Chapter 123: Solving Debts, Merchants Stroll Through the Sales Fair

The Vice President of the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild asked Steward Deripari once more how much money could be produced from his side.

"Dried-up Aolier" rubbed his hands nervously: "In terms of ready cash, I can bring out about twenty Gold Coins, but by the end of the month, after the new batch of shop rents and land rents are collected, there will be another dozen or so Gold Coins in revenue."

Hearing this, Vice President Norris raised his hand to interrupt Steward Deripari: "Alright, you had better keep this bit of money to solve your own troubles. As for the remaining debt of over two hundred Gold Coins, Scott and I will each contribute fifty Gold Coins, and the debt of over one hundred Gold Coins will be offset by a batch of military equipment from within our Merchant Guild."

He looked at Jier: "Knight Jier, can you accept the debt of over one hundred Gold Coins being replaced by military equipment? If not, how about letting Deripari transfer some land or shops to you? Or perhaps let Deripari go to the Church of the God of Wealth to borrow some money?"

Mr. "Dried-up Aolier" added awkwardly: "I have already borrowed funds from friends at the church twice in the past few days..."

At this, Vice President Norris was also at a loss, pointing his finger at the other party, having nothing more to say.

Jier did not mind using military equipment to replace money for compensation; even if he could not use the so-called military equipment himself, the Kendall Army would certainly be able to use it.

"I have no problem with that, so should we go take a look tonight, or tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Let's make it tonight; there are so many things going on right now, and we even squeezed out the time for tonight's sales fair specifically to relax our minds. Sigh..." The chubby Vice President looked helpless. His relationship with Steward Deripari of the Wealth Fruit Merchant Guild was average; he could only say they were acquaintances, not close. However, his subordinate Scott was, after all, a colleague in the Merchant Union who shared the management of Duoen Town with the other party, so for the sake of stability in Duoen Town, especially the current stability of Duoen Town, he had no choice but to help the other party.

"Deripari, remember, this is the only time I will help you; there will not be a next time."

Vice President Norris warned "Dried-up Aolier" sternly.

Mr. Scott made faces at Steward Deripari, making Steward Deripari feel very awkward.

After settling the matter of Jier's bounty compensation, the next topic was the compensation in Jier's name.

Regarding this, since Deripari really could not come up with much ready cash, Jier did not ask for cash or material compensation, but instead demanded that he, under the supervision of others present, find the traitor within his Merchant Guild as soon as possible, and through a series of means—whether it be propaganda or bribery—try his best to reverse Jier's reputation in the local area.

Although he estimated he would not come to this place for many years to come, good news does not leave the door, while bad news travels a thousand miles. If he did not reverse his reputation locally, it was hard to say how far his reputation for being unable to recognize people would spread, bringing him widespread bad fame.

"I already have a few suspects in mind. As long as I have a little more time and conduct one or two private investigations, I will be able to find out who betrayed the Merchant Guild's important information and colluded with the Bandit Group to attack the caravan! When that time comes, I will definitely make the people from the Thieves Guild give him a taste of his own medicine!"

Jier said softly: "Then I will wait for your good news."

Since everyone was present, Jier recounted in detail the events of fighting the Parasitic Vine Monster in Sasi County and cooperating with the Hunting God Church to crusade against the Alien Evil God.

The others just listened to it as a bizarre story. After all, although Jier himself was right in front of them, everyone actually had no intuitive understanding of the battles and high-intensity confrontations. It sounded very impressive, but when they tried to imagine it, they could not.

But Young Master Lipuerde listened attentively, and the expression on his face changed constantly as Jier spoke.

The others had a lukewarm reaction to the Magic Arrow that could dispel the Curse, but Lipuerde carefully asked Jier for details about this kind of Magic Arrow. Since Jier had only glanced at the appearance and operation of the Magic Arrow a few times at the time, he could not explain it in detail.

This made Young Master Lipuerde very restless, and he made up his mind to look for information from the Hunting God Church later.

In his impression, the Hunting God Church in the Central Province was not a church known for its outstanding strength, and the people who held Faith in the Hunting God could also be said to be very rare. But he just could not understand how such an obscure church of a god could possess such terrifying strength and authority to crusade against a hunting god.

Did other gods not interfere with this?

He could not figure it out and decided to study the Hunting God Church carefully later; perhaps this was the important answer and important antidote to the trouble he had been carrying for a long time.

After everyone talked for a while and listened to Jier tell his recent exciting adventure stories, they walked out of the restaurant together and came to the inn's backyard, which was bustling with noise and excitement at this time.

The people who came here were basically merchants who were well-informed in town or had some spare money at home, along with their families.

