Don't Burn Them! Even Witches Have Value!

”Step right up—don’t miss your luck!

From Blackstone Fief, the finest struck!

White charcoal bright, both cheap and prime,

A bargain jewel, a rare find every time!

No choking smoke, no stinging air,

Just steady heat beyond compare!

One piece alone outlasts eight more—

A blazing deal you can’t ignore!

Not ten coins down, not eight to pay—

Just five copper coins, take it away!

Bring home the warmth, don’t delay, don’t pine—

The same as the mansion of Viscount of White Pine!” 

”Awoo! Five copper coins!”

Under the hawking of the well-fed Lynn and Iyanna, many people immediately gathered around the sled.

Firstly, as a noble, Lynn’s clothing and appearance were quite eye-catching, making it easy for him to attract attention to begin with.

Secondly, a noble who looked so proper was currently hawking his wares using rhymes smoother than a peddler’s. Even those who weren’t interested in the goods would come to watch the spectacle upon seeing it.

Add to that the bizarre shape of the sled, the cute Iyanna as a bonus, and the importance of charcoal itself, many buyers instantly swarmed over.

”This lady truly has a good eye. Burning charcoal without smoke will make your already perfect skin even more smooth and clean.

Wow, this gentleman, your hands look very large. How about this: you give me twenty copper coins, and however many pieces you can grab in one handful, you take away. How about it?

My my, this friend, you’re truly lucky. You happen to be our twentieth customer. Buy four, get one free, with no upper limit!”

Under Lynn’s terrifying marketing tactics, half of this batch of charcoal had already been sold not long after they had come out of the Viscount’s mansion.

Of course, it wasn’t without unexpected situations.

Because he was an unfamiliar face, many thieves mistook Lynn for a fat sheep. Unfortunately, the moment their hands touched the copper coin pouch, they were nearly bitten and injured by Lynn, who detected their movement and pounced over.

Besides the technique-based thieves who tried to steal their money, there were also those who attempted the ancient art of ”zero-dollar shopping,” which was grabbing the charcoal and running away with it. Unfortunately, they simply couldn’t escape Iyanna’s reflexes.

Under the system proposed by Lynn of rewarding her with one piece of food for catching one thief, she nearly learned how to frame innocent people to claim merit.

Outside of thieves, there were naturally also jealous troublemakers...

But they usually took one look and ran away.

Are you joking? Smashing a noble’s stall in broad daylight— if your head gets chopped off, will it grow back?

As the news gradually spread throughout the city center via word of mouth, more and more busy bodies came upon hearing the news, to the point that the guards had to come over to maintain order.

If it was a normal situation, they would have definitely dispersed the center of the gathering directly, or simply arrested them and been done with it.

But the person across from them was the Baron of Blackstone who had just entered the Viscount’s mansion for a meal. No one dared to do so.

When evening arrived, Lynn looked on with slight emotion as the last piece of charcoal was snapped up.

Only after breaking away from the distributor did he realize that the goods were actually so easy to sell.

He decided that even if Dawson reconciled with him, he wouldn’t supply goods to the other party, but would instead rely on himself to build up a reputation.

”Oh, friends who didn’t manage to buy any! Please don’t worry!

Blackstone Charcoal will be continuously produced! Please look forward to the White Charcoal specialty of Blackstone Fief!

We’ll continue to bring more and better goods in the near future!”

After reinforcing the promotion once again to those who arrived late, Lynn directly took Iyanna to the carriage shop in White Pine City.

”Help me change this vehicle back into a wheeled cart.

Pack up the cowhide that you’ll take off nicely for me, and cut the wooden frame into firewood shapes too.

If I find even a little bit missing when I come back, we aren’t finished.”

After pulling the carriage shop owner aside and emphasizing this for a long time, he went for a stroll through the stables here.

”My Lord, this is a desert horse from the Nibiria region. Ordinary people simply can’t buy them. Look at how vigorous it is.”

”Why would the North need a desert horse? Make it a bit cheaper.”

”Then what about this Zaktai steppe horse? It’s also a famous foreign horse. You can only buy them locally in Milan and Zaktai regions.”

