Selling Monster Skins

The attendant said:

"Because your monster skins are too valuable, I can't make the decision. Please wait a moment; the owner will personally come to discuss with you soon."

I nodded helplessly and waited by the counter, boredly surveying the shop's goods.

Although many items here looked beautiful, I had no interest in them at the moment.

Fortunately, it didn't take long before a graceful lady approached. I hadn't expected that such a large equipment shop would be managed by a woman.

She carefully examined the monster skins, especially the two Level 7 ones, scrutinizing them repeatedly. Then she said to me:

"Sorry for keeping you waiting. I am the shop owner. You can call me Madame William. Please follow me to the VIP room for a detailed discussion. I will offer you a fair price."

I nodded and followed Madame William to the VIP room, which was essentially a small meeting hall. Under the glow of an elegant and exquisite magic lamp, the small room appeared bright and cozy. I silently praised it; negotiating prices in such an environment was indeed much more relaxed than in the main hall.

As soon as we sat down, a maid brought tea over. Since I had just flown for a long time, I was quite thirsty. I took a sip and was surprised by its fragrance, even though I wasn't much of a tea drinker, I knew it was rare and excellent tea.

Madame William, seeing my expression after drinking the tea, smiled and introduced:

"This is Sky Fragrance Tea from the Elven Forest, exceedingly rare among humans."

I asked in astonishment:

"The Elven Forest? Isn't that the dwelling place of the elves? Can people freely enter and leave the Elven Forest?"

The shop owner smiled and said:

"Clearly, you haven't traveled much on the mainland. Otherwise, you would know that while the Elven Forest isn't open to humans, elves and beastmen no longer confine themselves to the forest. Ever since the agreement five hundred years ago between the Holy See, the Elven Queen, and the Beast King, elves and beastmen have been free to live on the continent. They are just less commonly seen."

I was almost dizzy with frustration. All this time, influenced by the information passed down from the Karle tribe chief, I had thought that elves and beastmen were still at odds with humans. I hadn't realized how outdated that information was.

Reflecting on the fact that all the information I had learned recently dated back at least five hundred years, I found it hard to believe its relevance. It seemed I needed to start relearning about this world from scratch.

But really, it was my own fault for misunderstanding. My knowledge of the elves had always been limited to what I gleaned from soul magic, and I had never mentioned their recent situation to the Karle tribe chief.

At this point, Madame William had already calculated the price and said:

"Esteemed guest, because Level 7 monster skins are quite rare, and yours are in excellent condition, I propose purchasing them for 10,000 gold coins each. In the recent auction, Level 7 monster skins sold for 15,000 gold coins each, but auctions incur additional fees, so my offer is competitive. As for the medium-grade monster skins, I propose an average of 100 gold coins per skin. Are you satisfied with this price?"

I nodded in satisfaction, thinking that the other monster skins left in my ring were of no use. Bringing them out now wouldn't expose them to others' eyes. Moreover, her offer was quite good, so I said:

"The price you offer is fair, even higher than I expected. In that case, I'll sell you the remaining monster skins as well. However, I hope you can promise me one condition: not to disclose to others the fact that I sold you so many monster skins."

Seeing her agreement, I opened my spatial ring. A white light flashed, and a large number of monster skins emerged, landing directly on the coffee table.

I took out all the monster skins from the ring except for the Level 9 monster skins. Level 8 monsters already possessed strength comparable to that of a great swordsman. If I were to reveal Level 9 monster skins, equivalent to a sword saint among humans, it could potentially expose my strength and prove disadvantageous for my future actions to seize dragon crystals.

Although I believed I had enough strength to reclaim the dragon crystals, caution was advisable.

Furthermore, my appearance still resembled that of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old. If a young sword saint like me appeared, I believe it would stir waves across the continent!

Despite making Madame William promise to keep this transaction confidential, I knew that sooner or later, someone would find out about today's events.

After all, there were over ten Level 7 and 8 monster skins here. If they were all revealed at once, anyone would be suspicious.

After a long pause, Madame William started excitedly examining the skins. I lazily watched her count them while enjoying the tea cakes. During my five years on Dragon Island, apart from grilled meat and fruits, I had consumed nothing else.

