N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
C 368
People scream when they are surprised, and they shut their mouths when they are shocked.
The current situation in the training hall is one of shock. The existence of a drake that is over 30 meters long, even with its neck and tail not fully extended, has caused everyone's minds to be half-gone.
Raon turned his gaze to the right and looked at the merchants' expressions.
Until just a moment ago, the merchants who were cheering and waving their hands, saying that Jessir had won, had their mouths tightly shut like a bee that had eaten honey.
On the other hand, their eyes were wide open, peering at the drake that filled the training hall.
'Other successors will be similar, I think.'
He smiled faintly and turned his eyes to Diarun and Phalen, who were standing next to him.
Phalen, who felt a sense of affinity with Dorian, was so surprised that she fell to the ground, and Diarun was drooling at the sight of the drake that he couldn't see all at a glance.
'They're completely out of their minds over there.'
Jessir, who was standing in the center, could not believe the situation, and his eyes were glazed over.
He looked like he had been beaten by Dorian, who had ignored his existence, and his soul had been taken away.
Finally, he looked at Adis.
'This one is... unchanged.'
Indeed, he is not ordinary.
He was the only one in the training hall who was not surprised and looked at Dorian and the drake with a calm gaze.
I've always thought that running a large merchant association is not something anyone can do.
Their faces are all red.
Wrath laughed with a smirk as he looked around.
It feels like eating mint chocolate ice cream when those who were being noisy become quiet!
Raon smiled and nodded.
'Yeah. It feels good.'
When he saw the merchants, who had been saying that the fight was over since they returned, collapse with pale expressions, he felt his heart clear.
"Phew...."
He looked to the side at the sound of a thin breath. Dorian was clenching his fists and shaking his shoulders. Seeing the corners of his mouth turn up, it seemed that he also felt a sense of joy from the people's reactions.
After a short but long silence, the people who had been frozen in place as if time had stopped began to open their mouths.
"That, that's a drake, right? Not a dragon?"
"Even in this state, it's much bigger than the drake that Jessir brought..."
"If you spread the head and tail, it will be over 35 meters, right?"
"Where did he get that?"
Look at that. The scales still have life in them. It means that he caught it, like Jessir!”
“Dorian caught it with the White Sword Dragon, right? Then…”
“That means they caught that monster together, right?”
The merchants swallowed their dry saliva in admiration of the drake's overwhelming size and Raon's power.
"Ah, no...."
Jessir approached Dorian with his lips trembling.
"What, what is this! Where did you get this!"
For the first time, his eyes, which had ignored his younger brother's existence, were filled with Dorian.
"I caught it."
Dorian shrugged as if it were nothing.
"Where did you catch it!"
Jessir screamed as if he had forgotten that he had ignored Dorian until now.
"I caught it far away."
Dorian smiled, answering leisurely as if he had learned from Raon.
"You! You’re making fun of me….”
As Jessir was about to run towards Dorian, Adis came over with a cough.
"Cough!"
"Dorian. Spread the drake properly."
"Yes, sir!"
Dorian ignored Jessir and ran to stretch the drake's head and tail so that they were straight.
Even in a crumpled state, it was bigger than Jessir's drake, but when it was stretched out, the difference was so great that it looked like an adult and a baby.
"This, when you look at it this way, the size difference is much worse...."
"That's right. Jessir's dragon is about 25 meters long, and Dorian's dragon is over 35 meters long."
"At this point, the successor can be considered decided."
"Guh!"
"I'm screwed..."
The merchants who followed Jessir shook their heads as if it was all over now, and let out a sigh that made the ground sink.
Adis nodded as he listened to the merchants' reactions.
"The result is out. With this..."
"Not yet! Not yet!"
Jessir raised his hand and stepped forward. His arrogant eyes were filled with urgency.
"What do you mean, not yet?"
Adis slowly turned his gaze to Jessir.
"I admit that Dorian's drake is bigger. However, isn't it not always good to be big? The claws, teeth, and bone durability of the one I brought back will be better. And besides..."
He narrowed his eyes as he pointed to Dorian's drake.
"Look at those scars. Aren't there a lot of cracks in the scales? It must be a mess inside and there won't be much that can be used!"
"That's right..."
"A drake of that size would have been stabbed several times with a spear. It might be damaged inside."
"The scales are pretty dirty."
Not only Jessir, but also the merchants who followed him raised their voices in an attempt to grab their last chance.
Raon enjoyed their struggles and laughed.
'I'm more confident in that.'
The drake has many scars here and there because it has lived for a long time, but the cause of death is only one sword strike that fell on the head.
If someone who knows how to look comes, they will be amazed at the cleanly caught wound rather than the size that exceeds 30 meters.
"Umm...?"
