Volume 1 Chapter 135

Volume 1 + Chapter 135: Beating Up Another Black Dragon

“Bargaining?”

Mira frowned slightly, a trace of dissatisfaction appearing in her gaze as she looked at the secondhand house agent in front of her.

“Why bargain at all? With the capabilities of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, we could get that house for free in minutes.”

“Do you believe that—or not?”

Hearing Mira’s half-threatening tone, the agent’s expression immediately changed.

How could he not believe it? Even if there were only a one-percent chance, he wouldn’t dare gamble on it lightly.

But the cost of this house was only two gold coins… No—what do you mean only two gold coins? Throwing away two gold coins for nothing was still a painful loss.

“I believe you, but… I am still doing business, after all. How about this—market price, one hundred gold coins. One hundred gold coins and it’s yours.”

“I’ll even cover all the follow-up procedures. How does that sound?”

To be honest, even as he quoted that price, the profiteering agent felt a little uneasy.

After all, this wasn’t a small sum, and he knew very well that the other side would definitely try to bargain.

But no matter how much they bargained, the profit margin on this house was still enormous. In the Imperial capital, where land was worth its weight in gold, even at a fair price, this house would never be worth less than sixty gold coins.

“Fifty gold coins. Not a single coin more.”

“Deal!”

Upon hearing that number, the agent didn’t dare drag things out any further and decisively declared the deal done.

At that moment, Mira froze slightly, suddenly realizing with painful clarity that she had offered too high a price.

As for the agent, he looked troubled on the surface, but inwardly he was overjoyed.

A sale was a sale no matter who it went to—and selling to the Imperial Chamber of Commerce was far more worthwhile than selling to that little Holy Maiden. After all, the Church might wield immense power elsewhere, but in this Empire, it amounted to nothing. At best, only the Church Academy was somewhat well-known.

And even that academy had been built on the legacy of the Crimson Witch. Without the teaching outlines and magical textbooks she had written for the Church, what right did the Church Academy have to surpass the Imperial Academy?

“Then fifty gold coins it is. May I ask—will you be paying by check or in cash?”

“We don’t have the money yet…”

Leah answered with blunt honesty.

“N–No money?”

Hearing Leah’s words, the agent’s expression instantly turned awkward.

“No money… then what are you buying a house for?”

The agent immediately changed his tone, though mindful of Mira’s status, he didn’t dare become overly aggressive.

He was simply no longer as warm or flattering as before.

“I’ll save it up very quickly. So please, don’t sell this house to anyone else.”

Leah took a deep breath. After all, she was still a child—naive and sincere.

For something she truly wanted, she would use every means available. Unfortunately, the adult world was cruel, and someone as guileless as Leah was bound to be taken advantage of.

In fact, she already was.

“That’s hard to say. That little Holy Maiden didn’t seem to have any objections to the two hundred gold coins I quoted her.”

The agent’s words drifted lightly through the air, but they struck Leah like a heavy blow. Her heart tightened, and a flicker of anger flashed through her eyes.

She clenched her fists instinctively, her fingertips digging into her palms, yet she said nothing. Instead, she turned around and ran out without hesitation.

Seeing this, Mira frowned and hurried after her, calling out, “Leah—!”

But Leah showed no sign of stopping. Gritting her teeth, Mira shot an angry glare at the profiteer who seemed to be quoting prices at will, fury surging in her chest. Still, she could only chase after Leah helplessly.

A wave of regret rose within her, and Mira cursed herself inwardly for rashly following Leah here.

She had thought she could help negotiate the price, never expecting matters to become so complicated. Mira knew that while she was responsible for the safety of the Imperial trade routes, she simply didn’t understand the finer details of commercial dealings and negotiations well enough.

If worst came to worst, she would return to the Imperial Chamber of Commerce and ask others to help resolve the issue.

With her connections, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“Sister Mira.”

Leah’s voice suddenly rang out, softly interrupting Mira’s thoughts.

“Hm? What is it?”

Mira turned around to see Leah with her head lowered, her expression hesitant, as if she were pondering something carefully.

“I remember that some nearby countries issued bounties before—looking for teams capable of dealing with the giant dragons harassing their trade caravans, right?”

The moment Leah spoke, Mira’s expression turned serious. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Leah.

“W–What do you mean? You want to… take on that bounty? To deal with another dragon…?”

Mira’s voice rose several notches. She had never expected Leah to come up with such an idea. While she had no doubts about Leah’s strength, she understood all too well the consequences—this would be a tremendous waste of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce’s most valuable resource.

Leah was already a core figure of the Chamber. Everyone within it was watching her closely. Any mishap could affect the entire operation.

After all, the safety of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce rested on Leah’s shoulders.

Mira’s heart tightened as she began calculating how to persuade Leah to abandon this dangerous-sounding proposal.

“Actually, the Chamber offers rewards too. That bounty is fifty gold coins, right? We’ll give you f–fifty-one!”

Originally, Mira had wanted to magnanimously declare one hundred gold coins, but after thinking it over, she felt it was inappropriate.

The Imperial Chamber of Commerce simply didn’t have such rewards. After running a trade route, deducting all sorts of expenses, the profit might not even reach fifty gold coins.

Giving Leah fifty-one gold coins in one go would mean Mira herself would have to foot the entire bill.

Those stingy Imperial merchants—look at how hard they’re making things for the pillar of our organization. Would it kill them to hand out a bit more reward? Hoarding all that gold, what, waiting for it to grow mold?

Mira cursed the Chamber’s stinginess inwardly, while calculating that she still had some savings. Subsidizing Leah in this way wasn’t really a problem.

After all, Leah was under her supervision, and her superiors had ordered her to keep a close eye on Leah. If anything happened to her, Mira’s own head would be the first to roll.

“Sister Mira… I don’t want you paying out of your own pocket for me. I want to earn this house myself.”

Leah saw straight through Mira’s intentions. It seemed she knew all too well just how miserly the Imperial Chamber of Commerce was.

But more than that, Leah understood just how difficult it was to earn gold coins.

There were countless places in the Empire where people still couldn’t even get enough to eat. Nursing homes, welfare institutions, poverty relief, infrastructure—over ninety percent of the Chamber’s profits went into those areas.

Leah knew this perfectly well.

So these fifty gold coins—she would obtain them elsewhere.

For example… from another country.

“Are you sure? I can help you make contact, but… dealing with dragons is still very dangerous, you know?”

“It’s not dangerous. Just beat them up soundly and make them leave. Isn’t that enough?”

“I–I see… I remember that the dragon mentioned in that country’s bounty is also a black dragon. Black dragons are extremely strong in combat.”