15 - Trade deal
Henrieta looked at the tanks with a sparkle in her eye, she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Merlin spoke
"They are not for sale"
Henrieta's mouth froze before she closed it again and showed a pout, then after a bit, she asked
"What about the dragon parts? I would have to get closer to examine if they're genuine"
Merlin reached into his pocket and took out a dragon scale which he handed to Jane that flicked her wrist and threw it at the merchant that caught it before she looked it over, then after looking it over she drew a dagger and used it to try and scratch the dragon scale but to no effect, then she sighed as her eye sparkled
"It's really a dragon scale…"
Then she turned her eye back to the tanks before she asked the person next to herself
"Old captain Geo, how many soldiers do you think one of those is worth?"
The former captain of the guardsmen sighed before he spoke
"It's just old man Geo now… Well, they're not the same type, though the design is somewhat similar, I would have to assess them over some time before I could say for sure, but…"
Then Old man Geo looked over his shoulder back about 1,5 kilometers to the walls then he spoke again
"Since one of them can hit a person accurately at that distance, I am not sure…"
Merlin showed a smile but didn't comment on the discussion of the two people, then Jane whispered something to him, Merlin showed a smile and spoke
"Old man, you seem to be out of a job"
Old man Geo nodded, then he asked
"That I am, what are you proposing?"
Merlin showed a smile and handed two dragon scales to Jane which she threw to the old man, then Merlin spoke
"What would you say to become a personal bodyguard?"
"Bodyguard?"
Merlin nodded and explained
"Instead of guarding the walls, you guard me, what do you say? Oh and you can keep those scales either way, but if you agree there are more scales from where those came from"
Old man Geo nodded and threw back the scales
"I'll do it, though not for the coin… I want another form of payment"
Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly, as he did the cannon barrel of the Tiger 1 turned to target the old man, then Old man Geo spoke resolutely
"I want you to save Jera's orphanage"
Merlin shrugged and spoke casually
"I was going to do that anyway"
Jane's smile widened slightly as her eyes showed a hint of pleasant surprise, Old man Geo looked at Merlin for a bit before he nodded and kneeled down on one knee as he spoke
"In that case, I am in your service!"
Merlin walked over and stood in front of the old man before he reached his hand out and helped him up, the old man had short white hair and well-kept bread, his eyes were brown and his skin was tanned, besides that, it was clear that he was well built, he had the body of a man half his age, Merlin clapped him on the shoulder twice before he spoke
"I expect great things from you"
Old man Geo nodded, then Merlin looked over at the merchant that was busy gazing at the tanks eagerly wanting to get closer, Merlin's smile widened slightly as he asked
"I thought you were here about the dragon parts?"
Henrieta tore her eye off the tanks and nodded eagerly as she quickly asked
"Do you want to sell them directly or trade them for something else? I am confident that I'll be able to give you a good price!"
Merlin nodded and reached his hand out and an MRE appeared on it, then he spoke to the confused merchant
"Imagine you give me a bad price, in that case, I'll Imagine your head like this"
Then he threw the MRE towards the city where it landed on the grass, then the roar of a cannon was heard as a 88mm shell tore the MRE and exploded as it dug into the ground behind it, for a few moments after mud rained down around the crater that was emitting black smoke covering the torn MRE partially, Henrieta's eyelid twitched as she felt the ringing in her ears from the cannon, she opened her mouth to speak though Merlin wasn't done yet and spoke first
"Sharpshooter flush your magazine"
*DON! DON! DON! DON! DON! DON! DON!---*
The sound of the autocannon was heard as it flushed the remaining of the magazine-fed 20mm autocannon into the MRE that had already gotten a beating by a 88mm shell, as the hammering of the autocannon sounded out the smile on Henrieta's face gradually stiffened slightly, then after a bit, she spoke
"I'll give you a good price, the best I can give"
Merlin looked at the merchant a bit before he nodded and spoke
"Good, I want to exchange the scales with magic beast cores, what are your ratios?"
"Class 1 magic beast cores?"
"Yeah and class 2 and 3, though no higher than class 3"
Henrieta's eye sparkled before she calculated a for a bit then she nodded and spoke
"I'll give you 22 class 1, or 9 class 2, or 4 class 3 per scale… Would those prices be alright?"
Merlin looked over at Jane that nodded after a bit, then he looked at Old man Geo that also nodded after a bit, then he nodded too and reached out his hand
"You have yourself a deal"
Henrieta showed a smile and shook hands with Merlin, then she excused herself saying she would have the first shipment ready by dawn before she turned and walked back towards the city, she was plenty satisfied with getting the scales, she was not greedy enough to try and negotiate for the more expensive pieces, not before establishing a better relationship with Merlin and thereby getting a better price anyway, Merlin sighed as the cold aura around him lessened slightly, Old man Goe felt the change in Merlin's aura and glanced at the jacket Merlin was wearing before he spoke
"Wearing an enchanted jacket I see… I didn't notice before Henrieta left"
"A what now?"
Old man Geo widened his eyes slightly as he glanced at Merlin, then at Jane that shook her head slightly, then he sighed deeply before he spoke
"Your Jacket is enchanted, though I can't tell its effects besides giving an overwhelming feeling when one talks to you"
Merlin remembered that he had gotten this jacket from the system and nodded, then he showed a smile and patted the Panther tank next to him
"Enough about my jacket, I am sure you want to know about these babies"
Old man Geo nodded, then Merlin seemed to have remembered something and spoke
"Oh right, my name is Merlin Walker and this is Jane"
Old man Geo nodded
"My name is George, though everybody calls me Old man Geo"
"Nice to meet you"
Merlin shook hands with Old man Geo before he pointed to the tank beside him and began speaking
"This here is a Panzerkampfwagen V Ausf. A Panther, she weighs 44.8 metric tones and is armed with a coaxial 7.92mm MG 34 and as the main armament, she carries a 7,5 cm KwK 42 L/70 cannon which is capable of firing rounds including an APCBC shell which is capable of punching through an angled 112 mm steel plate at 1000 meters! This here is Eins, and her 4 sisters"
Old man Geo looked blankly at the tank, then at Merlin, and then at Jane before he shed a tear and spoke
"You've had it though, Jane…"
Jane sighed before she suddenly showed a smile and pointed at the Tiger 1 and spoke
"That's a Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H, she weighs 54 metric tones and it's equipped with a coaxial 7.92mm MG 34 and an 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon that is capable of firing an APCBC shell that can penetrate an angled 83mm steel plate at 2000 meters, her name is Gertra and right now she's one of a kind"
Old man Geo noticed that Jane's eyes were slightly dull and laughed nervously
The next morning Merlin woke up with a set, he narrowed his eyes slightly before a cold light flashed through them as he muttered
"Give me scope control"
After scanning the area he found nothing, then he looked towards the city walls and found that there was some activity there, he poked Jane that was sleeping next to him a few times before she woke up after rubbing her eyes a bit she asked
"What is it?"
"Someone's moving on the walls"
"Okay give me the binoculars and I'll take a look"
"Sure"
Merlin took the binoculars out of his inventory and handed them to Jane that climbed up and popped open the commander's hatch before she peeked out and looked towards the walls, a few seconds later she spoke
"It's a group of mages… And the city lord… Wait a second, the gates are opening… There are about 400 soldiers lined up in formation, looks like they are about to deploy"
Merlin's eyes dimmed slightly before he nodded as the cold aura around him intensified slightly
'Now then, what to do…'