"Finally, a proper resupply."
Lately I had only been using cards without resupplying. Even if the magic power stored in the Clover replenishes slowly, the consumption of Diamonds was extreme.
A considerable number were completely lost, and a few were so damaged that the back of the card showed through. They could no longer be used for a game. Meanwhile, because the skewer I made in the Bottomless Pit remained, having only two Diamond 1s in my deck irritated me greatly.
If you're a magician, you have to match pairs. This was way too much of a mixed deck.
But it was a busy journey. Making them myself took far too much time. Since I also received pocket money from the Regressor, I decided to leave it to an outstanding alchemist.
I walked through the night market of the camp in search of an alchemist.
Jackals pick up and sell the byproducts that the Golden Mirrors left unfinished. That meant there were people who bought them. In the Yeok Nation, merchant guilds existed that could turn all sorts of materials into goods.
Unless one owned a Juggernaut, smaller-scale merchant guilds naturally set up camp where many people gathered. I needed to carefully choose someone worth hiring here.
Unlike the Military Nation where everything was set in a framework, the market of the Yeok Nation was an arena where you had to fight a war even when buying a scrap of iron.
"Official rum produced by the Drum Merchant Guild! 990 alkes for 50 liters. Not a single penny discounted!"
"Fuck! The official price is 500, so what are you trying to do by charging double?!"
"If you don't like it, go distill and sell it yourself. Next!"
Even when buying simple goods, one had to go through arduous haggling.
"Looking for someone to fix my vehicle!"
"What type?"
"Gear two-wheeler!"
"Gears? A Maximilian model. Shit, riding around in a relic..."
"Who cares what I ride. If you won't fix it, get lost!"
"When did I say I couldn't fix it? Lead the way. Have the pay ready generously."
Parts and people were all so different that they had to be adjusted to fit each other.
"Are you rich?"
"Excuse me, milord. If... if it's not too rude, could you buy me a glass of rum..."
Even those trying to scavenge a single bite amidst the chaos. All sorts of human specters gathered, creating a crucible of confusion.
Naturally, those human specters included scammers. Right before my eyes, an old man in rags managed to grab a merchant by the collar across the desk.
"Cough, cough. You bastard, are you joking?! How is this only 14 alkes?!"
"Customer. Please calm down and look at the scale. How can I give a higher price for scrap iron of this weight?"
"It's a broken arrowhead found in the crevices of the castle wall! It can't be scrap iron! And! My senses clearly said it was over 30kg, so why does it only show 28kg here?!"
"Would the scale lie? It seems there's a problem with your senses... Well, if you only have three fingers, this weight might feel burdensome."
Hahaha. The laughter of the onlookers was heard. The old man, subjected to their mockery, turned red and blue. However, no matter how angry he got, the scale's reading wouldn't change.
To change the reading, you had to step on the pedal next to it.
"Oops. My foot slipped!"
It looked like the scale was placed on a wooden box, but in fact, the box was part of the set. Feigning a slip, I naturally stepped on the pedal on the side of the box as I passed. Then, the scale's needle fluctuated and turned by three notches.
The crowd fell silent for a very brief moment. I broke through the silence I had created and said leisurely,
"Oh, excuse me~. Sell a lot~."
"Y-you..."
A moment later, all sorts of curses and shouts were heard from behind. The fist clenched with three fingers struck the merchant's face hard, and eventually knocked out three of the merchant's teeth. The old man hesitated, perhaps not intending to go that far, but the merchant's teeth were gold teeth made of precious metal. The merchant hastily tried to pick up the gold teeth, but quick-witted jackals had already hidden them in their sleeves.
All sorts of commotion broke out, but it was a story that had nothing to do with me.
"It's a bit noisy. Don't they control the crowd?"
Grumbling, I left the commotion behind and looked around the relatively quiet street.
What I wanted to make was a multi-purpose alchemy equipment focusing on portability rather than destructive power or durability. It was a product that required an unnecessarily large amount of work compared to the materials used.
I needed an alchemist that outstanding, but I wondered if there was anyone who could make it in just one night...
While walking and pondering, a small tent with a half-hearted sign caught my eye.
[Anything.]
Hmm. That oozed confidence. But would it be okay? I had never seen anyone who answered "anything" actually look pleased when someone really said anything.
Let's see their skill. I pushed aside the tent flap and went inside.
"Come in. A customer has graced us..."
"...Spy."
A face I'd seen somewhere looked up at me. Ah, that woman I saw during the day.
I wondered why the Lord of the Yeok Nation's guild was doing such menial work, but then again, I, the King of Humans, was also rolling around on the streets. Let's not ask about that. Everyone had their circumstances.
Let's confirm one thing first.
"Is this the place that makes anything? Not the place that turns anything into powder, right? I just witnessed a plow turning to ashes."
"...Get out."
"What I want to request is this alchemy equipment."
I spread my cards out on the desk. It was clearly... a bundle of playing cards, but parts of them had vanished and worn away as if burned.
The woman picked up one card among them that had worn away as if its threads had frayed. Diamond 8, all that is slender and long. She examined my favorite ambitious work from various angles and muttered.
