"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
*BRAAAK.
The shout of a man was heard as he slammed the table in a room.
"That's how it is, Sir."
A quiet reply from the man in front of him answered the shouted question.
The man who had been yelling began to lower his voice.
"I want to get all of that."
"I will arrange everything."
The man who had just spoken slowly stepped back, *Tap. Turned around, facing the door. *Clak. The door opened and he immediately left the room, then closed it again.
After a while, several people were gathered inside a private room.
"What brings you here, Mr. Orodo?."
A man asked another man in front of him.
"Don't talk too much, just get to it, I want to buy all of that."
The man named Orodo spoke in a slightly forceful tone.
"Really?. Even though this hasn't been made public yet, you know." The man smiled slightly while leaning his face forward. "But, do you know the price required by the Supplier?"
"How much is it!?"
"250 medium gold coins for one that's 1×1 cm."
"That's too expensive!"
"There's no such thing as 'expensive' if you see it directly." *Thud. The man showed a 1×1 cm gemstone at the tip of his index finger and thumb. "Its shine, its cut, its precision, of course this quality is far above yours." Glancing at the ring on Orodo's finger.
"Kh... A-Anyway!... There's no way something like what you're holding is real!"
"This is real. Do you think the Merchant Guild deals in fake goods?. Even if this were fake, it wouldn't be better than what you think is real." The man sneered while occasionally glancing at Orodo's finger.
*Haaa. "220 small gold coins for 2 bigger than that, I'll take 10, how about it?."
The man smiled while slowly shaking his head. "Sir, we're both merchants, but that's not how you bargain, you know?."
"Are you mocking me?."
"No. I'm not mocking you. I'm giving you input. In business, there is quality, there is price. You're not some amateur merchant who doesn't understand that, right?."
*Tsk... Orodo clicked his tongue. His fingers tapped the table rapidly. *Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.
"300 small gold coins for 2 like that."
"Only 220 medium gold coins for 1 of this size."
"So what's the exact price?." Orodo pressed.
"This is already the fixed price from the Supplier. The Guild only gets 7% profit from selling one gemstone, you know?."
"FINE, FINE! 200 medium gold coins for 1 like that!"
"220."
"You're really calculative, damn Bukdo. Fine, I'll take 10. But also ones bigger than that."
"Thank you for your purchase. For the 2×2 cm size, the price is 350 medium gold coins."
"Do whatever." *Clap. Clap. Orodo clapped his hands.
From behind him, someone entered the room carrying stacks of bags filled with gold coins with both hands, to the point his face was covered by the top bag. *Kring. Kring.
"1 bag contains 550 large gold coins. There are 3 bags here, enough for 10 gemstones of each size?."
The corner of the man's lips lifted slightly. "You mean like this?. 1×1 cm 10 pieces, 2×2 cm 10 pieces, 3×3 cm 10 pieces?."
"Yes."
"Hahaha."
"Why are you laughing, bastard?."
"Sorry, sorry, Sir. But, the stock from the Supplier is only what you see on this table. That is 3 of 1×1, 4 of 2×2, and 3 of 3×3. That's all."
"Don't lie to me. From what I heard, you have a supply of 20 pieces."
*Srettt. From behind, someone pointed a knife at Bukdo's neck. "Whoa." Bukdo immediately raised both hands in surrender.
Along with that, "Hahaha!" The man chuckled. "Your informant is really top class. But unfortunately, Sir." He shrugged slightly, "The ruler of this city also needs 10 pieces. So it can't be ignored, right?" While glancing at the knife at his neck.
*Tsk. Orodo clicked his tongue.
"Is there a quality above that?." Looking at the table.
*Sret. The knife at the man's neck was no longer pressing his neck.
*Tutch. The man held his neck.
"There is. But, the size is really, really small."
"Not interested if it's small."
"I figured you wouldn't be interested in small ones." The man replied, with a murmur in his mind. "If you saw it directly, you'd definitely pay a high price. Even though it's not bigger than 3 grains of sand, the level of polishing is truly beyond reason. Even the ruler of the city immediately offered an outrageous price."
"Alright." The man stood up, "Two bags are enough." Extending his right hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."
*Hum. Orodo accepted the handshake indifferently.
"At first I planned to resell it to the city ruler at a higher price. But it can't be helped if it's like this. If this supplier is only for this city, I can resell it outside the city." Orodo muttered in his mind while still shaking hands.
"Hehehe.."
The deal that was fair for both of them had ended.
The view slowly changed,
Replaced with a view where a young man, shirtless, was hitting a sack filled with sand hanging from a tree branch.
*Bug. Bug.
"Your movements are weird, Guiver."
"Weird how?"
"Why do you keep lowering your head quickly every time you punch?"
*Jep. Bug.
"This is boxing, you know?" Guiver answered Reigh's question while continuing to punch the sand-filled sack.
"Yeah I know. But what's the point of doing it when this world is dominated by magic and weapons?"
"I want this body to remember my movements when it's your turn to use it, and then who knows, maybe we'll end up fighting that muscular guy and trade punches with him."
"You, who don't like long battles, saying that?"
"It's true my body was weak when I was alive and I liked instant things. But that doesn't mean I don't want to feel trading blows directly."
"I see."
*Bug. Bag.
While Guiver was punching,
*Swishh.
"Sorry to disturb."
A voice came from behind him.
"Hum?."
Guiver replied briefly. His focus was still intact.
"We have spread those items throughout all the cities in the Outer Slums according to your request."
"Hum. Then?." *Bug.
"27 of my subordinates reported simultaneously that the 27 cities they monitored, all of those items have been sold out. And all the sales proceeds will arrive within 12 hours."
"What about the other 8 cities?."
"Not going well. Considering they are far from each other. Consumable goods are their priority."
"So how is it, Guiver?."
*Dug. Dug. Guiver's heartbeat increased.
"Kh... Khahaha!."
"?"
"Turns out it went smoother than I expected!. At first I was skeptical that only 15 cities would sell out!. Turns out there are 27 cities, huh!? This world is truly rotten to its very roots!!! Instead of gathering funds to fight 'The Emperor', they indulge themselves just for a pile of stones!"
"So what should be done, Sir?."
"Zero!"
*Swishh.
"Present, Sir."
"Follow Grey Lurk's subordinates with all our Silent Warrior members. In those cities, each of your tasks is to cover up information from the buyers so that information about the gemstones doesn't leak to neighboring cities."
".."
"If you get confused about how to do it, just steal the gemstones back to eliminate evidence. After all, what we need from them is only their gold."
"Forgive my boldness."
"?"
"Then, what about the Merchant Guild as the distributor?. Aren't they involved."
"Just leave them. They have nothing to do with us. They can handle it themselves."
"Understood."
*Swish. The man disappeared from that place.
"I'll take my leave as well."
*Swish.
*Bug. Bug.
"Now your Silent Warriors look like Grey Lurk's Assassins."
"Yeah. Back then they were still like ordinary people. Who knows what kind of training they went through in Cyrn's space back then."
*Srep. Guiver stopped the moving sand-filled sack.
"Alright. Before we arrange the De Construct candidates, we'll visit your parents' graves first. Since you built their graves, I haven't given my personal respects yet."
"Thank you, Guiver."
"Relax, relax." *Sret. He put his clothes back on after wiping his sweat.
After getting dressed, Guiver walked away from the place. *Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Let's begin.." A faint smile slowly appeared. "The second step toward War Of World."
*TAP. His steps stopped, seeing several pairs of terrifying eyes looking at him.
"Take me."
*ROOOOAAAAARRR.
*Flap. Flap. Flap.
Birds flew away.