Chapter 11 - It's going to cost ya

Inside Benzo's pawn shop.

A bulky man with sideburns and beards put down the magnifying glass in his hand and shouted into the inner room:

"Ekko, Did you repair the… Ekko. Ekko! The hell he go..."

The man squeezed out of the counter mumbling and was about to walk into the back.

The door rings, a familiar voice entered his ears: "Benzo, awfully cheerful today. You ripped someone off recently?"

"Vander? Why are you here again old man?" Benzo scratched his hairline, and snorted, "Gotta stay in business somehow, you're here for some junk?"

"I'm here for you this time."

"For me? What'd I do?"

"The two outside?" Vander pointed to the young man and woman talking outside the door.

Benzo squinted and peaked through the window, "who's that?"

"He came from upstairs, for you specifically, saying you have what he wants."

Vander pulled out the chair in front of the counter and sat down. He picked up the bottle on the table and poured himself a drink. "You offend someone Uptown?"

"Well, you know me. I don't even go out often. How do I do that?"

Benzo scratched the beard on his face and smiled, "Maybe the junk I sell are catching on."

"Yeah right." Vander took a sip and looked around the store. "I hardly ever see people come by anyways."

"Hey! Shut it, I sold something for a lot of money a short while ago." Benzo laughed, "Just a piece of glass shard, Ekko picked it up in the garbage, I sold it for 50 cogs! Can you believe it?"

He stretched out five fingers and shook it in front of Vander's face, "The kid also said, if I can find a complete one, he'd buy it for all the more and no less. I should be able to sell it for a few hexes."

"You're in trouble." Vander couldn't help sighing, "I don't think the shard was glass, and the two outside should be coming for this... "

The bell at the door rang again, Lilin and Caitlyn walked in.

"Welcome, how can I help ya?" A "bright" smile appeared on Benzo's face. "Our store has all kinds of goods and products, which are all first-class..."

"A crystal." Lilin interrupting Benzo's introduction, "I'm looking for a complete blue crystal that glows. A friend of mine came here before, and he bought a fragment."

"Oh, that one turned out to be your friend, I remember it very clearly, but that kind of crystal don't come by often..."

Benzo rubbed his fingers together and smiled, a normal person can see what he wants to express.

Need to pay up.

"Tell me, how much does it cost?" Lilin said in a neutral tone.

Not my money anyways, the Kiramman family will reimburse it.

He glanced at Caitlyn beside him, and suddenly understood why Jayce had spent so much money on a mere fragment before without bargaining.

Benzo rubbed his chin and hesitated for a moment, then raised a finger:

"Then, a piece of crystal for a hex?"

"Deal. If there are scraps, try to collect them as much as possible. I will pay for it... Provided that you don't try to fool me with junk."

Damn it! I set the price too low...

Seeing Lilin's accepting the deal so casually, Benzo felt an ache, he could have gotten more.

He opened his mouth to raise the price, but Vander's eyes signaled him to give up the idea.

For this kind of deals from the upstairs, it is best not to go too far. As a businessman, Benzo also knows this very well.

It's a better choice to get a regular by taking a little bit of a loss up front.

The deal went well, but it wasn't the best outcome Lilin wanted.

"I heard from my friend that you can only get them after Progress Day?"

"This..." Benzo glanced at Vander hesitantly and explained: "During Progress Day, the enforcer topside is very strict. It is not impossible, but the risk is too high."

"You're … going to steal?" Caitlyn surprised.

She knew that some items that were not allowed to circulate on the market or that some stolen items from the houses would be sold on the black market in Zaun.

But what she didn't expect was that these merchants was not only recycling the waste, but also sending people out to steal it directly.

"Well." Benzo amused. "We can't make one for you out of thin air, can we?"

"Expedited if possible. I want to get the goods before the evolution day." Lilin asked again.

"Easy for you to say." Benso sighed animatedly, "The streets and alleys of the uppercity are full of law enforcement officers. My people can't risk going to prison..."

Not enough money.

Lilin raised two fingers and interrupted Benzo, who was still whining, "Two gold hex for one complete crystal."

"Five."

"Two."

Benzo gritted his teeth, "4 pieces, I'm taking a huge loss..."

"Two."

This punk, acting so rich before, and so stingy now!

Benzo with an apologetic expression on his face, "Three, it really can't be any lower."

Both Vander and Caitlyn couldn't help covering their faces.

Lilin thought about it for a while, "Alright, 3 pieces it is, but this is the price before Progress Day. Finding it after will be old price of 1 gold hex per crystal."

"...Fine." Another word almost came out of Benzo's mouth. "Come back in a week."

"Don't let me down."

After negotiating the deal, Lilin nodded to Vander and walked out of the store with Caitlyn.

"Not a bad deal Benzo, it's a lot of money for this order." Vander patted Benzo's shoulder with a smile on his face, "Maybe you should pay more for next month's collection."

"Shut up Vander, go collect the Gray!" Benzo grabbed his bottle from Vander, "This punk, the last uptown boy was so much nicer. I could have earned double, no triple!"

"It's good to make money. Look at my tavern, you don't see gold coins there."

Vander emptied the cup, then got up and walked to the door of the store, stopping.

Benzo noticed the man who becoming quiet, his smile receding, "What?"

"On the way here, and we had a tail." Vander's tone was dull, and he turned to meet Benzo's eyes.

"They didn't come for me, but this is the lanes..."

Vander's words trailed off, but as his old pal, Benzo heard the message.

"I get it."