Trading Copper Ingots

Soon, the King summoned the Second Prince to the palace. During this time, the Second Prince's strategists had analyzed the situation thoroughly. The Second Prince then went before King Raynor VI, George Raynor, and tearfully pleaded his case.

"Father, this matter began with a down-on-his-luck baron named Kerry Raynor," the Second Prince said, weeping as he recounted how the First Prince had caused trouble, explaining the entire sequence of events as his strategists had advised.

The version the Second Prince told King Raynor VI was mostly true, but with a few alterations. The gist was that a relative named Kerry Raynor wanted to return to his rural fief, so he sold his estate in the capital to the Second Prince, with whom he had a good relationship.

The Second Prince and Kerry Raynor were good friends, and when he learned Kerry was returning to the countryside, he readily bought his estate.

Who would have known that this estate had long been coveted by the First Prince, and that Kerry had been driven to the countryside by the First Prince's underhanded tactics? Upon learning this, the Second Prince publicly declared his friendship with Kerry, hoping the First Prince would spare Kerry.

However, the First Prince harbored resentment, believing the Second Prince had bought an estate that should have been his, and also denied him the chance to retaliate against Kerry. Therefore, he used this gathering to thoroughly smear the Second Prince.

The Second Prince stated that his body was fine, and his son was his own, not the stableman's.

King Raynor VI, being the King, was aware that the Second Prince had bought the estate at a low price. Furthermore, his informants had told him that the First Prince had played a dishonorable role in the matter.

Initially, King Raynor VI considered the First Prince's methods to be lacking, believing that with more experience, he wouldn't resort to such unsightly actions. After all, the First Prince was a prince; seizing a civilian's residence was not an issue, nor was being outmaneuvered by the Second Prince. Everyone played their own game, and if the First Prince was upset, he could have sent people to trouble that minor baron.

The mistake this time was that in an attempt to save face, he had damaged the royal family's reputation. There were many other ways to make the Second Prince lose face.

King Raynor VI knew that the Second Prince had many unsavory subordinates who could easily be framed and thrown into prison, thus exposing the Second Prince's dark past.

Now that the situation had escalated to this point, even King Raynor VI's grandson was implicated, forcing King Raynor VI to side with the Second Prince. In the end, the King punished the First Prince, ending this ridiculous farce.

The royal family's reputation could not be slandered. The First Prince was found to have poor control over his subordinates, who instigated others to spread rumors. The King punished him with confinement for a month, forbidding him from leaving his residence.

When people saw the Raynor Daily the next day, many expected to see news about the Second Prince borrowing the stableman's seed. To their surprise, the headline was about the First Prince spreading rumors, much to the disappointment of those who gloated and wanted to witness a royal scandal.

"Damn it, why is Father helping the second prince? This is unfair! He bullied me, so why can't I retaliate? Tell me, why?" the First Prince raged at home, grabbing Doug by the collar and demanding an explanation.

Doug thought about it for a moment and realized they had messed up. The King had to consider the royal family's reputation and would not allow the Second Prince to be humiliated in such a manner.

However, Doug dared not reveal the true reason now. If the First Prince found out that it was his own disgraceful idea that led to their failure, he would surely be skinned alive.

"Your Highness, please calm down. Perhaps the Second Prince is indeed favored by His Majesty, leading him to use you to quell this matter. However, I am certain that after this incident, the Second Prince will not be as favored as before. We are now under close scrutiny, so let's put our conflict with the Second Prince aside for now. You can seek revenge on that Kerry Raynor first."

Doug was a shrewd individual and quickly thought of a scapegoat. As long as he could redirect the First Prince's anger, Doug knew he would be safe this time.

"That damned minor baron, I certainly won't let him off. Since the second prince has already been dealt with, it's time to deal with that minor baron. Doug, do you have any wicked ideas?" Doug indeed had the potential to be the First Prince's confidant; the First Prince's attention and anger were quickly diverted.

"Your Highness, I have a friend who knows a group of pirates. Kerry Raynor's territory is a tiny island, no bigger than a bean. There are no royal troops there, and he can't afford guards. If pirates attack, they can easily land on the island and kill him."

"Yes, hurry and do it. I can't wait to hear of Kerry Raynor's death," the First Prince commanded with a dark expression, his heart only wishing for news of Kerry's death to quell his rage.

On Seattle Island, part of the Jili Merchant Alliance, Kerry was unaware that a minor act of revenge before leaving the capital would lead to a death sentence. However, with the Dimensional Exchange now available, he wouldn't be overly worried even if he knew about the threat to his life.

Kerry had a good night's rest and arrived at the Seattle Trading Market early the next morning. Just as he had expected, it was bustling with activity. Merchants haggled, and ladies and gentlemen from noble families mingled as they shopped, creating a scene of prosperity.

After browsing for a short while, Kerry found the layout to be very organized. He could easily find the goods he wanted to purchase, reminding him of the Yiwu International Trade City from his past life.

Following the signs, Kerry arrived at a colored metal trading area, where various metal ores and finished iron products were being traded at stalls or in shops.

He casually entered a metal ore trading store. A blackboard in the lobby displayed the day's market prices. The trading price for copper was 35,700 copper coins per ton. The copper Kerry possessed was already refined to high purity, so its price should be slightly higher than the market price. Therefore, the copper trading price could only serve as a reference. At the very least, Kerry knew the price of the copper ingots in his hand would not be lower than this figure.

"Boss, can you estimate the price of these copper ingots for me? How much per ton?" He decided to conduct his business honestly. There was no need for showing off or putting anyone down. He didn't want to deliberately present only one ingot and have people assume he was only selling that one, only to then say he had a ship full of ingots and accuse them of being short-sighted. He directly stated he had a lot and asked for a per-ton valuation.

"Please wait a moment, customer. I need to test the purity." The boss had a good attitude and quickly produced a Magic Alchemy Test Crystal. This crystal could directly display the purity value by simply placing the ore on it, which felt even more advanced than the high-tech equipment from his past life.

With a soft "ding," the crystal displayed "100," indicating 100% pure copper ore.

"It seems the customer's smelting skills are quite impressive, comparable to the craftsmanship of the Dwarves. We are willing to purchase this pure copper at a price of 40,000 copper coins per ton. What do you think, customer?" Without hesitation, the shop owner quoted a price of 40,000 copper coins per ton upon discovering the 100% purity.

Please support the author!