Chapter 2730 The Gray Merchant’s Request <TOC> Chapter 2732 Harbor Malice
Translator: SumTLMan
The tentacle monster Daus mentioned was, without question, Shrew.
When Shrew heard Daus call her that, her brows arched sharply and a vicious glare shot his way.
Yet before she could spit venom, the Gray Merchant seized her arm, gave her a meaningful look, and signaled her to rein herself in.
Next the Gray Merchant turned to Daus:「If the previous battle caused the Red Sword Wizard to misunderstand my companion, I apologize on her behalf.」
Daus answered gruffly:「I’m not as petty as she is. Everyone can see how badly she’s hurt. Once inside the Sunlight Sanctuary, the energy it takes to restore her will be greater than what it costs to fix everyone else put together. Naturally her payment must be higher; that isn’t unfair treatment, it’s a fair trade.」
The Gray Merchant pondered a moment. Recalling Angel’s earlier explanation about the Sunlight Sanctuary’s diminishing returns, he found his answer.
「So that’s how it is. We misunderstood.」The Gray Merchant apologized once more:「We can accept those terms.」
Hearing him agree, Shrew hurried forward, wanting to say something, but the Gray Merchant stopped her.
「Who knows when you’ll fully recover,」the Gray Merchant whispered.「And don’t forget the organ you bought a while back, if you delay too long, the transplant might fail. Then the tens of thousands of magic crystals you spent will be wasted. Remember what the leader said: endure, restrain yourself, and wait.」
Shrew exhaled a deep, stifled breath, nodded, and ceased resisting.
With consensus reached, the arena grew much quieter.
Vai and Kael entered the Sunlight Sanctuary in turn to undergo spiritual cleansing, while Daus haggled over prices with the Gray Merchant.
To keep Shrew from clashing with Daus, the Gray Merchant sent her to negotiate compensation with the black robed adjudicator.
The Gray Merchant was the picture of courtesy, so much so that Daus almost felt embarrassed to raise his price. Yet remembering that if he failed to do so he might “lose his freedom,” he steeled himself and asked for a king’s ransom.
Though the Gray Merchant plainly disliked the figure, he never lost his composure; instead he bargained with Daus from every angle.
No fiery shouting match ensued, but their refusal to give an inch was palpable.
The Black Count’s voice drifted into Angel’s ear:「Aren’t you going over to have a look?」
Angel replied:「How high he can push the price, that’s Daus’ skill. What would I do there?」
The Black Count chuckled softly:「So you really plan to squeeze him for all he’s worth?」
Angel put on an innocent face:「When did I squeeze him? He volunteered.」
The Black Count:「You think he doesn’t understand?」
The sudden, context-less question made perfect sense to Angel. He answered calmly:「It’s not that he can’t understand, he doesn’t want to. Besides, his inspiration talent is back; maybe it’s that talent nudging him to ‘not understand’ on purpose?」
The Black Count mused:「You’ve considered it more thoroughly than I have. If it’s inspiration at work, perhaps Daus’ subconscious believes that losing his freedom wouldn’t be so bad.」
Angel frowned slightly:「Why assume he must lose his freedom? My view of freedom includes the breadth of the heart, not merely how far the eyes can reach. Moreover, I never intended to limit what he can see or where he can go.」
Giving Daus the Sunlight Sanctuary scroll was, in Angel’s mind, simply handing him a trump card; everything that followed was merely an idle move on the board. To his surprise, that casual stone had brought an unexpected windfall.
The Black Count ended the exchange with a cryptic line:「Daus’ inspiration talent is indeed handy, isn’t it?」
Angel met his gaze and smiled:「It certainly is.」
…
The results of Daus’ negotiations soon emerged. Judging by their expressions, both sides were quite satisfied.
At that moment, Vai and Kael drifted out of the Sunlight Sanctuary in a daze.
Their changes were hard to spot with the naked eye, yet every wizard present could clearly sense that their mental power had become denser and purer, as though scrubbed clean of the slightest impurity.
“Earth-shaking” was no exaggeration.
Aside from contamination by spellcraft, mental impurities plague everyone; the more tangled your thoughts, the more impurities arise, not “evil” thoughts, just any thoughts at all. Philosophically speaking, they are particles of dust on the soul: harmless to raw strength yet narrowing the path of mental advancement, turning a walkable road into a slog.
Now, after the cleansing, much of that dust was gone; the road ahead lay smooth, put plainly, their potential had soared.
Such gains show most clearly in apprentices: their mental power is still thin, their impurities still detectable. Once one becomes a formal wizard, the filth hides deeper and clings far tighter.
In the energy vision field of vision, the transformation in Vai and Kael was vivid, filling the Gray Merchant and his group with eager anticipation for their own turns inside the Sunlight Sanctuary.
When Vai and Kael returned to their side, it was the Gray Merchant’s party’s turn.
