It was an understandable change. Given the prestige of the "Innovation" set and the subsequent announcement by Berzan Temir, Orzhan, and I were no longer just two individuals conducting a private trade. The scale of the business had shifted. When I stepped inside, I found Orzhan already seated, but he was not alone. A middle-aged woman sat across from him, her posture refined and her presence commanding. As soon as they noticed my entry, both of them stood up to greet me.
“Oh, Han. We were waiting for you. This is Madam Zerin Palos,” Orzhan said, gesturing toward the woman beside him. “She wants to entrust one of her pieces of equipment to you for enchantment. She mentioned that she is looking for a reliable partner and will become your long-term customer if she is satisfied with the quality of your service today.”
***
Zerin Palos
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Bastion Dagger ?
Golden Amulet ?
Golden Ring ?
Job: Merchant Lvl 45
***
Orzhan finished the introduction, and I took a moment to observe the woman. She was well-groomed, her hair styled with precision, and she wore a fancy, floor-length gown that spoke of her significant wealth and status within the merchant community. She gracefully bowed her head in greeting, and as Orzhan’s voice trailed off, she stretched out her hand toward me, inviting a formal acknowledgement.
“... I am very glad to meet you, Lady Zerin,” I said, moving forward. I took her hand in mine, bowed my head, and placed my lips on the back of her hand with a slow, respectful motion. Once the formality was concluded, I returned to my previous standing position and looked her in the eye. “As you must already be aware, there is no absolute certainty when it comes to the process of enhancement. However, I can assure you that I will take the utmost care when dealing with your precious equipment. I do not treat these items lightly.”
I spoke as politely and professionally as I possibly could, maintaining the persona of a master enchanter.
“Huhuhu, if you say so… then I suppose there is nothing for me to do but place my trust in your hands,” she replied, her voice smooth and carrying a hint of amusement. “Here is the equipment I mentioned. This is one of my personal pieces that already possesses one successfully implemented skill crystal. I want you to add a second one to it. Furthermore, I have brought the necessary materials.”
***
Leather-Steel Armor ? ○
- Centipede Skill Crystal: Increase the durability of the item by 40%.
- Empty
***
***
Golem Skill Crystal
- Mirror 10% of the damage
***
She placed the equipment on the table between us, followed by two Golem skill crystals and a stack of ten gold coins. I inspected the armor; it was a high-quality leather-steel hybrid, and as I looked at the symbols, I could clearly see the confirmed empty slot. Since all of the specific requirements I had established for my service were present, I had no reason or intention to refuse the commission.
“Thank you for entrusting both your items and your faith to us, Madam. As I have stated, I will personally ensure that the possibility of success is maximized,” I said. My tone carried a hint of boastfulness because I was already certain of the outcome. I knew exactly where that empty spot was. Once the enchantment was completed, I would be walking away with ten gold coins as my fee and one extra Golem skill crystal for my own inventory. The experience points I would gain for my Enchanter job were simply a bonus.
Zerin Palos was clearly a big shot in the city, but considering the nature of the equipment she was asking me to enhance first, it was obvious she was testing the waters. She was giving me a relatively standard piece to see if I could deliver on my "no-destruction" guarantee and if I could actually produce a result. If I could show her a successful implementation without trying anything "funny" with her property, she would likely become one of my regular "big fish" clients.
“For that, I am glad to hear it. I will be eagerly waiting for positive news from your side… Now, if you will excuse me, I must see to other matters,” she said, rising slowly from her chair and informing us of her intent to depart.
“Of course, Madam. We will inform you the moment the result is ready. Please take care of yourself,” I said. There was nothing more to discuss; the only thing left was to perform the work and show her the finished product.
Orzhan stood up and accompanied her to the door, displaying the high level of professionalism he reserved for important visitors. I watched his behavior and realized once again how skilled he was at social navigation. His easygoing, relaxed, and sometimes fussy attitude only seemed to come out when he was dealing with me, likely because our relationship had progressed to a point of mutual familiarity.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I waited in the quiet room for a few minutes until Orzhan returned. This time, he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by a man who dressed and carried himself with the air of a high-ranking butler. After we were introduced, the man politely identified himself as a representative of a famous merchant who was interested in establishing a partnership with me.
Up until today, many customers had come to me personally to discuss their equipment, but I had expected the arrival of proxies as my reputation grew. This man, however, seemed to have come with a slightly different agenda than the others.
“Mr. Han, we are very interested in working with you,” the butler said formally. “My employer is already considering entrusting some of his most valuable equipment to you for enchantment, especially since Berzan Temir himself provided such a strong personal advertisement. However, beyond individual commissions, we also wish to discuss the possibility of other business arrangements.”
“What kind of business did you have in mind?” I asked, keeping my expression neutral and my voice emotionless. I could sense their enthusiasm for the project, so I made a conscious effort to appear as professional and detached as possible. I didn't want to show my own eagerness too early in the negotiation.
“We want to know if you would be capable of responding to requests for enchantments in bulk,” he explained. “The primary problem we anticipate is the sourcing of materials. We do not believe that finding two identical skill crystals for every single enchantment would be feasible in our current situation. We were wondering if the terms could be adjusted—perhaps requiring only one crystal for the earlier slots, or at least for the third and subsequent crystals?”
I leaned back, processing his words. “Can I assume that you are capable of providing enough gold coins to cover the fees? You are only asking for this adjustment because the difficulty of sourcing multiple skill crystals is your main bottleneck, correct?”
