Chapter 1229: Halan Chamber of Commerce, Bungling Mages

Jalasuo Haran was, without a doubt, a trusted kinsman of the Lord of Halan, and because of this, Xia Duo felt a bit more confident about the upcoming bargaining.

Soon, Xia Duo followed the clues provided by Evans and found the Halan Chamber of Commerce base.

The front of this base was a very desolate storefront with almost no goods, while the rear, following the common structure of trade district chambers, generally contained warehouses, as well as living and office quarters.

Before entering the storefront, Xia Duo changed his disguised appearance using illusion at a street corner, shifting into Dailike, the commercial Chief Official of Savile Territory—that is, the father of the Tower of Time mages and Progress Society members, Aideliqi and Aidelian.

Wearing the face of someone who could be considered an acquaintance, Xia Duo felt a bit strange, but if he were to meet a merchant like Jalasuo Haran using his own real identity, he felt it would be even stranger, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out.

Furthermore, using his real identity to negotiate prices, whether the price increased or decreased, was not a good thing for Xia Duo.

Approaching the other party as an ordinary person brought this transaction into a normal scope; perhaps the other party would consider Dailike's background, but this was within Xia Duo's acceptable range.

He couldn't hide his identity completely, or the other party might not even sell to him; besides, that manor would eventually have to be put to use, so was there really a great need to hide his identity?

……

After inquiring with the clerk in the Halan Chamber of Commerce storefront, Xia Duo learned that Jalasuo Haran was currently inside the chamber, so he decisively "revealed his identity" and proposed a meeting:

"I am from Savile Territory in the South, entrusted by a Senior Arcanist to come and discuss business. Take me to see your president at once!"

The clerk seemed a bit stunned, as if he had never heard of Savile Territory, but he knew what a Senior Arcanist was, so he immediately abandoned the storefront, which had almost no goods, and ran inside the base.

As he ran, he shouted: "President Jalasuo, it's bad! A Senior Arcanist has arrived, and he wants to discuss business with you!"

Perhaps his brain was truly slow, but in a sense, the clerk had actually shouted the right thing, and Xia Duo did not mind.

If the local Senior Arcanists of Netheril were still reserved about their status, he had none at all; he just didn't want to use this existing status, which had clear distinctions of rank, to "suppress" the other party.

Or rather, while Xia Duo's body had become a Senior Arcanist, his heart always considered himself an ordinary person, never having detached himself from the masses.

However, he also considered himself an advanced element among the masses, a leader, a model, an example, and even a pioneer!

At the same time, he did not want to appear too unconventional in the current environment, which is why he chose to disguise himself as someone else.

……

Soon, a middle-aged fat man with somewhat disheveled clothing rushed out from inside the base in a near-rolling posture, stopping right in front of Xia Duo.

He first cautiously sized up Xia Duo, then backhanded the clerk who had just spoken, hitting him with a blow that looked heavy but was actually light: "Let you shout blindly! Let you shout blindly!"

While hitting him, he kept observing Xia Duo's expression. Xia Duo didn't mind, just smiling and saying: "President Jalasuo, no need to hit him. Although I am not a Senior Arcanist myself, I am here representing one."

"Cough—"

Upon hearing this, Jalasuo immediately stopped, his face piling up with smiles as he asked: "May I ask, honored guest, who exactly are you representing—"

"I am from Savile Territory in the South. Who do you think I represent?" Although Xia Duo was hiding his identity, he wouldn't be too low-key; he still had to put on the airs that were required.

It was not three years ago; today's Savile Territory was somewhat famous in Seventon, and the vast majority of this stemmed from Xia Duo—

The creator of the 【Arcane Maze】, a prominent award recipient of the Green Field Plane War, a participant in the Princess Ascension Ceremony, an outstanding Pioneer, and most importantly—his status as a Senior Arcanist.

Hearing Xia Duo say he was from Savile Territory in the South, the smile on Jalasuo's face grew even brighter, matching his round face, looking almost like an old chrysanthemum shivering in the cold autumn wind.

"Guest, please come in!" Jalasuo gestured with an invitation.

"You are too kind, President Jalasuo."

Saying this, Xia Duo followed the other party inside the base. As he walked, Xia Duo also observed this base, which did not have a small footprint.

To be honest, the level of desolation exceeded his imagination, far more desolate than what he had seen from the outside.

The warehouse doors were almost wide open, and there were no goods inside. At the entrance, only two mages were lying on reclining chairs chatting. Seeing Jalasuo bring someone in, they didn't care at all, acting as if they hadn't seen them, not even moving their bodies.

Seeing those two mages openly wearing the certification marks representing High Mages on their mage robes, Xia Duo felt thoughtful.

Perhaps Halan Territory was currently facing a difficult time; otherwise, how could a territory capable of purchasing a manor and investing in a base in Seventon use only these two bungling mages?

Yes, in Xia Duo's eyes, these two so-called High Mages were bungling mages. The High Mage certification marks on them were likely real.

But precisely because they were real, they were bungling mages, and wild mages at that.

In normal mage tower organizations, almost no one would certify their spellcasting level; this was generally used as a credential for wage levels when going out to work.

Moreover, even if they certified their spellcasting level, most wild mages would not embroider the certification mark on their mage robes—how much would one have to care about this level to do that!

To care so much about a certification level from a Mage Guild subordinate to the Arcane Union, it was basically unlikely that they were any sort of proper mage.

Xia Duo still remembered the scene when he certified his spellcasting level at the Savile Territory Mage Guild. When he was told by that guild mage that he could raise his certification level just by paying more money, his worldview was shattered.

As long as one had money, even an Apprentice could potentially be certified as an Archmage!

"Perhaps these two aren't High Mages at all, just here to scam free food and drink!"

Xia Duo couldn't help but make this deduction in his heart as he followed Jalasuo to the very back of the base. Along the way, he didn't see many people at all.

Aside from the two suspected scammers, there was only a guard squad of fewer than five people training in a corner of the base, a middle-aged maid boiling water, and a steward organizing documents.

Jalasuo led Xia Duo past the steward and all the way to the innermost room. At this moment, this room, which might have originally been the president's temporary office, was almost completely cleared out.

However, Xia Duo could still see some traces of residual decoration. If this place were in good condition, it would indeed be a decent reception room, but now—

It was somewhat shabby.

However, from beginning to end, Jalasuo did not show any negative emotions like embarrassment, helplessness, or panic, though the possibility of him being a highly skilled actor could not be ruled out.

But wanting to deceive Xia Duo, who had absorbed hundreds of years of acting experience from a Drow Assassin, even if it were human acting outside that experience, such a possibility was not high; after all, the emotional expressions of intelligent beings were interconnected, and even if the races were different, empathy could still be generated.

For a moment, Xia Duo became curious about the situation in Halan Territory.

It looked like it might not be the "facing difficulties" he had initially assumed, but something else. Of course, it wasn't necessarily good either; it leaned more toward being bad.

Regarding this, Xia Duo already had some guesses, and now it remained to be seen whether he had guessed correctly.