Chapter 11: The Liar Merchant

A few hours earlier.

“Prey? What kind of prey could there be on a road meant for travelers?” Boge frowned in confusion.

In his view, to hunt prey, one had to venture deep into the forest.

The more remote the place, the rarer the prey.

“Didn’t you forget that Klay merchant who swindled your village?”

But Xia Mingyu’s casual remark ignited Boge’s fury.

“Of course I remember—that damned Klay bastard, who dared to swear false oaths before the gods to deceive us all! He insulted the gods and insulted us, causing countless red fruits, grown with a year’s worth of hard work, to be wasted!”

Boge gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing as if spitting fire.

“If I hadn’t been hunting in the forest that day, I’d have shot him dead with one arrow.”

“Wait—Your Highness, are you saying the prey is him?” Boge suddenly realized.

Xia Mingyu gave a slight nod.

“Have you ever killed a person?”

“No.” Boge shook his head.

Though he often hunted wild beasts and had piled up enough carcasses to form a small hill, he had never killed a human.

I haven’t either, Xia Mingyu silently told himself.

But that didn’t stop him from feigning the demeanor of someone accustomed to death.

“Are you willing to kill?” Xia Mingyu said calmly.

“If it’s a heartless Klay merchant like this one, who cares nothing for human lives, I’d kill them all—no matter how many come!”

Boge ran his fingers along the bowstring, a flicker of killing intent flashing in his brown eyes.

“Who shot that arrow?!”

Mills, fallen to the ground, shouted in shock and rage.

Following the direction of the arrow, he quickly spotted two figures hidden among the bushes nearby.

But before he could demand an explanation, another arrow whistled toward him at blinding speed, aimed straight at his right eye.

Mills’s hair stood on end in terror—he tried to dodge, but it was too late.

“Got him!”

Seeing this, Boge stepped out from the bushes, excited, ready to thoroughly search the heartless merchant’s purse for ill-gotten coins.

But to his shock, the arrow he had fired with all his strength, mere moments before piercing the man’s eyeball, suddenly struck what looked like an invisible shield—there was a loud *crack*, and the arrow shaft bent and fell to the ground.

“What kind of magic is this?!” Boge’s eyes widened in disbelief—his prized archery had been so easily blocked!

Xia Mingyu, still hidden among the bushes to conceal his identity and aura, was equally stunned—he had never seen supernatural power in this world before—but he quickly regained his composure.

Since they had already struck, they were now mortal enemies; there was no turning back.

“Boge, keep shooting!” Xia Mingyu shouted.

He refused to believe the man could sustain such a defense forever.

On the other side, Mills, having blocked the arrow, swiftly pulled a compact hand-crossbow from the pouch hanging on the dead horse’s body—a costly personal defense weapon he had bought at great expense.

Seeing the hunter who had just fired the arrow snap out of his shock and draw his bow again, Mills clenched his teeth and swiftly aimed the hand-crossbow at the man’s body.

This was his last chance!

*Swish!*

*Swish!*

Two sharp arrows passed each other in midair—one struck true, aimed straight at Mills’s skull; the other veered wildly, only grazing Boge’s shoulder.

After all, Mills was merely a merchant—he knew nothing of archery.

*Crack!*

As the arrow neared Mills’s skull, it struck the same invisible shield as before—*crack!*—and the shaft bent and fell to the ground.

But his expression now turned panicked.

“Damn it!”

Mills cursed, then without hesitation unslung the bulging money pouch from his waist and hurled it with all his strength toward the hunter still drawing his bow.

Then he turned and fled—faster than a startled hare, weaving through the forest with agility, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The Liar Merchant vocation granted him two abilities: one, Unjust Protection, which could block two unjust attacks; the other, increased running speed—but usable only while fleeing.

His two protections were already spent; continuing the fight would mean certain death.

Though he loved coins above all else, his life mattered more—and besides, most of his wealth had already been converted into gold sols and hidden inside his shoe insoles; the pouch held only a fraction.

Hundreds of coins spilled from the pouch, clattering and blinding Boge’s vision, causing a momentary emotional tremor in the man who had never seen so much money before.

By the time he regained his focus and aimed again, Mills’s figure had vanished into the dense forest.

“Forgive me, Your Highness—I failed to kill him.”

Boge groaned, clutching his head.

He felt utterly foolish—for failing so miserably before his future lord.

No, now the man probably wouldn’t even want him as a servant.

I’m so stupid I’m so stupid I’m so stupid.

“It’s fine. Count how much money there is.”

Gazing ahead at the thick, quiet forest, though uneasy inside, Xia Mingyu soothed him.

He couldn’t afford to let this village’s primary combatant and greatest weapon lose his will.

“Your Highness, there are sixteen silver sols and eighty-three copper sols!”

Boge held a large handful of gleaming silver coins, his face alight with delight.

“This fellow really is a shrewd merchant—he’s quite wealthy,” Xia Mingyu remarked.

From what he’d learned, the currency issued by the Sosia Kingdom was called the sol—copper sol, silver sol, and gold sol.

Eighty copper sols could be exchanged for one silver sol, and forty silver sols for one gold sol.

As for purchasing power—here’s this: a full basket of fresh red fruit, at normal market price, sold for only ten copper sols.

And the entire Fruit Basket Village’s annual agricultural tax owed to the lord was only twenty-one silver sols.

“Boge, take these coins back to the village—will they cover the agricultural tax?” Xia Mingyu asked.

“Yes, Your Highness! Though Fruit Basket Village has little money now, we can still scrape together four silver sols.” Boge nodded vigorously, eyes wide with astonishment.

He had assumed this noble prince would take all the coins—but instead, he gave every last one to the village for tax payment.

It was… utterly unlike a noble!

Yet this stirred a spark of respect within him.

“Your Highness, thank you for your generosity and wisdom. Even if you refuse to take me as your retainer, I vow to serve you for the rest of my life.”

Boge knelt on one knee, solemnly.

Xia Mingyu smiled but said nothing.

“Burn the carriage.”

“By the way, Your Highness—how did you know that Klay merchant would definitely return?”

On their way back, carrying the money pouch and some goods looted from the carriage, Boge couldn’t help asking.

“Because he paid a deposit,” Xia Mingyu said calmly.

“Merchants, as a breed, will sell the very rope around their own necks for money—how could they ever tolerate their own money being wasted?”

“So he *will* return—even if he knows he might be killed by angry villagers.”

“Because capital never stops moving.”

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone~

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(End of Chapter)