Summoner Online: I Became the Tutorial Boss with a 999+ Villainess-Chapter 75: A reasonable settlement.

Kai looked directly at the old man, his expression impassive as he stepped away from the warehouse door to face him fully.

[Dave.

Level: 23

HP: 100/100]

Seeing that there was no player icon hovering above the man’s head, Kai was able to determine that Dave was an NPC rather than a Player.

A native of this world.

"What do you mean the deals are closed?" Kai asked, his voice steady.

Dave paused, leaning on his cane. He glanced toward the left, where workers were busy loading crates into a waiting wagon.

"We have been dealing with a lot of requests recently from multiple merchant guilds," Dave explained, his tone weary. "As you probably know, Goldmore is the nearest distributor to the main city, so other towns rely on us. It is not that we don’t have the workforce to cover the load, it is just..."

"I see," Kai interrupted, finishing the statement for him. "Because I am not an Icon Citizen, you do not want to risk allocating your remaining workforce to me, just in case you receive a higher priority request from a guild."

Dave was visibly surprised that the young man had deduced the situation so quickly. But he smiled through it regardless, a tired, apologetic expression on his face.

"You can’t blame me for that. As the leader of this establishment, I always have to make the right calls when it matters. Business is about risk management."

Kai paused. He didn’t argue since he too understood the risks and gains of the current world.

Instead, he reached into his inventory, the space warping slightly around his hand, and then pulled out two items.

The first was a sample of the ’Eye for Eye’ artifact, the red marble glowing softly on his palm.

The second was a heavy leather bag, filled to the brim with red Cems.

"I can understand your reasoning," Kai said, holding the items out. "It does not favor me, but it is a logical way to look at it. However, with this, I am sure you can shift your priority on the matter. Correct?"

’I hate having to resort to bribery,’ Kai thought coldly. ’But this is the only efficient way without having to resort to violence or intimidation. To this man, nothing an Iconless citizen says would sway him. But money? Money is a different language.’

Dave, a bit hesitant at first, took the heavy bag from Kai.

He opened the drawstring and peeked inside.

Shock immediately etched itself onto his face. The bag was filled exclusively with red Cems. Not common white, or even valuable blue. Red.

Slowly, he looked up at Kai, his eyes wide.

"H-how much is this?"

"I could be wrong, as I merely scooped the sum into the bag without counting," Kai replied casually. "But I presume it to be close to 10,000 Cems."

Hearing that number spoken so casually made Dave freeze.

Sure, he had made a lot from his business over the years, and one could easily consider him the wealthiest man in Goldmore. But for a stranger to offer him 10,000 Cems upfront, just for a chance to process their goods? It was like winning the lottery twice in one day.

After a moment, Dave snapped back to his senses.

He quickly shoved the money into his pocket, looking around to ensure no one had seen the exchange.

"Alright, fine. You got yourself a deal. So what are you looking to sell? Show me the guild permit and I will handle the rest from here."

Kai had already retrieved the permit from Leo before they arrived in town, so producing the document was no issue.

He handed it over and watched as the man reached into his coat, pulled out an official stamp, and pressed it firmly onto the paper.

"One hundred items... hmm," Dave muttered, reading the manifest. "And I am guessing that marble is a sample of what you are holding right now."

"That is correct," Kai replied. "If the item piques your interest, I can have one given to you personally as a gift."

Dave waved his hand dismissively.

"Nah, it’s fine. Just like this city, I hate merchants as well. It is one thing to take money for a service, quite another to accept a personal gift."

’Saying that in front of your customer proves this sentiment must be general knowledge,’ Kai mused, taking his time to survey the bustling yard. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’What the hell could merchants have done to these people to earn such disdain? Now that I look closer, most of the people here seem to be NPCs. I haven’t seen a single Player.’

"Good," Dave continued, handing the stamped permit back. "Since it is registered, the goods will be delivered to the designated areas once I have given you the receipt. You can come back next week to check the distribution logs and collect the profits."

"Alright," Kai nodded.

Following that agreement, he headed into the building to finalize the paperwork. It took longer than expected, bureaucracy was the same in every world, but eventually, everything was signed and sealed.

Kai could finally head back to the dungeon. The business trip was concluded.

...

Inside the moving carriage, heading home.

"We are so sorry, Lord Shadow, sir! We didn’t mean to sleep through everything like that!" Sophia yelled, her voice pitching up in distress. Her cheeks were beet red from embarrassment.

Leo looked equally devastated, hanging his head in utter disappointment as he remembered his earlier bold claims about walking the distance.

"It is fine," Kai said, waving a hand dismissively. "I am still surprised you both managed to walk as far as you did. I am not offended."

"Hmm... but still," Leo mumbled, staring at his boots. "I should have been the one to handle the negotiations. But you had to handle that too because I was incompetent."

"I chose to take on that role. Now I understand the true system of this place. It wasn’t for nothing." Kai corrected him.

Kai looked out the window as the landscape rolled by.

’If anything, I kind of want to see how this venture will play out. Truth be told, I find this economic system really weird. And there is also the lingering issue of the assassin...’

He leaned back, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his mask.

’Even when I try to live in peace and conduct simple business, something always happens. I must be cursed or something.’