Miss Princess had merely brought Xia De to the tavern; she had no business to attend to. So, after some small talk, Xia De finally spoke to the bartender about his desire to acquire currency-type relics.
relics were not easy to find. Luvia had been acquiring such relics for years through the Academy, the Prophet Association, and Tobesk's black market, but even that supply couldn't meet the demands of her overly consumptive "accurate divination."
That's why Xia De had made the arduous journey to Coldwater Port City; the port City was well-connected, offering more opportunities.
"No problem, I'll put up the commission for you. If there's any news, I'll tell you when you come next time. But if the deal goes through, the bar will take a cut."
The bartender said.
"Of course, no problem. By the way, do you have a sales list for relics here?"
Xia De asked again, noticing a slender black cat sprawled on the counter. It was the bar's cat, seemingly napping, undisturbed even by the three people chatting nearby.
"Of course not, do you think this is a vegetable market? You state your requirements, and we'll check the list of commissioned sales from local Ring術士. If there's interest, we'll introduce the buyer and seller to meet at the bar. The bar only acts as a broker; we don't negotiate prices for you. Please wait a moment."
The bartender said, looking down below the bar:
"You're in luck, there actually is a currency-type relic for sale. But it's only one coin, and it's just Poet Grade. Interested?"
Although it seemed like good luck, for such a large City, this was Xia De's first search, so a discovery was quite normal:
"Poet Grade? No problem, when can I meet the seller?"
This kind of "luck" should be limited to this one time; once he had searched the City, he would have to wait patiently next time.
"The seller is right here in the tavern. I need to remind you, the other party isn't a regular customer; he came here for the first time a week ago through a friend's introduction. He's been spending his days here waiting for a ship to the New World. Therefore, the tavern isn't responsible for guaranteeing the transaction is free of fraud."
"I understand. How much cut do you want?"
"For small transactions, it's five out of one hundred."
The brawny man behind the bar rubbed his fingers together.
"No problem."
Xia De nodded, picked up the glass of water on the bar, but then remembered he was wearing a mask:
"I'd like to meet the seller. Also, whether this deal goes through or not, please keep the commission for acquiring currency-type relics listed here for a long time."
"Only for half a month. Otherwise, if you leave and don't return, should the bar keep your commission in mind indefinitely?"
The brawny man chuckled, tilting his head to whisper to the young bartender wiping glasses beside him.
The latter nodded, left the bar, and walked directly towards the wall on the left. After a brief whisper with a man sitting alone at a small round table, drinking and reading a newspaper, the middle-aged man looked back in the direction of the bar.
He had dry, yellowish short hair, and the eversion of his eyelids was very noticeable. He wore no mask, and his clothing offered no concealment. The only somewhat unusual thing was a red glove on his right hand.
He immediately saw Xia De and Miss Princess. Xia De nodded to him, and the man thought for a moment, then gestured for Xia De to come over and discuss business.
Miss Princess seemed very curious about what would happen next, but respected Xia De's privacy and did not follow him.
Xia De sat opposite the man, seeing a hand-rolled cigarette, matches, a face-down deck of rhode cards, a half-full glass of beer, a plate of boiled peanuts, and a thin book titled "Storm Eye Adventure Guide" on the wooden round tabletop.
In romantic City life novels, middle-aged men with stories often spent their entire days in taverns like this. But the man at the table was not middle-aged; although he looked seasoned, he was likely only approaching 30 years old.
There was nothing to chat about between two strangers, so Xia De directly stated his purpose:
"I want to buy the Poet Grade relic you have."
"Only bartering is accepted."
The man's voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been injured, but his delarion was surprisingly standard. He looked at Xia De with droopy eyelids, but since Xia De was wearing a mask, he couldn't really see anything.
"Bartering?"
Xia De shook his head. The only item he could currently part with, the 【Endless Mercury Bottle】, was intended for practical credits, and there was a possibility that this item was linked to the defunct Mercury Blood. Selling it through channels other than the Academy might cause problems.
"I don't have anything good on hand. Name your price; I can offer a high price for what you have."
He said.
"High price?"
The man hesitated for a moment:
"What I have is the Poet Grade relic 【Universal Currency】. When mixed with any two ordinary coins of the same type and denomination, it can automatically transform into the surrounding coins. What price can you offer?"
