Since early this morning, Baron Sack had long awoken because he had already resigned from his post. After experiencing the storm known as the coup d'état, this former police chief realized in his mind that with his meager abilities, he is not someone capable of commanding a force of 10,000.
More importantly, he is aware of the fact that he is not a part of the Regent's inner circle. In order to keep himself secure from the impending conflicts, he took the initiative to resign.
However, unlike what he expected, this move of his caught the Regent's favor.
Then before long, he was awarded a senior position within the Finance Ministry. Satisfied with this post, Baron Sack was able to willingly give up his military power.
Moreover, what pleased him the most was that on his first day of work, he was able to befriend the highly favored Grand Duke Du Wei.
When Du Wei personally visited Sack's office in the finance ministry that day, the two spent quite the ordeal chatting away while sipping tea. Of course, their topics only focused around some gossips related to certain noble individuals; nonetheless, this was enough to establish a sense of goodwill between the two. Feeling the ground work was done; Du Wei casually mentioned the need for a special permit in approving prohibited products.
For such a small favor, Baron Sack would naturally not refuse.
Then three days later, Baron Sack received an invitation.
Located in the central area of the capital where the Arc de Triomphe is placed, a store specializing in rare and exotic materials was about to have its grand opening.
(The word by word translation for Arc de Triomphe is actually 'Victory Gate', but I felt it would be easier for others to remember it if I just used Arc de Triomphe instead.)
Needless to say, the owner's name may be "Marde" on the surface, but everyone is already aware of the fact that this person is a trusted servant belonging to the newly appointed Grand Duke.
Other than Baron Sack, numerous others were also invited: newly appointed police chief Kami Siro (the undercover agent that played a key role in Prince Son's plan), several senior officials in the finance department, and even the president of the magic union.
So on this morning, the grand opening of a special store near the Arc de Triomphe had attracted the current big bosses in the political arena.
Aside from the ones he invited, Du Wei was surprised to find that the so called "Magical beast of Taklanshan" (Big fat weapons merchant that gifted Du Wei with the four magic apprentice) was also here to congratulate him.
Though the Regent himself wasn't present, but he did send over a cabinet member of the court in his stead.
As for the Magic Union, the President would naturally not attend such a secular occasion, nonetheless, the union did send over mage Clark to congratulate him.
Regarding the other second and third rate nobles in the capital, they had all saw this as an opportunity to draw closer to Du Wei for their own interest because this so called "luxury" lineup can be considered the most extravagant gathering since the coup.
This time around, Du Wei bought a three story building for his shop. Located in the middle of a busy commercial street, the amount of people coming and going is endless. More importantly, this area is considered to be a special zone where people of status liked to spend their wealth. If not for this reason, the average person would never be able to afford any of the expensive commodities sold in the shops around here.
Aside from the building, what satisfied Du Wei the most is that his property also included a yard of considerable size in the back along with a workshop. With the Lancang Canal not far into the distance, this purchase of his is amazing even if he looked at it from a business or practical standpoint.
The only surprising thing was the pricing. When Du Wei first looked up the property, he speculated that he would have to pay no less than thousands of gold coins; yet, the final transaction price only came up to 200,000 coins!
Such a ridiculously low price caused Du Wei keep a key note of it in his heart because it was obvious that someone wanted to suck up to him. After all, his current standing is blowing harder than anyone else in the capital, so it's to be expected.
Finally, after having Marde investigates the former owner of the shop, Du Wei came to the conclusion that it was the fat merchant called "Magical beast of Taklanshan" that wanted to send him this favor…..
Sure enough, this noticeably rich merchant came to congratulate him on the opening day.
In his mind, Du Wei understands full well today is definitely the perfect chance for him to salvage as much money as he can. (In order to not blemish their title, nobles with his status would normally task some lower class servants to perform such tasks.) But Du Wei didn't care about any of this. Coming out to the front, he personally greeted every eager guest that came up to talk to him.
In this three story building, every floor was the size of a basketball court, so there was no way he can cover every location. To solve this problem, Du Wei had Marde spend quite a bit of money to purchase several beautiful slaves from the market in order to help soothe his burden. In his previous life he had seen how effective it was to have beautiful girls wearing flowery dresses greet customers, so he wasn't worried about this little expense.
While the first floor was mainly set for commercial use, the warehouse in the back was reserved as a storage unit for the rare goods Rolynn had brought in from the frozen forest.
At Du Wei's behest, the main star of today's event is without a doubt the female knight, Miss Rolynn.
On such a occasion, Rolynn originally wanted to dress herself up fancily to match everyone, but Du Wei quickly rejected the idea. Instead, Du Wei had her wear a gorgeous looking light armor that bordered on the line of ridiculous. In order to prepare such a glamorous armor, poor mouse Gargamel had to work overnight in order to enchant it with shards of magic gemstones.
