The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

Chapter 114 Sustainable Development Direction of Copying Scrolls (4K)

There was still one day left until the deadline for the rusty throat reforging was completed. The three who had just finished their mission needed to rest for a few days, so they suddenly had some free time.

Lorraine got out of bed early, and after getting used to this early-to-bed-early-to-rise lifestyle, he gradually came to like the feeling of waking up early.

Sometimes, it feels like I've been busy for a long time, but when I look around, it's not even lunchtime yet, and I get the illusion that I've stolen half a day.

He had already explored all the convenient places in the city, and he wasn't in a hurry to increase his exploration points, so there was no need to go out in the middle of the night.

Lorraine left the room amidst the short man's deafening snores and went downstairs to the tavern lobby.

Good morning, Gustav.

He greeted the old man who was still busy, and then he saw a figure wearing a cloak, hidden in a corner.

"Good morning, Lorraine. I know you have to get up early, so I left you some stew from last night. I'll heat it up for you later."

Gustav squeezed some water from the towel into the basin, gestured towards the corner, and whispered, "It's for you."

Thanks.

'

Lorraine thanked the old man for his kindness and walked towards the corner with a puzzled look in his eyes. He quickly recognized the man when he saw the familiar black mask and asked with a smile, "Have you taken care of your family?"

"Yes, sir, I have already met Anne and the children. It just so happens that an old friend of mine is going south, so I let them go with him."

Although Gary didn't remove his mask, Lorraine could still sense his gratitude.

"That's good."

Lorraine nodded, then asked about the goods: "Has the price been agreed upon?"

"Yes, please take a look."

Gary sat up straight, took a piece of parchment from the lining of his cloak, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of him.

Lorraine picked up the parchment and examined it closely.

The document contains dozens of transaction intentions written in neat, small print. From the quantity of goods to the method of sale, all the entries are arranged in a tidy and pleasing manner.

At the end, there is a total price calculated by Gary: 87 gold and 8 silver.

That is to say, each person will receive 29 gold coins on this trip.

"Let's handle it this way then."

Lorraine put down the order form and nodded with some satisfaction.

After all, the bulk of that shipment consisted of magical materials, so it was already quite good that these spices and furs could fetch this price.

"besides...

'

He tapped the table with his finger, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "After you've cleaned this batch of goods, you can take 20% of the money from it as payment. It's what you deserve."

"remuneration?"

Gary was taken aback.

He never expected that he would get a share.

Having been a merchant for so many years, he had seen far too many people die on the trade routes, and far too many commoners crushed by a single word from a lord.

He knew better than anyone that someone like him might be respectfully addressed as "sir" by the poor, but in the eyes of the truly great, his life was worth less than the moss at the base of a wall.

In his view, Lorraine saved him, gave him the chance to see his wife and daughter again, and even gave him money to settle his family.

His life should have been paid off long ago.

As for compensation? He hadn't even considered it.

"Yes, you do things for me, I pay you, what's the problem?" Lorraine said matter-of-factly.

He strongly agreed with Viscount Hermann's statement that no amount of loyalty, even to the point of sacrificing one's life, is as reliable as any self-interest.

Even if he did save Gary's life, he wouldn't think that saving his life alone would make him devoted to him.

Of course, there will always be some emotions that override all interests, but they are far from the point where they should be talking about that.

Gary remained silent for a long time.

How could he, being so clever, not understand the implication Lorraine was implying? Giving him the money meant that his life was no longer needed, nor was he needed as some kind of shadow or assassin.

He will still have a chance to see his family again, and a chance to live in the sunlight again.

No problem, thank you.

His hands stopped trembling, and he reached out to take the order form that Lorraine had handed back. He carefully folded it and put it inside the lining of his cloak.

"Do you need to take the things now? They shouldn't be awake yet," Lorraine asked.

"Let me leave it with you for now; it's safer that way. I'll come and pick it up after I've confirmed everything."

Gary slowly shook his head, then hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Those... sir, have you discussed the scroll matter with the mage lady?"