Xia De had heard of this relic. It had been introduced in his first-year course, "relic Containment and Management."
The Poet Grade relic 【Universal Currency】 was first recorded in the sixth epoch, common era 723. The Creation Church detected an abnormal frequency of natural disasters in the southern City of Kasandara on the Old Continent. After three years of continuous investigation, they discovered that this relic was circulating in the area.
The characteristic of 【Universal Currency】 was very simple: its positive characteristic was that it could be used as any other currency, while its negative characteristic was that once it was spent as money, the person who used it would fall into at least ten years of bad luck.
After the great earthquake in Kasandara in common era 719, ancient tomb entrances were exposed, causing coins from ten large water urns to flow into the City. As these coins continuously circulated in the Kasandara region, more and more local people came into contact with and used 【Universal Currency】, ultimately leading to a decline in fortune for the entire region, resulting in a continuous series of earthquakes, storms, insect plagues, and other frequent natural disasters.
Of course, while it sounded terrifying, once the Church learned about 【Universal Currency】 and recorded it, this relic became known to Ring術士 as a common relic. Therefore, most Ring術士 could identify this relic upon contact, which reduced its danger level to the lowest grade.
Because it was relatively common, and useless to Ring術士 unless they possessed Ling Rune with characteristics like 【Wealth】, its value was actually very low.
"How about 10 pounds?"
Xia De suggested, while a reasonable price should not exceed 9 pounds.
"20 pounds."
The man said, and Xia De narrowed his eyes:
"You know that price is impossible."
"I just want to express that I prefer bartering. There are no relics under 10 pounds in this tavern, but you can certainly take 10 pounds and find a new relic elsewhere, then exchange the new relic with me."
The man suggested, indicating for Xia De to take his time thinking, while he reached for the newspaper he had just put down.
Xia De shook his head:
"I don't have time to go to all that trouble for something worth less than 10 pounds. I noticed you have rhode cards by your hand. How about we play a game of rhode cards?"
"Oh? What do you want to bet?"
The man asked, looking at Xia De's mask, his fingers lightly tapping the table.
Xia De proposed:
"If I win, then I'll buy that coin from you for 9 pounds. If I lose, then I'll buy that coin for 20 pounds."
The man nodded after only a slight hesitation:
"Alright."
"I need to confirm that the relic is on you first."
"Alright."
The man reached into his pocket and then took out a golden coin, placing it on the tabletop. The upward-facing side had an ancient rune representing "wealth." Xia De glanced at it and immediately received a prompt from the whisper element.
"No problem. Let the bar's bartender be the notary. Oh, you can call me Mr. Watson. By the way, my deck doesn't have any special cards."
Xia De said, not wanting to expose his identity because of the rhode cards. He intended to use those cards to participate in the "Great City Player" rhode cards tournament in the autumn.
"You can call me Mr. Darkness. My deck has 1 special card."
Mr. Darkness clasped his hands together on the table:
"Waiting for the ship to depart is truly boring. I'm actually quite happy that someone wants to gamble rhode cards with me. How about we use some interesting rules? It's still rhode cards 21 points, but each person takes three cards directly each time—two face-up and one face-down—then reveals them all at once. Two points for winning, zero points for losing. If both players bust, both get 0 points. Discarding is allowed, if you discard you get 0 points, the opponent gets one point. Once both decks are empty, the person with more points wins."
Xia De thought for a moment:
"No problem."
Although this would take more time, a deck only had 54 cards, so even at the slowest pace, it wouldn't take more than twenty minutes.
So the two of them went to the bar together and explained their idea to the brawny bartender. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened in this tavern, so the bartender readily agreed to be the notary and collected their bets in advance.
Xia De still didn't consider this gambling; he only saw it as a negotiation tactic, so he had no psychological barriers to participating in the card game.
The idle people in the tavern, hearing that someone was going to gamble rhode cards, gathered around, but due to their distrust of unfamiliar Ring術士, they only watched from a distance. Only Miss Princess stood directly behind Xia De's chair, resting her hand on the back of his chair.
This lady showed no surprise that Xia De, who had gone to buy something, had suddenly started a card game. She even naturally stood in front of him to shield him when Xia De swapped his deck, taking out all the special cards.