Chapter 248: Us Players Never Sell Counterfeits (Straight-Faced)
Gerald McCobley was a knight in service of Lancaster’s City Watch.
Unlike your typical City Watch captain, he served Mayor Corinth and answered to him directly, and was not required to administer various odd tasks for safety in the city.
In terms of role, the knight was more of a bodyguard serving the city’s mayor and key n.o.bles.
Born into the McCobley family who had been in service of the mayors for generations, Gerald had been educated to serve them since he was a child.
And he did so.
In any given moment, his eyes would be watching—judging every person approaching the mayor, from outside the doors of the mayor’s study or a corner of church, never once letting his guard down against any stranger at any given time.
And until now, he had never shown mercy to any a.s.sa.s.sin making an attempt on Corinth’s life.
Mayor Corinth was naturally pleased with Corinth’s ability. Days ago, he even entrusted the protection of his beloved granddaughter Gwendolyn to him—who was also mostly targeted by all of Corinth’s political enemies in Lancaster.
That was when Gerald noticed the many unusual characters surrounding Gwendolyn.
***
Those people called themselves Players, but they were clearly ordinary peasants. Even so, they had somehow earned Corinth’s approval to come and go from the mayoral residence, while frequently visiting and asking after young Gwendolyn despite having no serious matters, or her mother.
Please. Gwendolyn was Lancaster’s young mistress in the truest sense of the t.i.tle. Every other n.o.ble child added together wouldn’t as important as she was!
If Gwendolyn would want some local fruit that only grows in lands hundreds of miles away, those beneath her would fork out their own money just to earn the future mayor’s favor.
Moreover, Mayor Corinth spoiled her rotten, and would do all he can to make her wishes come true.
With such influence, why would Gwendolyn have things that she needed the peasants for?!
And yet, surprisingly, there was…
Having grown up within the confines of the city, the young mistress was very curious about the world outside. That was why she always wanted to hear the peasants calling themselves Players to talk about the outside, even occasionally entrusting them to teach her games and give her toys that only the common people would play.
After all, the people around her were like Gerald—born into n.o.bility and having never left the city. Aside from his richer training in things in combat, he was basically no better than her.
That would have been acceptable if that was all the self-proclaimed ‘Players’ were doing. But there was this person called Marni who persistently tried to sell Young Mistress Gwendolyn and her mother some weird things.
It was fine if those things were priced according to its value, but every item would sound like a big deal whenever Marni promoted them, and there was no way a traveling merchant could get their hands on such a thing!
Gerald knew that he shouldn’t stay silent when Marni showed up again. Even if he might make his masters look bad, he would expose the conman’s lies right here and now, so that everyone could see his true colors!
And at the moment, he watched as the man tried to sell the young mistress’s mother a huge, scarlet chunk of coral.
“Look! A Gray Fjord Coral found from the depths of the Gray Fjord itself. Its measure in gold is a.s.sured, a top-of-the-line item! Buy it now at the price of 6 Abbys! (72, 000 Rions or approximately 150,000 yuan)
Gerald almost sneered at that.
The Grey Fjord Port had been occupied by a bunch of bandits years ago. Even though the imperial army had sent several bands there to wipe them out, they all returned in failure.
Moreover, the Grey Fjord was a famously dangerous place even in the absence of bandits. Sea monsters and magical beast prowled the depths or on land, and if someone was really that formidable that they could get a scarlet coral of such fine quality, why sell it in a border town like this?
After all, even if Lancaster was known for its trade, that was relative to the other few cities that survived Tierra’s fall.
Wouldn’t he sell it for a better price for his trinket at Valla’s capital or the Holy White City which were actual, bustling cities?
“And here. This art piece is made by the wood elves using lunawood that only grows in the depths of the Trinia Forests. Not only is it beautiful, it draws in the Silver Moon’s radiance at night, bathing you in nourishing lunar radiance, healing sickness and strengthening your body! Bargain price, 20 Abbys!”
Gerald was snorting when Marni took out his second item.
It had been ages since the wood elves appeared to humankind, and any who had seen them would be dead, peppered with their arrows. All those adventurers’ boastings about meeting them in out-of-town taverns were nothing but tall tales.
And if the wood elves were never seen, there was no chance of getting one’s hands on their art piece. Elven art was basically considered masterpieces in the various nations of the Western Continent, objects pa.s.sed down in most n.o.ble families as precious heirlooms. Why would anyone even sell it?
Gerald had never even heard of lunawood either. Most likely, it was Marni blurting out nonsense, and wasn’t ‘healing sickness and strengthening body’ pretty much a catchphrase of every fake alchemist selling fake potions?
“And last but not least—you definitely had never seen anything like this, milady—a Violet Pearl of the Dark Tidal Coast, plucked out of a giant clam by a nonhuman from the Western Continent! The perfect shape and size make it rare in any corner of the world, a whole new item never-before-seen! Selling at 45 Abbys, what are you waiting for?!”
Gerald finally couldn’t stop himself at the sight of the pearl larger than an adult’s fist in Marni’s hand.
“Silence, you shameless oaf!”
He cried in rage as he exposed Marni’s lies. “Giant clams are tiny, and the largest pearl ever is just a few grams at best. That thing is at least two pounds! And what nonhumans of the Western Continent? Did you think you live in a knight novel? There’s no reason to buy your ridiculous lies!”
“…But it was really plucked out of a giant clam…” Marni looked utterly innocent.
Gerald glared fiercely at him. “Still not relenting? You’re not dragging the mayor’s good name through the mud! You can think about your greed and delusions in the stockade!”
“Hold on… Are you really going to just decide on my crime?” Marni returned his glare with a curious look. “Or are you an evaluator who could tell on a glance that my wares are fake?”
“Why evaluate when things are so clear? Or should I evaluate anyone selling a bun as mithril!?”
But when Gerald was about to have the other guards take the greedy merchant away, Gwendolyn’s mother—who had said nothing from the start suddenly spoke.
“Wait, Gerald.” Her words were quiet. “I’m not convinced that Mister Marni here would lie to me for no reason. Please ask for Maester Rad from the Starwatch Tower, and with his evaluation skills we shall see who is right.”
“As you wish, milady,” Gerald replied, calling another guardsman and sending him to bring in the astrologist even though he thought it unnecessary.
“Hold on,” Marni suddenly said after the guard left. “It’s only within reason that I’m dumped in the stockade if my wares are fake. But what if they are real?”
Gerald didn’t reply, and merely flashed a false smile at Marni, clearly convinced such a thing wouldn’t happen.
“I would purchase all of them, naturally,” the n.o.blewoman answered clearly.
“No, milady, you’re mistaken.” Marni shook his head. “I trust that you could understand that my wares are far more valuable and could sell at twice my offered price in major cities! I’m selling it cheap to you for nothing other than reput—uh, I mean, to strengthen my merchant guild’s reputation, that sort of thing. The baseless suspicion of your knight, however, had already affected my reputation!”
“So, my suggestion is this: if my wares are proved to be genuine, I’ll have sir knight here bet on his religion to duel my own underling.”