Trade

"Young master, we'll be entering the Barony after daybreak. We should reach Nafu City by tomorrow afternoon," a butler with grizzled hair and slightly refined attire poked his head into the carriage from outside.

Claire Griffin nodded, "I know, Regan."

"Then please rest well." With that, Regan withdrew.

Claire had been in this world for nearly half a month. Like the cliché plot for most people, he was a transmigator.

After several days, he had resigned himself to fate. The original body's identity was quite good; his father was a Viscount, and he was the sole heir.

However, not even a few days later, his good-for-nothing father passed away, leaving him no inheritance. The assets in the royal capital were already being sought by creditors with IOUs, forcing him to sell off some real estate to pay off debts.

Fortunately, his father hadn't been so insane as to sell off the territory, so he had left Claire a city, Nafu City.

Speaking of which, the Griffin family's glory had originated from this city. It wasn't due to any great ancestor, but rather during the time of the Viscount before the previous generation, the original owner's grandfather, a magic ore mine was discovered in their territory. Noble law stipulated that anything within a noble's territory belonged to that lord.

Thus, starting from that generation, the Griffin family prospered, eventually moving directly to the royal capital, leaving only some subordinates to manage their territory.

But mines eventually run out of ore. That magic ore mine was only mined for about fifty years. By the time of the original owner's father, it had been depleted. However, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

This is why, after the original owner's father died, so many creditors came knocking on their door.

Fortunately, after selling off the assets in the royal capital, the Griffins were finally debt-free.

Claire was somewhat looking forward to arriving at Nafu City. Because the Griffin family's Barony was the most borderland Barony in the kingdom, its land area was larger than some Earldoms.

"Nafu City, Nafu City..." Claire muttered to himself, "A city with a very auspicious meaning."

Claire closed his eyes and dozed for an hour or two. At midnight, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He murmured, "It's time."

Then, with a thought, a transparent panel appeared before him. It was a data panel that only he could see. In other words, this was his cheat.

This data panel was pathetically simple, with only one button: "Start Trade." It had no other functions.

At this moment, Claire's gaze also fell upon the upper right corner of the panel.

"Times available for trade: 1"

"Well, it's just as I thought. This cross-world trading updates once a week," Claire thought to himself.

Claire silently chanted, "Start Trade."

The originally simple panel immediately displayed a swirling pattern. In the indistinctness, Claire could feel a divine aura emanating from it.

Claire glanced again at the upper right corner of the panel. As expected, the trade point had been deducted.

The swirl was still spinning continuously, and Claire wasn't in a hurry. This was already his second time initiating a trade, so he knew it was searching for people from other worlds.

After several tens of seconds, the swirl suddenly stopped and then, as if parting muddy water, a person's face appeared on the panel.

Claire's eyes immediately narrowed as he looked at the matched trader before him. It was a middle-aged man, covered in dust, wearing a sweat-stained cowboy hat and a loose wool shirt.

Claire thought to himself, "Western Cowboy?"

His eyes scanned the other person's entire body carefully. He could see dark red bloodstains on the leather jacket, clearly indicating the person had taken lives.

The other person raised their hand first to greet him, "Hello! My name is Monroe, what should I call you?"

"Antonio," Claire gave a false name, then, with a cold tone, acting like a seasoned veteran, said, "We only have five minutes for trading, so let's make it quick. What do you have from your world that might interest me?"

Monroe chuckled sheepishly, "Since it's not our first trade, let's be honest."

Then, as if it were a treasure, he took out a yellowish glass cup from his embrace and displayed it to Claire like he was presenting a treasure, boasting, "This is a glass cup from the distant East. It's a priceless treasure! What do you think?"

Claire's eye twitched. Damn it, he's treating me like an idiot!

Let alone the fact that he was a transmigator, even the glass containers used by apprentice mages for experiments in this world of swords and magic were purer and more transparent than what this guy was showing. If he traded for this piece of junk, his once-a-week trading opportunity would be wasted!

Seeing Claire remain silent, Monroe's expression became somewhat awkward. He had successfully fooled quite a few other traders with these glass cups before. It seemed he had encountered someone who knew their stuff this time.

However, he was still somewhat unwilling and continued to bluff, "Look at this crystal, so clear and transparent. Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

Claire glanced at the time; almost a minute had passed. He finally couldn't hold back.