With a heart shaped crystal in the chest, this jewelry is also blessed with a light enchantment spell. Other than to make the armor look good, this is a complete waste of materials because if the wearer were to use this in the battlefield, it is the same as committing suicide – archers will have a blast shooting at the shining target board!
But Du Wei didn't care about any of this. After blessing it with the light spell, the entire armor looked like it was covered in a subtle layer of silvery light. As the streaks of light circulated around Rolynn's body, she looked so extravagant and gorgeous that nothing prior to this was ever replicated.
Aside from the light enchantment spell, the shoulder pads were also embedded with shards of wind crystals. The uses for the wind crystals aren't hard to guess. When a warrior stands in battle, the best scenes always had the hero stand tall with their cape fluttering in the wind, and this is exactly what Du Wei achieved here. No matter where Rolynn stood, her red cape would always be fluttering due to the wind currents flowing down her back!
In addition, Du Wei also had his smiths embroider the armor with an array of fine looking patterns that he found in some ancient textbooks.
Oh, and let's not forget the boots… Ha-ha...
With Roylnn's outstanding beautiful legs, Du Wei had to spend some extra efforts to prepare something special that can match her level of sexiness. Bringing out from storage, Du Wei specially picked out the best looking ice demon wolf leather and had it made into a pair of long skin tight boots that didn't cover up any of her legs sex appeal.
In total the cost of this outfit went as high as 30,000 gold coins
Luckily, the expense wasn't wasted. The moment Rolynn walked out, everyone's attention immediately fell onto her.
Though her face wasn't at the level of making a kingdom drop to its feet, but it was still that of a young woman with eight-nine points of beauty. In the eyes of these noblemen's that had seen all sorts of beauty in their time, such a fresh looking face matched with a pair of mouth drooling legs is enough to entice their appetitive to a whole new level.
"Gentlemen, let me introduce." Du Wei laughs and had Rolynn stand beside him. As she did so, Rolynn maintained a cold smile like they had rehearsed before.
"This is a member of my personal knights unit, Miss Rolynn. Not only is her strength extremely high, but everything you see here today are goods that were brought back from the North by her!"
This saying may have been a bit farfetched, but the outcome is exactly what Du Wei wanted.
Sure enough, everyone's attention was immediately focused on Rolynn's body after his speech – this included Sir Biliaibuer and the fat merchant Taklanshan that was formerly looking at some red fox fur.
Stunned by what he saw, Taklanshan couldn't keep his eyes off of Rolynn's valiant stature and wheat colored tanned skin.
After a moment of silence, Sir Biliaibuer was the first to speak up. This charming middle-aged man faced Rolynn and spoke with genuine smile: "Knight Rolynn, his excellency said you brought all of these exotic goods from the frozen forest? Oh heavens! Despite having such beauty, you are still capable of going into such a terrifying place!"
Rolynn understood full well what Du Wei's intentions were, but since he is the master, she can only accommodate him with her acting.
Though these goods were brought back from the North by her... But she certainly didn't "hunt" down the monsters. If she had to measure her own strength, Rolynn feared that she would not even be able to cope with a single ice demon wolf, let alone go hunting for all these materials.
Fortunately, Rolynn has been leading a small team of adventurers since she was little, so she naturally has her own unique style of responding to these noble lords. Putting on a smile, her expression didn't carry any form of forced affection; instead, she intentionally restrained herself and put on sense of heroism in her demeanor. Just like that, Rolynn quickly became the spotlight of today's event after being repackaged by Du Wei!
Before long, many of the visiting noblemen's were huddling around Rolynn on all sides.
Though Rolynn wasn't a highly skilled knight, but she was able to explain all of the important details of each product to the audience.
"Gentlemen, this shield is made from an Earth Dragon scale; although it looks very small, but the defense is exceptionally good. Many of you may not know this, but the earth dragon is a magical beast that lives underground in the frozen forest. Their head may be small, but their scales are extremely durable and hard to penetrate. Even a fourth level warrior would have a hard time splitting their scales apart! Back when we first encountered these beasts, we had to expend quite a bit effort to subdue them….. Compared to a regular shield, this shield made from the scales of a earth dragon is extremely light!"
With each introduction of a product by Rolynn, some of the noble lords that were enchanted by her would quickly open up their wallets. Very quickly, in just one morning, any product reviewed by her would be sold out!
By the end of this single morning, the "sales" record reached a total of 300,000 gold coins!
From the first floor of the shop, about half of the merchandise was sold out!