Since they were all people making a living locally, when they saw big shots of the Merchant Union like Mr. Bantuolisa walking together, they all paid their respects from afar and kept their distance from them.

"This glowing orb... is quite bright. Was this made by Dwarves?"

Vice President Norris first noticed the existence of these glowing orbs that could provide enough light for everyone in the night in this spacious backyard of the inn. Because of the illumination from these things, the entire backyard was very bright, even clearer than in the daytime.

This also made the citizens who came to the sales fair feel comfortable; after all, buying and selling goods, especially legal ones, required a sufficiently illuminated environment.

"Oh, no. This is a Divine Power Lighting Orb that I created. Look, it is this."

Jier pointed to a Blessed Short Staff made of stone with an archaic style hanging from his waist, took it out to show the others, and handed it to Vice President Norris, who had asked the question.

Although this thing was an important item with historical origins from the Sasi County Sun God Church, to Jier, it was just a "flashlight" used for lighting.

And it was a convenient tool that could easily set up temporary lighting.

"Divine Power... Lighting Orb, something from the Sun God Church? This is truly incredible." Vice President Norris exclaimed, though he did not know what he was exclaiming about, and then simply fiddled with the Blessed Short Staff in his hand before handing it to Steward Scott.

Scott also took it to look at it, then passed it to the others.

The item went around in a circle and returned to Jier's hand. Everyone expressed how useful it was, but because it came from the Sun God Church, they all expressed that they had no blessing to enjoy it and politely declined.

Afterwards, everyone toured the various items sold at the Dwarf stalls at the sales fair.

The two from the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild were the first to notice some weapons and equipment that the Dwarves had specifically brought out for sale.

The two looked at a Dwarf Single-handed Weapon on the wooden table and professionally gestured and inspected it. Jier discovered that in terms of proficiency in using a single-handed sword, Vice President Norris was actually much better than Scott.

As soon as the Vice President got his hands on a single-handed sword, he estimated the weight and center of gravity of the weapon and gave a fairly appropriate evaluation: "It looks easy to use, but it is only suitable for Dwarves. Its weight is at least twice that of the single-handed weapons we Humans usually use, which means that while the Warrior holding the sword can have an advantage in a duel, the swinging speed and response speed are much slower. If it is unarmored combat, then it is a disaster, so this thing can only be adapted to high-intensity combat where both sides are wearing armor."

"And because it is too heavy, the Human Warrior using it will run out of stamina before long. At the very least, the arms and wrists will be sore and weak."

Mr. Scott also nodded, agreeing with the Merchant Guild leader's judgment.

However, he also had something to say: "But I noticed that although this weapon is much heavier than our weapons of the same type, its parameters such as volume and length are not very different."

He gestured to the blade width of the Dwarf single-handed sword: "It is slightly wider here than common single-handed swords, but not by much. And although the thickness of the blade is also thicker, the difference is not large."

He pondered: "Therefore, this weapon should not be made of the iron materials we usually see. If I am not mistaken, this material, which looks like metallic iron, is actually not iron, right?"

The Dwarf behind the stall next to them smiled: "You are right, but I cannot tell you the data on its material. If you like it, you can buy one and take it back to examine it carefully."

Jier shrugged; he had more than one captured Dwarf weapon on hand, and he had previously been suspicious of the materials of these Dwarf weapons, and he even suspected that the Dwarves used some kind of Magic Material they had in large storage even on these ordinary weapons.

But later, when he found that the Dwarves in Babotali Valley used this material to make all kinds of things in many places, he knew it could not be a Magic Material. It should be some kind of metal that the Dwarves mined from the local underground.

The two from the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild would of course buy one or two Dwarf weapons to take back, but not to study the metal material used by the Dwarves, but to use as decorations or as gifts in the future.

After all, a genuine Dwarf weapon as a gift was also a very face-saving thing.

Especially since these things were brought out by the Dwarves for sale, there was almost no need to doubt the authenticity of the items, so the value of the things bought back was guaranteed.

Moreover, this kind of weapon material that was difficult to imitate was also an important piece of evidence proving that it was indeed a Dwarf item.

Unless someone was really stupid enough to take out some Magic Material to imitate it just to mimic the weight of this Dwarf weapon, just to earn that little bit of money, then they would accept it.

"How much does this thing cost?"

The Dwarf stretched out a thick and sturdy palm, with five fingers spread out: "Five of your Human Gold Coins will do."

Old Mr. Bantuolisa immediately took out five Gold Coins and took the Dwarf single-handed sword from Mr. Scott's hand: "Then, this one is mine!"

