Chapter 33: Selling the Wine and Field's Fairytale

"Your father was a brave and fearless nobleman, the 'Scarlet Rose' of the Ross family, and left legendary tales in the empire," Simon Maple said with a courteous tone. In reality, the two had no direct connection, and the first chosen one of the old earl had long since died, perishing in a war against the elves. Simon spoke loudly, "I admire his bravery greatly and hope to meet him someday."

Simon was a short, plump man with very fair skin, his face covered with freckles and warts. He lay in the arms of two scantily clad maids. After he finished speaking, he pouted and sucked a cherry from the maid's hand, chewing leisurely, and then spat the pit onto the maid's white skin with a "pth."

The maid showed no displeasure, instead, she kept giggling.

It was truly decadent, but Field wasn't surprised. Many nobles were like this. After all, growing up getting everything they wanted, their threshold for pleasure was set very high, and they needed more intense stimuli to feel joy.

As long as they didn't bother him, Field didn't care.

With a gesture from Simon, Field sat down in a chair and responded with a courteous tone of his own, "You are one of the most skilled nobles in managing a domain I've ever seen. The prosperity of Maple Leaf City is beyond anything I've witnessed before."

"Haha, I appreciate your honesty."

The two of them, adhering to noble etiquette, exchanged pleasantries for a while.

"Seriously, Field, you inherited your family's bravery and wisdom. Not many can venture into the cursed land and come back unscathed," Simon said as he struggled to sit up, gesturing for the maids to leave, signaling the end of idle talk. He stood up, "Let's move to the parlor to discuss. Since you don't care for these common charms, we'll skip them. Perhaps you'll like elves or mermaids better. Hehe, too bad I don't have any at the moment; the last batch was bought and made into dishes by other nobles."

Field felt a wave of nausea but maintained a neutral expression, saying, "You even have mermaids?"

"Of course. Next time, I'll take you to an interesting underground banquet that will satisfy all your tastes." Simon raised his eyebrows with a mischievous smile.

"Haha, I'll look forward to that. Truly worthy of Baron Maple," Field laughed heartily. He had no interest in underground banquets but, as a seller, naturally had to flatter a bit. Then, with a tone of relief, he added, "Being able to come out of Nightfall Domain alive was thanks to my soldiers and the goddess's blessing. I'm surprised myself that I survived. It seems luck is temporarily on my side."

Simon clapped his hands in admiration, "I like dealing with lucky people."

In the lavishly decorated parlor, Field's goods, after inspection, had already been delivered to the estate. From the parlor, one could see the sherry casks outside the door.

"What are these?"

"Hammer, show Baron Simon the monster."

Field didn't immediately start selling the goods but instead had the guard bring a skull. This was the skull of the mutated rat from the large winery. Just the head was as big as a young man's torso, with horns and sharp teeth, resembling a demon from the region, grinning ferociously.

"This is the first extraordinary monster I encountered in Nightfall Domain, a corrupted giant rat demon. Its fur burned with purple magical flames, and its claws easily tore through thick scales. One breath from its mouth unleashed a wailing scream of ghosts. In just one encounter, its demonic flames burned seven of my vanguard soldiers! Damn, those were knights carefully trained by the Ross family, reduced to ashes."

"Gasp~"

Simon sucked in a breath, rubbing his chin, "The Maple Leaf Fortress has never encountered such a rat demon attack. They seem very dangerous."

Nobles valued appearances and prestige more than facts.

Field held up the skull, showing a look of lingering fear, and wove a fairytale-like story, saying, "This monster rampaged through my ranks, its claws unstoppable. We had no way to counter it. Can you understand that despair? All I could do was pray for a miracle."

Simon nodded, "It's like eating all the honey but having no more in reserve."

"At the critical moment of life and death, the goddess answered my prayers. A lightning bolt carrying divine power struck down this wretched beast, giving my knights a chance to slay it."

"Thank the goddess!" Simon was astonished. He made the sign of the Love Goddess on his chest and said with lingering fear, "The Northern Province is synonymous with hell. The church and the royal family have attempted many conquests to no avail. You returning alive is a miracle in itself."

"Indeed, but for the peace of the empire and the sake of precious treasures, I'm willing to take the risk," Field shrugged, pulling at his collar to cool off. "Especially precious treasures like the long-extinct rare vintage, Black Pearl wine. This greedy rat demon was a connoisseur, guarding this treasure fiercely."

"Oh my, did I hear that right? Black Pearl wine? From ten years ago, the royal banquet's exclusive wine?" Simon's eyes lit up, "Let me see those rare vintages. I can't wait."

Nobles had no resistance to rare items. Although Field had not found it particularly difficult to acquire the wine, adding an extra layer of difficulty to the story significantly increased its value and prestige.

Opening the cask, the rich aroma of the wine filled the room. Simon couldn't wait to taste it, then showed a look of ecstasy, "This is the taste. Do you know? My father had a bottle stored away, and only allowed me to have a glass on my birthday last year! The velvet-like smoothness, I bet my father will be insanely jealous of me."

Field laughed, "Of course, a noble beauty needs a nobleman to appreciate it, and noble wine needs noble people to savor it."

Even modern shoppers prefer to buy a product with a "story." For example: "Friends, I'm bringing you a great deal. This item was originally priced at nine billion, but I forced the boss to give a discount. Now it's only nine bucks. How can you not grab it?"

"I feel like I've found a kindred spirit. I'll buy these precious wines," Simon readily admitted, then called a servant over and whispered a few instructions. "Wait a moment, Baron Field. I need to discuss the price with my advisor. This isn't a small deal."

"Please, go ahead."

After a brief discussion, Simon returned with an offer of 500 gold coins per cask.

This was exactly the amount Field had used to start his expedition to Nightfall Domain.

A standard sherry cask holds about 500 liters. One liter equals 2.1134 pints, and one pint equals a glass of wine. Typically, nobles drink wine at a price of 25 copper coins per glass. Thus, ordinary wine would cost approximately 26 gold coins and 41 silver coins per cask.