It may seem so, but I have good judgment. I’m not as skilled as a professional merchant, but I have some knowledge of prices and goods.
This was taught to me by the merchants I met on my travels.
We often traveled with merchants on the road. They formed caravans and traveled between cities. They needed guards, and we could earn traveling money along the way.
I often chatted with them in the camp. Many liked to talk, whether it was bragging about the goods they were hauling or telling stories about big deals they had made in the past. It was a good way to pass the night. Thanks to them, I gained experience in appraisal and learned the knack of not being baited by market prices and inferior goods, negotiation techniques, and so on. Of course, I also knew the true identity of that rock-like object.
“For the Selor Company to pass this off as a mineral… how the mighty have fallen.”
“W-What do you mean, My Lady?”
My words clearly shook Minervo. If you want to deceive, at least have some nerve. The merchants I’d met on my travels, even if they didn’t have their own shops, at least had more business sense than Minervo.
“What is this, young lady?”
Grandma asked me, so I told her the truth.
“It’s dragon spit stone.”
Hearing me reveal the true identity of the item, Minervo’s face turned even uglier.
“It’s a calculus from a dragon’s throat. Extremely valuable as a spice, even a tiny grain would be worth its weight in gold coins.”
When the grandmother heard that it was worth gold, she looked at the lump in my hand in surprise.
And the dragon spit stone I was holding was freakishly large, far too massive to fit in one hand.
“It can be harvested from dragons that have turned into monsters, but it’s rare to get it in the first place, and there are no large dragons on this continent, so even if it were found, it would only be the size of a pebble. Something that big must be unique in the world.”
To explain how I came to possess it, it was a booty from the defeat of the Demon King.
In my haste to sweep everything on the table into my bag, it got mixed up. I was scared to death when I examined it afterwards. Since the Demon Continent had many dragons, it made sense that something like this would exist there.
Prince Henry and the other companions didn’t know about it. Although I had monopolized the high-quality loot, I hadn’t gotten any credit for defeating the demon king either, so let’s call it even.
But when I looked again, it was really huge. And there were only traces of a tiny bit that had been shaved off, probably when the Demon King used it to rejuvenate himself when he was tired. Looking at it, I was reminded that even that despicable Demon King had his own life and time to relax.
“Young lady, exactly how much would this be worth?”
Grandma asked, and I could only laugh.
“It’s impossible to put a price on it. If it were me, I would offer it as a tribute to the royal family. It’s unparalleled on this continent. Obtaining it would certainly enhance the prestige of the royal family. “
The royal family collected treasures and invited representatives from different countries to show off their national treasures. The massive accumulation of rare artifacts demonstrated financial power, culture, history, and credibility. For this Dragon Spit Stone, they would surely be honored to receive it.
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“With such a tribute, wouldn’t the royal family agree to any request?”
I was sure that the value of this item was priceless. What requests could be made after presenting it to the royal family depended on the merchant. Depending on who was doing the negotiating, anything could be obtained regardless of what was wanted.
I turned around and looked at Minervo with a roll of my eyes. Grandma also stared in shock. To think that this man had called it an ordinary mineral and tried to buy the priceless treasure for two gold coins.
“Uh, about that, my lady…”
Minervo seemed to want to say something, but I had no intention of hearing it.
“I do not wish to speak with you further. Please leave today.”
I drew the line clearly.
The iron law of buying and selling was to buy low and sell high. I didn’t deny that, but to Minervo it bordered on fraud. There had been many such merchants I had met on the street. Although I was fooled at first, after a few times I learned to tell them apart. I recognized Minervo at once.
“Um, I… Lady Romelia…”
“Did I not say that I do not wish to speak with you anymore? Please leave. Ah, take the sold items with you.”
After making it clear, Minervo fled as if running away.
“Young lady, will you really forgive him just like that?”
The grandmother seemed quite angry. She probably couldn’t forgive the attempt to deceive the capital family.
“It’s okay. More importantly, Grandma, please tell Father as soon as he returns.
People from the Selor Company would probably come tomorrow.
I was thinking of leaving the rest to Father, but the kingdom’s top company acted faster than I expected. That very night, Minervo’s father, Selor Company Chairman Selor himself, came.
Although Father had returned tired from the banquet, he could not refuse a meeting when the chairman himself came. To explain, I also attended the meeting with the three of us.
“So, Selor, what business brings you here tonight?”
Sitting in his chair, Father made no effort to hide his fatigue from the feast and addressed him in a somewhat curt tone.
“Because today my boy did something terribly rude to the young lady Romelia.”
Sweat ran down Chairman Selor’s forehead as he apologized.
“Rude? What exactly happened? Romelia, did something happen?”
Father, unaware of the situation, looked at me.
“It’s this dragon spit stone.”
I took out the hard lump that once belonged to the Demon King and told him the whole story. As he listened, Selor’s expression turned bitter. This was a great loss of face that would sever relations. Of course, I was disobedient myself, so I couldn’t ridicule Minervo either.
“My foolish son has made an unmentionable mistake. If possible, please sell me the Dragon Spit Stone. We will buy it for a reasonable price.”
Chairman Selor bowed his head and asked to negotiate with me again.
Although the situation had developed favorably, direct trade with Chairman Selor seemed beyond someone like me.
The Selor Company was the most important business in the kingdom. Moreover, the Selor Company valued credibility and dignity. For someone they had once tried to drastically underprice, they would surely charge an exorbitant price regardless of the cost. Considering the amount that would be mobilized, it was too much of a burden for me at this time.
Besides, I had also disappointed Father regarding the cancelled engagement, and I wanted to make up for it a little here.
“Chairman Selor, I’m afraid I can’t sell this to you. It was meant to be a gift for someone.”
I picked up the problematic dragon saliva stone and looked at Father.
“Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to give Father a souvenir from my travels. Please accept this.”
Saying that, I handed the dragon spit stone to Father.
It was already worth much more than gold. Father’s beady eyes opened wide in surprise that I was offering such a thing as a souvenir, and he blinked rapidly several times. I shifted my gaze from the excited Father to Chairman Selor.
“And so it’s Father’s now. Please deal with him afterwards.”
I handed the problem over to Father. If it was Father, he probably wouldn’t hesitate.
“I understand. Lord Grahm, please sell me the Dragon Spit Stone.”
This time, Chairman Selor bowed his head to Father.
“That’s fine with me, Selor. How much can you pay?”
“We have no intention of haggling over petty details. If you cannot sell at that price, then we will withdraw. Please be sure to sell it to us at this price.”
Chairman Selor took a paper from his breast pocket with an amount written on it.
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