Just as I was feeling full and sleepy, the female shop owner finally finished counting. She excitedly said to me:

"There are six Level 8 monster skins in total, each valued at 100,000 gold coins. Including the others, the total is 680,000 gold coins. Would you be using a purple crystal card or direct purple gold coins? If it's purple gold coins, you'll need to wait a while; I need time to exchange them."

I thought a purple crystal card was probably like a bank card, and said:

"Let's use the purple crystal card. There are 650,000 gold coins in it. But I don't have a purple crystal card now. Where can I go to get one? Also, please give me 10,000 gold coins and 200 purple crystal coins."

The shop owner replied:

"As long as there's a blank purple crystal card, you just need to acknowledge it with a drop of blood. I have one here, so just a drop of your blood will suffice. By inputting a bit of Qi, you can check the balance on the card."

She immediately took out two cards and handed one to me.

I took it and followed her instructions, dripping a drop of blood on it. She then directed me to write my name in a specific place, ensuring the card wouldn't be mistaken during transactions. Then she combined the two purple crystal cards, enabling the transfer of funds. It was indeed more convenient than carrying a personal computer.

Once the transfer was complete, she instructed a maid nearby, and soon the maid brought two small bags. She handed me the bags and the purple crystal card, saying:

"Esteemed guest, here are your purple crystal card and gold coins. Please count them to avoid any mistakes."

I stood up, received the two bags, and without even looking, placed them directly into my spatial ring. I then took the purple crystal card, injected some true Qi into it, and immediately saw a number appear on the card. I checked carefully and confirmed it was 650,000. I nodded to Madame William.

Just as I was about to bid her farewell, she took out another card and said:

"This is our William family's VIP card. With this card, you can enjoy VIP treatment in any of our family's industries. The symbol on it is our family crest. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to ask for the esteemed guest's name, because these monster skins are crucial to our equipment shop's development."

I calmly stated my name, looking at the card which depicted an eagle in flight. Suddenly, I remembered the emblem on the old man's carriage earlier. Could he also be from the William family? I wondered.

Despite Madame William's repeated insistence, she escorted me out of the shop.

With over 600,000 gold coins in hand, my mood was vastly different from when I had entered. Though I usually held money lightly, I wasn't above feeling relief. I had experienced the anxiety of being penniless once, and that was enough.

Walking through the streets, my initial excitement about receiving the money quickly faded. Remembering my purpose in coming to this city, I stopped a passerby to ask for directions. However, the swordsman-dressed individual seemed clearly impatient with being stopped on the street, saying curtly:

"If you want to know how to get to the Aust Empire, just buy a continent map from the Thieves' Guild."

With that, he hurried after his companions ahead, leaving me to seek out the Thieves' Guild.

After paying 120 gold coins at the Thieves' Guild, I obtained a map of the continent and learned why this small city was so bustling.

It turned out that most people here were mercenaries, and the Mercenaries' Guild was probably the largest guild on the entire continent.

As mercenaries, they could both accept various tasks from the Mercenaries' Guild and issue tasks within the guild.

Mercenaries who completed tasks could earn gold coins, honor, and even noble titles.

Of course, the Mercenaries' Guild had strict ranking systems, not only for mercenaries but also for tasks. Only qualified mercenaries could accept tasks.

(Ranked from highest to lowest: S rank, A rank, B rank, C rank, D rank, E rank)

The reason so many mercenaries had come to this small city was because the city lord had issued a task at the guild to guard the small city, an A rank large-scale task.

Like Dragon Island, the port here was also occasionally attacked by large tides every few years.

With the tides came numerous monsters from the nearby deep sea.

Over the years, due to the relatively low intensity of monster attacks, the city's residents had grown accustomed to the biannual monster attacks. They would periodically survey the surrounding waters to estimate the next attack's intensity.

After dealing with the monsters each time, the harvest of magic crystals and monster skins would be enough to elate the entire city.

However, recently, a formidable sea monster had appeared with a large group of mid to high-level monsters in the nearby waters. For a city population accustomed to resisting large numbers of low-level monsters, with a few mid-level and a small number of high-level monsters, this was nothing short of a disaster.

The city lord knew that if these monsters also attacked the city along with the tide, the city's own strength would definitely not be enough to withstand it.

That's why he had spent a fortune to issue this task at the Mercenaries' Guild.

This task not only involved killing monsters to obtain magic crystals, but also offered additional gold coins. Furthermore, it promised lucrative mercenary points. Hence, numerous mercenaries had rushed to the small city.