Chapter 15 - Lucian's First Deal (2)

Vorila leaned forward, a sly grin spreading across his face as he spoke with the kind of grandiosity only a merchant claiming to have a 'heart of gold' could muster.

"Well, Count," he began, his fingers drumming theatrically on the table, "I suppose… I could offer you one silver coin for each corpse. After all, I can't bear to see your people suffer."

'!'

An audible gasp filled the air, echoing the disbelief of the servants and the head maid who stood nearby.

They were shocked to hear the merchant, who had habitually paid three to four gold coins for corpses—even those in less than pristine condition—now dare to negotiate so blatantly.

The count had been generous to maintain the corpses in such good shape, yet this man was brazenly taking his generosity for granted, much like their mistress had done.

'One silver coin? For an entire monster's corpse?'

The servants exchanged glances filled with barely suppressed anger.

Their glares aimed at Vorila were intense, but they knew better than to speak out; any vocal disagreement could be misinterpreted as a sign of disrespect, giving the merchant an opportunity to belittle the Count for supposedly having poorly trained attendants.

So they swallowed their rage, their fists clenched tightly at their sides.

"One silver, you say…" The Count paused, locking eyes with Vorila in a way that conveyed he saw through his offer.

But within him, the weight of his territory's needs gnawed at his conscience.

It was his decision to bestow the mana mine to Duchess Kassidy for the sake of protecting his son that had led to this state of decline.

He trusted her too much to give her territory to maintain, and the end result was that she had most of the wealth with her, even though it should have been stored in the treasury of the Vinlig territory; it was stored somewhere else.

If not for her prior actions of surreptitiously siphoning away most of the wealth, he would not find himself in such dire straits.

Count added, "If you could make it two, it would be… deeply appreciated."

At that moment, Vorila rubbed his hands together, feigning thoughtfulness as he contemplated Count's request.

He knew he was dealing with a well-known naïve beast, and scamming the Count was much like scamming an oblivious creature—if it roared, it would mean Vorila's end.

Yet, every risk could lead to greater rewards.

However, when Vorila heard the Count suggest raising the price to two silver coins instead of gold, he felt an unexpected satisfaction wash over him.

He knew that pushing for more would prove to be a difficult task, but the prospect of two coins delighted him, prompting the corners of his mouth to curve into a smile.

"Oh, Count, Count!" Vorila laughed, wagging a finger as if the request amused him to no end.

"If I were to give you two silvers, I might as well be casting away my wares for free! But because I'm such a generous soul," he placed a hand dramatically over his heart, "I will agree to raise it to two silver coins, just this once. Consider it my personal favor to you."

As Vorila said this, he reached into his pouch with exaggerated flair, drawing out two red pouches filled with silver coins and placing them on the table with a triumphant flourish. "This is from a kind man like me to a kind man like you. Have it, Count."

It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Vorila felt no loss, judging by how little he cared to count or even recount the silver coins in the pouch, likely because he already knew he'd walked away with a bargain.

"....." The Count glared at the two pouches that contained silver coins instead of gold, his fist clenched in frustration as he fought the urge to kill the merchant right there and then.

However, he knew that this was his only chance; his people were in dire need of money due to the ongoing drought, prompting him to put aside his anger while weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

Just then, he heard a sound.

"Booo Wooo Eeee."

"Lucian?" The Count noticed that the child in his arms was pointing toward the table where the pouches lay.

His resolve softened as he realized that he no longer only had to care for his territory and his people—he had a small child depending on him as well.

This revelation brought clarity to his situation; if it were merely a matter of killing monsters, he could always take on more.

He gently lifted Lucian and placed him on the desk.

It was surprising how, despite being only three weeks old, Lucian could sit without balancing and even to a certain degree move his hands.

'This gorilla is being too generous, huh?' Lucian thought, adjusting his imaginary camera with his hands as if he were trying to get the perfect view from the desk to Vorila's mouth.

While Lucian didn't fully comprehend the currency system of this world, he could read the expressions of those around him.

He noted the visible anger in the servants' clenched fists and gritted jaws, which led him to understand that the merchant was clearly trying to swindle the Count.

With that realization and knowing how to deal with this man, Lucian opened the pouch of silver coins and lifted one coin with both hands.

To his astonishment, it was already larger than the palm of his tiny hand.

He blinked at it for a few moments before directing his gaze toward the merchant, who was busy laughing and eating chicken, immersed in a conversation spoken in a language Lucian couldn't grasp, nor did he care to for now.

Looking back at the shiny silver coin in his hand, he realized he wouldn't be able to throw it hard enough; his tiny muscles lacked the strength for that.

Instead, he decided to rely on his ingenuity.

One by one, he took the silver coins from the pouch and lined them up in front of the merchant, stacking them neatly until he had constructed a stable bridge of eight coins.

A simple but clever arrangement.

'He's at 37° to the desk... hm, I am at.....If his upper body is three times my size....then...hm'

It seemed that Lucian had a scheme in mind.