Chapter 476 – Parluf

After leaving the Colorado Mountain Range and traveling for another day, they arrived at the trade road.

The caravan set up camp here temporarily.

The mages and guards kept glancing over at Mo Lan’s group.

When they’d come out of the mountains, they had hunted a dragon-horned deer, and the whole thing was still strapped to the top of the magic carriage!

How much would Lady Moira sell the meat for per cut?

But then they watched as Mo Lan’s apprentices took the deer down and processed it, setting aside useful materials before dividing up all the remaining venison, rubbing it with salt, and hanging it from the carriage eaves.

They kept only one leg, roasting it over the fire.

The aroma drifted all the way over, yet still no word came from Lady Moira about selling any venison.

Goebel urged his guard captain to go ask.

“What? Now that we’ve reached the trade road and the journey is safe, they’re planning to keep it all for themselves to eat on the road?” Goebel said.

“Yes! Lady Moira said that since we’ve been fairly easy to deal with along the way, she’ll go the extra mile and escort us a bit further. Tomorrow, once we reach Parluf City, she’ll part ways with us there,” the guard captain said.

Goebel suddenly recalled that when he’d originally paid to hire them, the agreement had indeed only been for an escort through the Colorado Mountain Range.

Now that they were out of the Colorado Mountains, they could simply follow the trade road to Lance City.

The magical beasts around the trade roads were regularly cleared out by others, so it wasn’t nearly as dangerous.

They had crossed the Colorado Mountain Range faster than expected, and they had plenty of time left—no worry about missing this year’s ennoblement examination in Lance City.

It really was time to part ways.

Once they separated and there was no longer an Advanced mage keeping everyone in check, he would be the undisputed authority in this caravan.

But for some reason, Goebel couldn’t feel the slightest bit happy about it.

Especially when today he had no choice but to gnaw on the hardtack biscuits they’d purchased in Green Forest Town.

Thinking about how he’d have to keep gnawing on this stuff from now on, Goebel got up and went to find Mo Lan:

“My lady, you’re heading to Lance City too. Can’t we really travel together a while longer? We’ve gotten along quite well during this time, haven’t we?”

“It has been quite pleasant. If you want to continue together, that’s fine! From Parluf City to Lance City, there are still several months of travel—much farther than crossing the Colorado Mountain Range. Continued escort will cost ten Magic Gold Coins. That’s not unreasonable, right?” Mo Lan said with a smile.

How could she possibly do business at a loss?

Escorting them for free would be completely out of character for her.

Goebel: “…”

Ten Magic Gold Coins. The only way he could afford that would be to sell his beloved magic carriage.

Sell his carriage for a few bites of food? He’d have to be an idiot: “My apologies for the disturbance.”

He suddenly found himself somewhat understanding Mo Lan’s stinginess. Money really was important!

The next day, the caravan headed straight for Parluf City.

Knowing they would soon be parting ways, the mages and guards were all in low spirits.

Inside Mo Lan’s carriage, however, the mood was excellent.

“Parluf City is one of the more prosperous cities in the Duchy of Lance. Once we’re inside the city, we’ll find a large trading house and exchange all the materials we’ve accumulated along the way for gold coins.

“And those Apprentice-level magic scrolls you’ve been copying these past few days—sell them all here in Parluf City.

“There are fewer mages here than in Lance City, and it’s close to the Colorado Mountain Range, so Apprentice-level magic scrolls should sell better here. We might even get a bit of a premium.” Mo Lan told her three “apprentices.”

Lilith held the materials list as the group was already calculating how much they could sell everything for.

“Are we staying the night in Parluf City?” Sylph asked.

“No,” Mo Lan said. “It’s just the capital of an Intermediate mage’s domain. Count Parluf himself might not even be in the city. There’s no point lingering here—it’s better to get to Lance City and settle in as soon as possible. We may not be participating in the ennoblement examination, but it draws a large number of mages. The successful candidates will be few, and the rest who fail—they’ll all be opportunities for us!”

Most crucially, Mo Lan estimated that the food in Parluf City wouldn’t be much better than in Green Forest Town.

Mages, who made up less than one percent of the Mage Empire’s total population, controlled over ninety percent of the nation’s wealth.

Even in the Duchy of Lance, ordinary people could hardly be called wealthy.

Without mages around, spending power stayed low—and restaurants in such places would hardly be generous with their spices! How could the food possibly be any good?

Getting off the carriage to negotiate, selling the magic materials and magic scrolls—Mo Lan left all of this to Lilith and the others.

Apprentices running errands and handling daily chores for their Instructor was perfectly common.

Lilith and the others were quite looking forward to it.

They had long heard that humans were the most cunning race after Goblins. To avoid being cheated, they had even stayed up the night before reviewing《The Earth Business Compendium》, ready to march into the city today and leave those human merchants with nothing but the shirts on their backs.

Once inside the city, they headed straight for the largest trading house.

When the manager saw the materials on their carriages, his eyes lit up with a shrewd gleam.

Lilith was ecstatic—here it comes! He was definitely about to lowball them!

The manager looked more carefully: two magic carriages, and quite a few of those materials came from Intermediate to Advanced magical beasts.

He instantly guessed—there had to be an Advanced mage in one of those carriages!

An Advanced mage!

The manager immediately turned obsequious: “There’s quite a variety of materials here, and taking inventory will require some time. Why don’t the esteemed masters in the carriages come rest in our VIP lounge first? We’ll purchase all of your materials at ten percent above market price!”

Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph, who had prepared extensively and were ready for a fierce battle: “…”

“No need, we’re in a hurry. Just get your people to start the inventory quickly!”

The three of them hadn’t given up yet and continued watching the manager vigilantly, guarding against any attempt to cheat them.

But this manager seemed genuinely, impossibly honest. Throughout the entire process of inventorying materials and calculating prices, he didn’t pull a single underhanded trick.

Even with six eyes scrutinizing every detail, Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph couldn’t find a single error.

The final price offered was actually even a bit higher than what they had estimated.

For some materials with minor damage or slightly lower quality, he had even graded them one tier higher.

It had reached the point where haggling further would have been outright bullying.

Later, the owner of the trading house came out as well, and even the magic scrolls were happily bought up.

The way he acted, you’d think what they were selling wasn’t run-of-the-mill low-level magic scrolls, but precious Advanced magic scrolls!

Lilith and the others had marched off the carriage with their heads held high, but now they returned lugging a chest of gold coins, utterly crestfallen.

“I stayed up reviewing 《The Earth Business Compendium》 for nothing last night—I didn’t get to use a single tactic!” Lilith sighed.

“How come human merchants aren’t like how the storybooks describe them? How did they build their business up to this scale?” Vasida asked in bewilderment.

“Maybe this trading house’s owner is just different from other human merchants!” Sylph said.

Mo Lan had largely anticipated this outcome. She pointed at herself and said, “It’s not because this trading house’s owner is different—it’s because of us. More precisely, because of me!”