Chapter 210: The Wandering Merchant (3)

Milayna had just returned home to get some rest after a long day, but before she could even settle in, she received word: her turn in the line had finally come. With a mixture of excitement and exhaustion, she hurried outside, making her way back toward the city plaza where the Wandering Merchant waited.

To her astonishment, Ketal was still there, standing at the edge of the crowd, watching the Merchant’s transactions with undiminished fascination, looking exactly as he had when she’d left earlier.

“Ketal, have you been here this whole time?” she asked him, surprised.

When Milayna had left, Ketal had said he’d stick around to watch for a while. She assumed he’d grow bored after an hour or two and leave. But here he was, still present as night approached. Ketal greeted her with his trademark grin.

“It was too interesting. I couldn’t tear myself away.”

“Oh... I see.” Milayna wasn’t sure how to respond to his enthusiasm.

Ketal gave a knowing look. “You’re here now, so it must mean it’s almost our turn, right?”

She nodded, smiling back despite her fatigue. “Yes. Let’s get ready to line up. Maximus, you should come as well.”

“Thank you,” Maximus replied with his usual composure.

At the front of the massive queue, Milayna’s employees, who were exhausted but dutiful, had held her place all day. As she approached, one of them greeted her.

“This way, Lady Milayna.”

“You’ve all done well. I’ll see that each of you gets a week’s vacation, with a handsome bonus to boot,” Milayna promised, and the staff, though tired, broke into grateful smiles before finally taking their leave.

With the waiting over, it was time for the main event.

Still watching the Merchant’s proceedings with keen interest, Ketal said, “I’ve watched them trade everything you could imagine, treasure, antiques, even things like taste and talent. It’s not just money or gold. It’s... everything.”

The Wandering Merchant really did deal in all things. Sometimes, it wasn’t just rare art or mystical artifacts. Sometimes it was intangible things, senses, or even skills themselves.

Ketal recalled a trade that had left a deep impression on him.

“There was a boy earlier, he traded his sword talent. In exchange, he got an artifact powerful enough to keep him safe.”

Listening in, Maximus commented, “The Merchant measures value precisely. That boy’s talent must have been extraordinary. If it was ordinary, the Merchant would have refused the deal.”

Ketal nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose the same is true for the kid who traded his sense of taste. He probably had a superhuman palate, not just an average one.”

“It’s still hard to believe,” Milayna mused. “That you can trade away something as fundamental as talent.”

Ketal, curiosity piqued, asked, “Where do all those things go? All the senses, the talents, the future years... Where does the Merchant keep them? And what do they do with it all?”

Milayna shook her head. “I don’t think anyone knows. The Merchant’s goals and storage are a total mystery. People have tried to find out, but they’ve all failed.”

“How long has the Wandering Merchant been around?” Ketal wondered.

“They’re said to be ancient,” Milayna replied. “Some records suggest they’ve existed since the days when the Demon Realms first appeared.”

Ketal’s eyes sparkled with interest. “That old, huh?”

If true, that would mean the Merchant had walked the world since the age of the White Snowfield, since the dawn of the Anomalies—another connection, however faint, between them.

The line was moving quickly now. Before long, it was Milayna’s turn. The Merchant turned to her, their gaze flickering like candlelight.

“What do you desire?” the Wondering Merchant asked her.

Milayna took a deep breath, gathering her composure. There was only one chance to trade with the Wandering Merchant; there was no room for regrets.

She’d already decided what she wanted. “I want an artifact that can connect two distant places, something to instantly link two locations for transporting goods.”

For a merchant, the most precious commodity was not any particular item, but the means to move them. No matter how valuable one’s wares, if they couldn’t get them to where buyers were, they were worthless, doomed to rot in storage. Buying cheap, selling high, and moving goods safely and efficiently was the art of the trade. However, moving them was always perilous: bandits, pirates, storage costs. Many a merchant had gone bankrupt before their goods ever reached the market.

Milayna wanted a way to bypass all of it, a spatial link, the ultimate artifact for any trader.

“Is that possible?” she asked the Merchant, her voice tense.

“Possible... but very expensive,” the Merchant replied.

“How expensive?”

“I want one of your weapon warehouses...”

Milayna’s heart skipped a beat. “Which one, exactly?”

“The twelfth one you built...”

Milayna gulped as that was a much higher price than she’d expected. However, her deliberation was brief.

“I accept,” she replied.

The cost of a weapon warehouse was steep, but for an artifact that could connect distant places, it was a bargain, and Milayna wasn’t about to miss her only chance.

One of the Merchant’s devices whirred, and there was a soft click.

“Done. I have taken everything in your twelfth weapon warehouse...”

It was as if, from afar, every weapon and item had simply vanished. Milayna had no reason to doubt it as she knew the Wandering Merchant could reach anywhere.

“Here...” The Merchant handed over two artifacts, each shaped like a flag. “Place one at each location you wish to connect. When you do, space will link them. Each use lasts for an hour, after which you’ll need to wait a week to recharge...”

“What’s the maximum distance?” Milayna asked them.

“Up to half the continent... But you can’t transport living things. Is that acceptable?”

“Of course!” Milayna’s face brightened in genuine delight. She now possessed something few in the world could even imagine, a Legendary artifact for logistics, capable of revolutionizing trade.

Next up was Maximus.

“What do you desire?” the Wandering Merchant asked him.

“I want talent with the sword, greater skill, a higher level of mastery,” Maximus replied calmly.

He was already a Swordmaster, a Transcendent warrior. Yet he wasn’t satisfied; he wanted to climb even higher.

“That will require a steep price...”