"Take out the thing on your waist and let me see it."

Monroe was startled, then took out a revolver from his waist and showed it to Claire, "You're interested in this? This is a weapon I bought at a great price. One shot can kill a person..."

Claire raised his hand to stop his self-praise, "Alright, no need to say more. Colt Revolver, a single-action handgun, usually has five to six chambers, firing one by one..."

After a brief introduction, Claire looked at him, "Do I still need to introduce it?"

Monroe's expression became even more awkward, "Most of what you said is correct, but who is Colt? This gun is called a Devon Revolver."

Claire's pupils contracted. It seemed this world wasn't the same world he was in before, otherwise the other party shouldn't be unfamiliar with the Colt Revolver.

"It was a trader I met during a previous trade. He was an arms dealer. I didn't buy it then, and now I've encountered it. Besides this, it's hard for you to have anything that interests me from your world. So, do you want to trade?" Claire lied as easily as he breathed.

"Trade, of course, trade," Monroe's face was filled with smiles, "But what treasure can you offer in exchange?"

Claire's eyes flickered. He reached into his embrace and pulled out three transparent test tubes filled with a blue solution.

Monroe's smile visibly stiffened for a moment. So, the other party already had glass over there, and he had just been trying to bluff them. However, his skin was quite thick, and he quickly cast aside that trace of awkwardness.

"What is this?" Monroe asked.

Claire didn't reply. He drew a dagger from his waist, which was one of the few household items not mortgaged. Jewels were embedded in its handle.

Claire then drew a deep gash on his forearm with his dagger. Blood immediately flowed out, drawn by gravity to his elbow and slowly dripping.

Monroe, across from him, stared with wide eyes. What is this guy doing? Is he going to self-harm just because we disagree?

However, Claire quickly poured a tenth of the blue solution from a test tube and applied it to the wound he had just created.

Hiss, that hurts, but Claire maintained his expressionless facade. After about five seconds, when he removed his hand, the wound he had just created had already healed, leaving no scar.

Claire plugged the cork back into the test tube and said lightly, "You probably need this, right?"

Monroe's eyes widened. There was no such thing as magic in his world. What Claire was performing in front of him was nothing short of a miracle. He was already starting to regret wasting that tenth of the blue solution.

But this was merely a Basic Healing Potion that Claire could concoct with ease. Any ordinary apprentice mage could prepare it, and the cost wouldn't exceed three silver coins.

"Are you sure you want to trade such a treasure with me?" Monroe's mind was reeling. He shouldn't be saying things like this during a trade.

But it wasn't his fault. In their world, this was a life-saving treasure. If one were shot during a duel, they could only pray for God's favor to prevent the wound from worsening and taking their life. Now, even if shot, as long as they applied the potion, they could turn around and shoot the enemy twice.

Even if he didn't use it himself, selling a tube of the potion would fetch tens of thousands of gold coins. He wouldn't need to struggle anymore; he could become a wealthy man.

"Of course, but it's not just for your handgun."

"Please, tell me!" Monroe was now using honorifics.

"How many bullets do you have on you?"

"I have over three hundred at home," Monroe replied quickly.

"Good. One tube of potion for a handgun, and the remaining bit of potion for three hundred bullets," Claire said calmly.

"Deal!" Monroe was so excited he almost slammed the table. Although these items were almost all his possessions, as long as he had the potion, everything he lost would be returned a hundredfold. Perhaps in the future, when he became a rich man, he wouldn't even know how to fire a gun.

As he envisioned it, a joyful smile spread across Monroe's face, and he quickly rummaged through his room to find the handgun and bullets.

Claire wasn't idle either. He placed the test tube in his hand into the trading space and waited for the other party to put everything in as well.

A few lines of introduction about the revolver and bullets appeared on the previously simple interface.

"This is a weapon from the Albert World, a revolver with considerable power..."

After a brief scan, Claire looked up at the other person. Monroe had finished his review and nodded at Claire.

They both clicked on the trade items simultaneously. The three tubes of potion in Claire's trading space turned into two revolvers and a large bag of shining yellow bullets.

This is a fictional world, and the content is purely speculative. Please do not take it seriously.