"You know, boss?"
"Hmmm? What is it, Gavaya?"
"At first, I thought you would be broke after hiring all of us, but now I understand why you are willing to spend a good chunk of money to hire us. You are some sort of genius merchant, huh?"
"Why are you saying that?"
"Why?! Look at that!"
Gavaya points at the stack of money in front of him with a shock on his face. Well… when you point it like that… [Money Talent] is truly a broken talent.
"What can I say? I'm a great merchant."
"Great merchant?! It is more than that! How can you make a profit of thirty-two million in a matter of two weeks?!"
I cannot say to him that every time there is an opportunity to bring a lot of money, my [Money Talent] will be roaring at me, and I only need to follow it to make a profit. The louder the ping inside my head, the more profitable it will be.
I have been getting three loud pings for the past two weeks. I profit at least ten million each. I follow that ping. However, instead of being a merchant, I'm more of a transporter as I transport the goods from one city to another.
I can transport the goods faster and cheaper than the other merchants with my inventory. That is why I can get a massive profit. I can go from one city to another in a span of hours instead of days to search for ships and guards for the journey.
Bandits rarely attack ships that transport people because it is not profitable and more dangerous. Merchant ships, on the other hand… It is still dangerous, but they are profitable. It is extremely profitable if you hit the right cargo.
"I'm cheating. I have something that the others did not have."
"Yeah, your so-called inventory, right? You can move faster than the other merchant because of it."
"Yup. Anyway, let's get back to Rainwall. The wind starts to blow."
"Gah! Talk like a normal person, dammit!"
I only smile as I like to pretend that I'm an all-knowing character. The truth is that my [Money Talent] needs me to listen to a lot of rumors, and I can filter them. I heard a rumor that the northern route was being blocked. That only means one thing. Godwin's Army is already marching south and about to reach Rainwall. Give them a few days, four, maybe five more days, before reaching Rainwall.
"Anyway, come on. We need to go back."
=//=
When we arrive at Barrow's Mansion, I can already see Wilhelm, Mueller, Sialeeds, Freyjadour, Lyon, and Lucretia having a talk in the meeting room.
They look at me when I open the door, and I look at my companion, who nods their heads in understanding. With that, they leave me alone to sit behind the round table.
"Ah, Gerrald, the man I want to see."
I smile a little at Lucretia's words and say.
"Have you finally fallen for me, my lady? Fallen under my handsome charm?"
"Fufufufu~ Nothing like that~"
"Ah, what a shame."
I sit down and look at the people around the round table.
"So? What is it? The guard tells me that it is something urgent."
"It is. The enemies are marching to Rainwall and about to arrive in a matter of days."
"I know that. I heard a rumor about the northern route being blocked by the army. Connect one another, and you will get the answer."
"Yes, and the reason why I call you here to ask you for another help?"
I look at Lucretia in interest before saying.
"Oh? Tell me."
"Money."
"Is five million not enough? I already gave it to you, right?"
"Five million is a lot, but it is not enough. In the last battle, we had the Dahak to be our powerhouse, but now we are fighting on land, and the Godwin have more soldiers than us. We will have help from Sable City, but even then, they have more than half soldiers in their hands."
I frown a little at that little bit of information.
"How many soldiers do we have?"
"We have seven thousand soldiers if we add the Sable's Army and the Lindwurm Mercenary Brigade."
"That means they have around fourteen thousand men, huh?"
"Fifteen thousand, yes."
"That is worrying."
Lucretia nods and leans over.
"I have a connection to a group of mercenaries. They are a thousand men strong, and they can help us. They are great in jungle fights, and we can place them in the jungle to the left."
I look at her for a few seconds and smile.
"Did you know a group of hyenas is coming from the east?"
I give her a small smile, and my smile gets bigger when I see her widen her eyes. She looks at me for a second before laughing.
"Thank you for your confirmation. Don't worry. They are great people who can hide from a pack of hyenas."
"I see."
"So? Can you help us once again?"
I release a sigh and make a thinking expression. I make sure to keep my silence for a minute. I can see Freyjadour and Sialeeds starting to look worried about my answer. After waiting for a few seconds, Lucretia finally says something.
"Stamp me. I know that you stamped the prince and his group as an assurance that our debt is being paid. Stamp me and make sure that this money will be on me instead of them."
"My lady! No!"
I look to the side and see Lelei and Cius, Lucretia's bodyguards, walk inside the room with a frown on their faces.
"Let us do it! Stamp us instead of her!"
Lucretia raises her hand and says.
"No. You two are not getting involved in this matter."
"Then let us share some burden with you, my lady!"
"Yes! Let us share the burden!"
Lucretia looks at her bodyguards and sighs.
"Do what you want."
She looks at me and says,
"What do you think?"
"How much?"
"Seven million more. Some for the mercenary and some to buy horses."
I throw my stamp at Lucretia and take out seven million potch from my inventory.
"Sure. Let's do this."
Lucretia smiles and stamps her palm, the same with her bodyguards.
"Thank you. With this, we can discuss the tactic for this fight."
===========================================================
I'm sorry for the late update, guys. Yesterday, my mom's surgery was done, and I spent my day on her side. She will be discharged from the hospital either tomorrow or the day after. The doctor wants to see how my mom is doing and make sure no complications are happening from the surgery.
Thank you so much for your help. With your help, my mother is now recovering, and the doctor said that she will be good in a month or two. I will make sure she eats healthy food and does not eat something that can upset her stomach because she just lost her gallbladder.
Thank you so much. Truly. I don't know what to say, but thank you. Because of your help, she can still see another day. Thank you so much. I-I don't know what to say, but thank you.
I know that this is nothing but a word, but I'm truly grateful for your help. Thank you.