It's Overpriced!

Thankfully, the dragon meat went down well. None of us were poisoned, and we even put the rest of the dragon into my |Item Box| before moving. Also it tasted pretty good. It was surprisingly tender and juicy too.

"Now that we're done with our little… detour. Will we be moving back to the capital?" [Solace]

"Yeah. We've wasted our time enough. Back to getting chased by bounty hunters." [Wilharrow]

We stayed the night in the cave and set off the next morning. Normally, we'd run into a few bounty hunters here and there, but we encountered something else.

"Hello there!" [???]

A strange man wearing a fedora and a leather coat approached us. He had some kind of white top with a frilly collar inside and black pants kept up with a belt. Other than the brown cowboy boots he's got, I only found his wide grin a bit odd.

"Name yourself." [Wilharrow]

Wilharrow immediately drew his sword. It was normal to do so since we were meeting this random guy in the middle of monster territory.

"Woah! That's quite the dangerous toy you've got there." [???]

The strange man raised his hands as if to tell us he was unarmed.

"Do not come any closer. I am warning you." [Wilharrow]

The strange man sighed.

"I am Vyse. Sovereign of Trade. I've come to sell you my wares." [Strange Man]

"So you're a merchant? That's a grand title for someone of your occupation." [Wilharrow]

"I have received that title for a reason." [Vyse]

He opened one side of his coat to reveal some kind of swirling space within.

"Anything you want, I have it. For a price, that is. What would you like?" [Vyse]

All of my senses were telling me this guy was suspicious as hell.

"Why are you here?" [Solace]

"To sell my wares." [Vyse]

Look at this guy with his silver tongue.

"I meant why were you in this monster infested forest to begin with." [Solace]

"To find you. Or rather, ALL of you." [Vyse]

Everyone was put on guard.

"Do not fret. I am not a bounty hunter. I was simply looking to sell my wares to the Hero's party." [Vyse]

"You know who we are?" [Wilharrow]

Vyse chuckled.

"If you think those fake ears and tails will trick me, think again." [Vyse]

Of all things, I expected that.

"Yeah, the disguises stopped working a while back." [Solace]

"Then why are you still wearing it?" [Vyse]

"Appearances sake, I guess." [Solace]

"Hm. In that case, would you like it if I sold you all a different disguise?" [Vyse]

He took out the equivalent of the beastman headbands, but they were equipped with horns instead of animal ears.

"Take these. They will help you on your journey." [Vyse]

Wilharrow refused.

"It is tradition for heroes to use beastmen disguises. We will not be purchasing them." [Wilharrow]

Vyse passed a gaze over the rest of us.

"It's on the house." [Vyse]

He smiled in a way I'd expect a merchant to.

"I won't accept them. They're still-" [Wilharrow]

"I'll take them." [Solace]

I cut Wilharrow off and took the headbands. Somehow, Vyse slipped me four extras when I reached out.

"One for each." [Vyse]

"Thanks." [Solace]

Wilharrow gave me a stern look.

"Fine. We'll take them. We won't wear them though." [Wilharrow]

Vyse cleared his throat while pointing at us. I didn't even realize Wilharrow said that after the rest of us started to wear the new disguises.

"Really, guys?" [Wilharrow]

"What? Everyone in this country knows that we're using beastmen disguises. This would throw them off." [Raon]

Wilharrow couldn't argue with that. With great disappointment, Wilharrow took off his beastman disguise and put on the demon one.

"Now, is there anything you'd like to purchase? Just say the word and I'll take it out." [Vyse]

"Oh, in that case… The demon lord's head." [Wilharrow]

It was a stupid request clearly intended to provoke Vyse. However, Vyse gave him a thumbs up and reached into his trenchcoat.

"One demon lord's head coming right up!" [Vyse]

He took out what resembled a human head, but it was purple skinned with red horns.

"Woah!" [Raon]

"Is that… hygienic?" [Fina]

"It is. It's preserved with magic and has several levels of barrier magic tailored to keeping it clean." [Vyse]

Wilharrow was not impressed.

"That's not the demon lord's head. From what I know, the current demon king is female." [Wilharrow]

Vyse waved his finger side to side.

"That's where you are incorrect. This IS a demon lord's head. Look closely." [Vyse]

Wilharrow leaned closer and squinted his eyes before jolting back with surprise.

