The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 114 Trading
Within the city of Lutia, shops that buy and sell alchemical materials and magical artifacts are mainly concentrated in the southern district and the western district, which is closer to the magic academy. The former is slightly chaotic, but offers a wider variety of items, while the latter's owners generally have some connection with the magic academy in the suburbs, exhibiting restraint yet professionalism.

Dragging a cart full of alchemy materials into the city, Leslie headed straight for the South District and found a shop she had visited once with Eileen.

Selling materials here might get you ripped off, but the advantage is that the vendors don't care too much about the origin of the goods. They'll accept anything even if it's tainted with fresh blood, as long as it's valuable.

Although the young master said that it was an abandoned mage tower without an owner, and that even if they didn't find it, it would be found by someone else in a few years, and that they could just take it down, Leslie still took a cautious approach and tried not to leave any traces.

There were too many alchemical materials on the train. Leslie picked out a few that Miss Eileen said were more valuable and went inside to negotiate the price.

"What do you need... Oh, you're here to sell something. Come this way."

The alchemy apprentice who served him quickly realized his purpose and was eager to try out his still somewhat rusty knife skills.

"I'll take both Charlen gold coins."

"Get lost!" Leslie waved him away, offering a price without even examining the items properly. No wonder the young lady had warned him to be careful. "Find someone more reliable."

The alchemy apprentice left sheepishly. A while later, a middle-aged alchemist came over, claiming to be the owner of the shop. He greeted Leslie and then picked up his items to look at them.

"What a wonderful thing!" the alchemist exclaimed in admiration. "Such high purity black quenching oil cannot be refined by ordinary people."

Leslie didn't say anything.

The alchemist put down the bottle of black quenching oil, then picked up a hard, completely curled black bird claw, frowning as he examined it for a moment. "The Crow's Claw?"

Leslie gave a mysterious smile, though she didn't understand anything.

The alchemist examined all the items he had brought, and after his initial surprise, his expression gradually calmed down.

"Only this?"

“There are still some on the carriage outside.”

"Is there anything better?"

Leslie shrugged. "Pretty much."

The alchemist pondered for a moment, "To be honest, all these things you've brought are rare. Just this three-hundred-year-old mountain giant leg bone alone, you probably couldn't find more than ten of them in the entire Lutia..."

He glanced at Leslie. "But that's the problem. These things are so rare that even the archmages in the academy have difficulty obtaining them. So, for almost every material, there are already better alternatives. Do you understand what I mean?"

—The product is good, but precisely because it's so good, nobody can afford it.

“We collect materials to resell. If we can't sell them, there's no point in us keeping them; it just affects our cash flow. But if the price is lower, we might consider it…”

Leslie stretched out her arm, pulled all the items back, and stood up. "Then I'll try another store."

"But then again—"

The alchemist grabbed him, "We have more to talk about, sir. Don't rush, there's more to discuss."

Finding that Leslie wasn't as easily fooled as he seemed, he sighed, took a deep breath, and began to take the matter seriously again.

Can I see what's in the car?

"sure."

The alchemist followed Leslie outside, and upon seeing the materials piled up on the carriage, he gasped in shock.

"damn it!"

Leslie glanced at him, seeing these people in robes so excited for the first time.

"Whose shop did you rob?" the alchemist asked.

"What are you talking about? I found these in the wild." Leslie said without batting an eye.

The alchemist muttered to himself, "Damn, so much of this. Taking all this stuff will definitely get me into big trouble..."

"So, do you want it or not?" Leslie asked, getting impatient.

"Yes!" he readily agreed, glancing back at the shop before lowering his voice, "Tell me the truth, was it robbed from some shop in Lutia City?"

"I already said I found it outside!" "Do you even believe that yourself? Why can't other people find them too!"

"Okay, it took me a little effort to find it. But I can guarantee that I found it outside, definitely not in Lutia City."

The alchemist stared at him for a few more moments, then finally made up his mind. "Alright, I trust you. Come in, let's talk about the price."

Leslie frowned, remaining motionless. "Did you count how much cargo was in the truck before you even started negotiating the price?"

"What I mean is... let's talk about how to make the deal first."

"What do you mean?"

The middle-aged alchemist rubbed his hands together. "You can see how small my shop is. If I were to consume all your materials, I might as well give up on doing business."

Leslie looked at him. "So what are you planning to do?"

“I’ll pay you part of the money first,” the alchemist said. “The rest, we’ll sign a contract, and I’ll pay you back when I make the money.”

“A magical contract?” Leslie asked.

“A magical contract.” The alchemist nodded. “You will definitely receive what you are entitled to.”

He paused, then continued, "These materials of yours are basically useless to the Lake School mages and alchemists of Lutia..."

“What is a Lake School monk?” Leslie asked.

"They are mages from the academy by the Lake of Tears of the Elves, who follow the textbooks meticulously and only conduct research supported by theory. That's one way we describe them. There are also the Wilderness School mages from the Star Origin Academy."

The alchemist explained, then continued, "In short, we should thank the God of Truth if we can sell these things in Lutia within ten years, but it's different in Castelfel. They're ambitious and resourceful, and they don't care about the cost. If we take them there, they can be sold out in a month at most."

Leslie didn't mind waiting a little longer. As he had told Eric and Erin, the money from selling the materials they knew was more than enough, and any extra gold coin they sold would be a profit.

"Alright then. You're going to Castelfel yourself?"

The alchemist licked his lips, his gaze fixed intently. "I wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting such a large quantity of materials to anyone else..."

Leslie glanced at his alchemist's robes. "Are you an alchemist or a merchant?"

"You have to survive before you can do research. You'll understand if you enter my field. When I was young, my mentor said the next hundred years would be the hundred years of alchemy, and everyone would be inseparable from it. But what do you see now?"

The middle-aged man started talking non-stop, so Leslie patted him on the shoulder and said, "Sign the contract first."

Leslie brought so many alchemical materials that the alchemist shopkeeper could only give a rough estimate, and the price he quoted far exceeded Leslie's expectations.

"so much?"

“It’s absolutely worth the money to transport it from here to Casterfel. I can make a fortune from it, but for now, I can only offer you a hundred Supreme Gods at most. If you can agree, let’s sign a contract.”

Receiving one hundred Supreme God coins was also unexpected, and Leslie naturally had no objections.

The two signed a magical contract, bound by this contract witnessed by the God of Truth. Unless the alchemist dies, he must give him the money that is due.

After signing the contract and receiving the money, the rest was up to the shop owner. Leslie carried all the materials into the shop, said goodbye, and drove out of town.

The carriage was rented, and his horse was still at the inn, so he had to make another trip.

Without the burden, Leslie traveled much faster on his own, arriving at the inn in the afternoon. He then immediately rode back to his horse and hurried back to Lutia.

"I should be able to get back to the city before dark..."

He hurried along, and as the sun set once again, he saw the walls of Lutia not far away.

As the sunset casts its glow, pedestrians hurry by; at this time, most people are going in, and fewer are coming out.

Leslie rode his horse leisurely into the city, then caught sight of several silver-haired Arans hurrying towards the wilderness outside the city.

He paid no attention, basking in the evening breeze, feeling smug and self-satisfied.

"Now I've earned enough for my retirement..."

(End of this chapter)