The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

”Is it really okay for me to take this much?” Anser smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits as he handed the money pouch to Bratt, signaling for him to help count it.

”It’s not much, not much at all.” Seeing that Anser showed no dissatisfaction, Titch finally let out a small sigh of relief. He had heard that this one could be rather petty and vindictive—this was not money they could afford to skimp on.

Compared to money, they valued Anser himself far more. As the organization in Faerûn most fond of stirring up trouble, no one understood the importance of people better than they did.

”Given the circumstances last night, we could only sell it to the Margaster family of Waterdeep. There were only a few in the entire Silver Scale Bay who dared to take it off our hands. Although we took quite a loss, at least there won’t be any follow-up trouble…” he added.

Under normal conditions, even a bare medium-sized sailing ship could sell for several thousand gold coins. Although the Conch had been damaged, it still carried so many firearms, cannons, and ammunition. Selling it for only five thousand six hundred gold coins was a blood-soaked loss.

But if they had gone looking for buyers during the daytime, it might have led to many unforeseen troubles and obstacles.

”Understandable, understandable,” Anser said with a smile.

”You left too early last night. The Margaster family’s steward still wanted to meet you.” Titch took out a golden badge and placed it in front of him. ”This is something he asked me to pass on to you—an advanced membership badge of the Noble Merchants’ Alliance of Waterdeep.”

”What’s this thing for?” Anser took the badge and found that the back of the medal was engraved with ”Ashen Knight” and a string of numbers. The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

”Buying and selling items, reservations, lodging, taking a ship… it’s got lots of functions.” Titch thought for a moment, then handed him another silver badge. ”This one is a badge of the Song Ring. You can use it to exchange information and things like that. Take it—maybe it’ll come in handy.”

The 3Song Ring were an alliance made up of bards and adventurers, meant to facilitate the exchange of news, stories, and music. It was an outer organization of the Harpers.

”Thank you.” Anser knew there was a Song Ring tavern.

Titch did not directly invite him to join the alliance, but instead gave him a badge that would make things convenient. He had to say, the approach felt very comfortable.

”Don’t mention it. If anything comes up, you can go to the Song Ring tavern in the city and look for the halfling owner—he can get in touch with me.”

”Alright.”

Titch patted Anser on the shoulder, got up, and left, his steps very light.

”I counted it twice. The amount is right.” Bratt returned the money pouch to Anser, his expression full of emotion. ”The Nashivaar Family is probably going to be furious.”

”Anyway, I’ve already offended them. I don’t care whether they live or die.” Anser poured all the money into the Treasure Coin Pouch, then patted it with his hand, feeling fully secure.

There were more than three thousand gold coins in here—a huge sum. An ordinary worker would never earn that much in a lifetime.

Whoever had that much money tucked against their chest—how could their backbone not be stiff!

Even so, he still had a pile of spoils in his hands that had not yet been sold. Thinking of this, he urged everyone to eat quickly. They might be leaving as early as tomorrow, so everything had to be dealt with today, and they could also take the opportunity to see whether there were any good items.

The three of them hastily finished their meal, returned to the room to pack their belongings, loaded everything onto Nornoth’s back, and headed straight for Silver Scale Market.

Nornoth was still using that simple saddle. Yesterday, Claira had used a moon elf’s saddle, which was not very suitable. For a build like Nornoth’s, it would have to be custom-made by a specialist.

Silver Scale Market was not far from Fishbone Wharf. It had originally been a wholesale market for large quantities of fish and goods, but later gradually evolved into a comprehensive trade district. Even the major guilds had moved in.

After entering through the northern gate, what greeted them was a large open-air market selling everything imaginable—farm tools, fishing gear, agricultural produce, meat, medicinal herbs, pets…

There was even a labor market tucked away in a corner. Whatever kind of artisan or worker one wanted could be found there, at prices more than half cheaper than usual.

What Anser and the others were carrying were firearms, weapons and equipment, magic items, and the like, which of course could not be sold here.