"...This."
"How is it? It's worn a lot, but I used it that much..."
"...Trash. Who made it?"
Hey, badmouthing someone else's work?
Wait. Calm down. That human didn't know I made it right now. No matter how lacking her communication skills were, she wouldn't belittle a work in front of its creator.
Rather, it was an opportunity. I should emphasize that I made it myself and embarrass that human.
"Ahem. Actually, that's my work. When I was young and didn't know any better, I gathered all sorts of knowledge and funds to make it..."
"...Figures."
"Figures? Figures?! You can't even farm properly, yet you criticize something someone made with blood and sweat! Do you not know what consideration is?! I held back earlier, but let me tell you honestly. You're hopeless at making a living by farming! Even the laziest farmer would be a god of agriculture compared to you!"
As I snapped and shouted, the woman shrank back a little and made an excuse.
"...Useless. Waste."
Was this an excuse or a provocation? Let's see what she's thinking.
'...Expensive and complex. A product that takes a lot of work. But it doesn't live up to its value. The result made with precious alchemy fire and high-difficulty skills is merely spreading out a thin wire. It's extremely inefficient. It would be better to make other weapons instead...'
Reading her thoughts, I actually understood. I'd let it slide because I could read minds. If I weren't a telepath, I might have grabbed her by the collar right away, so she needed to be careful in the future.
"...Business? Repair?"
"Repair, you could say. I want to restore all 13 cards in this format. Please do them all. I'll give you as much money as you want."
Skewer, hook, crossbow, short spear, sickle, revolver, wire, hand axe, shield and sword.
Most of these were consumed or destroyed in battle when escaping the Military Nation's capital, Amitengrad. The revolver that remained I gave to Lia, and the wire, despite my best efforts to retrieve it each time, more than half of it was lost.
Until now, I was in a hurry and didn't have the time to refill them, but with this opportunity, I had to perfectly restore my full power. Though I wondered how much I'd even use them.
The woman stared intently at the cards and shook her head.
"...Can't."
"You badmouthed it as trash and now you say you can't? Is this how business is done these days?"
"...No. It's easy to make. But."
"But?"
"...It's a bother."
Was this someone who wanted to do business? She was refusing because it was bothersome?
Of course, that wasn't her true intention as she said... Let's see, telepathy.
'...It's not a matter of difficulty. It takes too much work. Making a transforming weapon is easy, but to make it change into a card form... you have to suffer as much as knitting it stitch by stitch. On top of that, shaping it into a specific form is more in the realm of art than skill.'
She definitely seemed to have the ability. To figure that out in such a short time.
I suffered a bit making them. Even Diamond 1, the simplest form, the multi-purpose skewer, took all night. I couldn't even say how long the other set took.
...Tch, that was exactly why I wanted to make someone else do it.
"If you stay up all night, you should be able to finish three cards, right?"
"...Don't want to."
"No, aren't you sitting here to work and earn money? Why are you striking against a customer? Don't you want to make money?"
'...Yap, yap, noisy. I'm not here because of money...'
The woman let out a small sigh and raised her hand.
"...Instead."
The woman pressed the desk with her palm. The tattoo on her arm flashed, and magical power was transmitted to the iron-made desk, heating it up white-hot. The moment the desk was enveloped in white light, the woman lifted her palm.
Then, a bizarre thing happened. The desk, which was clearly made of steel, came up attached to her palm like heavily stuck flour. Sparkling light fell like powder.
It didn't melt. The steel, having entered a malleable state due to alchemy, became soft while remaining cold. It looked just like a skein of light. The woman wrapped the steel skein around her palm several times, drawing it out even thinner. When the bundle became thin enough, she grabbed it at once and poured it over my card.
Light flashed, and a moment later.
"...Here."
What was in front of my eyes was a fully restored Diamond 8.
I said with a mixture of admiration.
"Wait a minute. You fixed this in 1 second? And you were whining all this time?"
"...The same structure repeats. I copied it."
Even if the structure was the same, come on. She transmuted the whole structure and copy-pasted it? She even restored the elasticity to the wire!
It wasn't for nothing that solo alchemists went around bearing the name of a merchant guild. If one person did everything from raw material processing to product manufacturing, that was a one-man factory and guild; what else was needed?
Alchemy, the power to understand and change structures in a short time.
Because everyone learned that, paradoxically, the people of the Yeok Nation did not really need other people. If they needed something, they made it themselves, and only traded for things they could never obtain.
That must be why the Yeok Nation hadn't formed a large society. Because they didn't really need others...
"Alright. With this momentum, please fix the other cards too!"
"...Can't."
'...For this one, I just need to refill the missing thread, but the other cards have fixed forms when transformed. To some extent, it's in the realm of art, so it's hard to touch.'
"Tch. Alright. Then how much should I pay you?"
This was where it got important. I did receive pocket money from the Regressor, but I never heard them ask for the change back. That meant the money I saved by haggling went straight into my pocket.
To spend like a lord, I must earn like a spider. I read the other person's mind and waited for them to state a price.