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.

merchant. As far as he knew, this would be the only time he would ever do something like this. The quicker he got this thing over

my Ice Wood is worth more than seven gold in terms of

The officer nodded. "Yes."

"How much?" Shang asked.

should be too little for

as he scratched

come to what I want to offer

with interest

an ethical source. You might not realize it, but the Mana Austerum burns

Austerum 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

Austerum can never

new piece of paper, which had some fancy designs on the edges

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

finished writing and took out a candle,

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

pushed the

the origin of your Ice Wood," the officer said. "Go to the Mana Austerum and show this to the guards. If everything goes well, they should invite

through the

also said that he was not one of the normal traders coming from Coldew

accept the official shipments from Coldew Village here directly since we can't be sure about the origins of other goods. However, since your background has been investigated, our reason for

isn't really official that you can sell it

for a bit

investigate my background

a Communication Crystal to be officially recognized as a town," the officer explained. "We spent some Mana to contact the Central Wild, who then sent over an investigator to Coldew Village.

journey to the Central Wild. It had taken him a couple of hours, but that was while pulling the heavy

his next question. "The Mages won't try to scam me?"

can't be bothered to waste their time arguing. On top of that, gold has nearly no importance to them. They only want to finish these unimportant and bothersome things as quickly and directly as

means a lot

a smile. "No problem. You helped me, and I helped you. Also, I see no

Shang asked, but he quickly realized what she

later years. At the moment, I'm out gaining practical experience for my future as an

of times. "Aren't

here," she said. "I don't want to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join the Duke's official army as

image of Duke Whirlwind

that sounds

a couple of minutes, now that

pretty quickly after she noticed that

disinterested in the