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Chapter 223: Shopping in the Royal Capital

While Antares and the others were entangled with Heinz’s group, back in the royal capital of Gaelia, Decius and the other two were smoothly progressing with their shopping. The shops introduced by Gina were all conscientious, and they successfully purchased the necessary supplies within their expected budget.

“We’ve had a good shopping experience. I can’t thank you enough for giving us such a reasonable price.”

“Not at all! Honestly, it’s a relief for us too. I was worried that these items might just add to our inventory for years, maybe even become dead stock.”

Decius and the merchant were both satisfied with the business they had conducted and they exchanged handshakes with smiles on their faces. The merchant specialized in the production and sale of wagons, and Decius had chosen the largest ones available in the shop.

During the war, there was a sudden surge in demand for large wagons to transport food to the front lines. As soon as the war began, this shop started mass production and was particularly successful in profiting among those dealing in wagons. Reading the trends of the times and making a profit was a sign of a skilled merchant.

However, it seemed they had gotten carried away. Believing the war would drag on, they had focused solely on producing large wagons. But then, the Empire triumphed over the Republic, driving them out of their territory. With the central front’s battles overwhelmingly in their favor, the need for new wagons vanished.

Despite halting production in a panic when the demand decreased, the established mass-production system had backfired, leaving them with a significant surplus of stock. Due to the wagons’ size, even disassembling the parts for storage would take up considerable space in the warehouse.

At that moment, Decius and the others arrived. They announced their intention to purchase eight of the large wagons that were thought to be burdening the warehouse. For the shop, it was a stroke of goof fortune and even with a slight discount, it posed no problem at all.

“Please take this. It’s a letter of introduction. He’s not a malicious person to begin with, but I think he’ll be a little more accommodating if you show him this.”

“That’s very helpful. Thank you.”

Since he was quite pleased with the deal, the wagon merchant penned a letter and handed it to Decius. It was a letter of introduction to a cattle and horse dealer they planned to visit next.

The contents were administrative matters such as the number and size of the wagons that Decius and his friends had purchased, as well as the approximate number of cattle and horses they would need. It also included a request for the dealer to sell them healthy and obedient animals. The letter clearly indicated how much Decius and his group’s large purchase had helped the merchant.

While Decius was making the purchase, Tigar and Bolts, his companions in this endeavor, clearly had too much time to spare. The former was yawning with his arms crossed and looking bored, while the latter gazed expressionlessly at the ceiling. Since negotiating was Decius’s job, there was nothing for the two to do.

Tigar’s role was only to deter pickpockets and the like with his overtly strong presence, and Bolts’s role was to assess the quality of the goods. As the current matters were outside their roles at the moment, it was understandable that they were left with nothing to do.

“Then, we’ll take our leave.”

“Yes, please look forward to the day of delivery.”

After leaving the wagon merchant’s shop, the group headed to the cattle and horse dealer they were referred to. They handed over the letter of introduction to him, but the cattle and horse dealer looked quite troubled.

The reason was simple: the cattle and horse dealer was unable to prepare the number of “healthy and obedient cattle and horses” that the wagon merchant had requested.

“Is it impossible? I thought I offered you the market price.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not about the money. Due to the war, there’s a shortage of horses…”

The Enzo continent lacked the technology to create vehicles similar to those used by the Republic Army. Although development was progressing as they used the Republic Army’s captured weapons as a reference, transportation on the continent still mainly relied on cattle and horses.

Consequently, wars led to a surge in demand for horses. However, horses are living creatures and their numbers can’t be increased quickly just because there’s a high demand for them. As a result, the supply of horses inevitably fell short.

“We can only provide half of the number you’re asking for.”

“Half… What about cattle?”

“We can supply the number of cattle you need, but they’re certainly slower compared to horses, you know?”

“I’m aware. They’re needed because they’re strong on mountain paths. But if we can’t get the horses…”

“Hey, can I have a word?”

It was Tigar who interrupted the ongoing conversation between the cattle and horse dealer and Decius. The Tigar that had been leaving the negotiations to Decius up until now, his sudden interjection, indicated there must be a good reason. Decius, who had known Tigar for quite some time, was well aware of his character.

“What’s the matter?”

“There are enough horses in the stable, aren’t there? I have good ears, so I can tell the approximate number.”

“He says so…but what do you think?”

“Y-yes. While it’s true that the number of horses in the stable meets your needs, they are either too old or still in training. The former can’t fulfill their duties, and the latter aren’t ready for sale. Some of them seem difficult to train at all…”

The cattle and horse dealer explained that he hadn’t been hiding anything. Tigar discerned that the man was indeed not lying and apologized to him, saying that he was wrong for doubting him.

Meanwhile, Decius placed his hand on his chin and went into deep thought. Having seemingly reached a decision, he turned to the cattle and horse dealer with a question.

“I see. By the way, can we purchase the horses that are currently in training?”

“Eh!? Well, it’s possible to sell them to you, but…”

“Let’s decide after seeing them. Could you show us to the stable?”