“... Yes,” he replied, a small smile appearing as he nodded in agreement with my hypothesis.
“Hmm… So I assume you intend to enter the enhanced equipment market on a larger scale, but you haven't yet established a sufficiently robust network to source the crystals independently,” I said, speaking as if I were thinking out loud. “Accessing skill crystals is not an easy task for me either, but I believe your proposal is worth some consideration.”
In truth, it would be relatively easy for me to provide them with the necessary crystals if my current business continued to succeed. I would soon have a massive stockpile from other "failed" commissions. However, I had no intention of just handing over my crystals for a simple cash payment. The butler’s suggestion of only providing one crystal per slot was out of the question if they couldn't meet the baseline requirements of my method.
I could readily agree to third and later-tier enhancements under the standard terms since they would be providing the two crystals like any other customer. My primary motivation for opening this branch of business was the collection and accumulation of skill crystals for my own use and high-tier sales. If a partner couldn't provide crystals, I couldn't do business with them unless the monetary compensation was staggering—and even then, I doubted a merchant would pay that much when they could just buy crystals themselves for a high price.
However, after weighing the pros and cons, I decided there was a path forward. There would eventually be times when certain types of crystals would pile up in my inventory, exceeding my own needs. In those cases, I could use them to facilitate these bulk orders if it proved beneficial to me. As we worked together, this partner would also grow their influence, and over time, I would gain a powerful new business ally.
“Thank you for at least entertaining our bold offer, Sir. May I ask for the specific details of how we might proceed from here?” the butler asked, looking pleased that the door hadn't been slammed shut.
“Sure,” I replied. “First, I am open to bulk orders without a strict limit, provided you follow the rule of providing two skill crystals per enchantment. Second, my schedule involves collecting equipment and crystals from Orzhan on the first day of every week. If you bring at least one skill crystal for an enchantment, I will check my own stock for the lacking one. If I can provide the second crystal myself, I will charge an extra payment specifically for that crystal during the delivery. If I cannot complement the missing crystal, I will simply return the equipment to you untouched. What do you say to those terms?”
I waited as he processed the explanation.
“Hmm… it is certainly better than nothing. Thank you for taking your the time to see me, Mr. Han. I will deliver your terms to my employer immediately. I am confident that he will want to proceed with this arrangement,” he said. He gave a courteous salute and exited the room.
“Wow! You’ve turned into a fantastic piece of… well, a merchant, I mean! Hahaha!” Orzhan exclaimed once the door had closed and the man was gone. His tone was a mix of genuine admiration and his usual teasing.
“Come on now,” I said, acting as if the entire exchange had been entirely predictable. “You know I’ve dealt with a lot of merchants lately. Isn’t it only natural that I would start to shine in that area eventually?”
“Oh, give me a break, Han. The scale of what you were doing a few months ago compared to what you are doing now is completely different. You’ve become excellent at handling these high-tier customers. And beyond that, you have this way of attracting people that feels… I don't know, weird to me,” he said, shaking his head as if the situation were absurd.
He wasn't wrong. Thanks to my high Wisdom stat, I was now able to analyze complex social variables, evaluate potential outcomes, and respond in a way that best served my own long-term interests. Furthermore, my Charisma stat was doing exactly what it was supposed to do—making it significantly easier to persuade people and navigate these high-stakes deals.
“Hahaha, thanks for the compliment,” I said, though my real goal was to steer the conversation away from my personal growth.
I couldn't exactly tell him that I was more clever and attractive because my digital stats had increased; it was better to let him believe I was just becoming a savvy businessman who was protective of his trade secrets.
“Huh, sure, sure. You can take it as a compliment if that makes you feel better,” he said, looking at me as if he resented my lack of transparency.
“It sounds to me like you’re unhappy working with me, Orzhan,” I said, a teasing smirk appearing on my face. “If it’s too much for you, I can always find another partner to act as my middleman. I wouldn't want to force all this work on you against your will. We are friends, after all…”
“Okay, okay! You don’t have to bring that up!” he replied quickly, a hint of genuine worry in his voice. He knew as well as I did that his cut of these deals was going to be a massive sum.
“No, no, I’m just saying that since we’re such good friends, I should be considerate of your workload…”
“Fine, fine! I said I understand! Drop it!” he brushed me off hastily, clearly wanting to secure his position. “Anyway, Master Blacksmith Thrain Coldhammer should have arrived by now. We’ve already passed the time we agreed upon for the meeting.”
“Hahaha! You’re right. Those famous types are always fashionably late,” I laughed, letting the teasing go for now. I confirmed in my mind that the blacksmith—the primary reason I had cut my dungeon session short today—should indeed be here.
“Tok, Tok, Tok!”
Right in the middle of our conversation, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
“Let me see who it is,” Orzhan said. He stood up and went to the door to check.
He spoke in hushed tones with one of the auction staff members for a few seconds before returning to the table.
“It seems the master blacksmith has arrived,” he informed me.
This visitor was unlike the others. Thrain Coldhammer was a major figure in Yargan’s economy and crafting circle, but his prestige wasn't the only reason I wanted to see him. I had much larger plans for the wealth and crystals I was accumulating through this business, and to achieve them, I needed a direct connection with a supplier of the highest-quality base equipment. Thrain was the key to that supply chain.
“It was about time,” I said, my voice satisfied as I prepared for the meeting.
[Edited]
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