Chapter 1325
A few days later, in another city, news that the Carter Family had become a vassal of the Gilded Rose began to spread like wildfire. Some places even posted bounties for Walker Carter—though his name wasn't mentioned, only a sketch was shown, painting Walker as a notorious fugitive...
Seeing the bounty amount, Walker Carter’s vision went black. Five hundred thousand violet gold coins for his head—even a scrap of information about his whereabouts would fetch fifty thousand violet gold coins...
Walker Carter hurriedly fled the city, slipping into a nearby village. But even there, bounties were plastered everywhere. It didn’t matter who you were—if you had any news of his movements, you could immediately claim fifty thousand violet gold coins...
Cautious and desperate, Walker Carter hid in the wilderness, not daring to enter any city. His face was twisted in anger—and even deeper, in despair...
Order quickly returned. The Gilded Rose had directly absorbed the Carter Family as a vassal, and overnight, every branch store became the safest place in the city. Even those flaunting piles of violet gold coins while shopping at the Gilded Rose were left untouched once they left—no one dared make a move.
Those who used to stir up trouble in Rigg City, hoping to profit from chaos, had vanished without a trace. No one saw them again.
Sales of the Universal Core soared. In just one month, the Gilded Rose released ten thousand more Universal Cores than planned, yet demand still far outstripped supply. Outside the Gilded Rose, representatives from countless families and factions lingered, waiting for the next batch to hit the shelves so they could snatch them up the moment they appeared.
Some alchemy shops had received Universal Cores three days ahead of schedule. In just a month, their magical devices equipped with Universal Cores didn’t sell in huge numbers, but their entire business turned around—profits surged nearly threefold.
That’s the advantage of being one step ahead. Alchemical goods—same price, just a little better—and suddenly they’re in a league of their own. Alchemical potions, too: a ten-percent boost in quality might mean the price jumps tenfold.
If a shop has something better than its competitors, the overall sales will surge. That’s the norm in the alchemy trade: the strong get stronger, the weak starve.
Just as profits from the Gilded Rose’s Universal Core were skyrocketing—rivaling even the margins on alchemical potions—the Rodney Family, after months of silence, finally received their first visitor.
"Lord Reynolds, welcome to the Rodney Family."
Wylde stood with a faint smile. His destroyed metal right arm had fully regenerated, and his wounds were healed. He radiated the signature pride of the Rodney Family—polite words, but anyone could hear the pride beneath them.
Across from Wylde stood a mage in white robes, a black headband crowning his brow, emerald eyes gleaming, skin the color of chocolate, and a meticulously groomed beard lining his cheeks.
Reynolds, smiling, followed Wylde into the Rodney Family’s council hall.
Wylde walked beside Reynolds, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Why would Reynolds come to the Rodney Family? This cunning man had just become the number two of the Roosevelt Trading Consortium in the Odin Kingdom, hadn’t he?
He oversees all Consortium affairs in northern Odin Kingdom. Our family has no business ties with the Roosevelt Trading Consortium—so what’s he doing here?
We haven’t discovered any new planes lately, nor found any new resources. So why would this fox-hunter, whose nose only catches the scent of violet gold coins, pay us a visit?
Those vampires from the Stoneland Kingdom wouldn’t even glance at the Rodney Family unless there was serious profit involved. Our family deals mainly in alchemical potions—there’s nothing worth collaborating on with the Roosevelt Trading Consortium, whose main wealth comes from magical devices...
Wylde was baffled, unable to understand why the Roosevelt Trading Consortium, whose business barely overlapped with the Rodney Family, would seek him out.
The Stoneland Kingdom isn’t like the Andalusia or Odin Kingdoms. It sits on the most barren land in the Northend World. When it was founded, there wasn’t even a royal family—just a handful of merchant alliances forming tiny kingdoms, which eventually merged into one of the three great kingdoms.
All power in the Stoneland Kingdom rests with its parliament, and every member is the leader of a merchant alliance. Officially, there’s an upper and lower house, but the lower house is just a bunch of ordinary alliances. Their profits aren’t small, but they sell things for the masses—grain, clothing, low-grade magic lamps, all for everyday use.
All the lower house members combined don’t have the sway of a single upper house member. Real power lies with the upper house—mighty mage factions who control everything for mages, swordsmen, and archers. Nearly all alchemical goods are managed by these members; dozens of alliances carve up the high-profit alchemy industry chain among themselves.
From raw materials to final shop sales, these merchant alliances hold it all. So, while the land itself is poorer than Andalusia, the Stoneland Kingdom is far wealthier overall. With gold, strength grows, and Stoneland is also a source for rare materials—each alliance is richer than the last.
Even yourself, there’s a price tag. That’s a common saying in the Stoneland Kingdom: everything and everyone has a clear value. If the price is high enough, you’d sell out friends, family—even yourself.
The leader of the Roosevelt Trading Consortium is one of the Stoneland Kingdom’s upper house members, specializing in magical devices. Reynolds ranks among the top five in the Consortium—otherwise, he wouldn’t oversee all their northern Odin Kingdom affairs.
Someone like that doesn’t show up in person unless there’s serious profit involved. Without enough benefit, you wouldn’t even get to see his face...