The Azure Longsword

Chapter 17: fraud

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"Let Mia get the feathers of the Vera Eagle for you," Mastro wrote on the paper, "and the golden-striped leech..."

"I know where the golden-striped leech is." Ask said, "Is there an abandoned 'sunken palace' called Mocius inside the Seventh Mountain?"

"Yes." Mastro nodded. "That reservoir has been abandoned by the imperial authorities for a long time. It is said that it is haunted. The water drawn from it is red and has a faint smell of blood. It is not drinkable at all. Our people have explored it before, but basically they never come back... Are you saying that there are golden-striped leeches there?"

"Leech are found all over the continent, and golden-striped leeches must live in places with a lot of people because they need to drink a lot of blood." Ask explained, "Generally, golden leeches in cities will be quickly discovered and eliminated by the church because they prey on their victims, but the underground reservoir in Constantinople is an exception because someone raised fish here... Have you never counted the number of fish?"

"We do feel that the number of fish each year is not equal to the number of fish fry we put in," Mastro said awkwardly, "but we thought it was because the reservoir was connected to the outside, and some fish escaped outside through the waterway."

"So it's actually the golden-striped leeches that are eating our fish, right?" Mia said angrily, "I'm going to kill them all!"

"Then you will lose a large sum of money." Ask said slowly, "The spirit of a dead supernatural being will quickly dissipate and lose its original value."

"Hey, Mia." Mastro blinked, "We can seal the pool and go in regularly to hunt for golden-striped leeches and sell them to wealthy people like Master Achilles."

"That's right." Mia's eyes lit up. "Respected Master Achilles, since you want the golden-striped leeches, you must have collected some methods to deal with them, right?"

This guy... When he mentioned money, he changed his words to "honorable". Ask complained in his heart, but smiled:

"Of course, golden-striped leeches prefer warm, humid, dark places. After sucking their fill of blood, they will stick to the wall or ceiling, emitting a dim striped golden light, hence their name. The way to deal with them is even simpler. A stun grenade or a flash bomb can stun their bodies and disrupt their spirits, and then you can just drag them back with a big net."

"I see." Mia began to get ready. Apparently, military supplies such as stun grenades and flash bombs were not difficult for the Thieves Guild to obtain.

"Then the items on the list are complete." Mastro said, "10 pounds of water from the Gar Valley, 30 pounds of Eden Fruit, and 70 pounds of geoduck. These spiritual materials are all smuggled overseas, so the price will be 50%-70% higher than buying them locally. The feathers of the Vera Eagle and the golden extraordinary leeches are originally 120 pounds each according to the market price. In view of the clues you provided, we will only charge you half the price for each item, a total of 230 pounds."

"I'll pay 30% first, which is a deposit of 69 pounds." Ask's answer was straightforward. At this moment, what he needed most was to collect the potion as soon as possible. To do this, he didn't care whether he provided the other party with information about spiritual materials for free or accepted a small monetary premium. "But the delivery must be made tomorrow."