Guild Boss's Ambition

But as a noble, I always feel that I must do something for this war.

I said worriedly, "Miss Lannong, have you noticed the price of food in the market?"

Miss Lannong took out an antique pottery from the stall and asked, "Would you sell it to me for fifty silver coins?"

Hearing this, I, who had been cheated by her several times before, resolutely replied: "No! I declare again that my recycling center will not do business with you and Bai Ye! It's simply cheating for a guy with the Eye of Truth to come to the Treasure Market to buy things!"

“Yeah—”

Miss Lan Nong twisted her mouth and said contemptuously: "You obviously asked someone to appraise these goods yourself."

I couldn't help but blush at what she said, and said in a guilty tone, "What? Even if I asked someone to appraise them beforehand, I'm still doing a business based on mutual consent. Besides, I don't take all my items to experts for appraisal. If my customers really know what's good, they can still get a bargain from me."

"The worst thing is that you've turned away someone like me who knows what's good." She complained aggrievedly.

"Have you ever seen a casino welcoming professional gamblers?!" I said with a stiff face.

During the argument, she picked up a meteorite, raised her eyebrows and asked, "A gold coin?"

The price is reasonable.

I nodded and said, "Deal."

The girl threw a gold coin directly to me and put the stone into her space ring.

At this point, she began to respond to my question: "Miss Sophie, are you concerned about the merchants' monopoly on food?"

Looking at the unfathomable girl, I nodded vigorously.

The black-haired girl smiled and asked, "Do you think the military has considered this issue?"

I answered with understanding: "The military has certainly thought about these issues, but they are afraid that they are **."

Miss Lannon disagreed and said, "The nature of nature's wrath is different from that of ordinary wars. Losing Mopolis is equivalent to losing the entire civilization of intelligent humans. If even civilization is threatened, how can wealth be preserved? For those who already have power and wealth, the stability of the country is the most important priority."

"Based on this, the military and the government are not happy with any speculative and evil business practices. However, in today's society that advocates freedom, they cannot rigidly restrict the actions of capitalists. As a result, they can only take other more tactful actions. Referring to the history of the past few times of nature's wrath, those old thieves in the business world may have vaguely realized that this is a honey trap deliberately set by the military."

I, who have no knowledge of the wrath of nature, asked, "How do you say that?"

Miss Lannong smiled confidently and answered, "Recently, Teacher Isabella asked me to read the history of the war of Nature's Wrath. Although the war history is long, after I sorted it out, I found that in the many times of Nature's Wrath in the past, although the price of food in our city of Mopolis often rose, there was no record of famine."

"There is no record of famine? How is that possible?!"

I asked in disbelief, "Everyone says that Mopolis City has experienced extremely severe famine in the past. The worst famine was 120 years ago. Didn't 90% of the population of Mopolis City starve to death at one time? Miss Lannon, are you sure that the war history you read is not a fake version made up by the government to describe a rosy past?"

Miss Lannon chuckled and shook her little finger like a villain. "No wonder Teacher Isabella always taught us to discern history. The reason why 90% of the population died in the Nature's Wrath in the 368th year of the Light Alliance was because the elven dragons and the dragons fought over the city of Mopolis. Most of the deaths were caused by the dragon breath of both sides, not by famine."

"Huh? Why?" Sister Raftan at the side also asked in confusion.

Seeing the confused expressions on our faces, Miss Lannong said with a smile, "Just as Miss Sophie said at the beginning, the government is embellishing history. In order to dilute the citizens' fear of the dragon race, the military deliberately used rumors to replace the death of 90% of the population with the misfortune caused by famine. At the same time, through these rumors, they can also take the opportunity to catch the tail of the market monopolist."

"Well—"

At the end of her speech, Miss Lannong shrugged irresponsibly and said, "These are all what Teacher Isabella taught us! If the facts in the future are inconsistent with what I just said, please be sure to complain to her, and don't blame me──"

……

……

45. 488th Year of the Alliance of Light (Sophie)

(Sophie Fritz)

"It's really not easy to make a fortune from war──"

After listening to Miss Lannong's story, I was suddenly filled with emotion.

The elder sister also felt this deeply: "Maybe good things will be rewarded, and evil things will be punished, that's what it means."

Seeing the reviewing expressions on our two sisters' faces, Miss Lan Nong smiled and said, "So I always say that a gentleman should make money in a proper way. If you don't have Bai Ye's IQ, then don't try to be a financial tycoon. If you want to make money, do something that benefits the general public. Focusing on the needs of the people is the key to getting rich."