"Yes, we're almost done copying," Lorraine said.

They've been busy with this matter whenever they have free time these days.

All 22 magic scrolls have been copied, and 5 of the first-ring scrolls have been successfully copied. There should be enough material left to copy 2 more.

All of these magic scrolls are fire arrows because they are produced in large quantities, making it easy for them to sell them off in one go without attracting attention.

After all, this spell is a required course for almost all mages, but it is also very popular among adventurers, so the purchase price has remained stable at 3 gold and 10 silver.

The single-ring roll is more complex.

Four of them are Disguise scrolls, which are among the most expensive in the first-tier scroll category, second only to various healing spells that are in high demand.

However, the demand for it is not high, and the association is only willing to buy four copies at a price of 38 gold coins each.

They chose the magic missile for the rest, but since Lorraine hadn't had time to look at its runes and spell model, it was all made by Eileen.

So far, she has only copied the scroll twice, and she failed once because she was distracted. After that, when Eileen was copying the scroll, she no longer allowed Lorraine to enter the room.

The purchase price for the magic missile is 33 gold coins, and the total estimated value is about 300 gold coins.

If the raw materials for these scrolls were sold directly, they would only fetch a hundred or so gold coins at most, making the copying of scrolls extremely profitable.

Lorraine had made a special trip to the shops that sold spell materials, hoping to buy some raw materials herself, but she found that she couldn't buy the main materials at all in Frostvale, and could only find some auxiliary materials that were produced in large quantities.

No wonder Viscount Hermann has been sending merchants to collect magical materials; he probably made a lot of money over the years thanks to that mage advisor.

Thinking of this, his expression changed.

If Viscount Hermann can do it, then can't I?

"Can you collect any more of those...?"

Lorraine raised an eyebrow, hinting.

"Of course, my lord."

Gary answered without hesitation; it seemed he had been waiting for this question all along.

"Although the previous supply channels are no longer available, we can still buy them in larger cities further south, it just takes a little longer."

Since you trust me, I will bring those things back for you after this job is done.

"Hmm... let's eat and chat."

Lorraine hesitated for a few seconds, then waved to Gustav, who was wiping glasses at the counter.

"Here it comes."

The old man had already heated up the stew and bread, but he didn't come over because he saw them talking.

Thanks.

Lorraine broke off a piece of bread, dipped it in the stew, ate a couple of bites to fill her stomach, and then started calculating the cost.

Gary's offer was indeed tempting, and his words made Lorraine realize that this businessman was far more useful than she had imagined.

But a very real problem awaits him.

He has no money.

After paying the remaining balance for the rusted throat reforging, he only had 24 gold coins left. With any potential income coming in, he might be able to scrape together a little over a hundred.

This money might not even be enough to cover the cost of the infusion. Every gold coin he spends must be prioritized for improving his strength, since strength is the foundation of everything.

This might be a very good investment, but we can only do it after the weapons issue is settled.

Of course, this is something that must be done.

Lorraine is now increasingly aware of the importance of logistics.

They were destined to leave Frostvale.

If only someone could gather information about their destination and the route before they embarked on their next journey, and prepare everything they needed in advance.

Their journey will likely be much easier.

"What you said reminded me of something. I used to think that adventurers just accepted quests, hacked and slashed, collected the bounty, and then bought what they wanted."

Lorraine held a piece of bread and circled it around in the stew. As he organized his thoughts and words, he slowly said, "But after all these trips, just getting to the mission locations is exhausting. If I have to go looking for everything myself every time I need something, it's a waste of far too much time."

He recalled how he and Piper had gone to great lengths to collect those enchanting materials.

Gary, who was stuffing a piece of bread under the bag, raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this and asked, "Sir... what do you mean?"

"What I need is not just a merchant to collect materials for me, but someone who can follow my team to the next destination."

I am an adventurer and am destined not to stay here for long. I need someone to go to my destination in advance and find out the specific situation there, for example:

What are the prices like? Where are the monsters located? What are some things to be aware of? And so on...

