Miss Princess only brought Shade to the tavern, and she didn't have anything to deal with. So after chatting, Shade told the bartender that he wanted to buy currency relics.
Relics are not so easy to find. Luvia has been purchasing such relics through the academy, the Prophet Association, and the black market in Tobesk for many years, but they cannot provide her with the "accurate divination" that consumes too much energy. Therefore, Shade would go to Coldwater Port City without any trouble. The port city is well connected and there are more opportunities.
"No problem. I'll put the commission up for you. If there's any news, I'll let you know the next time you come. But if the deal is done, the bar will take a cut."
The bartender said.
"Of course no problem. By the way, do you have a list of consignment sales of relics?"
Xia De asked again, and saw a slender black cat lying on the counter. This was the cat kept by the bar, and it seemed to be taking a nap, and it didn't disturb it even though the three of them were chatting nearby.
"Of course not. Do you think this is a market? You stated your requirements. We will check the list of items that the local ring sorcerer has entrusted us to sell. If there is interest, we will introduce the buyer and seller to meet at the bar. The bar is only a broker and will not help you negotiate the price. Wait a moment..."
The bartender said, looking down at the bar:
"You're lucky. There's actually a currency-type relic for sale. But there's only one, and it's only a poet-level one. Are you interested?"
Although it seemed like he was lucky, this was Xia De's first search in such a big city, so it was normal to have some gains:
"Poet level? Never mind, when can I meet the seller?"
This kind of "luck" should only happen this time. After he has searched the city, he will have to wait slowly next time.
"The seller is in the tavern. I need to remind you that he is not a regular customer. He came to our place for the first time a week ago after being introduced by a friend. He has been killing time here during the day these past few days, waiting for the ship to go to the New World. Therefore, the tavern is not responsible for guaranteeing whether there is any fraud in the transaction."
"I understand. How much commission do you want?"
"For small transactions, we take 5% off a hundred."
The burly man behind the bar twirled his fingers.
"no problem."
Xia De nodded and picked up the glass of water on the bar, but then he remembered that he was wearing a mask:
"I want to meet the seller. Also, regardless of whether this deal is successful or not, the commission to purchase currency relics will be with you for a long time."
"You can only stay here for half a month. Otherwise, if you never come back, will the bar have to keep your commission in mind?"
The sturdy man laughed, tilted his head and whispered to the young bartender who was wiping the glasses beside him.
The latter nodded, left the bar, and walked straight to the left wall. After whispering for a while with the man who was sitting alone at a small round table, drinking and reading a newspaper, the middle-aged man turned back and looked in the direction of the bar.
He had short yellow hair and his eyelids were obviously turned outward. He was not wearing a mask and his clothes were not covered. The only special thing about him was that he was wearing a red glove on his right hand.
He saw Shad and Miss Princess at a glance. Shad nodded at him. The man thought for a moment, gestured, and asked Shad to come over to discuss business.
Miss Princess looked curious about what happened next, but respected Shade's privacy and did not follow.
Xia De sat down opposite the man and saw hand-rolled cigarettes, matches, a deck of upside-down Rhodes cards, half a glass of beer, a plate of boiled peanuts and a thin book titled "Adventure Guide to the Eye of the Storm" on the wooden round table.
In those romantic novels about urban life, middle-aged people with interesting stories usually spend the whole day in the pub. But the man at the table is not middle-aged. Although he looks very mature, he is probably only about 30 years old.
There was no need for small talk between two strangers, so Xia De directly explained his purpose:
"I want to buy the poet-level relic in your hand."
"Only barter is accepted."
The man's voice was hoarse, as if his throat was injured, but his Dralion language was surprisingly standard. He looked at Shad with drooping eyelids, but because Shad was wearing a mask, he couldn't really see anything.
"Barter?"
Xia De shook his head. The only bottle of endless mercury that could be sold at the moment was prepared for practice credits, and this item might be linked to the Blood of Mercury of Destruction. Apart from the academy, there might be problems with sales through other channels.
"I don't have anything good. Just name a price. I can pay a high price to buy what you have."
He said.
"High price?"
The man hesitated:
"What I have in my hand is the Poet-level relic universal currency. If you mix it with any two ordinary coins of the same type and denomination, it can automatically transform into the surrounding coins. What's your price?"
