The Wilhelm merchant froze with its pouch held open.
"Two? Didn't you say a thousand?"
What would I do with that much of this stuff? Drink it like water? The words nearly slipped out, but at the sight of the Wilhelm merchant's dangerous vertical pupils, Annan hurriedly changed tack. "I'll buy two to test them first..."
"Two..."
The Wilhelm merchant tugged at its shirt, which had stuck to its chest with sweat. It was on the verge of losing its temper.
Every customer who traded with them was usually terrified of giving offense. Who bargained back and forth like they were buying vegetables at a market—and even asked for freebies?
Pathetic! Fucking pathetic!
"Then ten... a hundred! There's a war coming. We need to spend our money on City Defense Construction." Annan relented a little, lest the unscrupulous Wilhelm merchant hold a grudge. "We can buy the rest later..."
The merchant's vertical pupils faded. Having failed to make as much money from Annan as expected, it tried another angle. "The fighting in the Northern Frontier is getting worse. We also protect lords' property. Interested, Mr. Annan?"
"You offer protection too?"
"Only clients of Black Iron rank or above qualify. Take your pick of Epic, Legendary, or Demigod security."
Annan considered this. "Do you take assassination contracts?"
"Sorry, we merchants love Peace."
Annan didn't believe that for a second. For enough profit, merchants would even sell the rope used to hang them.
He suspected the Wilhelm merchants sold shields but not spears so they could profit from both sides. If one of two enemies hired their protection service, the other would have to hire them too for safety. That also kept their clients alive to buy more goods in the future.
Weren't they treating their customers like dairy cows?
"You really