Daniel did not sleep.
Okay, that was a lie. He slept like a dead cat which was more than he ever slept back home. But the moment his eyes opened, the red screen was already floating above his face like a ghost that paid rent.
[Time remaining: 99 days, 11 hours.]
"AH-!!!" Daniel rolled off the bed and hit the floor with his whole face. "Ughhh... morning... to you too... oww, my back."
The screen did not say good morning back.
"Damn, never felt this good from sleeping... and this hurt." He sat up. "Let's see, how do I control this screen again?"
He waited.
"System? Hello? Customer service? OPEN SA-SHI-MI?"
[System already open. JUST STATE YOUR COMMAND.]
"Oh, so it can hear my voice... what are you, Alexa?" He rubbed his face. "How to be rich in 30 days? Secrets billionaires never tell? Any cheat or secret map?"
[Information unavailable.]
"Of course it is."
[Tip: Gather information by talking to others.]
Daniel squinted at it. "Did you just tell me to go ask around like a lost tourist?"
The screen faded, which he decided to take as a yes.
---
Downstairs, Marta's Inn smelled like fresh bread and something fried in a lot of butter. Some farmers were already at the long table, arguing about a cow. Marta was behind the counter, slapping dough and baking bread.
"Look who's alive," she said. "Daniel with an 'e'. Thought you were gonna sleep till tomorrow."
"Yeah, that was my plan, but I just fell off the bed, so I'm here now and hungry." He sat on the stool in front of her. "So Marta, the sweet beautiful Marta, light of Meiden Town-"
"You want breakfast."
"I want breakfast."
She put a plate in front of him. Eggs, bread, a fat sausage. Daniel nearly cried.
"And my name just Daniel... just... Daniel," he said with his mouth full. "Oh, and I want to know about the roads."
Marta stopped slapping the dough. "Okay i hear you Just Daniel... and why you wanna know about the road? You heading somewhere?"
"No no no. I'm... let's say I'm doing a little research. For business." He waved his fork. "Like, you know... merchant stuff?"
She looked at his suit, which was now very wrinkled because he had slept in it.
"Just Daniel," she said flatly.
"No..haha..Not Just Daniel. Only Daniel no just."
Marta laughed and went back to her dough. "Fine, fine, Only Daniel No Just. If you want to know about roads, don't ask an innkeeper. Ask the guild, Adventurers are the ones walking them every day, escorting wagons and killing whatever crawls out of the ditch. And Mira keeps records of every job." She pointed with a floury finger. "Big building with the sword on the sign. You can't miss it."
Daniel said to himself quietly, "suddenly im Only Daniel No Just. Im just gonna leave."
---
The Adventurers' Guild was the second biggest building in Meiden, made of grey stone with a wooden sign shaped like a crossed sword and shovel. Daniel did not know why there was a shovel. He decided not to ask.
Inside, it was half office, half tavern. There was a big notice board full of pinned papers, a few tables where people in leather armor were eating, and a long counter at the back with a small brass bell.
Behind the counter sat a young woman with round glasses and short dark hair tucked behind her ears. She had one open ledger in front of her, a quill in her hand, and another quill behind her ear, and she was writing so fast the quill made little scratching noises like a mouse.
Daniel walked up and smiled his best smile. Salesman smile. Eight years of practice.
"Good morning! My name is Daniel, and I-"
"Name, rank, and job number," she said, glancing up from her ledger without letting him finish.
"Uhhh... Daniel. No rank. No job number."
The quill stopped.
She looked up slowly, adjusted her glasses, and looked at his suit from top to bottom.
"So you're not an adventurer."
"No, I'm a merchant... wannabe."
"Merchants register at the trade counter."
"Oh, okay, so... where's the trade counter?"
"Right here" She pointed at the exact same counter she was sitting at.
Then she pulled a different book out from under the pile, opened it, and dipped her quill.
"This is the trade counter now," she said. "I'm Mira. I handle the trade counter and the adventurers. Andddd... the quest records. And the payroll. And the repair budget. Because nobody else here can count past their fingers."
Daniel squeezed his eyes immediately. She had the energy of the secretary in every company who actually handled all the staff and was scary because of it.