As Du Wei looked at how Rolynn was being worshipped like a rock star by these young noble lads, he became very satisfied. In addition, when Marde quietly passed over the sales list from the morning, his smile was so big that it almost reached his ears.
Well, not everyone present fell into Du Wei's scheme. Those with status like Sir Biliaibuer and Taklanshan was able to clue in into his scheme early on in the show thanks to their years of experience.
After spending half a day eyeing Rolynn, Taklanshan finally gave up and quietly came over to Du Wei. In a murmuring voice, this fat merchant dared to say: "I really have to hand it to your methods, your excellency! This female knight Rolynn….. Ha-ha, to tell you the truth, the goods here aren't that amazing. But Miss Rolynn on the other hand…. If you are willing to part with her, I'm willing to offer you 1 million gold coins..."
Just as his words reached this point, this fat merchant took notice of Du Wei's dissatisfaction. Letting out a laugh, Taklanshan quickly tried to salvage the conversation: "Don't misunderstand me your Excellency; I wouldn't dare make a move on your personal knight. With such a talent like Miss Rolynn, I was hoping you would lend her to me for a month so that I can use her as a mascot for my shops…. Ha-ha! What do you say? 1 million Gold coins for a month of service. Also, I'll be sure to treat your knight as a grand VIP while she is in my care."
Sir Biliaibuer seems to be on good terms with this fatso. Smiling, he clapped his hands to interject: "Alright you fatso, stop making it hard on his Excellency! Didn't you notice the way this female knight looks at our Duke here? He-he, who knows, maybe one she will be our future Duchess! Yet you want her to be your shopkeeper, hahaha!"
As for that Kami Siro – newly appointed police chief – he seems to not have much feeling for the opposite sex; instead, he was more interested in the gorgeous armor worn by Rolynn. In a low voice, he asked: "Your Dukeship, may I know where you got such a armor from?….."
Du Wei was stunned by Kami Siro's question. Prior to today's event, he already had some interaction with this loyal subordinate of Prince Son. For someone that spent 10 years as an undercover agent, there's no way he wouldn't be able to see through the secret behind this useless armor. Sure it may be easy on the eyes, but that was all….."
"Duke." Kami Siro's voice became a little hoarse as he whispered: "I know the armor isn't very practical and my reason may confuse you, but after spending 10 years in hiding, I finally realized I came down with a strange habit!"
"Oh, really?" Du Wei gave this guy in front of him a curious look.
"... I found that I increasingly liked to be noticed by others around me." Kami Siro spent no effort in trying to hide his strange illness: "Of course, I know you'll never laugh at me…. Perhaps this is my own way of compensating myself! In the old days, I would never dare wear something so eye catching, but now, I can't stop myself."
Du Wei understands his reason. After being deprived of his existence for so many years due to his spy career, Kami is finally able to fill the hole in his heart.
"That's easy." Du Wei began to deliberate inside: "I can make a set of this armor for you. Just consider it a gift from me!"
"How can I accept it?" Kami Siro immediately rejected: "I appreciate your Excellency's kindness, but such an armor is still within my price range. If word spread today of how I accepted your kindness when I was supposed to be the one congratulating you, then how will I ever continue to mingle in the capital?"
Du Wei smiles before Kami Siro offers up "100,000 gold coins" for a set of the magnificent armor.
Of course, there is also the dear Master Clark who almost became Du Wei's magic teacher in his younger years. As a person of power within the magic union, Clark was instructed by the president of the magic union to deliver a gift to Du Wei!
"Mage Du Wei." Mage Clark pulls Du Wei to a corner of the floor: "I heard you set up a trade route that can transport large amounts of magical beast materials throughout the year, is that true?"
Du Wei brow pricked at the question.
"Don't get me wrong." Clark smiles: "You know it too. In order to satisfy the demand of those old monsters and the lower class mages, the magic union has to procure vast amounts of magic ingredients throughout the year. It just so happens that some of the ingredients on the list is from the frozen forest!"
Du Wei's eye immediately lit up with excitement.
The next moment on, the intimacy of their conversation grew exponentially. As the representative of the Magic Union, Mage Clark ended up signing a contract to ensure the purchase of a 800,000 gold coins worth of good from Du Wei each year. As a trade, Du Wei also added in a line where he is allowed to purchase a certain number of minerals like magic crystals and etc.
After the contract was signed, Clark gave Du Wei a satisfied look and prepared to bid his farewell.
But before leaving, he added another meaningfully sentence: "Mage Du Wei, the president wants to remind you that you are a Mage, therefore, the magic union will always be your home!"
With that, this Mage Clark said his goodbye with a smile.
After sending away the magic union's messenger, a thought finally hit him!
Can it be… the establishment of the magic academy is finally starting?
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