57 Doing Business
The next morning, Sunier went out early to purchase some more low grade magic crystals. Moxinke followed her, saying that he wanted to look for some tasks to make money. However, every one knew very well, through the anxious expression on his face, that what he really wanted was to avoid a certain person's pestering.
Han Jin was curious about the tasks, and so were Michelle and Steelberg, so they left the hotel together and headed for the Mercenary Association.
The square in front of the Association was full of people, much more boisterous than the night when they had first came here. Sunier led them across the square and directly up to a counter. She took a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote something on it. It was a list.
"Should we do that?" Miss Keeley whispered to her.
"Is there any problem?" Sunier blanked and asked back. "I bought magic crystals like this yesterday."
"It's too much!" Miss Keeley pointed at the note which read: 200 third-grade earth element magic crystals. Unit price: 20 silver coins.
"How so?"
"We don't know the proper price of earth element magic crystals or their market reserves. If we purchase them like this, we will suffer a heavy loss."
"You can write the note then." Sunier moved aside.
"No problem," Miss Keeley replied without any hesitation. A moment later, a long list was made.
The receptionist took the note from her and rolled his eyes after reading it. Miss Keeley was not as generous as Sunier. She only ordered fifty magic crystals in total, with five of each kind, and the unit price gradually declined from 20 silver coins to 10.
The receptionist glimpsed at Miss Keeley disdainfully. It was free to sell and buy goods in this place, but when the deal was done, the Association would charge one percent commission from both parties. If everyone did their business like Keeley, the Association would earn nothing even if every exchange was made smoothly.
"Well, let's have a look elsewhere," Miss Keeley casually said.
"Only fifty magic crystals? that's not enough."
"I know. Right now, we just need to find a reasonable price for them, and buy more later." Miss Keeley thought for a moment. "Did you buy two hundred magic crystals all at once yesterday, Sunier?"
"No. I purchased fifty at first; it just took a short time. Then, I ordered another fifty and left. When I came back, they were already prepared, so I purchased the other one hundred directly."
"My gods..." Miss Keeley stared at her in a daze.
"Have you finished? Let's go upstairs," Moxinke shouted impatiently from the back.
They turned around and were going to leave, but the receptionist grumpily shouted, "You haven't paid the deposit!"
"How much?" Sunier asked coldly.
"Three gold coins."
Sunier threw the money at him and left after taking the note sealed by the Mercenary Association. Miss Keeley murmured and finally said to her, "Why didn't you lower your price since the deal was done so fast? It must be much higher than the market price."
"I am not good at this, and I didn't think that far," Sunier replied awkwardly.
Han Jin and Cessacioun tacitly cast a glance at each other. With that attitude, even if she did know how to do business, she wouldn't be wasting time. She had given Little Joseph a gold coin without even thinking when they had met him yesterday. Both Han Jin and Cessacioun had suffered in poverty before, thus, even though they acted as if they were indifferent about this, both were actually criticizing Sunier silently.
The building of the Mercenary Association was divided into four floors. The second floor was the high class trading area, and only allowed trades over 100 gold coins to be conducted there. The third floor was the VIP area. As for the fourth floor, even Moxinke, who was born and raised in this city, had no idea what it was used for.
The Mercenary Association was the symbolic home of tens of thousands of mercenaries, and thus the building was constructed in a magnificent and splendid manner. The hall of the second floor was hundreds of meters in length. Over thirty stone columns at least one meter in diameter, each decorated with several lamps hanging from them, supported the building. The lamps on them were not ordinary oil lamps. They were magic lamps powered by magic crystals, and would never need to be dimmed.
Inside the hall, three or four hundred mercenaries were bustling around. Some were in a rush, some were waiting leisurely, while others gathered together and whispered in secrecy. Those who dared to try and sell something for over one hundred gold coins were at least fifth-grade professionals. Some of them were equipped with the badges of fighters or sages. They were usually leaders of mercenary teams or groups, judging by their impressive appearances and mannerisms.
Outside the window, waves of magic fluctuations could be felt. The fourteen one-way teleporters were usually busiest during this period. Morning was usually the best time to start a day of work, because entering the Tarasha Mountains in daytime was much safer than in the dark.
"Let's go up to the third floor," Cessacioun suggested in a low tone.
"We don't have access. Besides, there is no way we can complete the tasks on the VIP floor." Moxinke shook his head. Mercenaries must think twice before taking any task. One third of the commission was required as a deposit, and if the task failed, or was not completed within the agreed time limit, the commission would be compensated to the task issuer. As for the casualties suffered by the mercenary group, no one seemed to care.