""

Gary instantly understood what he meant. He tried very hard not to let his loss of composure show, but his trembling fingertips betrayed him.

"You... want me to become your agent?"

"An agent? That's a rather fitting term."

Lorraine nodded slowly.

,..agent."

Gary repeated the word to himself, his heart already churning with turmoil. He knew all too well the weight of the word "agent."

"My lord, over the years, I have dealt with adventurers more than merchants."

Most of them would spend their bounty on drinking or women's bellies.

Only a small minority of those with the inclination will choose to save up money to buy a better weapon or a new set of armor to improve their strength.

"But they never plan anything. They don't stockpile supplies, they don't send people to the next city to gather information in advance, and they certainly don't think about cultivating an agent."

Gary had one more thing he didn't say.

If an adventurer is willing to spend time, money, and energy to train a merchant as an agent, there is only one possibility.

He believes he will go far enough in the future that he will need a professional to manage everything behind him.

So, can this young man do it?

Gary had thought about this issue before.

In fact, during his time on the black market these past few days, he had already pieced together various rumors about Lorraine from different sources.

Ghoul hunter, or mutated ghoul.

He certainly wouldn't be fooled by the nonsense circulating on the streets, like "there are dozens of giant ghouls in the sewers."

But he also knew that even a single ordinary ghoul was enough to give a squad of "official" professionals a headache.

Moreover, he found out the specific details about that thing.

The strange crystals sent chills down his spine just hearing about them, and even a priest from the Temple of the Lord of Dawn was seriously injured.

But this young man in front of me looks to be less than twenty-five years old? He was able to kill that terrifying thing without even being injured.

And those companions surrounding him.

That red-haired female mage exuded an aura far beyond that of an ordinary mage, and that exceptionally short dwarf could wield such a massive hammer—nothing could be considered ordinary.

Based on Gary's experience, since exceptionally tall giants are far stronger than their kind, the same principle should apply to exceptionally short dwarves.

What a terrifying combination!

All of these things made Gary believe that the person in front of him could become that kind of person.

And he himself might be able to become his agent.

Thinking about this, Gary felt excited.

Perhaps that day wasn't his unluckiest day, but rather his luckiest.

Gary finally forgave the man who poured the moldy stuff into the pot, causing the entire caravan to suffer from diarrhea for two days and two nights until they were exhausted.

"Don't think that far ahead, and don't rush to praise me." Lorraine chuckled self-deprecatingly. "To be honest, every gold coin I have right now has its own destination, and I can't give you anything for the time being."

"Sir, I completely understand that you don't have spare funds to invest in this matter right now. But intelligence gathering and channels don't necessarily have to wait until the money is available before we can begin."

Gary took a deep breath, his eyes becoming incredibly serious. He dipped his finger in the water from his teacup and gestured on the table: "After I finish what I'm doing, I can go to those big cities in the south to find out the supply of materials in each place."

That way, when you have the money, just give me a shopping list, and I can bring the items back for you anytime.

After saying this, Gary wiped the water stains off the table with his palm and smiled, "As for intelligence, I can keep an eye out for you on the way south, whether it's which city's prices are rising, which trade routes are currently unsafe, or which regions have more frequent monster activity than before."

"You seem to be in a more anxious mood than I am... Here's what we'll do: after you've finished what you're doing, come see me again before you leave, and I'll prepare a letter of introduction for you."

Lorraine leaned back in her chair, gathering her thoughts.

He now feels that saving this person was the wisest choice he ever made.

"A letter of introduction?" Gary asked, puzzled.

"Well, you'll know once you get it."

Lorraine nodded without saying anything more.

He remembered that Nathan, the president of the Shallow Beach Town Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Casper family. He could ask Anya for a letter of recommendation and ask her to look after Gary. Given their current relationship, Anya would probably not refuse.

If Gary were to head south, it would be much faster to travel along the Blackwater River.