Chapter 131: Vena And Lino
The City Lord’s Manor was located right in the heart of the city.
The area around it was heavily guarded, and no one was allowed to enter its premises unless it was very important.
"Where would you like to go, my lord? " The servant girl, whom Miguel came to know as Vena, asked politely.
Vena has shoulder-length black hair. She looked reserved and well-disciplined, standing straight with her hands clasped on her stomach.
Miguel could also tell that she was a graded Martial Artist, probably around Novice Rank.
Miguel thought for a moment before recalling something: "Let’s go to the market first and then to a fine restaurant to have breakfast."
Vena nodded her head as she called for a carriage to bring them over to the busy market that Miguel had been to before.
The familiar store greeted him as he walked toward it along with Edith and Vena.
Inside, the old man who wanted to take advantage of him before looked at them with curiosity in his eyes.
His old voice resounded in their ears: "What would you like to buy?", he said.
The same words came out of his mouth as Miguel entered the small shop.
The old man looked at them with scrutinizing eyes, as though trying to determine their origin and status.
When his gaze landed on Vena, though, it immediately changed to one of surprise.
"Vena? What are you doing here? Don’t you have work to do in the City Lord’s Manor?"
Vena sighed and explained, "Don’t think too much about it, grandpa. I am still at work right now."
She paused for a moment and gestured toward Miguel and Edith beside her. "I am tasked by the City Lord to accompany Lord Journey and Miss Edith today."
Hearing that, the old man’s eyes instantly lit up.
He stood up from his leisurely position and enthusiastically greeted Miguel and Edith.
"Good morning, dear guest. Please forgive me for not seeing your true elegance at first sight. What would you like to buy today?"
Vena lightly shook her head upon seeing his sudden change of attitude.
She turned toward Miguel and said, "My lord, let me introduce this unscrupulous old man to you. His name is Lino, my grandpa. As you can see, he is the owner of this small shop. Be careful not to fall for his words, as he is known for overcharging his customers if they don’t know a thing about what they want to buy."
Hearing those words, Miguel secretly laughed to himself as he was a witness to how unscrupulous this old man truly was. He wondered just how many times he had been scamming people here—even his granddaughter sold him out without hesitation.
"Hmmp! What do you mean by unscrupulous? Call me business-minded instead. It sounds better that way," Lino stated with a harrumphed.
He could not believe that even his own granddaughter, whom he had raised since she was young, was trying to betray him right in front of his face.
He looked at ’Journey’, who was wearing a draconic mask, and stated with a huge smile on his face. "My lord, what would you like to buy? And also, don’t believe this brat all!
His eyes softened as a sincere expression surfaced on his face. "I might do something like that to other customers, but I would absolutely not do something too deceitful toward you at all. Please believe me when I say that I am the most honest person in front of you, my lord."
Seeing how sincere his expression was, Miguel almost believed that what he was saying was true. If not for the fact that he saw through his lies with his Innate Skill, he would have surely fallen for his tricks.
Anything that this old man, Lino, says could not be trusted at all.
Miguel did not call him out, though. Instead, he just looked around and browsed through the items displayed around the shop.
Unfortunately, none of them caught his eyes, and Edith seemed to have a look of disdain on her face when she saw some items that were on display.
"Right, most of my belongings have already been lost, and I don’t have any money right now. Do you want to buy some treasures from me?" He turned and asked Lino.
Hearing the first words of his sentence made Lino almost lose interest in him. However, when he heard the last part, his eyes immediately lit up as he saw a business opportunity.
The moment Vena introduced them earlier, Lino already guessed that they were a very important guest in the City Lord’s Manor.
As a businessman, the customers he wanted to welcome the most were wealthy and powerful customers.
Considering their special identity, even the City Lord let Vena accompany them, meaning that they must have a lot of valuable resources. Now that they wanted to sell some of them to him, how could he not be excited?
"Haha. You found the right person, my lord. I indeed buy all sorts of materials for a fair price. Can I see what kind of materials you wanted to sell to me, My Lord?"
Hearing that, Miguel smiled deeply beneath the skull mask as he waved his hands to summon the grimoire. He then waved it another time as a bulging leather bag appeared out of nowhere in Miguel’s hands.
Vena was not surprised when she saw such a scene, as she already knew from yesterday that Journey was stronger than the City Lord, who already has a Silver Grade Grimoire and the ability to use it as a storage space of some sort. Considering that, it was not a surprise that Journey’s grimoire also has the same function, or even more.
On the other hand, Lino became even more enthusiastic as he saw Journey’s actions.
Being able to store items inside a grimoire was only an ability that Silver Grade Grimoire users could have. At this point, he already confirmed that Journey, the customer in front of him, was surely not simple, so the treasure or materials he was about to sell should also be a good one, right?
Lino grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Journey walked towards a table and placed the leather bag he was holding on top of it.
Journey then poured the contents of the bag, revealing blue-colored stones or crystals in front of them.
It was the Condensed Water Ores that Miguel bought from Lino the previous time he was here.
Seeing the Condensed Water Ores, a hint of disappointment could be seen flashing across Lino’s eyes.
He was already traumatized by these kinds of resources. Previously, it took him almost ten years to get rid of them. And he only got rid of them after selling them to that kid for a cheaper price.
For a moment, Lino was at a loss for words as to what he should say.
However, after thinking for a bit, he thought that he should just sacrifice for a bit once more.
A plan was brewing inside his mind.
He wanted to gain Journey’s trust so that they could transact more in the future. He thought this should be a good investment.
Forget about the Condensed Water Ores; all he wanted right now was to have a connection with Journey, and buying these Condensed Water Ores should be the first step to achieving that.
"Oh, Condensed Water Ores? These are rare materials in Blazing Expanse. I wonder where you found such a rare item, my lord," he said a little too enthusiastically as he came to the table to inspect the Condensed Water Ores laying on the table.
Hearing his words, Miguel could not help but chuckle. "Haha, I found them by chance," he said, playing along with Lino’s game.
"So, do you want to buy such ’rare’ Condensed Water Ores?" he added.
Lino nodded his head vigorously and replied, "For sure, my lord. By the way, how much would you like to sell them for? "
A devious smile appeared on Miguel’s face beneath the mask as he said without hesitation, "Five hundred Gold Coins each for the smallest ones. Take it or leave it!"
These were the words that first came out of Lino’s mouth when Miguel tried to buy these Condensed Water Ores here previously.
Same place, same word, but a different person delivers it. The reaction of the receiver was also different from the last.
Lino and even Vena at the side almost choked on their own saliva when they heard such words.
Lino gasped in shock as he looked at Journey with a terrified expression.
There was an expression of, ’Are you serious?’ written all over his face as he stared at Journey with fear in his eyes.
Vena chuckled at the side upon seeing her grandfather’s reaction. It felt too good to see him have a taste of his own medicine.
Lino smiled wryly and finally said, "Forgive me, My Lord, but such a price is very expensive for this kind of item. Their current price in the market is around 20 Gold Coins each for the small ones. How about this? I will give you a VIP treatment and buy these Condensed Water Ores for 30 Gold Coins each. What do you think?"
Previously, Miguel bought eleven pieces of Condensed Water Ores from Lino for the price of 100 Gold Coins.
Now, he was trying to buy them back for 30 Gold Coins from him.
How ironic that these Condensed Water Ores came from him, yet Miguel was now selling them back to him for a higher price. It was a wonder who was the unscrupulous one here.