The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 453 Trial Mission Three

Greta was overjoyed at surviving the ordeal, while Lilith, Vasita, and Sylph wore subtle expressions.

"The final reward for Trial Mission Two is to unlock a 'Goblin Shop'?" Lilith blurted out her thoughts.

"What goblin shop? This is a perk shop that lets her enjoy the resource exchange privileges of a full member ahead of time, okay? I personally selected every card for her!" Moran said.

“If I remember correctly, the {Food Card - Black Bread} costs 0.5 gem coins, right?” Vasita said.

Not long ago, when Moran said that she used the {food card - black bread} as a reward in order to control costs, she had already checked the price of this card.

"This is... a fourfold increase!" Sylph felt a little sorry for Greta.

“It should be twenty times,” Lilith said. “Moran always prices cards at five times their cost, and this card only costs 0.1 Mana.”

"Isn't it normal that the cost increases fivefold when sold to witch contractors, tenfold when sold to human contractors, and twentyfold when sold to non-contractor humans?"

Moran said, "My low cost is because I'm capable. Just because my cost is low doesn't mean I can set a low price. What will happen to other merchants in Valencia then? If I'm going to eat meat, I'll make sure they get some soup too!"

Lilith, Vasita, and Sylph: "..."

“Don’t forget, your magic will also be made into cards and sold,” Moran said.

"How about thirty times?" Lilith immediately suggested.

Sylph and Vasita looked at her: "???"

“Thirty times the price is too expensive, and people won’t be willing to buy it,” Moran said.

"Even if she knows she'll lose money if she puts the price of the online store on the label, would she still buy it?" Sylph asked.

If she knew that what she bought cost twice as much as others, she wouldn't have been willing to spend the money.

“Of course!” Moran said. “The price of goods is not fixed, but changes according to demand, and obviously now is the time when she needs these things.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Greta bought a {food card - black bread}.

"Not bad! You didn't waste your mental energy buying white bread. You're not someone who indulges in momentary pleasure!" Moran said approvingly.

Although Greta didn't know exactly how much mental energy she could mobilize, she had read in the magic book she found that a mage apprentice's mental energy, when converted into the highest quality magical energy available today, would amount to no more than 100 Mana, which would only be worth less than 100 gem coins.

Everything in the store was exactly what she needed right now. As for food and drink, she just needed to make sure she wouldn't starve; she couldn't bear to spend more than necessary.

Although we've left the Black Forest, the surrounding environment is unfamiliar, and we don't know what dangers might lurk!

We need to prepare at least a few healing cards here, as well as that {Magic Card - Ask for Directions}. She doesn't know where she is in the Magic Empire, let alone which way to go to the nearest town. She needs to use this Ask for Directions card to find her way.

Greta recharged the equivalent of 2 Mana of Active Spirit Power, purchased the {Food Card - Black Bread}, and then estimated her remaining Active Spirit Power:
"With sufficient mental energy, I should be able to exchange for about 20 {Food Cards - Black Bread} without any problem. So, my mental energy is roughly equivalent to 40 Mana's magic power? 40 Mana is 40 Gem Coins, so I can buy what I need in no time! That's too cheap!"

"???" Vasita picked at her ear. "Did I hear that right? She said it was cheap?"

“You heard me right.” Sylph also found it unbelievable: “What kind of life do the people of the Yara Empire live! They think 2 mana for a loaf of black bread is cheap.” “Don’t forget, human mages can restore their mental strength through meditation at any time,” Moran said. “Two gem coins can be earned by meditating for a while.”

"It should have been priced higher!" Lilith said regretfully.

Greta continued to examine Trial Mission Three.

[Trial Mission Three: Leave Emerald Creek Plains and travel to the capital of the Duchy of Lance, making as many mage friends as possible who are in dire straits. The time limit is one year.]

[Reward: You can claim a reward for each mage you befriend who is in a difficult situation.]

"I'm in Emerald Creek Plain? Haven't we arrived in the Magic Empire yet?" Greta didn't even know where Emerald Creek Plain was.

Vasita asked Moran, puzzled, "Is this the third trial you wanted? What is its purpose?"

"This is a test of her social skills!" Moran said. "If she has good social skills, developing her downline will be much easier!"

This was a trial task she specifically designed for the members of the academy she intended to cultivate.

Greta didn't find the content of the mission strange, because she already knew from the "Dawn Society's Mission" that she had read in the first trial mission that the Dawn Society was always looking for partners who were in the same predicament and helping them get out of their predicament.

After successfully escaping the Black Forest through the trial mission, she placed great trust in the Dawn Society.

The Dawn Academy's trial missions always only have rewards, never punishments. This amazing magic card was given to her, a mere apprentice who wasn't even a formal member, during the trial. Without the Academy saying anything, she believed that the Academy would only bring her benefits!

Moreover, her intuition, which had helped her overcome countless crises since childhood, told her that Dawn Academy was indeed not dangerous.

Greta even thought, "The school is giving too much. If this continues, won't they go bankrupt?"

Once I become a full member, I'll still have to contribute to the association. It would be a shame if such a great organization went bankrupt.

"This works too?" Vasita and Sylph couldn't understand why Greta suddenly felt a sense of belonging to the guild. Moran had set up a "Goblin Shop," and not only was it a loss, but buying everything in there would have made them back the cost of the cards from the previous two quests and even made them a profit.

Moran was also a little surprised. This was indeed her ultimate goal, but it was not something that could be achieved right now. She hadn't expected Greta to develop such a strong liking for the Academy so quickly.

She could only think of one reason: "She was probably exploited too badly in the Yara Empire before!"

In the magic empire, mages are the masters, above ordinary civilians, and even in the worst circumstances, they will not have to worry about basic living.

In the Yara Empire, only the high-ranking officials of the temples and the imperial nobles who monopolize magical knowledge are the masters; all other commoners are lambs, and other mages are just lambs of a slightly higher caliber.

People who have experienced hardship are often more easily moved by small moments of happiness and more grateful for the present.

At this point, Moran had already decided that no matter how good her social skills were in the end, she would pass the trial.

Even if someone lacks social skills, just leaving them as an ordinary contractor will still increase magic and card sales.

We should select those with better abilities and focus on developing them.