"No, no, no, of course not."
Seeing Zheng Qing's furious expression, Arthur Ness seemed to be in an excellent mood. Smiling, he waved a hand and produced a bright red notice. "We came here today on official business."
"We heard that Ding Ding Finance and Pest Control Company conducted private trade with the Linzhong Lake Merfolk Tribe without obtaining permission from the school or the relevant administrative departments of Beta Town... Is that true?"
Ding Ding Finance and Pest Control Company was D&K's official name, but it was rarely used in everyday life. So when Arthur suddenly mentioned it, Zheng Qing felt a little unfamiliar with it.
But D&K did indeed have a small "consignment sales" arrangement with the Merfolk Tribe.
That arrangement had been established when they invited the young merman named Iseni to the shop's opening. Zheng Qing and the others helped sell some local specialties from the Merfolk Tribe—such as salted frog legs, ornaments made from kappa skulls, dried seaweed, and so on. In return, D&K received a small commission from the sales.
For D&K, there was no reason to turn down such an effortless and profitable deal. The only possible risk was that transactions involving magical items between wizards and the Merfolk Tribe required approval from the Relevant Department. Since it was difficult to find any product in the Magic World that contained absolutely no magical elements, Zheng Qing and the others' consignment business was, technically, somewhat noncompliant.
But when the shop had first opened, the Merfolk Tribe had still been very well-behaved and had not caused a mess as serious as today's. So that bit of risk barely counted as a cost at all.
From another perspective, Wanderer Wizard black markets operated openly on Pedestrian Street. Zheng Qing felt that his own shop playing a