Han Jin looked around without saying anything. In front of him was a large screen made of crystals, on which information about various tasks and wanted magic crystals were displayed in order of the amount of gold coins. The minimum amount was one hundred gold coins, while the maximum was over nine hundred gold coins.
Han Jin suddenly found that the tasks released here were not that difficult. Holy animals they had hunted before like Gale Wolves, Giant Lizards and so on were all listed on the screen with very high prices. He moved his eyesight aside and was shocked when he saw one of the tasks which read: Iron Bull Skins, six hundred gold coins.
"What's wrong?" Moxinke noticed his expression and asked.
"Nothing." Han Jin shook his head hurriedly. If they had killed their Iron Bull neighbors in the forest, they would have earned four thousand gold coins by now! But he could only keep this thought in his mind. The group had gotten along well with the group of Iron Bulls. If he voiced his thoughts, the others would no doubt mock him for his greed.
"The tasks here are not that difficult." Cessacioun had the same feeling as Han Jin. "How about taking one, Moxinke? We can't do nothing all day."
"It's indeed not very difficult. See, the task for twenty teeth of Gale Wolves pays one hundred and ten gold coins. I can finish it alone without any of you guys' help," Moxinke laughed. "The problem is, who would send a Gale Wolf to me? Traveling in the Tarasha Mountains involves all sorts of danger. A high grade holy animal when migrating or hunting for food could destroy a whole mercenary team, for instance. The task itself is not difficult, but surviving in the Tarasha Mountains is. There are countless mercenaries who lose their lives every year. If we go deep into the mountains, we are going to be one of them."
"Gale Wolf teeth? I..." Han Jin suddenly remembered something. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier? What a pity!"
"How many Gale Wolves have we killed? If we knew this before hand, we could pull down all their teeth." Cessacioun exclaimed.
"Well..." Moxinke smiled bitterly, "I rarely go up to the second floor here. How would I know that someone would want this!"
"You've never gone upstairs? Are you really a mercenary?"
"What can I do on my own? Deliver myself to Death?!" Moxinke opened his eyes wide.
"Why didn't you join a team?" Sunier asked softly.
"I'd rather take the easier tasks." Moxinke sighed. "I might have a chance of coming back alive if I went to the Tarasha Mountains alone, but if I had joined a team of other mercenaries... I am sure I would have been dead by now."
Han Jin was curious about the tasks, and so were Michelle and Steelberg, so they left the hotel together and headed for the Mercenary Association.
The square in front of the Association was full of people, much more boisterous than the night when they had first came here. Sunier led them across the square and directly up to a counter. She took a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote something on it. It was a list.
"Should we do that?" Miss Keeley whispered to her.
"Is there any problem?" Sunier blanked and asked back. "I bought magic crystals like this yesterday."
"It's too much!" Miss Keeley pointed at the note which read: 200 third-grade earth element magic crystals. Unit price: 20 silver coins.
"How so?"
"We don't know the proper price of earth element magic crystals or their market reserves. If we purchase them like this, we will suffer a heavy loss."
"You can write the note then." Sunier moved aside.
"No problem," Miss Keeley replied without any hesitation. A moment later, a long list was made.
The receptionist took the note from her and rolled his eyes after reading it. Miss Keeley was not as generous as Sunier. She only ordered fifty magic crystals in total, with five of each kind, and the unit price gradually declined from 20 silver coins to 10.
The receptionist glimpsed at Miss Keeley disdainfully. It was free to sell and buy goods in this place, but when the deal was done, the Association would charge one percent commission from both parties. If everyone did their business like Keeley, the Association would earn nothing even if every exchange was made smoothly.
"Well, let's have a look elsewhere," Miss Keeley casually said.
"Only fifty magic crystals? that's not enough."
"I know. Right now, we just need to find a reasonable price for them, and buy more later." Miss Keeley thought for a moment. "Did you buy two hundred magic crystals all at once yesterday, Sunier?"
"No. I purchased fifty at first; it just took a short time. Then, I ordered another fifty and left. When I came back, they were already prepared, so I purchased the other one hundred directly."
"My gods..." Miss Keeley stared at her in a daze.
"Have you finished? Let's go upstairs," Moxinke shouted impatiently from the back.
They turned around and were going to leave, but the receptionist grumpily shouted, "You haven't paid the deposit!"
"How much?" Sunier asked coldly.
"Three gold coins."
