After waiting for about ten minutes, Rog returned with two of her underlings in tow—but she clearly wasn’t in a good mood, muttering curses under her breath.
“That bastard Cornell better hope he never falls into my hands!”
“Damn it!”
Seeing this, Caius stepped forward and offered her a cigarette. “Whoa, what’s got you so worked up?”
Rog was slightly surprised to see him, but took the cigarette and lit it up without hesitation. Taking a long drag, she exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, “Another Chamber of Commerce is trying to snatch our trade license.”
“That damn Merchant Guild is auctioning off the licenses on the spot!”
“You didn’t get it?” Caius asked.
“They haven’t started bidding yet,” Rog replied, massaging her temples. “They don’t want money. They want orders. Whoever offers more orders and is willing to give up more profit margins gets the license.”
“But damn it, we came here specifically to sell Magitech Devices. Without the license, how the hell are we supposed to sell anything, let alone get orders?”
“Fuckin’ Cornell’s definitely in bed with that fat bastard from the Guild. They’ve got Magitech Devices and weapons. They’re about to secure a pile of orders!”
“In just half an hour? Where the hell am I supposed to find that many orders? Damn it!”
Watching Rog fly into a rage, every sentence packed with curse words, Caius couldn’t help but chuckle.
Rog raised an eyebrow. She was fuming, and this brute thought he could laugh just because they had a good rapport? Even if Raymond were here, she’d curse him out just the same.
But before she could finish exhaling her smoke and start yelling, Caius pulled out a stack of order forms and grinned. “Well, speak of the devil—I just happen to have some orders. Big ones, too.”
Rog froze for a second, then quickly grabbed the papers and scanned them.
As she read, a smile gradually broke across her face.
Thirty ships. A thirty-percent concession. Solid, legitimate orders.
“Where did you get these?” she asked.
“I owe it all to my merchant friends. Look, they’re over there.” Caius nodded toward a direction.
Rog followed his gaze and spotted several merchants watching them intently.
When the merchants saw the two looking their way, they excitedly waved.
Caius hadn’t lied—they really were on good terms.
“Well, you really came through when it counted,” Rog said with a laugh.
“Don’t celebrate just yet. This isn’t a free gift. You know the rules,” Caius said.
“Of course. Name your price,” Rog replied.
“Nothing extra. Just the amount listed on the orders.” Caius grinned.
“That’s all?” Rog was a bit surprised. “You and your friends aren’t making any profit?”
“Oh, we are. But I’m not about to make money off my brothers and sisters for the sake of some drinking buddies,” Caius said.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Now that’s what I like to hear!” Rog let out a hearty laugh. “So, what are your terms?”
Smart woman.
Caius got straight to the point. “Can you secure the sales license with these orders?”
“Of course! Even if Cornell sells everything he’s got, it wouldn’t be worth half of these,” Rog replied confidently.
“You sure that fat bastard won’t try to screw you over?” Caius asked.
“Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t dare—not with the Grilla City Administration watching.” Rog waved it off.
“Perfect. Then the orders are yours. Once you’ve got the sales license, I want every single Magitech weapon order you receive,” Caius said.
“All of them?” Rog blinked.
“Yes. Every single one.” Caius nodded, then flashed a cheeky grin.
“So, dear Sister Rog,” he said playfully, “can you give me a little discount?”
“I mean, this is bulk purchase, right? Gotta get a bit of a break.”
Rog’s mood soared the moment this big lug called her “sister.” She burst out laughing and nodded. “If you can take the whole batch, sure. I’ll give you fifteen percent off.”
“Round it up—make it twenty. Think of it as an investment in a future Legendary Mercenary,” Caius chuckled. “And in return, I’ll give you twenty percent off when I bring you jobs in the future.”
“Hah! You should’ve been a merchant, not a mercenary!” Rog laughed even louder.
“Nah, I’m just a mercenary. I wouldn’t survive as a merchant,” Caius said modestly.
“Then you’re the craftiest mercenary I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Alright then. Just for those four words—future legendary mercenary—you’ve earned that extra five percent,” Rog said, nodding.
It had been a long time since she’d heard a mercenary speak so boldly of becoming a legend.
The last one was Raymond.
He’d paid a steep price for that dream and ended up running a mercenary tavern in Ocean City.
Still, he became the most respected tavern owner around.
So Rog had high hopes for Caius.
At least for now, he seemed more promising than Raymond ever had.
Everything went smoothly from that point on. Half an hour later, Rog successfully secured the sales license, and every single order from the Wargs Gang was now in Caius’s hands.
With a thick stack of orders and gold notes in hand, Caius strolled leisurely toward the group of merchants.
“How’d it go, brother?”
“Pretty well. Rog took the deal. Even complimented the cake,” Caius said with a grin, raising the bundle of orders and gold notes in his hands.
The orders were all for Magitech Devices.
The gold notes were half the down payments for the ships—final payment due upon delivery.
As for the down payment for all the Magitech Devices, Rog hadn’t taken a single coin—since the devices hadn’t been delivered yet, and Caius had asked her to wait for a surprise.
And honestly, even if Caius couldn’t fulfill the orders later, they’d simply be voided. Rog would just lose a bit of time.
She wouldn’t be selling any Magitech Devices, but she would have bought a bunch of ships at a low price—and after some repairs and fine-tuning, she could still flip them for a huge profit.
The merchants, seeing the thick stack of orders and gold notes in Caius’s hands, were overjoyed.
After handing out the gold notes—representing their deposits—Caius said, “But if you really want to make big money, this isn’t enough. The real question is, do you want to keep going?”
Having tasted success, the merchants immediately nodded. “We’re in. We’ll follow you, brother!”
“Heh…” Caius gave a knowing smile, then said, "Have your people find out which vendors are selling Magitech Devices. Remember—only those with a license to legally sell them."
"And also find out who’s looking to buy Magitech Devices—big deals, small deals, all of them."
"It’s 8:10 now. I want everyone back here with a report before 9:00."
"Got it!" a group of merchants responded with nods.
They all had people under them, and when it came to gathering intel, that was something they were quite good at. Still, none of them had ever played this kind of game at such a large venue before. Strangely, they felt a bit excited—like they were on the verge of pulling off something big.
Meanwhile, Caius didn’t just sit around waiting. He took Kiki and roamed the venue, circling through different sections and collecting useful bits of information.
Before long, it was 9:00. The merchants returned one after another to report back. With their intel, Caius quickly got a rough map of how this massive venue was laid out.
There were thirteen vendors selling Magitech Devices. Of these, five focused on weapon-type devices, while the rest sold either utility-based or lifestyle-oriented items.
As for buyers, there were even more of them. Basically, any merchant in the market for gear was also looking to acquire Magitech Devices.
These things were like arms in his previous life—highly profitable!
A single Magitech Device could allow someone at the Silver rank to kill a Gold-rank opponent.
One person with such power might not be much—but an entire squad armed with them? That was a different story entirely.
Many of the wealthy tycoons or high-ranking officials present wanted to buy Magitech Devices to outfit their private security forces. It wasn’t just about personal safety—it was a statement of power and status.
Which made it clear to Caius: selling off the stack of Magitech Device orders he had on hand was going to be incredibly easy.
