Warhammer Divine Throne

Veronica finally closed her mouth.

The ”steam summer sale” meticulously prepared by Laine didn’t last long, as the promotion of goods and the shortage of merchandise made this event destined to be short-lived. It came quickly, leaving the citizens who managed to buy something smiling, while those who waited in line for half a day were displeased. They noisily came in waves, cursing and trying to squeeze to the front to see if there was anything left, some wanting to reason with Laine and inquire about the next summer sale.

Laine seized this opportunity. He addressed the crowd surrounding him: ”Ladies and gentlemen, most of my goods are sold out. I do have a little left, and I’m willing to continue selling them to you. But before that, would you allow me to make a request?”

”Speak up!” ”What does the greedy merchant want to know?” Many people shouted loudly upon hearing that the fat merchant had a little more goods to sell, everyone’s face filled with hatred and greed.

”Well, I’m a merchant. I came to Musillon this time intending to do business. I don’t want to return to Marinburg empty-handed. I’ve always heard Musillon produces top-quality hardwood and excellent stone material. Could anyone tell me where I can buy these?” The fat merchant Gabriel Newell spread his hands, speaking somewhat unclearly, his facial beard shaking back and forth.

”Hey~ Marinburg merchant, where did you hear Musillon is abundant with hardwood and stone? This is Musillon! This is swamp land. Our specialty here only includes various crops from fertile swamps, along with snails and frogs from the swamps.” A citizen scoffed, his face filled with disdain and ridicule: ”Perhaps you could buy some snails and frogs to take back to Marinburg? If they don’t spoil on the way back.”

Musillon has two distinctive professions: Swamp Man and Frog Wife. Swamp Men are professional snail catchers and frog hunters. Their profession name stems from an obscure dialect meaning swamp people or frog hunters. Legally, all creatures in the swamps belong to the Lord. To become a Swamp Man requires at least the local noble’s permission. Some nobles require a long apprenticeship and an oath before allowing one to hunt within the Lord’s swamp. They are usually resilient individuals adept at finding snails and frogs, with their work being tedious and time-consuming.

Swamp Men are typically male, but some nobles allow particularly keen-eyed and agile girls to marry skilled hunters to hunt, these girls being called Frog Wives.

Having lived long in a corrupted environment, Musillon’s human nature has been twisted in depravity—whether Chaos Corruption or Vampire Corruption. The residents here are filled with malice, bloodthirstiness, and depravity. They often conduct forbidden dark rituals, invoking dark deities banned by the outside world. Laine thought if Musillon’s residents were judged in Brittania, nearly eighty percent would likely be sentenced to hanging.

”Oh, my friends, snails and frogs may be your specialties here, but I don’t need them. I don’t know how to preserve them or how to sell them, Marinburg doesn’t have a tradition of eating these.” Laine seemed rather helpless: ”This isn’t a good business, I think I don’t need them.”

”So you definitely must find hardwood and stone then? Foreigner?” Some citizens impatiently shouted.

”No no no, I buy everything; I’m just asking. You know, I don’t get many chances to come to Musillon. I don’t want to return empty-handed. Listen, I pay a hefty tariff every time I come here, I…” The fat merchant’s incessant chatter was irritating, and soon someone interrupted him: ”Enough! Foreigner, we don’t have time to listen to your incessant talk here. If you want to purchase hardwood and stone, you should find Old Dike. He specializes in this business.”

”Old Dike?” The fat merchant immediately motioned everyone to quiet down.

”Sell me the goods, or I won’t tell you!” the person speaking exclaimed.

”Deal.” The plump hand extended out, shaking hands with that person.

This person seemed to be under forty, already showing signs of middle age. He led Laine to a street corner, then whispered: ”Listen, foreigner, you need to find Old Dike. He is specifically responsible for buying and selling these items. Musillon is a swamp region, lacking many resources, so our undead masters appointed people specifically responsible for these trades, Old Dike being one.”

”Alright, continue, I’m listening, speak, I’m listening.” Laine quickly put his hands on his waist, lowered his head indicating he was listening.

”Old Dike’s shop is across three streets and then turn right, when you see a giant bat sign, that’s it. Remember, don’t say I told you.” This middle-aged man’s speech seemed particularly trained, able to speak as clearly as he did was rare: ”But you may be disappointed, foreigner, someone recently has been making large purchases of these.”

”Hmm~ It’s alright, we can discuss other matters,” Laine extended his hand: ”Thank you very much, brother.”

”Who is your brother? I just want the goods, quickly sell them to me.” The middle-aged man slapped away Laine’s extended plump hand. Laine didn’t mind, he signaled Gerald who followed to take out a bag: ”Your gold coins?”

”Hey! Isn’t my information worth that much?” The middle-aged man grumbled, pulling out a bag of gold kron from himself.

”That bag wasn’t meant to be a gift, it was meant to sell, sir.”

”Oh, alright, alright, or perhaps you’d like to trade your life instead?” Suddenly, the middle-aged man drew a dagger from his sleeve, the dagger’s tip lunging straight toward Laine’s face.

The dagger’s cold reflection already shone on Laine’s face.

Laine instinctively retreated, a look of surprise on his face, his plump body losing control and about to tumble, screaming miserably several times, having no training look.

”Clang!” Gerald’s sword was faster, the Kingdom Knight disguised as a steward thrust the sword through the middle-aged man’s chest as the dagger was barely raised, the spurting hot blood splashing on the ground, the middle-aged man looked incredulously at Gerald once, dying.

”Hey, don’t randomly kill people!” Laine complained unsatisfied: ”Harmony breeds wealth!”

Then the fat merchant immediately signaled two Demon Hunter guards to strip the middle-aged man bare, taking away all valuable items from him, meanwhile patting off the dust on himself and continued saying: ”Let’s go, let’s meet Old Dike.”

After Laine and others left, the depths of the alley were instantly filled with Dark Creatures and those low-level vampires emerging to scramble for the blood, feast on the flesh.

In Musillon, murders frequently happened openly on the streets, everyone accustomed to it.

In the alley’s depths, two figures clad in black robes were watching the fat merchant’s selling motions, whispering: ”You still suspect him? He’s just a merchant, from his recent behavior he’s never undergone training.”

”But I just feel something’s off about him, this merchant, Gabriel Newell’s timing of arrival is too coincidental.” Another black-robed figure revealed his true face, he was Mathew Bade, this young Ranger Knight hadn’t chosen the hasty transformation into a vampire, his human identity was still of use.

Akhan left a massive dark magic ritual on him, which will be key to his future plan to destroy Brittania: ”Don’t you find it strange? The Red Duke and his army set out not long ago, and this merchant appears, disappearing for several years and now he’s back roaming around, gathering information.”

”Merchants not wanting to return empty-handed is quite normal, my sir.” Another black-robed person retorted: ”He is a trade partner of the von Castain Clan, Manfred is now collaborating with us, if we act rashly, the fragile relationship between the master and Manfred will be ruined by your recklessness!”

”I know!” Mathew Bade impatiently replied, focusing his gaze on the fat merchant’s silhouette: ”I will reveal his true colors!”