Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”I don’t mind selling you this lumber...” Sulina walked over to the wood that Ron and his people had directed the goblins and villagers to haul back. ”Normally, this type of lumber is given a coating to protect it from moisture, insects, and so on for long-distance shipping.”

”Some of the coating has worn off, but some of it is still good. How about this: I’ll sell it to you for seventy percent of what I paid for it.”

The bronze Dragon Descendant winked at Ron. ”Just so we’re clear, this isn’t me being greedy. By all rights, I should just write this trip off as a total loss. High rewards naturally come with high risks.”

”But you see, the three of us are basically stranded here. It’s a long journey home no matter which way we go, and now that we’ve lost everything, we simply can’t make it on our own.”

”We’re grateful that you gathered up those coins and trinkets for us, but it’s clearly not enough to get us home.”

”I understand,” Ron nodded. ”I’ll pay your asking price, but I’d advise you not to set off just yet.”

”Since this trading post was set up, passing caravans almost always stop here for a rest. Why not stay here and wait for a caravan crossing Delusional Land to travel with? It’d be much safer.”

”We had the same idea,” the stout merchant said with a laugh. ”We were just worried that useless folks like us, who can’t lift or carry anything, would be a bother, so we didn’t dare bring it up.”

Ron gave a slight wave of his hand. ”You’re being modest. Just because you can’t help us at the moment doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future, right? I assume you’ll have other opportunities to come this way?”

”Well...” The three merchants looked at each other. The route through Delusional Land had unparalleled advantages, and they were reluctant to give it up so easily. But this place was also a veritable hornet’s nest, and unless they had a compelling reason, they really didn’t want to come back.

”Perhaps,” Sulina said with an awkward laugh. ”That’s not really up to us to decide. I’m sure Mr. Ron understands.”

”You’ll only come if there’s a profit to be made, right?” Sera was never one to mince words. ”The merchants who visited my tribe were the same way. If we had a good year and brought in some valuable pelts, they’d visit three or four times. If they heard the hunting was bad, it was basically ’see you next year.’”

The barbarian propped one foot on the edge of the table, holding the leg of some unknown creature in both hands. Her face slick with grease, she mumbled through a mouthful of meat, ”Delusional Land has plenty of new and interesting things. Why don’t you three take some samples back with you before you leave and test the market?”

”If they don’t sell well, you can still stop by now and then, for our Chieftain’s sake. If they sell well, then you’ll have a head start on the competition, won’t you?”

”That’s what the merchant who visited our tribe at least once a year used to say.”

The three merchants exchanged glances again. Sulina couldn’t help but ask, ”But from what we’ve seen, there don’t seem to be any products here worth mentioning, are there? If it’s just furs and meat, we don’t need to come all this way for that—just being practical, not ungrateful, of course.”

This wasn’t the far northern tundra, with its unique environment and ecosystem, where the creatures were so rare among the city-states that their parts sold for a premium.

Swamps, forests, rainforests... such terrain wasn’t rare, it just wasn’t usually as treacherous as Delusional Land. For merchants, less danger was actually a good thing.

”Erk—” The barbarian choked on her food. Sera had only been sharing her own experiences; she had no idea what the actual solution was.

”What about alchemical ingredients and Potions?” Ron wondered aloud. ”There’s a rich variety of ingredients for Alchemy here. A friend and I know Herbalism and some Alchemy, and our most notable product at the moment is our Healing Potion.”

”Pardon my bluntness, but that’s hardly special,” the thinner merchant laughed. ”I’m in the Alchemy business myself and have two Alchemists on my payroll. We’re pretty much self-sufficient when it comes to Healing Potions.”

”Unless... you can brew High-Level Healing Potions, or perhaps even Strong Healing Potions?”

He didn’t dare dream of the most effective kind, the Extreme Healing Potion. That wasn’t something an ordinary person could concoct; they were practically priceless, with a single bottle selling for five or six thousand Gold Coins.

”Guess again,” Lavinia said, emerging from her workshop (which was actually Ron’s room). She walked toward Ron, carrying a wooden crate. ”Here are the fruits of the last two days. I’ve completely mastered that synthesis technique of yours.”

”And this must be your Alchemist?” the Alchemy merchant asked, smiling kindly at Lavinia. The Half-Elf, however, did not return his polite gesture. ”May I see your finished products?”

”Ask him.” Lavinia gestured toward Ron with her chin and went back to her work, having no desire to interact with strangers.

”Of course, be my guest.” Ron made a welcoming gesture, and the merchant quickly knelt to open the crate.

He had already made up his mind. He had to repay the life-debt he owed to Ron. As long as the Healing Potions were of passable quality, he would offer to buy them for forty Gold Coins a bottle once he returned, keeping only a tiny fraction of the profit for himself.

But when he opened it, he was immediately disappointed. There were certainly a lot of Healing Potions, but as for the quality...

Even without using Identification Magic, he could tell at a glance that they were weaker than a standard Potion.

”The effect may be less than ideal, but they’re cheap to make,” Ron said with a smile, sensing the merchant’s doubt. ”Adventurers might not have a use for them, but they’ll likely find a market among ordinary people.”

”How low are we talking?” the Alchemy merchant asked, his voice devoid of hope. Lowering the cost of Healing Potions was a very popular field of research, but one that had seen little to no progress for ages.

”Sixteen Gold Coins, and a production time of two hours per bottle.”

The Alchemy merchant: ”o.O?”

”What?!” Sulina was the first to leap to her feet, her voice jumping an octave. ”Mr. Ron, I want to partner with you! Will you sell this crate of Potions to me? I’m willing to buy every bottle for twenty-five Gold Coins!”

”Sulina!” The Alchemy merchant snapped out of his daze, glaring at his companion in irritation. ”I didn’t partner with you just so you could steal my business!”

”Mr. Ron, I’m also willing to pay twenty-five Gold Coins! But I’m in this line of work; my sales channels are far wider than Sulina’s!”

”How many are in this crate? I’ll—”

The Alchemy merchant’s words caught in his throat as he watched Ron lift one of the Healing Potions out of the crate, revealing another layer underneath.

So this crate contained a full 6x3 array, stacked two layers deep—thirty-six bottles in total!