The others looked at each other, and the Dwarf handed the old gentleman the Sword Sheath: "Take it well, this thing is relatively heavy for you Humans, do not hurt your wrist."

The old gentleman originally wanted to swing it to try it out, but upon hearing the advice, he gave up the idea and handed this Dwarf weapon to the Merchant Guild Shop Assistant who was following behind the group.

Then the two from the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild each picked out a Dwarf One-handed Hammer and a Dwarf Single-handed Axe.

Young Master Lipuerde, however, felt curious about the oddly styled Dwarf shields nearby; at these stalls selling Dwarf weapons and equipment, most other items had sold a piece or two, and it looked like everything would be sold out by tonight, except for these oddly styled Dwarf shields, which no one dared to purchase because everyone was not very familiar with their defensive capabilities.

Furthermore, because this thing truly looked strange, those who knew how to use shields did not dare to actually buy one; after all, defensive equipment is closely tied to one's own life, so one has to trust familiar and reliable equipment.

No one knew how the strength of this kind of Dwarf shield was, so very few people bought them. Not to mention that some people came here to buy Dwarf goods specifically to show off, or to give them away as rare gifts in the future.

If most people couldn't tell or guess that a shield was a Dwarf item, wouldn't buying it fail to meet their needs for purchasing it?

It's similar to luxury goods; why do some luxury goods sold to ordinary people have to have their trademarks marked in large letters on them, looking ugly, unsightly, and tacky? Isn't it just to let most people see at a glance that the item is a luxury good of a certain brand? This thing is just a tool for people with a little money to engage in one-upmanship and show off to others.

True luxury goods are naturally intended for a small group of high-end consumers; they are not mass-produced and sold everywhere for the sake of vast market profits, nor do they have their brand marks plastered everywhere in large letters.

"Why don't you take a look at these Dwarf Crystal Shields? These things aren't bad at all, are they?"

Jier saw that at the stall selling shields, not a single one had been sold; compared to the others, the Dwarf at this stall had an embarrassed expression, and seeing Jier look over, he broke into a cold sweat, whispering and complaining about why no one came to his place to buy things? Was he too ugly? Or did he have a smell on him? Or perhaps his beard wasn't beautiful enough? Or did he not meet the aesthetic requirements of Humans?

In short, he was there wallowing in self-pity, constantly suffering from internal mental friction.

Hearing Jier's words, the group gathered around; Young Master Lipuerde had been the first to feel curious about this wooden shield covered in opaque crystals, and now hearing Jier's words, he asked Jier how much he knew about this kind of shield.

"I haven't used this kind of thing much, but I have had some confrontations against them. If you want to understand the performance and strengths of this thing, why not ask this Dwarf? Oh, this is the Dwarf 'Long Tail' Henta-Balibali; why don't you introduce your shields to my friends here?"

This Dwarf nicknamed 'Long Tail' was once a radical reformer within the Dwarves, but now that these Dwarves had risked walking on the road home, he had instead become somewhat at a loss mentally, and his usual performance had become mediocre.

His style of doing things was no longer as radical as before.

After all, when a seemingly conservative old Dwarf truly becomes radical, it is far more radical than these subordinate Miners imagined.

It is just like that political joke: when conservatives become radical, they will feel that the radicals are too conservative.

"Okay, okay. Our shield, uh, it is made overall from a type of tough and elastic wood; the key to its protection lies in these impact-resistant crystals on its surface. These are all crystals we excavated from underground, specifically selected for their suitable size, using these crystals with excellent hardness and sturdiness as the front-facing protection of the shield."

'Long Tail' scratched his head, not knowing what else to say next.

Jier shrugged his shoulders and, on behalf of this inarticulate Dwarf Miner, continued the introduction: "Don't underestimate the crystals he just briefly introduced. Come, take one in your hand and weigh it; is it unexpectedly light?"

Several high-ranking members of Duoen Town took them in their hands to evaluate the weight, finding that it wasn't as light as Jier said, but it also wasn't as heavy as they had thought.

After all, it is crystal, and this thing is heavy by nature; if the front of a shield is covered in crystals, of course, whoever judges it would feel that only a Dwarf would have the strength to pick it up and use it.

But once they got it in their hands, they discovered that the weight of this shield was still within the range that Humans could bear, and for Dwarves and Knight Jier, it naturally seemed relatively light.

"Then what about its defensive power?"

Young Master Lipuerde flicked the crystals on the surface of the shield with his finger; because the crystals were tightly connected to the shield, this flick did not produce the light sound of crystal vibrating.

"Ah! You've asked the key question!"

Jier said.

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