Sunier threw the money at him and left after taking the note sealed by the Mercenary Association. Miss Keeley murmured and finally said to her, "Why didn't you lower your price since the deal was done so fast? It must be much higher than the market price."
"I am not good at this, and I didn't think that far," Sunier replied awkwardly.
Han Jin and Cessacioun tacitly cast a glance at each other. With that attitude, even if she did know how to do business, she wouldn't be wasting time. She had given Little Joseph a gold coin without even thinking when they had met him yesterday. Both Han Jin and Cessacioun had suffered in poverty before, thus, even though they acted as if they were indifferent about this, both were actually criticizing Sunier silently.
The building of the Mercenary Association was divided into four floors. The second floor was the high class trading area, and only allowed trades over 100 gold coins to be conducted there. The third floor was the VIP area. As for the fourth floor, even Moxinke, who was born and raised in this city, had no idea what it was used for.
The Mercenary Association was the symbolic home of tens of thousands of mercenaries, and thus the building was constructed in a magnificent and splendid manner. The hall of the second floor was hundreds of meters in length. Over thirty stone columns at least one meter in diameter, each decorated with several lamps hanging from them, supported the building. The lamps on them were not ordinary oil lamps. They were magic lamps powered by magic crystals, and would never need to be dimmed.
Inside the hall, three or four hundred mercenaries were bustling around. Some were in a rush, some were waiting leisurely, while others gathered together and whispered in secrecy. Those who dared to try and sell something for over one hundred gold coins were at least fifth-grade professionals. Some of them were equipped with the badges of fighters or sages. They were usually leaders of mercenary teams or groups, judging by their impressive appearances and mannerisms.
Outside the window, waves of magic fluctuations could be felt. The fourteen one-way teleporters were usually busiest during this period. Morning was usually the best time to start a day of work, because entering the Tarasha Mountains in daytime was much safer than in the dark.
"Let's go up to the third floor," Cessacioun suggested in a low tone.
"We don't have access. Besides, there is no way we can complete the tasks on the VIP floor." Moxinke shook his head. Mercenaries must think twice before taking any task. One third of the commission was required as a deposit, and if the task failed, or was not completed within the agreed time limit, the commission would be compensated to the task issuer. As for the casualties suffered by the mercenary group, no one seemed to care.
Han Jin looked around without saying anything. In front of him was a large screen made of crystals, on which information about various tasks and wanted magic crystals were displayed in order of the amount of gold coins. The minimum amount was one hundred gold coins, while the maximum was over nine hundred gold coins.
Han Jin suddenly found that the tasks released here were not that difficult. Holy animals they had hunted before like Gale Wolves, Giant Lizards and so on were all listed on the screen with very high prices. He moved his eyesight aside and was shocked when he saw one of the tasks which read: Iron Bull Skins, six hundred gold coins.
"What's wrong?" Moxinke noticed his expression and asked.
"Nothing." Han Jin shook his head hurriedly. If they had killed their Iron Bull neighbors in the forest, they would have earned four thousand gold coins by now! But he could only keep this thought in his mind. The group had gotten along well with the group of Iron Bulls. If he voiced his thoughts, the others would no doubt mock him for his greed.
"The tasks here are not that difficult." Cessacioun had the same feeling as Han Jin. "How about taking one, Moxinke? We can't do nothing all day."
"It's indeed not very difficult. See, the task for twenty teeth of Gale Wolves pays one hundred and ten gold coins. I can finish it alone without any of you guys' help," Moxinke laughed. "The problem is, who would send a Gale Wolf to me? Traveling in the Tarasha Mountains involves all sorts of danger. A high grade holy animal when migrating or hunting for food could destroy a whole mercenary team, for instance. The task itself is not difficult, but surviving in the Tarasha Mountains is. There are countless mercenaries who lose their lives every year. If we go deep into the mountains, we are going to be one of them."
"Gale Wolf teeth? I..." Han Jin suddenly remembered something. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier? What a pity!"
"How many Gale Wolves have we killed? If we knew this before hand, we could pull down all their teeth." Cessacioun exclaimed.
"Well..." Moxinke smiled bitterly, "I rarely go up to the second floor here. How would I know that someone would want this!"
"You've never gone upstairs? Are you really a mercenary?"
"What can I do on my own? Deliver myself to Death?!" Moxinke opened his eyes wide.
"Why didn't you join a team?" Sunier asked softly.
"I'd rather take the easier tasks." Moxinke sighed. "I might have a chance of coming back alive if I went to the Tarasha Mountains alone, but if I had joined a team of other mercenaries... I am sure I would have been dead by now."
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