Xia De had heard of this relic; it was introduced in his first-year course, "The Shelter and Management of Relics."
The Poet-level relic universal currency was first recorded in the year 723 of the Sixth Era Universal Calendar. The Church of Creation detected the abnormal frequency of natural disasters in the southern city of Kasendala in the Old World. After three consecutive years of investigation, it was discovered that this relic was circulating in the local area.
The characteristics of the universal currency are very simple. The positive characteristic is that it can be treated as any other currency. The negative characteristic is that once it is spent as coin, the person who uses the coin will fall into bad luck for at least ten years.
After the great earthquake in Kasendala in 719 AD, the entrance to the ancient tomb was exposed to the ground, causing coins filled with ten large water jars to flow into the city. As these coins continued to circulate in Kasendala, more and more local people came into contact with and used the universal currency, which eventually led to a decline in the fortunes of the people in the entire region, resulting in frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms, and insect plagues.
Of course, although it sounds scary, after the church knew about the universal currency and recorded it in the book, this relic was known to the ring warlocks as a common relic. Therefore, as long as they come into contact with it, the ring warlocks can generally recognize this relic, thus reducing the danger level of the relic to the lowest level.
Because it is relatively common, and is of little use except to sorcerers with special runes such as Fortune, this relic has a low value.
"How about 10 pounds?"
A reasonable price, Shad suggested, would be no more than £9.
"Twenty pounds."
The man said, and Shade narrowed his eyes.
"You know it's impossible at this price."
"I just want to say that I prefer bartering. There are no relics in this tavern that are less than 10 pounds, but you can take the 10 pounds to find new relics somewhere else, and then exchange them with me."
The man suggested, motioning for Shad to think slowly while he reached for the newspaper that had just been put down.
Shade shook his head:
"I don't have time to run around for something worth less than 10 pounds. I noticed that you have a pair of Rhodes cards next to you. How about we play a game of Rhodes?"
"Oh? What do you want to bet on?"
The man asked, his eyes looking at Shade's mask, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.
Shad proposed:
"If I win, you and I will buy the coin for £9. If I lose, I will buy the coin for £20."
The man hesitated for a moment before nodding:
"Can."
"I need to confirm that the relic is in your possession first."
"Can."
The man reached into his pocket and took out a golden coin and placed it on the table. On the side facing up, there was an ancient rune representing "wealth". Shade took a look and immediately got the hint of the "whisper" element.
"No problem. Let the bartender at the bar do the notarization. Oh, and you can call me Mr. Watson. By the way, there are no special cards in my deck."
Shade said that he didn't want to reveal his identity because of the Rhodes cards, as he was going to use those cards to participate in the "Big City Players" Rhodes card competition in the fall.
"You can call me Mr. Darkness. I have a special card in my deck."
Mr. Darkness folded his hands and placed them on the table:
"The days of waiting for the ship to sail are so boring. I'm glad someone wants to play Rhodes with me. Why don't we use some interesting rules? It's still Rhodes's 21 points, but each person takes three cards at a time, two exposed cards and one hidden card, and then opens the cards together. Winning cards are two points, and losing cards are zero points. If both parties bust, both parties will get zero points. Discarding cards is allowed. If you discard a card, you get zero points and your opponent gets one point. When both parties have emptied their decks, the person with the most points wins."
Xia De thought about it:
"no problem."
Although this is more time-consuming, there are only 54 cards in a deck, so even if you play slowly, it will not take more than 20 minutes.
So the two of them went to the bar and explained their ideas to the burly bartender. This was not the first time this kind of thing happened in this pub, so the bartender readily agreed to notarize it and collected the bets from both parties in advance.
Xia De still didn't think this was gambling, he just thought it was a bargaining method, so he had no psychological barriers to participating in the game.
When the idle people in the tavern heard that someone was going to gamble on Rhodes, they all gathered together, but because they did not trust the strange ring wizard, they just watched from a distance. Only Miss Princess stood directly behind Shad's chair and held the back of his chair with her hand.
The lady was not surprised at all that Xia De was going to play cards when he was clearly going to buy something. She even stood in front of him to cover him when Xia De changed his deck and pulled out all the special cards.
After both parties sorted out their decks, they exchanged decks for inspection and shuffle. This allowed Shade to see Mr. Darkness's special card, which was the 9th of the Moon, but looked very new.