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.

As far as he knew, this would be the only time he would ever do

worth more than seven gold

The officer nodded. "Yes."

"How much?" Shang asked.

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

as he scratched

to what I want to offer you," the

with interest at

inspected your background 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

from the surrounding towns. However, the prices in these towns are much

can

this point, the officer took out a new piece of paper, which had some fancy designs on

way she had written when she had taken note

she finished writing and took out a candle,

candle at

she pushed the paper

Ice Wood," the officer said. "Go to the Mana Austerum

through the

had gotten the Ice Wood, but it also said that he was not one of the normal traders coming from

of other goods. However, since your

it still isn't really official that you can sell it to the Mages directly. So, there's

paper for a bit

investigate my background this quickly?"

the officer explained. "We spent some Mana to contact the Central Wild, who then sent over an investigator to Coldew Village. They sent us

hours, but that was while pulling the heavy sled wagon. A warrior could probably run that distance in

nodded and asked his next question. "The Mages

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

means a lot to me," he

a smile. "No problem. You helped 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

the moment, I'm out gaining practical experience for my future as an

of times. "Aren't you already

to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join the Duke's official army as an

of Duke Whirlwind shot

sounds

two of them talked for a couple of minutes,

quickly after she noticed that

he was disinterested in the conversation and went