”Too short, doesn’t look energetic. Make it a bit cheaper.”

”Then what about a warhorse from our Milan Central Plains Dragon City? Tall and mighty, standard issue for Dragon Knights!”

”How could you possibly get your hands on a proper warhorse? One look and you can tell it’s a mixed breed. Make it a bit cheaper.”

”...Then what about this traveling horse that’s old, of mixed colors, and also likes to bite people?”

”This one isn’t bad. Make it a bit cheaper.”

In the end, the owner, who had been haggled to the point of near collapse, sold the black-and-white piebald old horse to Lynn at an extremely low price, with the modification of the sled attached.

”Can you throw in a set of saddle gear?”

”My Lord... Do you really have the heart to say those words?”

”Look, I basically don’t have any horse gear. How am I supposed to make it pull the cart when the time comes?”

”That price is calculated separately... My Lord.”

”Then you can at least throw in horseshoes, right?”

”My Lord, you truly need to purchase those separately.”

”Then you can at least throw in the reins, right?”

After extremely reluctantly adding a portion of the fee for the horse gear, Lynn finally left the carriage shop with Iyanna.

————————

”Miss Ai’na, my subordinate’s incompetence is my incompetence. If I had been there, that fellow couldn’t have escaped. I implore you to punish only me.”

The burly man driving the reindeer cart lowered his head while whispering to the carriage behind him.

”That person from the Blood Snake Society isn’t weak, and he has snake poison in him, which immunizes him against my power to some extent. It isn’t the fault of any of you.

Moreover, you weren’t present because you were fulfilling my order to track down another target.”

After the cold, clear voice gave its reply, it continued to ask.

”Has that fellow been investigated clearly?”

”Yes, the fellow who has been making that child pull the sled is the Baron of Blackstone Fief.

There are rumors that he recently judged a witch personally, and I indeed saw him enter the church... as well as the mansion of the Viscount of White Pine.”

”Heh.”

A light chuckle came from within the carriage.

”Judging a witch, is it?

Is he going to judge me too?”

”Your Highness, the Church has bestowed upon you the title of Honorary Saintess. How would that fellow dare?”

”Who knows... Also, I told you not to call me Your Highness at this time... Is the Viscount of White Pine also involved in this matter?”

The burly man shook his head.

”He shouldn’t be, otherwise those fellows wouldn’t need to be so secretive... and the Viscount doesn’t seem to be attempting to deceive the public either.

I’m more inclined to believe that the core of this matter lies among his subordinate Barons.”

”So, it is that fellow then?”

”Highly likely, Miss Ai’na.”

As their conversation ended, the reindeer cart slowly drove into a small alley.

The burly man jumped nimbly down from the driver’s seat without making any sound upon landing.

”Miss, are you sure it should be just the two of us?”

”Too many people will alert the snake in the grass... Are you sure he’s here?”

After the figure wearing the white robe stepped out of the carriage, she looked around with slight hesitation.

Without a doubt, this was a commoner district in White Pine City.

”Yes, I’ve asked around. The other party and that child reside in a room here.”

”...Is that so? How disgusting.”

As the burly man bent his body down, the woman wearing the white robe stepped onto his shoulder.

Then, when he stood up, she leaped lightly upward. Formless wind gathered on both sides of her body, causing her to float to the window of the second-floor corridor.

After she entered the building, that burly man also climbed in after her.

The two advanced silently until they arrived in front of a room that didn’t smell very good.

Just as the woman extended her slender, jade-like hand from beneath her white robe and grasped the doorknob, the conversation inside drifted out.

”Mmm, Mishter Lynn, is it really okay to do this?”

”Don’t talk, keep eating.”

The next moment, the wooden door of the room was abruptly blown inward by a hurricane.

”Damned, filthy, lowly human!

Die!”

——————————————————

T/N - Well now, jumping to conclusions, much? Here comes trouble for the MC. I wonder how long it’ll take to fix this misunderstanding?

Also, that level of miserliness by the MC left me speechless. I’ll admit though, it made me laugh out of sheer exasperation. 😅