Dorian rubbed his belly pocket, looking anxious as he did not catch it himself.
"He's not wrong, I guess."
Adis nodded as he looked at the two drakes in turn.
"Ah, then..."
"However, the one who decides that is not me."
He pointed to the door of the training hall, from which the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard.
"The client will decide it directly."
As soon as those words were finished, the door of the training hall opened, and men with thick muscles that would not be strange even if they were orcs entered.
The most unusual was the gray-haired old man who was walking at the front. His muscles were the strongest, but he was short like a child, and he had a long beard.
Oh!
Wrath licked his lips as he looked at the old man.
I haven't seen a dwarf in a while!
'A dwarf...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he heard Wrath's words.
'Do the demons call dwarves dwarves?'
As Wrath said, the master of the Gray Hammer Guild was not a human, but a dwarf. It was also one of the most famous names in the continent.
"I am honored to meet the owner of the Gray Hammer."
Adis stepped forward and bowed to the dwarf.
"Excessive greetings."
The dwarf stroked his beard and bowed his head slightly.
"Even if I meet Borgos, who is one of the continent's best craftsmen, I should show this much courtesy."
Adis smiled and shook his head.
'Borgos…'
This dwarf stood at the pinnacle of the continent's best craftsmen alongside Vulcan, who crafted the Heavenly Drive, and Kuberad, the maker of the Blade of Requiem.
"No point in lifting it... Huh!"
Borgos, who had been clapping his hands, suddenly rushed forward with wide-open eyes.
Despite his short legs, he stood before Dorian's drake at an incredible speed.
"W-what is this?"
Borgos' eyes, which seemed unshaken even by falling meteors, trembled as if electrified.
"A drake of this size! It's almost on the level of a fully grown dragon!"
He, who had lived as an craftsman for a long time, chewed on his lips, saying he had never seen a drake of this size.
"And it's an ice-attribute drake, perfect for forging unmelting metal!"
"Look at these wing bones here, they don't look like they'll break!"
"What about these scales? They're filled with ice, so if we forge them together, we can make impenetrable scale armor!"
The craftsmens who had come with Borgos as looked at the drake, they couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter. They looked like they wanted to take it and making weapons right away.
"You fools."
Borgos shook his head and tsk-tsked at the craftsmen.
"You only see what you want without considering what truly matters."
"Pardon?"
"What is it that...?"
Ignoring the craftsmen's questions, he headed towards the drake's head.
"A single strike."
Borgos stared at the small sword protruding from the drake's head and swallowed hard.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean this colossal beast killed with a single blow."
He raised his gaze, and his trembling pupils came to a stop on Raon's face.
"Are you the one?"
Borgos exhaled a heavy breath as he approached Raon.
"You have an incredible aura hidden behind that youthful face. It's almost beyond description as a genius."
"May I ask your name?"
Raon nodded politely. Despite being of a different race and a much higher status, he appreciated the courtesy.
"I am Raon Zieghart."
I've heard that name. Are you the swordsman known as the White Sword Dragon?"
It seemed that Borgos knew about his reputation, even within the Gray Hammer Guild.
"I've seen many swordsmen with the nickname of Dragon, but you're one of the best. I can see why such a monster fell to a single blow."
He nodded.
"Head of Sepia. Our guild will choose this drake."
Borgos paid no attention to the drake brought by other successor candidates and approached Adis.
"Wait a minute!"
Jessir, with her hands clasped together, barged in between Borgos and Adis
"Please take a look at my dragon too! It's small, but I hunted it cleanly, so there are almost no scars on the scales! Besides, it's a wind-type dragon, so the bones will be strong and…."
"Do you take me for a fool?"
Borgos' voice sank to an icy tone.
"W-what do you mean?"
"I examined your drake the moment it entered this place. With a name like Jessir, I thought you'd brought something valuable."
"Oh, then...?"
"But it seems that name was just a facade."
Borgos narrowed his eyes as he glared at Jessir.
"The exterior of the dragon you brought is certainly clean. But you've caused a lot of damage to the inside. You must have torn it apart with your strength and even used magic."
"W-what are you...?"
"If you do that, the bones will be shattered and the inside of the scales will melt, so there will be almost no usable parts. In other words, it's worthless."
"Ah..."
Jessir's face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. He had never been spoken to in such a way before.
"I've been swinging a hammer since long before your father was born. I was too easily fooled by your flimsy rhetoric."
Borgos turned away with a sigh of pity.
"You've done something stupid, Jessir."
Adis looked down at Jessir and sighed briefly.
"I, I just brought the goods as my father told me to, no matter what!"
"I never said that. Even if you bring stolen goods to the customer, the goods must be in perfect condition. You must have misunderstood completely."
"Aah..."