"So, Mister Merchant Daniel," Mira said. "What do you sell?"
"Oh, me? Right now? Uh, nothing. But... yesterday I sold a jar of Red Sunleaf spice for two silver and twenty coppers... Impressive, right? I know..."
Mira's quill froze in the air. "Just that? Seriously?"
"Err... yeah, just that. Why?"
"It's not even yours... Marta told the baker about it, the baker told his wife, his wife told everybody." She leaned forward, eyes sharp behind the glasses. Mira stared at him. Then she wrote something down in a tiny notebook of her own.
"Well, at least I proved I can sell, right? I have the potential to be a merchant."
"Whatever," said Mira, and kept writing.
---
The guild door slammed open and sunlight poured in.
"GOOOOOD MORNING, MIRAAA!"
A girl came in like a happy dog that had just been let off its leash. She was about twenty, with ash-colored hair tied up in a long ponytail that swung behind her, a short sword on her hip, and leather armor that looked like it had been patched many times. She was humming a song and carrying a basket full of green leaves.
"Good morning, Elin," said Mira, without looking up. "You're early... again."
"I'm always early!" She plonked the basket on the counter. "First one in, first pick of the jobs! Oh-" She saw Daniel and her eyes went big. "Who's this? Why is he dressed like a funny man?"
"A FUNNY MAN?"
"A funny man!" Elin said quickly. "With a... what's this?" She poked his tie.
"It's a tie."
"What does it tie?"
Daniel opened his mouth. Then he closed it. In eight years he had never been able to answer that.
"It's... like a talisman or whatever you call it," he tried.
"Ohhh," said Elin, nodding like that made complete sense. "I'm Elin the greatest E-rank Swordswoman!" She patted her sword proudly. "Well, mostly I do gathering quests. And escorting. And once I fought a boar. His name was Kevin."
"A boar named like a man?"
"Yeah, I name all of them. It's polite if you're going to fight them."
[New contact detected: Elin. Adventurer. Trust: Neutral.]
The little line popped up at the edge of his eye and disappeared. Daniel glanced at the Trade Ledger in his pocket. He could almost feel it writing.
"I'm Daniel," he said. "I'm about to be the merchant."
Elin giggled. "You? Merchant?"
---
"Wella wella wella. What do we have heaaa?"
The voice came from behind them, smooth and a little too pleased with itself.
A tall man in polished armor walked up to the counter, swinging his arms like he owned the place. He was maybe late twenties, with slicked-back blond hair, a square jaw, a C-rank badge pinned very visibly on his chest, and the kind of smile that sold used cars back home.
He completely ignored Daniel and leaned on the counter next to Elin.
"Hey Elin, ma littah san flawah in da mownin," he said. "Early again just to see meh?"
"Pffttt!!!" said Elin cheerfully. "Of course not, Garrick. I'm here for some quest."
"Ahhhh, playin hard to get aren't chah. We respect that." Garrick flipped his hair. It did not need flipping. "Ya know, me taking the Bridge Port escort job today. Big moneh...Dangerous road-ah...Bandits-ah, wolves-ah, broken bridge-ah." He flexed. "Ya could come along...and dont worry, This rank C hero protect ya. Then afterward, maybe a dinnah..us undah da stah..."
"What the F is he saying?" Daniel asked slowly.
"He's always like that when he talks to Elin," said Mira.
"Mira says you still owe the guild for the window you broke," said Elin with a smirk.
"Seven silver," added Mira, not looking up. "Plus interest."
Garrick's smile twitched. The adventurers at the next table went "OOOOOOOH" all at once.
Garrick finally noticed Daniel, looked at the suit, and snorted. "Wella i suppose to get goin now..Bah-hah-hah-haaa." Then he grabbed a paper off the notice board and walked off with his cape swishing. Of course he had a cape.
"Don't mind him," Elin whispered. "He's actually okay when he's not being Garrick."
"Ugh, that never happens," said Mira.
"Sometimes on Tuesdays," said Elin.
---
Mira cleared her throat.
"Here, your Trade Card," said Mira, slide a small card on the counter. "I register you with the guild so you can sell in the market. Now ten coppers + five cooper fee for helping you."
