PAWNING THE GOODS

It turned out the mercenaries did not get paid as much as she thought they did. Ninja-wannabe's pouch only contained three gold pieces and a few coppers.

Sage sneered in disgust as she looked at the paltry amount.

What a bunch of cheapskates, she thought.

After a while she sighed and put the coin pouch away. Scooping up Nyx once again, she opened a Door to the Emerald District.

When she and Kaylee questioned the thugs in the slums she had made sure to squeeze every piece of information she could out of them. Not only had she learned about the existence of Sylphia but also an individual who might be willing to take the stolen goods off her hands.

Which brought her here.

After minutes of walking she stopped before the gate of what was one of the biggest mansions around. Looking at the size of the manor, she could not help be impressed. The owner of this place definitely had wealth rivalling that of the aristocracy.

A pair of men in armour guarded the gate from intruders while holding halberds. With the {Index} she saw that both their physiques were Grade 4 and the one of them was also a 2nd Order magician. Through the bars of the fence Sage saw other guards patrolling the premise, all of whom possessed strength matching the two at the gate. The place seemed well guarded.

Well, against normal people at least.

For Sage it was a simple affair to enter the premise. With the abilities of a phantom she could turn invisible, inaudible and intangible; so she was able to walk past these no doubt highly recommended guards without any of them noticing.

The inside of the mansion was most definitely luxurious. The floors and stairs were made of stones of a quality rivalling that of the Enchanted Flower. Several women of different races traipsed around in maid outfits while a single mage in a butler suit walked around and barked orders.

The vases and ornaments that decorated the walls were nothing to sneeze at either. Sage detected magic in some of these items, telling her the owner of the mansion was a frivolous spender who was not shy about displaying his wealth.

He should spend his money on hiring more competent guards, she thought, passing another guard on the way to the top of the stairs.

Unsurprisingly, the upper floor was better guarded than the bottom floor. There had been only a single guard on the bottom floor and he had been guarding the stairs. As for the top floor, two Grade 4 guards prowled the corridor. At the end of the hallway another pair of guards stood in front of a door silently. One of these guards actually had a Grade 3 physique while the other was a mage of the 5th Order. Clearly that was the door to the master bedroom and the fact that they stood there meant the he was there at the moment.

However, even though she had come to see the manor owner she had no desire to walk into his bedroom. At this time of night she would probably walk into something she would not want to see. Instead she began looking at the other rooms by poking her head through the unguarded doors.

Privy, bathroom, bedroom, another bedroom; finally, after poking her head through several doors she found the room she wanted, the study. This room she entered with her entire body, walked over to one of the shelves with books so dusty they were probably never opened since they were bought, took one and propped herself in the giant armchair. Then she placed her feet on the luxurious desk and cracked the book open.

The book in her hands contained some boring economic principles that looked like they were written by Adam Smith, so they were boring and uninteresting; at least to her. She quickly swapped it for one of her own. Then she poured herself a glass from the aged whiskey in the cupboard and returned to reading.

The wonderful thing(depending on who you are) about being undead was the immunity to alcohol, drugs and basically all toxic substances; so she could drink as much as she wanted without getting drunk. It did not stop the whiskey from burning when she gulped it though; but that was the charm of brandy. She savoured it as she leafed through her book and waited.

Hours passed and night vanished. It was when she had just started her second book that the door to the study opened and admitted a short heavyset dwarf with a dark beard that reached his waist. From the description she had been given this was the person she had been told about, Malvin Grunt. He was not only famous as a black market dealer but was also a legitimate merchant of renown.

The moment he opened the door and saw her sitting in his chair his eyes nearly popped out of his head, but he managed to recover quickly and shout for the guards.

"At ease Mr Grunt," she began, looking up from her book and setting down her whiskey glass. She paid no mind to the guards who appeared behind him as she continued. "I assure you that my presence here is not meant to threaten you, in fact you can consider it as being beneficial."

"Wh- who are you?" the shocked merchant asked, taking a step back out of the room. The Guard with the Grade 3 physique filled the empty spot he had just left.

"I am someone who wants to do business with you," she answered casually, picking up the whiskey glass once again and sipping from it. "I have some items here with me and I wonder if you're interested in them."

Seeing her nonchalant attitude even in the presence of the massive guard, Grunt must have realised she did not consider his protection detail a threat. After calming down he told them to stand back and took a step into the room.

"And what items of interest would you have for me Miss…"

"Maverick," she replied. "Call me Lady Maverick, or Miss Maverick; whichever suits your fancy."

"How is it that you managed to get into my house?" the dwarf asked. If his tone were firmer it would have been a demand.

"Oh, it was quite simple," she replied, keeping her nonchalant tone. "I simply walked in and no one noticed me. Your guards' detection skills leave a lot to be desired. If I were you I would hire new ones."

"Is that so?" the dwarf asked.

Even with all his beard she could still see that he was gritting his teeth. He approached the desk and sat himself in the much less opulent chair on the other side of the desk. Considering the fact that she was in his much better armchair, he must have been livid. His tone when he spoke next basically confirmed it.

"What is it you wish to sell?" he asked harshly.

In response to his question she set Nyx on the table and had him expel all the jewels she had stolen onto the table. In the next moment a small mountain appeared on the desk.

"How much will all this be worth?" she asked casually, ignoring his shocked expression.

But the dwarf did not reply as his wide eyes drifted from the pile of jewels, Nyx, Sage and repeated the cycle. She was not really in a hurry so she returned to her book and waited for a response.

"Where did you get these jewels?" Finally, after more than a minute of silence Grunt managed to speak up.

"From a charitable shop in Tiih," she answered casually.

Hearing this, a look of comprehension dawned on the merchant's face. "Oh, so you were the thief that stole from the Masons a week ago?"

"Please do not word it so Mr Grunt," she replied, leaving her book once again. "What I did was distributing wealth to more… deserving people. Such as yourself."

"I see," the dwarven merchant replied. For a second, what looked like amusement flashed across his face. "Then I must commend you for your actions."

"I appreciate you commendation," she replied in a jolly tone, "and I would appreciate it even more if you show your commendation by buying the jewels."

"How much are you willing to charge?" the dwarf asked.

Having calmed down after finding a stranger in his study, the man had now entered his element. The question he asked was not for her benefit, but for the sake of testing her knowledge of jewel prices. If she offered an amount that was too high he would argue and do his best to whittle the price down. If she stated a price that was far below what the jewels were worth he would not hesitate to accept it.

"Two hundred and fifty gold," she said after thinking about it for a while.

There were around fifty pieces of jewellery on the table and the cheapest was worth five gold. It was only reasonable that she would ask for that price.

Marvin Grunt did not share the same opinion.

"These are sto- interestingly procured goods," he responded. "Two hundred and fifty is too much considering I will not be able to sell them in the open. One hundred and fifty."

Hearing his offer, she sighed. This was why she did not like stealing and selling goods. It was so much easier to just take money.

"I remember the price of most of these jewels and I assure you their combined value is way more than three hundred gold," she replied, stressing the three hundred part. "Is it common practise for an honourable merchant such as yourself to offer less than half the market price?"

In response to her question, Grunt uttered a grunt. "I'm sure you are aware that items obtained through… less than legitimate means cannot be sold at market value. I will be lucky to be able to sell these jewels for the two hundred and fifty that you proposed. So how about I take them off your hands for one hundred and seventy?"

They went back and forth until they finally agreed on two hundred and fifteen gold. Sage accepted the money and left the merchant's manor through [Dimension Door] while smiling.

For the first time since coming to this world she felt rich.