“Y-yes, this way, please.”

The cattle and horse dealer, clearly reluctant, seemed to think showing them the horses might make them reconsider and agreed to lead them to the stable. Peering inside, they saw several horses tethered in their stalls. Tigar’s observation appeared to be correct.

However, the dealer’s words also held truth. The younger horses in the stalls were clearly not yet fully trained, and they reacted nervously to the sight of Decius and the others, whom they had never seen before.

Some horses began to fidget restlessly, while others snorted aggressively, showing signs of agitation. Particularly, the largest horse there seemed to have a wild temperament, giving off an aura that suggested it might attack if approached too closely.

“Both the timid and the unruly ones need proper training before they can be sold. Even if you’re not an expert, you can understand why I say they aren’t ready for sale just by looking at them, right?”

“Yes, that’s true. But… Mr. Tigar?”

“Uh? Me?”

As a former imperial soldier, Decius had experience with horses, and although he was not as good as an expert cattle and horse dealer, he had a discerning eye for them. Even though he acknowledged the dealer’s point as valid, Decius nonetheless called out to Tigar.

However, Tigar, who was called upon, did not understand what he was being called for. Thanks to Apao who could also speak the human language, any member of the former special operations unit was capable of taking care of horses, so it wasn’t just him. Yet Tigar was not adept at riding and was a complete novice at training horses. He was convinced he could be of no help in this matter.

“I’m not good for much here.”

“No, no, I think you’re just the right person for this, Tigar. Let’s see… that horse looks promising.”

Decius said that and pointed out the largest one in the bunch. Not only was it physically imposing, but it was the most unruly one among them. Even the cattle and horse dealer mentioned how difficult it was to train.

Perhaps Decius was suggesting they do something with that particular horse. While Tigae chuckled and muttered about the harshness of the joke underneath his breath, the cattle and horse dealer, with a pale face, pleaded with Decius, arguing that it was best to do nothing.

“Wait, please! That horse is an extremely fierce mare that even kicks down stallions with ease! It has become the boss among the young horses after pushing away the males. If you get close, you might get trampled or kicked!”

“Ah, that’s just perfect. Tigar, could you just glare at that horse… with only your demon eyes.”

Decius spoke the last part in a volume that was audible only to Tigar. Grasping Decius’s intention, Tigar grinned mischievously and strode confidently towards the stall containing the large horse. Meanwhile, the cattle and horse dealer, in a flurry of panic, attempted to intervene and stop him.

However, it was too late for him to intervene. As Tigar entered the horse’s reach, the large horse reared up, attempting to crush him with its forelegs. Convinced of Tigar’s demise, the cattle and horse dealer instinctively closed his eyes and turned away from him.

“Easy there, easy. Calm down, will you?”

Contrary to the dealer’s fears, Tigar was far from dead. In fact, he had strengthened his body with fighting spirit and deliberately caught the horse’s hooves with his head and shoulders. His eyes alone transformed into those of a demon… specifically resembling those of a powerful beast known as the Heavenly Thunder Tiger, as he stared down at the horse.

At that moment, the raging horse was forced to realize that it had struck a being far superior to itself. As soon as this understanding dawned on it, the horse calmed down and gently lowered its hooves to the ground while bowing its head. This wasn’t so much training as it was submission under overwhelming intimidation.

The other young horses, too, were paralyzed with fear under Tigar’s imposing presence. And the typically panic-prone timid ones could do nothing but breathe heavily, overwhelmed by a fear so intense due to the stark disparity in power.

“Settled down now? Is this good, Decius?”

“Yes, very good. Let’s proceed with the negotiations, then.”

In the end, they were able to purchase the untrained horses at a lower price, acquiring the planned number of horses. This completed all their shopping, and the fact that they ended up with more budget left over than expected was a pleasant miscalculation.

They decided to use part of this extra money as savings and the rest as gifts for the team members back at the camp. There were several shops on Gina’s list that dealt in luxury goods, but they agreed it wouldn’t be right to decide what to buy without discussing things with Antares and the others.

“By the way… He’s still following us, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is. Still as awkward and bafflingly bad as ever.”

In fact, someone had been tailing the three of them while they were shopping. The person tailing them thought they hadn’t been noticed, but the three had realized it long ago. They didn’t try to shake off the tailing because they wanted to see how the follower would act.

The tailing was so clumsy that at first, they thought it might be a decoy. But no matter how carefully they searched their surroundings, they couldn’t find any other followers. None of the three were particularly skilled in detection, so they couldn’t be certain there were no others, but they agreed it was unlikely anyone else was there.

“Even so, he’s only watching Bolts. Is he an acquaintance of yours?”

“Who knows? I don’t recognize him.”

The person following them seemed to be watching only Bolts. Tigar asked the boy if he knew the person, but the latter denied it with a blank look on his face.

Tigar appeared to be convinced by Bolts’s response as he replied with a calm “I see.”, but in reality, both he and Decius realized that Bolts was lying. The two of them started making their way back as they thought of the same thing: let’s report this to the boss.

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