". . . .when did i ask you to-..nevermind " Daniel was like (-_-')
Daniel opened his pouch.
"Here... ten and five coppers."
"Good enough."
Daniel sighed and put fifteen coppers on the counter. He looked at the copper coins he had barely earned.
Suddenly, a man stomped in from outside. He was covered in mud from the knees down and some of it was on his face too. He dropped a crumpled paper on the counter looking very frustrated.
"Escort done...," he grunted. "Can i get my cut now, Mira."
Mira took the paper and read it. "This was a three-day job."
"Was," said the mud man. "Took me five days. That damn bridge is cracked out of nowhere, so we went around. Then the wagon want to rest and stop because his donkey need some rest...and who use a donkey to pull wagon..the rest is history." He pointed at Mira. "Look Mira, the paper didn't mention about the other route and pit stop, can I get an extra cut?"
"Yes of course, in your dreams," said Mira, already counting coins. "The posted rate is the posted rate."
The mud man made a sound like a dying goose and walked to the tables.
Daniel watched him go. A five-day escort instead of two. That felt like a scam.
He had seen this before. Not with wagons, but with his old company, when he had to work extra hours but his commission stayed the same and the managers called it "efficiency."
Daniel turned back to Mira, with a book open on the counter. the page full of tiny, beautiful columns. Escort jobs. Days. Payments. And one column at the end, in red ink, that just said: Bridge Repair Tax, sent to Bridge Port.
"Mira," Daniel said casually, like a man who was absolutely not snooping. "Fancy hand writing and what's the red column?"
"Repair tax. The guild pays it to get workers to fix the roads."
"Oh, is that so... aren't the bridge should been repair while ago?"
Mira's quill paused for half a second. "...They're coming soon."
"soon?"
She closed the brown book very gently, the way you close a door on a room you don't want guests to see. "Do you want this Trade Card or not?"
"Ahh, the card. Forgot about that part."
Behind him, Elin was leaning on the counter with her chin in her hands, swinging her feet. "I heard Marta's wagon was late again. My dad says tools went up twice this season. He says it's because merchant from Oasis does not bring back ores."
"Oasis, you say?" said Daniel.
Elin thought about it. "Yeah a city north-east from here, more than a week by wagon. You don't know that?" she said.
[Side Quest complete: Know the Road. +30 XP.]
[XP: 30 / 200]
Daniel stayed silent for a moment and thought. "So there is another city the Bridge Port...and Oasis."
"Earth to Mr. Merchant... what are you staring at?" asked Mira.
"Nothing... i was just staring at..Nothing," said Daniel. "So Oasis got ores."
"Every "Merchants" knows that," added Mira.
He picked the card up. It was just a little piece of stiff paper with the guild seal. But the moment his fingers touched it-
[Trade Card registered. Danial is now a recognized merchant of Meiden Town.]
"It's Daniel," Daniel muttered.
---
Daniel was about to leave when Elin grabbed his sleeve.
"Hey, funny man-"
"It's Daniel."
"Right... Daniel, Funny Man... You just sold Marta's spice, right? So you know what the things are worth?"
"Well im a merchant of course. Why? You want to sell something?"
She picked up her basket of green leaves and shoved it at his face. "Then how much is this? I'm selling it to the herb buyer after lunch."
Daniel looked at the leaves. Appraise.
[Item: Silverleaf Herb (fresh, 30 bundles)]
[Condition: Good. Picked this morning.]
[Market value: 5 copper per bundle]
"This? I'd take it for 3 coppers per bundle if I was the merchant," Daniel said. In his head, the salesman math was already running. Buy at three, sell at five. Still a fair profit, even after the road.
Elin's smile went a little stiff. Mira glanced up from her book.
"That's funny," said Elin. "The buyer only gives one copper per bundle. Every buyer does. Same price, all of them."
"One copper?" he said. "A bundle? That's a 400% markup and 80% profit margin."
Daniel looked at the basket, that not trade but already a monopoly in his mind. The brown book with the red column, the mud man underpaid for extra work, Ore supplies shortage and something just clicked.
Daniel say with slow voice.
"What the he** is going on here?"
*End of Chapter 2.*
ns216.73.217.61da2
and then Add to home screen.