Jessir fell to his knees and bowed hia head deeply. He looked like he had finally realized that it was all over.
"I'm, I'm ruined..."
"Jessir is finished like this..."
"Diarun wasn't even given any attention."
"So, is Dorian really the successor?"
The eyes of the merchants who had stood behind Jessir or Diarun trembled pitifully, like the wings of a butterfly hit by a wave.
"Has anyone predicted this outcome?"
"No, of course not. Who would have chosen Dorian?"
"Then isn't this an opportunity? The opportunity to stand behind Dorian?"
"That's right..."
"If you're lucky, you could even become a subordinate..."
The merchants abandoned the rotten rope and licked their lips as they got up from their chairs to climb onto the new rope called Dorian.
They were all eager to rush to Dorian as soon as the results came out.
"I'll buy your drake."
Borgos approached Dorian and extended his hand.
"Uh...?"
Dorian did not take his hand and turned around to look at Raon and Adis.
"......"
"It's over, so why don't you take it?"
Raon did not speak, and Adis frowned.
"No. It's not over yet!"
Dorian seemed to have gotten a hint from Raon's silence and Adis' words, and he smiled and did not take Borgos' hand.
"Now it's time to start negotiating!"
He raised his voice confidently.
"That's right."
Adis nodded gently and approached Dorian.
"If you brought the goods in accordance with the customer's request, it is also the merchant's job to get the highest price for those goods."
A proud smile appeared on his lips for the first time.
"Now you've just started your journey, Dorian."
* * *
Dorian and Borgos entered the conference room inside the headquarters and began negotiations.
Behind the two of them stood Raon and Borgos' apprentice.
"As I requested at first, I will buy all of the drake's horns, teeth, claws, skin, and bones."
Borgos raised his eyes to meet Dorian's gaze.
"To be honest, the drake you caught is the best quality I've ever seen, so I don't know the market price."
"Yes, sir."
Dorian nodded stiffly.
"A normal drake's carcass is worth between 800 and 1000 gold coins, so how about 4 gold bars?"
Borgos wrote "4 gold bars" on the contract that Dorian had given him.
"4 gold bars?"
A gold bar is worth the same as 1000 gold coins. It was an incredibly large amount of money.
"Hmmm..."
Dorian glanced back as if to seek advice.
Raon looked at Dorian and rolled his eyes slightly.
"I'm sorry, but that price is a bit difficult."
Dorian shook his head, swallowing his dry saliva.
"Then I'll add 300 gold coins to 4 gold bars. What do you think?"
Borgos added 300 gold coins to the amount written on the contract.
"That would be 4,300 gold coins..."
Dorian took a deep breath and turned around.
"Hmm."
Raon still looked unhappy and lowered his eyes.
"That's not too good either..."
"Cough! Okay. 4 gold bars and 600 gold coins!"
"Ugh!"
Dorian turned around again, and Raon still didn't look up.
"Ugh..."
Borgos sighed without even hearing Dorian's words. He now realized who was deciding the price.
"Okay! Let's raise it so that you can't refuse! I'll make it 5 gold bars!"
5 gold bars. The price eventually rose to 5,000 gold coins.
"Kyuueak!"
Dorian screamed and turned around. His hands were trembling as if to say, "Accept it quickly."
Raon shook his head with a nonchalant expression.
"Hah!"
"What...?"
"Ha!"
Dorian, Borgos, and even his apprentice widened their eyes.
Unlike them, Raon was calmly sipping tea with his arms crossed.
Hey.
Wrath tilted his head.
How much is that drake worth?
'I don't know.'
He had heard that Diarun's stuffed drake was worth about 1,000 gold coins, but he didn't know how much this one was worth.
But why did you refuse?
'There's a saying that you should refuse three times when negotiating.'
You refused four times?
'That's right.'
Raon smiled.
"Just in case, I gave it another shot."
Is he really crazy?
Wrath sighed as if he couldn't believe it.
"This is maddening."
Borgos raised his eyebrows, frowning.
"If I leave like this, You might have to retake the successor's test, you know?"
He clutched the table as if making a threat.
"Ugh!"
Dorian turned around in confusion, but Raon remained calm.
[The test was to bring back the Drake's scales, claws, teeth, and horns. It wasn't about concluding a deal.]
This wasn't boasting. Adis clearly asked for the Drake to be brought, not necessarily to sell it.
"T-the test was to bring back the Drake's scales, claws, teeth, and horns. It wasn't about concluding a deal, I mean... Darn it!"
Dorian blurted out the unnecessary word "Darn it" during his explanation.
"Grr..."
Borgos trembled his chin as he stared at Raon.
What kind if bastard are you!
Wrath widened his mouth in surprise as he watched the scene.
If you were going to do this, you should have sat in the front!