Miss Lan Nong's words immediately won the admiration of her sister: "That's right! That's a conscientious businessman! Making money from national disasters is simply the most undesirable behavior in the world! It is despised by the world!"

I immediately rolled my eyes at my sister and said, "Our Miss Paladin, the merchant you despise is your little sister!"

My sister was shocked: "What! Could it be that you, Fiso, also bought up large quantities of grain like those unscrupulous merchants?"

"..."

I glared at her coldly, and was so annoyed that I couldn't say a word.

It was Miss Lannon who understood my intention: "Miss Raftan, I think the national disaster wealth that Miss Sophie is thinking of is not what you imagine. For example, arms, intelligence, mercenaries, all kinds of resources will become trading items during the war. For example, getting more war equipment for the Alliance military is a good deal."

"Oh! So our Sophie is so amazing──"

After listening to Miss Lannong's explanation, my sister immediately gave me a parental look.

I was too lazy to pay attention to her ignorance, and just took the opportunity to ask Miss Lannong: "Yes, that's right, in fact, I have been paying attention for a while. Didn't your Adventurer's Guild retrieve many high elf ears on the battlefield? Most of them were used for quests, but think about it carefully, even if you handed in the quests, didn't you have a lot of ears left?"

Miss Lannong's eyes suddenly lit up.

And it’s so bright!

She laughed and scolded: "Good fellow, you even want to sell that thing!"

I further speculated: "In fact, there should be more than just ears to sell."

She raised her eyebrows and said what I was thinking: "Do you want to see our task list?"

I stuck out my tongue and said brazenly, "As for the high elf ears, I've visited sixty-three guilds and collected most of them, but you know, no one would complain about the money being too much, or maybe we can take this opportunity to ask the military for a little more? In addition, if possible, I'll need Hai Lao's help to analyze which quest materials will be more popular."

Miss Lan Nong immediately put on a sarcastic expression and spoke with innuendo: "Great, you're quick enough! Going through all sixty-three guilds means that only ours is not on your radar, right?"

Hearing that, I immediately put on a flattering smile and denied it, saying, "No way! The Stone House is my main focus! As far as I know, you have 1323 high elf right ears, right? I happen to have another 300 ears in stock. Are you interested in patronizing my shop and helping to clear out this batch of unsold stock?"

"Great! Miss Raftan, your sister really knows how to do business!"

Hearing the loud and clear sound of my wishful thinking, Miss Lannong immediately cast a cunning look at my stupid sister.

Facing Miss Lannong's fierce eyes, the elder sister was immediately embarrassed: "My sister seems to be a little more capable than I imagined - but from the perspective of the guild, isn't it a very good idea to buy more high elf ears to complete the war mission? From a business perspective, I think this is a win-win situation."

However, Miss Lannong has a completely different opinion.

Her red eyes suddenly took on a serious luster, and the corners of her lips raised a fighting arc: "Win-win? Miss Raftan, do you really understand what a good thing your sister has done? Your sister has monopolized the market for the right ears of high elves, and indirectly made the more than 100 right ears of high elves in our guild useless."

At this time, my sister Raftan still looked confused about the situation.

"But as long as you buy those right ears from Sophie, can't you still complete the mission?"

Miss Lan Nong was immediately furious. "But what about the price? Will your sister offer a cheap price? If Miss Countess hadn't monopolized our business, wouldn't our guild have been able to obtain the remaining quest materials from the other 63 guilds at a lower price? In the end, your sister's price would have been sky-high, right?"

"Eh! Is that so?"

Raftan-sister immediately looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

I puffed out my chest a little guiltily, and said loudly, "Yes, yes, yes! That's it! I've calculated for Stone House. You can get 80,000 gold coins for completing this war mission. Based on the 400 elf right ears as the mission condition, the average value of each elf right ear is 200 gold coins in total."

Listening to my calculations, Miss Lan Nong on the other side smiled charmingly.

This smile seems familiar. Where have I seen it before?

It seems that...

Have you seen it with Miss Bai Ye?

The black-haired girl tilted her head cutely and asked with a smile, "So, Miss Countess, what's your offer?"

I swallowed and told him what I had been thinking for a long time: "Looking closely, in addition to the 1200 ears you need to pick up for the task, you will need another 277 ears to complete the fourth war task. On the basis that 277 ears can be exchanged for 320 gold coins, if I offer gold coins per high elf ear, it shouldn't be too much, right?"

