019 Striking a deal
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The merchant's house is built entirely of bricks. And the inside of the building is brightly lit thanks to the many windows. Also, the furniture is of a much higher quality and much attention has been paid to artistic decorations.

With my modern sense of aesthetics, however, I would describe the whole thing as overkill. I prefer simple elegance here, but it is not my house.

We are welcomed by an attendant, and Paula does the talking for now.

"We are here to meet Lydia. We have something she'll be interested in."

The attendant just nods and leads us into a waiting room. Again, the riches are on display, but something bothers me about it. I can't put my finger on what it is, though.

I sit down with the two girls on a comfortable sofa. While Isgard stands behind me. Apparently, she has regained consciousness of her role as my bodyguard. However, a standing dwarf next to human-sized furniture doesn't look that impressive.

We do not wait long until the door opens again. But this time a woman in colourful clothes enters the room. She is about the same size as Chloe, but her hair is dark blond.

She wears black boots and black pants. In addition, she wears a red tuxedo, which has been embroidered with golden threads. And this time I notice what has bothered me so far. The clothes look a little worn out. This trading house seems to be already on the downward branch.

But that could be an advantage. After all, it means she needs me at least as much as I need her. She could make a lot of money with my offer. And I don't have to worry so much about getting ripped off. After all, I could always find another merchant.

"Paula, Chloe." She seems happy to see them. Are they friends? Although I'm not sure how a trader in her 30s and two young adventurers got together.

Next thing I know, her eyes are on me, and I can tell. I don't like that look. She probably thinks I'm a cute little girl.

"And what a sweetie you brought me."

Yeah, I knew it. I have to get control of this conversation before she gets the wrong idea.

But first, Paula will take over the introductions. We've talked at length about it, and since we can't hide my intentions from her anyway. I've decided to lay the cards right on the table.

"This is Her Imperial Highness, Princess Victoria. I wish to introduce you to Lydia, the merchant I told you about."

Now, she seems to have gone into her business mode now. Above all, she seems to trust Chloe enough not to question my identity. Or she's decided it's better just to play along.

"Your Highness." She takes a little bow, then sits across from us. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit?"

"I am here to do business with you. There's something I want to sell, and I think you'll be very interested in it."

She looks a little sceptical. After all, my clothes are anything but expensive. And certainly, nobody has heard of the Imperial Family of Dwarves for several hundred years.

To see is to believe. Which is why I take a polished pebble from a bag. Understandably, she is not really impressed by a simple stone. Until I focus my mana on it. And after a few minutes, I put the finished Stone of Light on the table between us.

She is at least as surprised as I am. But for another reason. It took much longer to finish this stone than it should have. And after a look at my status, I also see that I used up all my mana for it.

Actually, I should have been able to make five of them in one go. Is this another side effect of being too far away from the dungeon? That's not good, but I can't let on for now.

So I take a short deep breath and talk with all the confidence I can muster.

"As you can see, I am an enchantress. And able to create Stones of Light. Nor is this a simple enchantment. Anyone with a little knowledge of magic is able to recharge it. And furthermore, it is also possible to charge them with sunlight. This method takes much longer, of course, but can be done by anyone."

It takes Lydia a while to recover from this revelation. Did I break her? I swear, I can see the gears in her head spinning.

"How many of these stones can you sell me?"

I shake my head with a little smile on my lips. All right, she's hooked. Now all I gotta do is reel her in.

"I think this is the wrong question. The right question would be, how many can you afford?"

This immediately put a damper on her spirits. As I suspected, she's certainly not capable of raising large sums of money.

"I can pay you 10 gold coins for it right now. And if you give me some time, I can raise a larger sum..."

Okay, now that she's desperate. I can make my actual offer. Earning a large sum of money at once is nice. But I was thinking of something more long-term. Besides, it takes me two hours to get enough mana for another stone.

"Don't worry about it too much. Actually, I'm looking for a trading partner. You see, I have plans to build a settlement in the Wildlands. Accordingly, I require a large supply of raw materials, food and tools on a regular basis."

And that's where her spirits go right back up. I really hope she's not usually so easy to read during negotiations. Otherwise, it's no wonder she has money problems. Maybe that was just the most significant deal she ever had?

"This is something I can arrange with certainty. Just tell me what you need, and I'll deliver it."

"To begin with, I'll need an ox cart, including the ox. Four axes, two log tongs, four shovels and two pickaxes. Then two complete sets of carpenter's tools, including the necessary measuring instruments."

Lydia started taking notes like crazy. "Anything else you need?"

"Also 100 nails, some ropes and pulleys, some linen oil and as much iron as possible. Then four bushels of wheat, some salt, ten chickens and twenty sets of dwarf-sized clothes."

It took a little arithmetic and looking up in the books until it came to a final total.

"That comes to a total of 18 gold, 17 silver and 5 copper. Or not quite two stones of light. It'll take me a few days to get it all together, though. And not everything will fit on the cart."

Since I want to leave tomorrow. This is the perfect time to set up a trade route. That way, I don't have to send someone into town every time I want to place an order.

"I can't wait that long. Is it possible to have the oxcart ready by tomorrow? With so many tools and whatever else you can muster so quickly. You can deliver the rest then, along with whatever else you deem useful."

Lydia just nods before she replies. "I can arrange that. However, how do I find your settlement? I doubt there's already a road leading there."

"That was indeed a problem. But not one that was difficult to solve. After all, I have two guides here who have been with me before.

That way, they'll have the next job right away. There's not really a reason for them to stay with me any longer. Not that I can afford their services for long. Unless I was making Stones of Light just for that purpose.

The two of them, however, seem somewhat surprised by my proposal.
"Yes, we know the way. But are you sure you no longer require our assistance?" - Paula

Now I'm getting a guilty conscience too. You know what? You guys do whatever you want.

"Come on, you didn't really want to live in a cave with me, did you? And it's not like we're never gonna see each other again. Just think about it for a while. You can always decide after you escort the caravan."

After all, is said and done, we'll get ready to leave. But first, I'm going to exchange the Stone of Light for gold.

"Well, I'll bring two more stones tomorrow. And if you deliver more than what we have already agreed upon, we will do it on the spot. One more thing, though, it would be helpful if you could keep the source quiet. I'd hate to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. From what I've heard, enchanters aren't seen that often?"

The merchant nods approvingly. Probably she doesn't want to share her golden goose with others either.

"That goes without saying. While enchanters are quite common in the capital. However, here on the outskirts of the empire in a small town like this, they are hard to find."

So we seal our deal with a handshake. And we four girls are on our way back to the inn.

Then tomorrow we only have to pick up our new armour, and we can head home.

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