and for him, this was good news, wasn’t it?

“Then, please complete your mission as soon as possible—after you finish, I will come find you… If, it exceeds half a year, you understand!”

Dean picked up the box containing the smuggling route map and loot, as well as the Crossbow at the side, and walked towards the Shadow at the side, while his voice clearly came over; causing Jack to nod repeatedly, indicating he understood.

After Dean’s figure truly disappeared, this bandit gentleman collapsed onto the ground again. He first looked at the missing thumb on his right hand, and then, looked at the chest in front of him; when he opened the chest again and his eyes were illuminated by the flickering golden light, Jack truly confirmed that he was not dreaming.

After staring blankly at the money chest filled with Gold Pultons for a long while, Jack recovered as if waking from a dream. He snapped the money chest shut, and then, cleaned the traces of their presence here with extreme care. Especially that pile of bonfire, which was dug and buried by him again, and he sprinkled many withered leaves on top. After it looked like there were no signs from the outside at all, this bandit gentleman holding the money chest quickly disappeared into the night.

And about ten-plus minutes after Jack disappeared, Dean walked out from the Shadow at the side. Dean certainly had not returned, but had never left at all—with Dean’s skills in stealth and hiding, naturally he was not someone a bandit could discover.

Dean, who had not left, needed to see clearly that Jack’s true performance—after all, two hundred Gold Pultons was truly a huge sum for the other party, a sum sufficient to make the other party go back on his word or simply risk his life to fight; so, Dean had to confirm once more that the other party had not changed his original mind.

And the result was naturally satisfactory to Dean.

Therefore, Dean walked around this small clearing once more, cleaning up the traces Jack had missed again, before merging into the Shadow at the side once more and truly leaving.

What if that bandit gentleman had greedily changed his mind?

The Crossbow just held in Dean’s hand was enough to make it fatal for him, and for Dean, it was just a little more trouble, changing the deployment and plan again.

…

In towns everywhere, there are always one or two inconspicuous small taverns. Although business is not very good, they can always manage to operate. In Horn Town, ‘Garendo’ was just such a small tavern; on the signboard, the originally bright pattern had long since faded, and even the straight edges had become pitted from the wind and rain, but the writing was still clear enough not to confuse people.

Creak!

The sound of the door being pushed open replaced the original doorbell.

“Welcome, strange traveler!”

The tavern owner, a short, ordinary-looking fat man, turned around with a smile, wiping a wine glass while greeting Dean who walked in: “Guest, would you like a cup? I have fine Rum here, or you could choose a cup of sweet and mellow Honey Wine?”

“I would like one-third of a cup of red wine!”

Dean whispered according to the secret code in his memory—small taverns with bad business were able to operate precisely because the business of these small taverns was not selling wine; but selling things that could not be obtained on the market, things forbidden by law; and these things were always rich in profit.

Once, in his previous life, to raise funds, Dean had also done such dealings; and precisely because he had done such dealings, he learned some unknown secrets; for example: regarding this fat man before him who was not tall and looked simple and honest when smiling; no one could imagine that the other party would be the largest Black Market smuggler in Yorkshire, and in the future, would spread his business across almost the entire Northland of the Emerald Kingdom underground merchant.

Even later, with the fall of the Emerald Kingdom, after all his business in the Emerald Kingdom went down the drain with it, it only took three years for his figure to appear again in the City of Freedom, bringing immeasurable wealth to become one of the foremost merchants in the Free Federation.

Of course, more importantly, the raw materials for those Explosive Crystals during Dean’s final battle were purchased from him.

‘As long as you can afford the money, I will get you everything you want!’

This was the famous saying of the merchant named Longlang in front of him, and the reason it was a famous saying was because it had been verified; and facing a merchant who could verify this sentence, Dean did not dare to take it lightly, even if the other party was far from being the Longlang known to the world in later generations.

After all, similarly, he was not the Lone Wolf of Hagaslo known to later generations.

Moreover, even when his reputation had started to rise throughout Goedz back then, the other party only gave a five percent discount for the sake of being fellow citizens of the Emerald Kingdom; and during the next transaction, the previous discount, the other party would earn back double.

In short, this was a guy who could be cooperated with safely, but was incomparably greedy—

“Red wine, that is very expensive; you need more money…”

With a smile that made people let down their guard, the tavern owner waited for Dean’s reaction, and when he saw the three Copper Coins placed on the bar counter, his smile became even more brilliant. A price list written in secret code appeared in front of Dean; at the same time, the three Copper Coins disappeared from the bar counter—this was a necessary handling fee, and also another secret code for conducting special transactions with the other party. Although Dean was certain this was another method of the other party to gather wealth, Garendo insisted that this was for the sake of safety.

And obviously, the latter was more convincing. For the sake of safety, among those who came to conduct such special transactions, who would care about three Copper Coins?

Although Dean cared, he paid more attention to the price list of the goods in front of him—

The densely packed price list marked with ‘specialties’ not found in other similar shops, and there were even a few ‘specialties’ from Goth and City…

And this made Dean, who was planning more follow-up plans, let out a slight sigh of relief; after all, if he couldn’t find the things he wanted here with Longlang, then obviously it would be difficult to find them on the subsequent journey.

However, obviously, Dean was lucky.

While looking at the price list, Dean silently recalled the prices of various ‘specialties’ in the Emerald Kingdom during this period. Thanks to his fairly good memory, and the effort he made to earn every sum of funds back then, he clearly remembered the prices at that time—compared to the skyrocketing prices after the Second Blood Moon War, the fair prices at this moment were always memorable.

However, here at Garendo, it was still about 5% higher than other Black Markets and similar shops; after all, the complete variety was worth such a price.

Dean quickly made his choice, he said: “One portion of number one, two portions of number four, two portions of number nine, and three portions of number fifteen…”

A string of code words composed of numbers came from Dean’s mouth. Every time he said one, the smile on Longlang’s face increased a bit. When Dean finished saying everything, the tavern owner’s face smiled like a flower. He attentively poured half a cup of Rum for Dean and asked: “Guest, it is thirty-seven Gold Pultons and two Silver Horns in total; as for the Copper Coins, I have already wiped them for you! Do you want to pay with Gold Pultons, or use items as collateral?”

Item collateral, this way of bartering, was what Longlang or any owner operating a shop of similar nature liked the most, after all, he could always get some unexpectedly valuable treasures from some people who didn’t know the value of goods—and obviously, the person before him undoubtedly did not bring enough Gold Coins, for he could hear the rattling sound of Gold Coins in any person’s pouch clearly from ten yards away.

So, Longlang began to look forward to whether there would be a pleasant surprise.

As for those who came to make fun of him or were simply trying to blackmail?

For the ten skilled hands in his small tavern, Longlang had absolute confidence; after all, this had been proven by countless facts.