If a conversation was like a clash, then the initiative in this one was undoubtedly in Yusuf's hands.
Through a series of questions and answers, Yusuf had already gained the upper hand and suppressed Rhode's momentum.
As Yusuf saw it, even setting aside the fact that his was the only merchant group heading to the City of Wailing, the prospective passenger was a necromancer with little experience. Of course he could demand a higher price.
Necromancers were unlikely to join forces with others, but Yusuf remembered plenty of cases where necromancers had taken advantage of merchant groups on their own. Taking a necromancer along was risky in itself.
Yusuf was a seasoned warrior, so he wasn't particularly wary of the necromancer before him. Still, he didn't want to get too involved with him. Unless the necromancer was willing to pay a large sum of gold, Yusuf wouldn't let him join as a passenger.
"Two hundred gold coins. What do you think?"
Yusuf named the price he had in mind.
Rhode didn't answer right away. Instead, he began to consider a question—a problem he had noticed earlier.
Seeing the necromancer lost in thought, Yusuf didn't rush him. He simply folded his arms and watched, waiting for an answer.
After a while, Rhode finished thinking and said to Yusuf, "I have a few questions. I hope you can answer them, Captain."
"Ask away."
After waiting so long, Yusuf was beginning to lose patience.
He knew why the necromancer was asking these questions: he wanted to point out the merchant group's shortcomings so he could pay less for the trip. If a necromancer was still trying to haggle, he'd be better off checking whether he'd brought enough gold.
Rhode asked, "Why is the Silver Seal Merchant Group heading to the City of Wailing?"
At the question, Yusuf nearly lost his temper. He couldn't understand why the necromancer would ask something so obvious.
"To trade."
Rhode continued, "If you're going to trade, why go to the City of Wailing at this time?"
Yusuf seemed not to understand. He asked Rhode, "What do you mean?"
"From what I've heard, a large merchant group headed to the City of Wailing not long ago."
Yusuf's brow furrowed slightly. "So what?"
"A large merchant group heading to the City of Wailing would hire plenty of guards. To maximize its profits, it would also bring a large quantity of goods—enough to supply the city for quite some time. That means any other merchant groups going there during this period would make very little."
Yusuf looked as if he still didn't understand. "What does that prove?"
"Then I have to ask you: why choose to go to the City of Wailing when not a single other merchant group is heading there?"
Yusuf didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked Rhode, "What about you? Why are two necromancers heading to the City of Wailing at a time like this?"
"To join the war."
Rhode said it in an utterly matter-of-fact tone. Yusuf's pupils narrowed.
Rhode had asked these questions to confirm one thing: whether Yusuf knew, based on the information he had, that Dya and Eri were about to break out into a major war.
Yusuf hadn't answered Rhode directly, but judging by his reaction, he clearly had information about the coming war.
Until Yusuf knew whether the necromancer before him was already aware of the war, he naturally wouldn't reveal a thing.
What surprised Yusuf was that he had paid a great deal to confirm a few details with an old friend while gathering information about the war. Even after adding his own analysis, he was only half convinced. But the necromancer before him was clearly certain that the war was coming.
Having confirmed his own information through the necromancer, Yusuf felt much more certain.
Yusuf said to Rhode, "You know that with war about to break out, the City of Wailing will need a great deal of basic supplies. Transporting weapons to the necromancers could naturally bring in higher profits."
Rhode replied, "If you can get word of the war, why couldn't the other merchant groups? If war is about to break out, the City of Wailing—the only major city on Dya's border—will have supplies sent there from major merchant groups all over the region. That'll drive down the price of weapons."
"As far as I know, the Silver Seal Merchant Group is just a small outfit of around twenty people. How can you compete with large merchant groups that have hundreds?"
"Then there are the risks of crossing the border. Especially during wartime, the border is crawling with bandits and raiders from all kinds of races. If you're only transporting weapons, you might not even earn enough to pay your guards."
"The goods your merchant group is transporting can't just be weapons, can they?"
With every sentence Rhode spoke, Yusuf's expression darkened. By the end, his face had turned completely grim, but he still said nothing.
Rhode continued, "I sensed something was off as soon as I entered this tent. There's an aura in here that feels familiar to me..."
Rhode held out his left hand, palm open. "The goods you're really transporting are these, aren't they?"
Yusuf looked down. A rough, dark crystal lay in Rhode's palm: the Soul Crystal he had obtained in the tomb.
"Large merchant groups transport plenty of different goods, so they play it safe and don't carry many Soul Crystals. Other small merchant groups don't have the nerve to buy up a large quantity as soon as they learn of a coming war."
As Rhode finished speaking, Yusuf smiled.
"That's just a guess. Besides, I doubt the other members of the merchant group would welcome necromancers."
After delivering what sounded like a dismissal, Yusuf stood up. He no longer looked at Rhode or the vampire, but headed toward the back of the tent.
"Tell me, how much would the Thieves Guild pay for this information?"
Yusuf immediately understood what Rhode meant. He whipped around to look at Rhode, who was still seated.
Once a large shipment of Soul Crystals reached Dya and the war began, their price could multiply several times over.
That was why, as soon as he confirmed that war was coming, Yusuf had spent all the merchant group's savings on Soul Crystals and hurried toward Dya.
Yusuf had managed to keep the truth from his people. Apart from a few trusted aides, no one knew what the cargo really was. He wanted to prevent word from getting out and drawing an attack from bandits and necromancers.
If they delayed any longer, the war would be confirmed. Then all the trade routes would descend into chaos, and reaching the City of Wailing safely would become much harder without high-level guards.
If word got out that Yusuf was transporting Soul Crystals, bandits would ambush them before they ever reached the City of Wailing. Even full-fledged necromancers might join the attack to seize the cargo.
"You..."
"I just want to go to the City of Wailing," Rhode said, looking at Yusuf's troubled expression.
Before you continue