The Sunlight Sanctuary sets no hard cap on headcount: its volume alone limits how many can enter at once, so the Gray Merchant’s group went in together.
Before stepping through the radiance, the Gray Merchant handed Daus a space pouch. One glimpse of Daus’ beaming face told that the pouch held the price they had settled on.
After they vanished inside, Daus drew forth the mysterious scroll and left the rest alone; once they emerged, the Sunlight Sanctuary would belong to the Sovereign of Wisdom.
Wrapping the precious scroll in energy, Daus approached Angel. Only then did he withdraw the outer power and solemnly hand it over.
Both the Black Count and the Sovereign of Wisdom fixed their eyes on the scroll, clearly wishing to see its true form.
But even before Angel accepted it, he had already draped a veil of Nightmare Aura over it, blocking every attempt to peer within.
Angel felt no anxiety about the Sunlight Sanctuary’s effects leaking out, yet if a specialist got hold of the scroll itself and dissected it, they might discover the secret of “Mad Hatter’s Coronation.” Proper precautions were essential.
Disappointment flickered across the eyes of both observers, each for different reasons.
The Sovereign of Wisdom had hoped to study the runes; unaware of the Coronation, he merely wanted to compare the craftsmanship with Angel’s known work and judge whether the scroll was Angel’s creation. Angel granted not the slightest opening.
The Black Count, however, had set his heart on purchasing the half-step mysterious scroll. Though it had only one use left, its value remained immense: a lifesaver in crisis and a tool for nurturing future prodigies. Angel’s demeanor made plain he would not sell, leaving the Black Count mildly crestfallen. Yet clinging to a shred of hope, he still asked, and as expected, Angel refused. The Count, loath to strong-arm him, let the matter drop.
Having returned the scroll, Daus repeatedly inventoried the “treasures” inside the space pouch. He did keep a private coffers, but between cultivating connections and purchasing wizard lore at the Cross, it was often bare. So many riches piling up in his hands was a rare bliss.
He drank in the sight, then, with effort, thrust the pouch toward Angel.
Angel eyed him in puzzlement.
Daus said:「I know this can’t settle the whole debt for the Sunlight Sanctuary, but it should cover a quarter, right? I’ll pay the rest, plus interest, in time. Please, give me a little leeway.」
His meaning was plain: he wished to repay the debt with money, not accept whatever conditions Angel might name. He knew too well that once Angel stated terms they would likely read “join the Savage Grottoes” or “be my lackey”, all shackles on freedom, and Daus wanted no part of that.
What Daus failed to see was the Black Count turning aside with a quiet sigh, and far overhead the Sovereign of Wisdom wearing a look of amused irony.
Angel, smiling, said:「I think you’re off track.」
Daus:「Eh?」
Angel:「The Sunlight Sanctuary scroll is mine. I lent you one use, so the debt you owe is the price of that single use. Yet you used my scroll, invited a whole crowd to share it, and profited as well. By the Wizarding World’s tacit rules of Equivalent Exchange, whatever you gained must be added into what you pay.」
He paused, then delivered the line that struck Daus like a hammer:「Therefore, what you owe now is actually more than before.」
Daus stood frozen, thunder-struck.
Angel went on:「Of course, you did the negotiating, so by labor-distribution you deserve a cut; I won’t shortchange you.」
Still stunned, Daus churned through Angel’s words. Though they seemed convoluted, the logic was irrefutable: who repays a debt using the creditor’s own asset to make money, then hands over that money as settlement? It might work in secret, but not face to face.
Tracing his memory, Daus recalled the Black Count’s pitying gaze, the Sovereign of Wisdom’s meaningful hints, Angel’s smiling trap, each pushing him along. But the recollection did not stop there, it rewound further.
Suddenly the last image froze on himself, yes, on Daus. Yet this “him” felt unfamiliar: in the scene he faced the descending Sunlight Sanctuary, basked in the cleansing light with an expression of expectation, enjoyment, even reverence. Daus vividly remembered his body enjoying, but mind and heart in torment, he had nearly wet himself in fear of the mysterious scroll, how could he have shown joy?
Then that other Daus turned, seemingly looking at him, though in truth at the Sunlight Sanctuary scroll hanging in mid-air, his face brimming with yearning and delight.
The contradiction jarred him: was his memory faulty, or had he indeed worn that face?
As confusion mounted, the scene shattered, only to re-form, this time matching his memory: worry, pain, torment, despair unfolded on that Daus’ face.
Seeing two utterly different recollections, Daus began to understand: both were himself. One outward, one inner, the Inner Self being his subconscious, the embodiment of his inspiration talent.
So the answer he sought was himself all along.
Realizing this, he grasped why none of the hints had broken through: his own subconscious had clouded his thoughts. Was that the side-effect of advancing his talent, or did his subconscious truly believe that indebtedness best served his interests?
Chapter 2730 The Gray Merchant’s Request <TOC> Chapter 2732 Harbor Malice