Chapter 96: The Rendezvous

Profit and Loss

Buying and Selling.

Stakes and Rewards.

Business was simply a complicated game where the players were the buyers and sellers.

In the end, both sides wanted to win, and it was often the case that only one party became ultimately victorious.

The seller would desire to sell at the highest price possible, while the buyer desired to get the product or service at the cheapest rate available.

In the end, the one with the lesser bargaining power or skill ended up losing and compromising their positions.

That was how Rey saw it.

"It's not technically a lie..." He smiled at Noah, who didn't wholly understand his thought process.

"Don't worry. I doubt it'll get to that level."

The United Human Alliance was in a precarious state. Rey doubted they would have the luxury of worrying about where Rey got a single Enchanted Item.

'I even asked Aldred, and unless the item is appraised, there's no way of telling what it really does...'

Why would the United Human Alliance go to all the trouble of yanking off and appraising the property of one of their strongest assets?

It was never going to happen.

'It's a relief we're able to use Enchanted Items now, though.'

Rey wondered what his classmates had gotten with their Gold Coin.

'I doubt they'd spend it wisely...'

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'Ahh... I was right!'

As Rey joined the gathering students at the agreed-upon rendezvous point, he could see the junks they were proudly holding in their hands.

From the words he could make out from all their chattering, he realized that those were the things they got with their Gold Coins.

'Bunch of idiots...' Rey wanted to slap his face and say, but he controlled himself.

It wasn't their fault that they weren't financially literate in this new world.

'Oh wait... it is!'

Rey was certain that if his classmates had taken their time to study the economics of H'Trae, or at least that of the United Human Alliance Capital, they would not have made such poor financial decisions.

'They don't understand the value of a Gold Coin. Look at how they're all treating it as if it's a Silver Coin.'

Rey could imagine the grinning faces of merchants who had taken advantage of his classmates.

He was very sure they had just popped up in stalls and asked "Hey, what can I get with this Gold Coin?"

As a result, they got ripped off.

And the worst part?

"I can't believe things are so cheap here!"

"I got so much just from a single Coin!"

"I ate till my belly was full!"

"I got a lot of dresses!"

... All the students were so impressed with what they had gotten that they felt it was too much.

'You can get your belly full with less than a silver coin, idiot!' Rey wanted to yell out, but he maintained his manners.

Sure, high-end restaurants were way more expensive than regular kinds. But, from what he was hearing his classmates say, they didn't go to such places.

At some point, he grew exasperated with hearing their adventures that he shut his ears off from their noise and focused on his thoughts.

'I wonder what Adonis bought...'

The blond boy at the center of the group didn't seem to have anything in particular, so it got Rey curious.

'He really resembles that stranger I saw back then, though.'

Rey tried to picture Adonis with a mask, and it fit perfectly.

He had heard stories of people who had met someone who looked exactly like them—or who resembled them to a fault, so it wasn't all too strange to him.

'I guess doppelgängers and lookalikes exist in this world too...'

"Hey, Rey!" A feminine voice startled Rey, causing to nearly jump in surprise.

He had been so focused on Adonis, blocking everything out, that he didn't sense the one who was right behind him.

"A-ah..." He glanced behind him and saw Trisha standing there.

"... You startled me, Trisha." He rubbed his head as he laughed nervously.

'What does she want with me?'

Trisha's confident smile, and her very seductive body already put Rey on edge.

He fought to maintain a balance between his teenage hormones and his rational mind.

'She's wearing a tank top and very tight jeans today...' His eyes did their best not to be too noticeable.

He had often wondered why Trisha liked wearing stuff like this, but after hearing her talk to one of her new friends about it, he finally got his answer.

'It's apparently easier for her to move in, since to her it feels like she's naked. Hmmm...'

To Rey that wasn't any better!

Sure, training for her was pleasant since she had no extraneous material hindering her movements and fluidity, but Rey considered the greater implications.

'That means... she currently feels like she's naked right now...'

Every time she walked or trained... in her mind she was...

'Ahh... stop thinking about that, Rey!'

"Oh? What's that poking out in your trousers, Rey?" The moment Rey heard Trisha say this, he panicked and placed both hands around his crotch.

To his surprise, though, he was pretty flaccid.

"Haha! I was just messing with you!"

Red hues stained his face as he looked at the tomboyish girl. He had never been so humiliated in all his life.

He remembered how Aldred treated him with so much respect, and imagined what the same man would say if he saw him now.

It was not a pretty picture.

'She probably saw me ogling her. But was I really...?' Rey didn't know anymore.

He only knew how pathetic he felt.

"Anywayyy... what do you think?" Trisha flashed out a blade seemingly out of nowhere.

It was a longsword, and there was a sort of black glow about it as it gleamed in the sunlight.

She tightly gripped the hilt and her proud expression said plenty about the blade she currently wielded.

'Oh?'

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Thanks for reading!

I know things are a little slow paced, but... character interactions and development reasons.

Haha!