Chapter 124: [124] Spend Everything

Red Streak Mercenaries were an unsavoury group of ruthless individuals who had banded together to form a company.

Although they did take work, their reputation was well known. Criminals packaged up in neat uniforms…

Everyone in the room was avoiding eye contact, subconsciously doing everything to avoid even the mildest interaction with them.

’But what are they doing here?’

The Red Streak Mercenaries were more active in the east, around the free cities, small towns that surrounded the Donia Kingdom.

Eliron then noticed something he had not seen earlier. The spot on their uniform where their emblem was meant to have been had been ripped off.

’Deserters…’

These mercenaries had run from battle. What was happening in Donia that would make even warriors as fierce as the Red Streak Mercenaries flee?

Eliron felt a negative premonition.

’Has it already begun?’ he mused, just before he sighed and slowly shook his head.

’There is no need to think about it, at least for now…’

Nothing was going to stop him from visiting Donia anyways, and he doubted these fine gentlemen would like to share their experiences with him.

He returned his attention back to his table, blurring out their loud voices.

Yennefer’s eyes were darting from one plate to the other, taking note of the food people were eating.

“The food here looks so good, I can’t wait to try it!” she beamed.

Eliron rubbed his palms together. “It’s the ale I’m itching to taste. We don’t even have a single bottle of alcohol in Artaris.”

It had been ages since he last enjoyed the savoury taste of an icy cold beer.

The wood elves were too busy saving even the smallest seed of grain to waste some fermenting it to make wine.

“Ash, how much do we have?” Eliron asked his right-hand man.

Ash brought out a small coin pouch and poured the coins on the table, counting them meticulously.

“Uhum— fifty bronze and two silver pieces…”

A grin appeared on Eliron’s face as he stared at the pile.

One silver equaled a hundred bronze coins, meaning it was one hundred and fifty bronze coins in total.

It was not much, but it was definitely enough to afford a lavish meal. Eliron had no plans on saving a single coin. He had a plan to make money after all.

As though attracted by the coins, the serving girl appeared next to their table, her eyes never leaving the bronze.

“Wwelcome to the Merry Dragon, rawr! What can I get you today?”

Eliron grinned, ignoring the cringe growl. He placed the menu on the table, his eyes slowly scanning the menu.

Then he pointed at the left section.

“Everything on this side!”

“And bring us your most expensive booze!” Yennefer cut in, mirroring his smile.

Eliron glanced at Artie. “Want anything extra?”

She pulled her hair behind her ear, letting out a low hum as she contemplated.

“Um… do you have… cake?”

It was a snack she had had about forty years ago when she was still a child, a gift from the elven lord then. Even after four decades, Artie had not forgotten the taste.

“Of course, miss!” the serving lady said proudly.

“I’ll have that then…”

There was a small glint in her eyes as she made her request, one that Eliron did not fail to notice.

He turned his attention to Ash. “What about you?”

Ash frowned. “Nothing, my lord, we must be frugal with our money—”

Eliron raised the menu to his face.

“Please don’t tempt me, my lord…”

“Pick one, that is an order.”

His eyes drifted down to an item on the menu, then he sighed.

“Wellll, I always wanted to try their steak, although it might be too expensi—”

“Add the steak!” They had spent many days in the wilderness. A small party was definitely in order.

“Huhu~ I like the way you think, boss man!” the serving lady gave him a thumbs up as she dashed into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, their table was stacked to the brim with food, a phantasmaglorical scent reaching their nostrils. (Yes, it is a real word)

There was an assortment of food unique to the region arranged on their table, each one looking more tantalising than the rest.

Eliron smiled. “Let’s eat.”

After the elves had eaten for some time, clearing out nearly half of the table, Eliron let out a breath, rubbing his swollen stomach.

He and Yennefer alone were responsible for eating nearly three-quarters of everything, but although his stomach was now like a pot, Yennefer looked like she had barely eaten a thing.

Eliron gave her a strange stare before lifting his cup.

“Ash, pour me some of that expensive alcohol, I need to taste what luxury feels like!”

Ash raised the bottle and placed it on the rim of the cup. “Isn’t this a little too exuberant? We’ll go broke at this rate—”

“Tah—! Go broke? How?”

Eliron smirked as he leaned forward, grabbing his belly with one hand.

“Alright, let me let you in on a secret. I’ll tell you my master plan on how we’ll be rich.”

He placed the cup on the table, his cheeks turning rosy from the alcohol.

“Have you heard of the Demonic Blinking Merchant?”

<••••>

Although one of Eliron’s goals for visiting Kingsbridge was to see the baron and discuss an alliance, it was not his only goal.

In fact, it was not even his main goal…

They were planning to visit the Donia Kingdom, but to visit Donia, you would need to cross the sea, and to cross the sea you needed to be able to afford the fare….

It was a one-week cruise, needless to say it wasn’t cheap.

So the real reason they came here was to gather enough money for the fare.

But of course, Eliron’s plan was not to start meagre jobs just so that they could make a living, nor beg the baron for funds.

He had a solid plan, the Demonic Blinking Merchant.

“I don’t think I have ever heard that name, my lord…” Ash replied.

Of course he hadn’t. Only top-tier merchants or criminals would be familiar with the Demonic Blinking Merchant, and Ash was neither of these.

The only reason Eliron even knew about them was because of the novel…

The Blinking Merchant was a shady character no one truly knew.

They were the kings when it came to illegal trade. Any items you needed that would have otherwise been impossible to get could be obtained from them.

You need a dragon egg? They would hook you up.

You need a prehistoric horn from ancient times? Easy peasy!

You want indecent pictures of the royal princes? Cameras had not been invented yet, but with the hype around the merchant, Eliron would not be surprised if they delivered.

As long as you could afford it, the demonic merchant would be at your service.

Well, at least that was how the rumours went…

But Eliron was not seeking them out majorly to buy. He was more interested in selling, and the merchant was a big buyer.

As Eliron explained this to the group, they nodded in understanding, realising what his aim was.

“Demonic merchant sounds ominous, are you sure we can trust that guy?” Yen asked through mouthfuls.

Eliron grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. “Swallow before talking. We don’t need to trust them, all we need to do is make sure they deliver on their end of the bargain.”

Artie looked away from her cake and stared at Eliron, an act that seemed to take great discipline.

“Everything makes sense…” she said, using her fork to cut a piece off her cake. “But what are we going to sell?”

Eliron smirked.

“Do you remember what happened two months ago?”

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