Sword God in a World of Magic

"You want to sell your Ice Wood to earn enough money to enter the Warrior's Academy, correct?" the officer asked.

Shang nodded. "That's my intention."

"You don't want to wait for the yearly exams, right?"

"That's right."

"You do know that you need five gold for the exam?"

"I know. From what I've heard, the Ice Wood I have should be enough."

The officer nodded. "It should be enough, but there is one issue."

"Which is?" Shang asked evenly.

"How good are you at bartering and negotiation?" she asked.

This took Shang by surprise.

He hadn't even thought about that.

"I've never bartered in my life," Shang said.

Why would he need to barter? All the prices in the normal stores on Earth were standardized. Bartering only existed on TV and in pawnshops.

The officer nodded. "That's the issue," she said. "You're planning on selling your Ice Wood in Warrior's Paradise. However, no normal person will buy that much Ice Wood. Additionally, very few normal citizens are even interested in raw resources."

"This means that you have to sell it to a merchant wholesale, and merchants are very shrewd. If I already suspected that you're not good at bartering, the merchants will realize that with one glance."

"Even more, the merchants are not stupid. They will realize that you definitely are not a merchant but an aspiring warrior that wants to earn money. The merchants will quickly realize that the only reason why someone like you would travel so far with such a heavy load was to earn enough money to enter the Warrior's Academy."

"They know that you only need five gold. So, they will act like your load is worth six gold and will magnanimously tell you that they are willing to give you seven."

Shang listened to the officer's words, and he realized something.

He would have accepted that trade.

After all, he would have gotten even more gold than he needed. Additionally, he couldn't be bothered to research everything and negotiate with several merchants.

he knew, this would be the only time he would ever do something like this.

worth more than seven gold

The officer nodded. "Yes."

"How much?" Shang asked.

sure, but from what I've seen, seven gold should be too little for so much

he scratched

I want

with interest

and confirmed that your Ice Wood comes from an ethical source. You might not realize it, but the Mana Austerum burns through Ice Wood at terrifying speeds. That's also the reason

need even more Ice Wood, and they're buying it from the surrounding towns. However, the prices in these towns are much higher than the shipments we get from Coldew

short, the Mana Austerum can never have enough Ice

took out a new piece of paper, which had some

the officer wrote down some things with deliberate strokes. The way she had written when

minute, she finished writing and took out a

put the molten wax from the candle at the bottom right of the paper

pushed the paper

the origin of your Ice Wood," the officer said. "Go to the Mana Austerum and show this to

through the

gotten the Ice Wood, but it also said that

since we can't be sure about the origins of other goods.

really official that you can sell it

bit and then looked

you investigate my background this

spent some Mana to contact the Central Wild, who then sent over an investigator to Coldew Village. They sent us the information, and

was while pulling the heavy sled wagon. A

next question. "The Mages won't

be bothered to waste their time arguing. On top of that, gold has nearly no importance to them. They only want

"Thank you. This means a lot to me,"

and I helped you. Also, I see no problem with helping one of my

but he quickly realized what she meant. "Are you part of

the moment, I'm out gaining

a couple of times. "Aren't

don't want to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join the Duke's

of Duke Whirlwind shot through

that sounds

couple of

the conversation ended pretty quickly after she noticed that Shang

disinterested in the conversation and went back to