Miss Lannong nodded in agreement and said with a smile, "It's just a little excessive, not very excessive, but I believe you will make more excessive requests next, right?"

Yes, I actually have a further condition for this deal.

However, the sight of Miss Lannong in front of me made me feel very uneasy.

However, now that things have come to this, even though I am uneasy, I can only continue to act according to the predetermined script.

I forced myself to remain calm, cleared my throat, and said, "That's right. Since I bought a little more than I already had, in addition to the 277 ears, you have to buy 23 more ears for this deal to be officially concluded. In short, the content of this deal is 300 high elf ears - gold coins."

Upon hearing the price, my stupid sister screamed out.

"A mission that pays 80,000 gold coins, and you're asking for 96,000 gold coins, Sophie."

Facing this question, I brought out my own opinion: "Sister, don't forget that in addition to the 80,000 gold coins reward for the war mission, you also get two weeks of peace. In this time when casualties are appearing every second, everyone wants to stay in a safe place and wait for the war to end, right?"

"This……"

Sister Raftan was speechless for a moment.

I immediately seized the good momentum and atmosphere and said, "And think about it carefully. Didn't you, the Stone House, earn 240,000 gold coins in one go during the last expedition? Now, as long as you take out one twentieth of that wealth, you can buy two weeks of peace. It's actually a very cost-effective deal."

Strangely, Miss Lannong agreed with me at this time.

As she strolled through my shop, she slowly analyzed, "If the 16,000 gold coins in this deal are shared by the remaining 500 people in the guild, then each person would only need to pay about 30 gold coins. No matter which angle you look at it from, the adventurers in our guild will be very happy to agree to this deal—"

"You must be thinking so, my lady?"

Again!

In Miss Lannong, I once again saw Miss Bai Ye.

That feeling of being stared at by the darkness climbed up my heart again.

Miss Lannong smiled beautifully and gently swung down words like a nine-tailed whip -

"Too naive, aren't you? You."

She pointed her jade finger at my forehead without any hesitation, and said with a giggle, "You made a mistake. This mistake is that you are too familiar with us, and you underestimate the wealth that every adventurer has gained in exchange for their bloodshed on the battlefield. As the manager of the Stone House, I have the responsibility to bargain for them. In order to achieve this goal, I will do whatever it takes."

"What...what do you mean?"

Feeling the coldness coming from the fingertips, my teeth were actually frozen to the point of chattering with each other.

Has it been discovered? My weakness?!

The next moment──

"You are in debt, aren't you, Countess?"

She hit the nail on the head.

She raised a conqueror's smile and began to trample without any sympathy: "Think about it? Where did the Countess, who was worried about the rent a few months ago, get the gold coins to buy so many high elf ears at once? Even if one ear is counted as 150 gold coins, you will need a full 45,000 gold coins to buy this batch of goods."

"Forty-five thousand gold coins? How can a fifteen-year-old girl get forty-five thousand gold coins?"

Miss Lannon threw the question to Sister Raftan, and my sister looked at me blankly.

The devil himself provided the answer.

She said with an amused smile, "The answer is usury. And it's not just ordinary usury. It's Wall Brothers' loan with a compound interest rate of 50% and a settlement at the end of each month. Let's take a look at the calendar on the wall. What date is today? That's right, it's the second to last day of the month."

"As soon as these two days are over, the 45,000 gold coins you borrowed will become 67,500 gold coins. In the next month, it will snowball into 101,250 gold coins. The month after that, it will be 150,000. The next month, it will be 250,000! 400,000! 800,000! 1 million! 1.5 million! There is an infinity that can never be repaid!"

demon……

The devil stared at me.

Cold

So cold──

I could hardly breathe amid the devil's whispers.

"It's okay, my sister is here."

However, a strong hand wrapped around my clenched fist.

A smile lights up the darkness.

……

……

46. ​​The Nature of a Merchant (Sophie)

(Sophie Fritz)

"Ms. Lan Nong, please stop teasing my sister, okay?"

Just like always, when I was most helpless, she stood firmly by my side.

Unlike me, my sister has a deeper friendship with Miss Lannong, and she knows this little devil better.

After hearing her sister's complaints, the little devil also put on an apologetic expression and a clear smile: "I'm sorry, I accidentally got a little too into the role, but it's really Miss Sophie's fault. You underestimate the power of money, and you underestimate me as a businessman. Now - it's Miss Sophie who is making things difficult for me!"