“I expected as much,” Maximus replied. “I am prepared. The king has given me permission to use the royal armory as payment.”

“No... Material goods are not enough. I want your future. Twenty years of your lifespan...”

Maximus’s brow furrowed. “My future?”

“Yes. Offer me about twenty years of your life...”

Maximus hesitated, the unexpected price heavy on his mind. He craved greater strength, but to sacrifice two decades of his life was too much, even for him. With a small sigh, he gave up on his first wish.

“In that case, I want a sword that is sharper and stronger than any other.”

“That’s simple...”

Trading the treasures of the royal palace, Maximus obtained a blade that would put most weapons to shame. He stepped aside, satisfied with his choice.

At last, it was Ketal’s turn. He stepped forward, his anticipation evident. The Merchant’s eyes flickered with visible surprise.

“You... What are you doing here...?” the Wandering Merchant said.

“Hm? What’s wrong? I thought you knew I was here?” Ketal replied, a little amused.

Ketal had made no effort to hide his presence, and he’d felt the Merchant’s gaze on him more than once throughout the day.

“I noticed you, yes... But why would you come to me?”

“I want to make a trade,” Ketal said matter-of-factly.

The Merchant visibly faltered. “You... want to trade with me?”

“Of course.”

The Merchant’s confusion was plain to see, almost as if the idea of trading with Ketal was somehow forbidden, or at least highly unusual.

“Is there a problem?” Ketal asked them, cocking his head.

“No, not exactly... So, what do you want?”

“I want to wield Myst,” Ketal said without hesitation.

“Why do you want something like that?” the Merchant faltered again. There was a sense of disbelief in their voice, as if they couldn’t understand why someone like Ketal would want something like that.

Ketal just grinned. “Because I want to. Isn’t that reason enough?”

The Merchant stared at him, their expression impossible to read.

Milayna and Maximus looked on, equally bewildered.

“Did you know the Merchant could get flustered?” Maximus asked Milayna.

“This is a first for me, too...” Milayna replied quietly.

“Is it impossible?” Ketal pressed.

“No, it’s possible... As long as you’re willing to pay the price.”

The Merchant had not said it couldn’t be done; they only said that the cost would be great. Ketal’s eyes lit up in response.

“And what would that cost be?”

At that, Milayna stepped forward.

“Ketal saved my life and the lives of many others. For his sake, I’ll pay anything.” There was nothing false in her voice. She was ready to offer up half her family’s fortune if it meant helping Ketal.

The Akasha family’s wealth rivaled that of entire kingdoms. Half of it would be an astronomical sum.

“That’s not enough...” the Merchant replied.

Milayna’s eyes went wide. “What? Even half my estate isn’t enough?”

“The value falls far short...”

She tried again, desperate. “Then what if I give you the entire Akasha family?”

“Still not enough...”

Both offers were dismissed out of hand. Even Maximus, jaded as he was, managed a hollow laugh.

“You mean you need more than that just for him to wield Myst? What if I offered my own level—my Swordmaster’s peak?”

Even that, the Merchant rejected. “Still not enough...”

Not even the Swordmaster’s attainment, an achievement that could not be bought with gold or treasure, was enough.

Ketal drew something from his pouch, which was a single, luminous leaf. “What about a leaf from the World Tree?”

Both Milayna and Maximus gaped at him.

“You... Where did you get something like that?”

However, the Merchant shook their head. “That is precious, but... It’s still not enough...”

Ketal clicked his tongue, a little disappointed but hardly surprised. “So, it can’t be done. Not in the way I’d hoped.”

He paused, thinking over his options. The problem wasn’t that he couldn’t pay the price for wielding Myst directly, but that nothing he offered here and now was enough for what he wanted.

But if that isn’t possible...

After a moment of thought, Ketal said, “Then what if, instead of the power itself, I asked for a catalyst? Something that could help me unlock Myst on my own, like a material, rather than a direct boon?”

“That may be possible...” the Merchant replied.

“What I want is a Dragon Heart.”

Both Milayna and Maximus blanched in shock.

“A... a Dragon Heart?” Milayna stammered.

“Do you have any idea how rare those are?” Maximus muttered.

Ketal paid their reactions no mind, focused entirely on the Merchant.

“If not a Dragon Heart, then something of similar strength. Is that possible?”

“No Dragon Heart in stock... But there are some things close to it. Still, I doubt you can pay the price...”

Milayna shook her head in disbelief. Dragons were legendary creatures, living for millennia and growing stronger as they aged. The heart of an ancient dragon was a priceless treasure. Milayna had only ever heard of a Dragon Heart being used once, centuries ago, to help construct the Mage Tower. Since then, not a single one had surfaced. Even if she pledged her entire family, it would still fall short.

“So, there’s no way to buy one? Could I offer myself as payment, like my own talents, my skills, my life, if need be?” Ketal asked the Merchant.

“That’s not possible...”

“Even that isn’t enough?”

“No, that’s not the problem. You, yourself, cannot be used as payment.”

The Merchant’s voice was oddly final. For whatever reason, Ketal was excluded as a tradeable commodity.

He frowned, truly perplexed now.

Is it just out of reach? Even for the Merchant, are there things that can’t be bought?

He was just beginning to resign himself to disappointment when the Merchant stirred.

“Wait... There is a way...”

Ketal’s eyes brightened. “I can pay?”

“Not exactly. It’s not a matter of payment, but of challenge. I’ll make you an offer. If you accept and succeed, I’ll give you what you desire.”

“A... proposal?” Ketal echoed.

Milayna, putting it together, gasped softly. Her eyes widened.

The Wandering Merchant wasn’t offering a trade—they were about to issue a quest.