Chapter 2: A Day Worth Celebrating

Hearing this offer, anger began to gather in Leon’s eyes.

Mana of this quality, no matter how hard its price was suppressed in the underground market, had never fallen below ten thousand per gram.

The only price lower than this was the acquisition price when Hannah Weisland had slaughtered the completely clueless Rena like a fat lamb.

But the shop owner merely looked back at him with an indifferent expression.

He did not trust the goods this young man had brought, and he was confident that Leon currently had only this single channel through which to sell.

If he could squeeze out a bit more profit for free, he could consider it.

If Leon stormed off in anger, he did not care either—it was only one gram of Mana, after all.

Leon glared at the shop owner for quite a while.

In the end, he slowly suppressed his anger and said in a firm tone:

“The price I’m asking is twenty thousand per gram. Not a single unit less.”

Hearing this, the shop owner let out a snort of laughter on the spot.

“Heh. Who do you think you are? I gave that price to Caron Eso because he can cover the sky with one hand in Hamel Town. You don’t know where you snatched a few scraps from, came here to exchange them for some pocket money, and now you think you can be compared to him?” After laughing, the shop owner wiped the smile from his face and pushed the goods on the table slightly back toward Leon.

“This line of work isn’t something an ignorant brat like you can touch. This time I’ll pretend I never saw you. Please leave, and don’t ever appear in my shop again.”

After saying this, the shop owner turned around and prepared to return behind the counter, determined to stop paying attention to the kid.

“Three months from now, I’ll bring ten grams of Mana.” Leon did not take back his goods, but suddenly spoke to the shop owner’s back.

The shop owner stopped in his tracks, turned around again, and looked at Leon with a face full of confusion.

“And before winter arrives, I’ll release another batch. If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to bring out even more,” Leon continued.

“What are you even talking about?” The shop owner frowned.

“Winter will probably make shipping impossible, but next year, I can release two more batches. The year after that, and the year after that… every year there will be more,” Leon continued relentlessly.

“Can Caron Eso provide you with such a stable supply?”

The shop owner blinked a few times, spent two seconds digesting Leon’s words, then laughed again and shook his head.

“You brought one gram and you’re bragging that you can stably supply me with at least twenty grams every year?”

“These are just samples.” Leon pointed downward with his finger, tapping the goods on the table.

“Before starting real transactions, I naturally need to make sure my sales channel is secure.”

“You’ll say anything just to haggle, won’t you? Not bad, kid—that’s a skill too,” the shop owner said, clearly unconvinced.

“So what if I’m bragging?” Leon spread his hands and countered.

“What loss do you suffer? You’re not selling stolen goods for Caron Eso at a loss anyway. At twenty thousand per gram, you still have room for profit. I’m just asking you to buy the samples at this price—this doesn’t even count as a deposit! We’re talking about transactions worth hundreds of thousands every year, and you’re still fixated on that tiny bit of petty profit?”

The shop owner fell into thought, his expression gradually turning serious.

He had begun to seriously weigh the authenticity of everything Leon said, rather than simply treating it as a fabricated tall tale.

Suppressing the price of this batch to eight thousand would only net him an extra ten thousand or so.

Even if it was fake, there would be no real loss.

Come to think of it, this batch of goods was very similar to the batch of stolen goods sold last time.

That batch had also been brought by this young man.

If he followed the trail and grasped the source, it was not entirely impossible.

If what he said was true, then the profits… missing it would definitely make one regret it to the point of slapping their thigh raw.

“Then come back in three months and bring those ten grams with you. Prove your words. At that time, I’ll naturally give you the best purchase price,” the shop owner chose a cautious solution.

Leon thought for a moment and nodded.

“Of course. But I hope you can understand—three months is a long time, and many variables can arise.”

“So your supply isn’t that stable after all?” the shop owner teased with a smile.

“No. What I mean is that three months is enough time for me to find other buyers. When I can prove that I can supply stably, I’ll naturally be qualified to evaluate who is more suitable to cooperate with,” Leon said meaningfully.

The smile on the shop owner’s face gradually faded.

“What I need is a partner with long-term vision. I can choose who to give priority to—but of course…” Leon gave the shop owner a smile, then reached out to take his goods back.

“You also have the freedom to give it up.”

Leon’s hand slowly reached toward the black cloth bag he had brought.

At that moment, a withered old hand beat him to it and pressed down on the bag.

Leon raised his eyebrows and looked at the shop owner who had reached out, deliberately casting an inquiring gaze at him.

“Fine. Twenty thousand per gram. Eight hundred per rabbit,” the shop owner said as he pulled the bag back in front of himself, staring into Leon’s eyes and speaking slowly.

“Three months from now, I hope you’ll keep your promise, young man.”

“Of course,” Leon replied calmly.

That night, Leon returned to the small flat he rented, satisfied and carrying a pile of things.

The negotiation had gone smoothly.

Now that both production and sales were secured, all that was needed was time and management, and money would start falling everywhere.

With the one hundred and twelve Thaler Silver Coins he obtained from selling the goods, he conveniently bought an entire roasted suckling pig at the market—brushed with honey, paired with potatoes, onions, carrots, and sage, with an apple stuffed into its mouth, roasted until the skin and flesh were crisp, then sliced and placed into a rented dining basket lined with oil paper to be brought home.

In addition to that, there was also a bottle of apple cider.

Even for relatively well-off families, such a lavish dish could only be seen during festivals.

But today truly was a day worth celebrating, and it was also a good opportunity to improve Melissa and the others’ meals.

Leon pushed open the door and called out, “Melissa, are you home? Look what I brought—”

Before he could finish, Melissa came pounding down the narrow staircase with rapid thudding footsteps.

Leon glanced up at her and was immediately startled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Brother Leon!” Melissa’s eyes were filled with tears, and the moment she saw him, she began to sob uncontrollably.

“Mom, she—”

Suddenly, Sally’s violent coughing rang out from the attic.

Leon’s expression changed.

He set down the things in his hands and rushed past Melissa, charging up to the attic.

Could it be that Rena’s medicine had truly triggered some dangerous side effect in the human body?

When he rushed into the attic, the scene before him was Sally lying on the bed, clutching the headboard as she struggled to prop herself up, coughing desperately toward the bedside.

Leon froze in place.

After a moment passed, Sally seemed to finally catch her breath.

With trembling hands, she brushed aside her disheveled hair, raised her face to look at Leon, and forced out a weak smile.

“Mr. Leon…”

“Mrs. Hesh…” Leon blinked, finally snapping back to his senses.

“Your hand… can move again?”