Going further in were rows of wooden buildings selling a wide assortment of goods. Their distinguishing feature was that everything was quite expensive—artworks, precious jewelry, fine armor, weapons, magic items, and so on.

Compared to the outside, this area was very quiet. No one was stopping anyone, yet the boundary was clearly drawn, as though it were two completely different worlds.

Unfamiliar with the area, the three searched for quite some time before finally finding a wooden building with the flag of Waterdeep fluttering above it.

”This is the place.” Anser fastened the membership badge to a conspicuous spot on his wrist.

Nornoth waited outside as the group carried a pile of goods inside.

The attendant at the entrance caught sight of the badge on Anser’s wrist and revealed a standard smile. ”So you are an esteemed guest of the Margaster Family. Please follow me to the second floor.”

”Isn’t this all one shop?” Anser asked curiously.

”Sir, this is the Noble Merchants’ Alliance of Waterdeep. There are seven shops here, each belonging to a different noble house…” The attendant found it odd. There were only a few hundred gold-tier membership badges, all held by long-standing clients—how could someone not know such basic information?

The group arrived on the second floor. What greeted them was a spacious shop filled with a dazzling array of goods, mainly medicines and weapons and equipment. This was somewhat strange, because the shop on the first floor also sold these items. It was unclear how they internally balanced such competition.

Anser’s gaze lifted to the ceiling. A massive noble heraldic emblem, covering dozens of square feet, had actually been painted in oil across the roof—blue background, white sails, adorned with silver whirlpool patterns. It was truly striking.

’Magnificent!’ he silently praised.

There were quite a few staff members in the shop, yet not a single customer.

A middle-aged man with a small mustache spotted Anser, his eyes lighting up at once, and hurried over in quick, short steps.

”Good morning to you three. I am Sidney, the manager of this shop. The steward said yesterday that there would certainly be an honored guest today. I never imagined it would be Lord Anser.”

”You know me?” Anser did not expect even a manager to be able to call out his name at once.

”Our first meeting—just a guess.” Sidney’s gaze lingered on Anser’s face for a brief moment before he immediately looked away.

”Selling goods.”

Anser and the others set their packs down on the floor and opened them, revealing a pile of firearms and weapons.

A smile immediately spread across Sidney’s face. ”All of it?”

”Yes.”

Sidney immediately called over the staff to inventory the items, copying them one by one onto a list. At the same time, he had an elderly man brought down from upstairs to specifically appraise the magic items.

”Fourteen firearms, with relatively heavy signs of wear…”

”Leather armor—six pieces intact, the rest still have repair value…”

”Weapons…”

After finishing the count of more than a dozen ordinary weapons, Sidney rubbed his hands together and began examining the magic items.

A fireworks wand, a web wand, and a ring of water walking obtained from the Order of Blue Fire; a necromantic bow and necromantic sword carrying curses; the silent sword obtained from the captain of Amn; the enchanted leather armor taken from the slaver captain; and the magic greatsword obtained from the bearded first mate…

This magic greatsword, though only of Common quality, was solidly made with ample materials and held considerable value. Unfortunately, Bratt was not used to wielding it, so it could only be sold.

The appraisal of magic items took some time. Anser sat to the side, drinking tea and waiting quietly.

”Mr. Anser, please check this over. You are an honored guest, so all the prices have been set at the highest level.” After a long while, Sidney handed a list to Anser.

Anser took it and looked it over. It was densely packed with a long list—names, quantities, evaluations, estimated values—with a large total written at the bottom.

3,621 gold coins!

”Hiss—”

He steadied himself and checked the unit prices one by one.

An ordinary piece of leather armor was only worth a few gold coins, and ordinary weapons ranged from a few gold coins up to thirty gold coins. This was quite reasonable, since even a newly forged high-quality greatsword or longbow only cost around fifty gold coins.

As long as the word ”magic” was not involved, things generally were not expensive.

What surprised him the most was that the flintlock firearms and their accompanying fireworks powder, which did not look particularly powerful, were priced at seventy-five gold coins per set!

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