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.

wasn't interested in being a 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 with, the

Ice Wood is worth more than

The officer nodded. "Yes."

"How much?" Shang asked.

what I've seen, seven gold should be too

he scratched his chin in

want to offer

with interest

have 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 terrifying speeds. That's also the reason why we monopolized Coldew Village's Ice Wood,

it from the surrounding towns. However, the prices in

Mana Austerum can never have enough Ice

piece of paper, which had some

written when she had taken note of

a minute, she finished writing and took out a candle, which she quickly

she put the molten wax from the candle

she pushed the

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

read through

but it also said that he was not one of the normal

we can't be sure about the origins of other goods. However, since your background has been investigated, our reason for

sell it to

a bit and

how did you investigate my background this quickly?"

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

but that was while pulling the heavy sled wagon. A warrior

his next question. "The Mages won't

arguing. On top of that, gold has nearly no importance to them. They only want

you. This means a lot to

helped you. Also, I see no

Shang asked, but he quickly realized what she meant. "Are you

"I'm currently in the later years. At the moment, I'm out gaining practical experience for my

blinked a couple of times. "Aren't you already

said. "I don't want to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join

of Duke Whirlwind shot through Shang's

sounds nice,"

a couple of minutes, now that official business

after she noticed that Shang

was disinterested in the conversation and went back to