SSS Ranked Merchant: Rebuilding a Broken Kingdom With Unlimited Wealth-Chapter 26: More Worth Than Gold

Lyrasia lay sprawled on her crib, her tiny feet wiggling in the air as she held the strange coin above her face, inspecting it under the candlelight.

The polished metal glinted, its engraved crest catching the flickering glow like it had secrets to tell—but, unfortunately, coins weren't in the business of talking.

If they were, her life would be a whole lot easier.

She huffed, flipping it over. It was heavier than a normal coin, smoother too, like it had been polished by centuries of hands that once held power.

It smelled faintly of something ancient, like old parchment and spice-laden merchant ships.

Her mind buzzed with possibilities.

Was it cursed? Enchanted? A mere collector's item?

Her gut told her it was valuable. But how valuable?

⟪ Ding! ⟫

A familiar screen flashed before her eyes.

⟨ System Notification ⟩[Would you like to activate Negotiator's Eye to assess the item's value?]

Oh-ho? Now, this was interesting.

She smirked and mentally confirmed.

⟨ Activating Skill: Negotiator's Eye ⟩

Suddenly, the world around her dimmed. Everything else faded into a muted background as the coin in her hand illuminated with swirling lines of golden text, numbers, and hidden properties she couldn't see before.

[Unknown Currency Detected][Estimated Worth: Priceless][Historical Significance: ???][Authority Ranking: Tier 1]

'Priceless?!'

Her chubby fingers tightened around the coin as a giddy thrill shot through her tiny body. This wasn't just some fancy trinket, this was something big.

Something old, powerful, and deeply woven into the world's economic history.

Her heart pounded in excitement.

⟪ Warning! ⟫

[Holders of this coin may be subject to surveillance by unknown forces.]

"...Huh?"

'Wait, wait, what?!'

Her eyes flickered to the coin again. Now that she was paying attention, it almost felt like it was staring back at her.

She gulped.

Oh, crap. What kind of merchant mafia nonsense had she just gotten herself into?!

Looking back, Lyrasia had no idea why she bought the coin.

It wasn't like she needed it.

She had nothing but milk money to her name, and this wasn't exactly an essential survival purchase. But the moment she saw it glinting among the peddler's goods, something in her gut whispered, "Take it."

The man who sold it to her wasn't an ordinary merchant.

He was draped in a tattered, earth-toned cloak, his face half-obscured by a hood.

Unlike the usual traveling traders, who spoke with exaggerated friendliness to make a sale, this man barely spoke at all. He merely spread his trinkets over a worn-out cloth, his dark, weathered fingers silently sifting through them.

No eager haggling. No false charm. Just quiet patience.

When her eyes landed on the coin, the man finally looked up.

She couldn't see his eyes under the hood, but she felt his gaze pierce straight through her. He held out the coin between his fingers as if he had already decided it was meant for her.

"One barter," he said.

One. Just one.

Something about the way he said it made her hair stand on end.

A normal person would have walked away.

A smart person would have ignored him.

But Lyrasia? She grinned, shoved a gold coin from her inventory into his hands, and grabbed the coin like she had just won a jackpot.

The man accepted the trade without a word. Then, just as eerily as he had arrived, he disappeared into the market crowd.

The next day, when she was heading to Sir Usario's house with Ruan and Meila, Lyrasia couldn't help herself. She rushed back to the same marketplace, her sharp little eyes scanning every inch of the dirt road.

Gone.

The peddler was completely gone.

No sign of his cloth, his trinkets, or even the place where he had been sitting. It was as if he had never been there in the first place.

She stared at the empty space, gripping the coin in her palm.

"...What the hell did I just buy?"

Ruan and Meila were already ahead, so she had no choice but to shake off the unease and catch up. Whatever she had gotten herself into, she could think about it after training.

Training that day was brutal. Sir Usario was merciless.

For hours, she, Meila, and Ruan drilled through exercises until their muscles screamed.

Usario didn't care that she was a toddler with the body of a malnourished dumpling, he still made her swing a wooden sword a hundred times before she was even allowed to breathe.

Meila got praised for her control over mana.

Ruan was never an issue.

And Lyrasia?

She tripped. A lot.

By the end of practice, her entire body ached. Her arms felt like jelly, and her legs wobbled with each step. Blademancing was harder than she thought.

She needed more time. More power. More—

That coin.

When night fell and everyone had gone to rest, Lyrasia slipped into Sir Usario's office. The old warrior was sitting at his desk, nursing a cup of strong-smelling tea.

She slapped the coin onto the table in front of him.

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"Sir, what is this?"

Usario raised an eyebrow. Slowly, he picked up the coin, his fingers brushing over the crest.

His eyes widened, his grip tightening around the coin as if it might vanish at any moment.

His voice, normally calm and firm, came out as a hoarse whisper.

"...This is from the Venerari Consortium."