Merchant Guild

It was already afternoon and Gerald was currently in the middle of making a book about alchemy basics. Having time to think he was able to organize his thoughts much better than just speaking unprepared.

Just as he was deep in his thoughts someone knocked on the door of his lab.

"Come in," he beckoned.

The door opened and Sera came inside. "Gerald, a servant from the Auction House came, carrying a message. He is currently waiting at the door and is asking if you could meet him."

"Oh? Do you know what exactly he wants?"

Sera shook her head, "No, he said he would only speak to you…"

Gerald sighed and closed his book, "Alright, I'll go see what this is about!"

At the front gates, a person dressed in expensive clothes was standing with his head held high. He wore the insignia of the Golden Pouch Auction House on his chest.

"Mn? What message do you have for me?" coming out of the house, Gerald casually asked.

The messenger bowed, just slightly, and spoke, "Mister Gerald, I presume? Master of the Golden Pouch Auction House, Arthur Rosecloud requested to have a word with you. If you could please follow me…"

Gerald lifted his eyebrow and spoke to himself, "Ah? Arthur is back? Great, I was planning to speak to him about a few things but he was absent yesterday…" Then, turning to the servant he said, "Go on, lead the way, I have plenty to do later, let's not waste any more time!"

The servant was taken aback.

'What kind of reaction is this? To speak of the master in such a casual manner, as tho they are best buddies? Unbelievable…'

However, the thoughts of the servant were quickly broken by Gerald's annoyed voice, urging him to move.

After considering his own standing as a mere servant, the man decided not to think about it any longer and simply decided to quickly complete his task. As such he, led Gerald to the Golden Pouch, through the back door, all the way to the office of his boss.

"We are here… Give me a moment please!" The servant quickly spoke a few words and knocked on the door. After a questioning voice came from inside he quickly answered, "Master, the one you asked for, Gerald is here!"

"Oh," the voice sounded out again, "Send him in!"

Going inside, Gerald was once again faced with the boss of the Auction House, Arthur Rosecloud. Although he interacted with the latter before, he had to pretend to be unfamiliar with him.

Arthur was currently sitting at his desk that was facing the door. When he saw Gerald enter he did not stand up to welcome him, but simply nodded his head and gestured with his hand, "Welcome, have a seat!"

"So, you are the apprentice of master G correct? I heard your name is Gerald…"

"Oh," Gerald scratched his head awkwardly, "Is that how master introduced himself?"

Nodding with a serious face, Arthur continued, "I heard from my sister that your master is searching for a Phoenix, is that true?"

Gerald sighed and helplessly shook his head, "I have only heard my master mention it by chance, I am not sure of this matter…" The less information he gave out, the more room for speculation was left. That way these people would be preoccupied with searching in all the wrong places, while he, as a young man with nothing special to show for himself, would most likely be ignored.

"Is this why sir requested my presence?" Gerald couldn't help but ask.

Instead of directly answering his question, Arthur spoke, "How is the place we prepared? Is it to your liking?"

"Err, sire is too generous, it is more than enough for just the four of us… Actually, I was hoping that sir Arthur could help us establish a connection with the merchant guild," Gerald spoke with a slightly timid and respectful tone.

"You see, the place you so generously gave us is quite massive so we will have to get a few servants to help maintain it. As such we have to start making some money as soon as possible, else we won't be able to afford living there…"

"I'm afraid that master would be angry if we failed to take care of ourselves… Before leaving master said that this could be considered a test for us so I was hoping if sir Arthur could lend us a helping hand?"

The speech left Arthur Rosecloud speechless. 'Damn, I didn't think of that! I only wanted to test this guy out, but if he really failed his master, wouldn't that mean that I didn't take care well of his apprentices at all?' He felt a headache coming in.

'I should have listened to my little sis and given them an average house, that would be much less work on my part too! Damn it… I hope all this work will be worth it in the end.'

Holding his head in frustration Arthur waved his hand, "Alright, alright! I'll write you a recommendation letter for the headmaster of the merchant guild. The price of the product and such small matters will be for you to negotiate."

"Of course, thank you, sir, you have already done more than enough!"

"I hope so… Arthur murmured under his breath and proceeded to take out a paper and a quill to write the letter. Having done that, he rolled it, bound it with fancy tape, and sealed it with wax. Lastly, he pressed down his insignia and then handed the sealed letter to Gerald.

"Give this to the headmaster Saff Bezir! But be careful, although the merchant guild is one of our branches, you should act respectfully. If by chance, you anger them, I won't help you solve the problem, after all, headmaster Saff comes from a powerful family and he is not a person to be trifled with!" boss Arthur warned with a stern face.

"I'll take sir's words to heart! Don't worry, I won't sully sir's great name," Gerald responded with humble and righteous words.

"Mn," Arthur nodded, satisfied that the young lad before him understood his meaning.

***

According to the instructions and directions he received, Gerald found the merchant guild not long after.

It was more of a massive open hall than a building. A flat roof was raised high up, at least to the height of three people, and massive wooden columns supported the beams above.

There was a place for animals to rest and get a bite to eat, where merchants could unload their goods to be inspected, and subsequently sold.

The whole place was quite massive and crates and sacks of different materials and products were stacked up to the ceiling in some places.

People were bargaining and chatting, as well as arguing over various things, it was quite lively.

The workers of the merchant guild all wore the same uniform so they were easily recognized. They wore brown leather pants and bright crimson vests, so they were easily noticed at a distance.

An emblem on their chest represented their rank, distinguishing between physical workers and supervisors who worked there.

Walking past the carriages and wagons full of goods, Gerald went to one of the supervisors and asked to meet the headmaster.

"You want to meet our headmaster Bezir?" The supervisor frowned, "Why should he waste his time with you?"

"Because I have a letter from the Golden Pouch's boss for him?" Gerald took out the letter and showed it to the man. "I also have to speak to him regarding some matter…"

"Hmm, very well… You can find the headmaster in his office over there," The man pointed with his finger at a tiny building near the edge of the market.