"Is that Malfeen the Irksome?!" [Wilharrow]

"Who?" [Solace]

"Malfeen?! The one who razed a city with a single spell?!" [Fina]

"Malfeen the one who created the clothes disintegrating slime?!" [Raon]

So I guess I was the odd one out. Wait, what did Malfeen do in that last one?

"Yes! It is Malfeen, the one who seduced a nature spirit and birthed a tree!" [Vyse]

Okay, WHAT did this guy do?!

"I thought his body was never found!" [Wilharrow]

"And yet, I have it at your request!" [Vyse]

"How much for it?" [Wilharrow]

"32 million mel." [Vyse]

Everyone's face scrunched up hearing that number.

"...I'll pass." [Wilharrow]

"Is that so?" [Vyse]

He returned the head to his trench coat space pocket.

"Is there anything else you'd like to request?" [Vyse]

The moment I heard those words, I had a big brain idea.

"A demon lord's heart. Give me one." [Solace]

"Why do you want a demon lord's heart?" [Wilharrow]

I forgot he wasn't there when Master told me I needed to get it. I wouldn't really need to go on this journey if I got it early, right?

"Sure thing!" [Vyse]

Reaching into his trench coat, Vyse pulled out a large green heart. It was odd not because of its color, but because of its shape. It had a lot more… veins? It was also bigger than I expected. Maybe about as large as an oversized melon.

"How much?" [Solace]

"For you… Hm." [Vyse]

He looked me up and down with a smile slowly fading.

"I apologize, dear customer. I can't hand this over to you." [Vyse]

"What? Why not?" [Solace]

"You are related, or rather, a disciple of Sir Vincent no?" [Vyse]

"How did you-?" [Solace]

"I've made a personal promise not to make certain purchases with Vincent's disciples." [Vyse]

Why does this always happen?

"What did Master do this time?" [Solace]

"Oh, please don't think ill of your master. It's mostly the second disciple's fault." [Vyse]

"Huh?" [Solace]

"I sold him something I thought insignificant, but I never imagined it would help in the creation of a terrible tool." [Vyse]

How could Vyse just leave it at that. It can't be THAT bad.

"For example?" [Solace]

"A tool that erased a quarter of a continent." [Vyse]

"Oh." [Solace]

It WAS that bad.

"The only safe bet now is for me to only sell you information. With that, you can't make anything crazy." [Vyse]

"Gee, thanks." [Solace]

"It's my pleasure." [Vyse]

"It was sarcasm." [Solace]

"Ah…" [Vyse]

He looked saddened to hear that.

"Wait, you sell information?" [Wilharrow]

"Tell me how to get a hundred girlfriends!" [Raon]

Vyse looked Raon up and down before scoffing.

"I've no advice for you." [Vyse]

"Did you just slight me?" [Raon]

Wilharrow stepped between them.

"Wait a moment, Raon. Vyse, can you tell me the demon lord's location at this moment?" [Wilharrow]

"Directly in their capital. Additionally, they will be making rounds to other territories next month. Now is the time to do it if you wish to slay them." [Vyse]

"Hm. I thought I would have to pay before you tell us." [Wilharrow]

"That was a freebie." [Vyse]

I'm surprised the word freebie exists in this world.

"What level is the demon lord's Feerae." [Wilharrow]

"That will cost five hundred thousand mel." [Vyse]

"Damn." [Wilharrow]

We can NOT afford that. If you'd like to know our financial situation, I think we had around… sixty? Maybe seventy thousand mel total.

"Yeah, I don't think we need anything else." [Raon]

"Even if we did, it would most likely be too expensive." [Fina]

Wilharrow nodded.

"I agree. We should move on." [Wilharrow]

"So that will be all?" [Vyse]

"Yes. Thank you, merchant." [Wilharrow]

"Then I shall take my leave." [Vyse]

"Hold on. I have a question." [Solace]

Vyse paused.

"Yes?" [Vyse]

"How did you know I was Vincent's disciple?" [Solace]

Vyse smiled.

"Five hundred million mel." [Vyse]

Ain't no way this dude was charging me for this. Five hundred mil? Seriously? Genuinely daylight robbery.

"...Keep your damn secrets then." [Solace]

With that, we parted ways.