Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 456: CH456 Interplanar Trade I

CH456 Interplanar Trade I

***

Alex returned to the inn to find his wives sorting through piles of books and parchment scrolls.

”What’s all this?” Alex asked as he entered their suite.

”They were sent over by Rolfe,” Zora replied. ”They contain the information you requested. We’ve been sorting them into general knowledge, intelligence and security, and economic information.”

”Oh, I see.” Alex nodded, then asked, ”Is there anything on berserk beast nests?”

”Berserk beast nests?” The women tilted their heads.

Udara suddenly began searching through her pile before pulling out a couple of books.

”These are the documents on beasts from what I’ve sorted so far,” she said, handing them to him. ”This one covers beast distribution, while this one is a bestiary focuses on individual beasts—their characteristics, nature, and habitats.”

Alex skimmed through the first book and quickly found a brief section mentioning berserk beast nests. The information was sparse, almost as if it was common knowledge and no one bothered explaining it in detail.

”How was your meeting with the leader of the camp?” Zora asked.

Alex paused his reading and told them about his meeting with Azgrug, along with his suspicions.

”Actually, it’s a good thing you didn’t discuss prices with him,” Eleanor said. ”Leaders usually only discuss the broad terms of an agreement. Minor details like pricing are left to subordinates. It reinforces a leader’s standing—and provides plausible deniability if things go wrong.”

”That mostly applies to rulers. I’m just a party leader.” Alex shrugged.

”You’re going to become a ruler one day. It’s better to get into the habit early,” Eleanor replied.

Alex didn’t feel the need to turn it into a back-and-forth, so he simply nodded.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong—it was just that this was a perspective only someone raised as royalty could apply so naturally. In his current position, it wasn’t something he could yet use universally.

”Master, did you find the information on berserk beast nests you were looking for?” Udara asked.

”A little,” Alex nodded. ”But it’s all fragmented. I’d have to piece it together myself, and even then, it wouldn’t be reliable.”

He thought for a moment before adding, ”It seems to be common knowledge here. Send the scout team to dig deeper, but have them be discreet. If we start openly asking about something everyone ’knows,’ it might draw unnecessary attention.”

”Don’t worry,” Udara said confidently. ”I have just the people for the job.”

Havel and two of the five crossbowmen in Udara’s scouting party came to mind. She quickly sent word to the three of them, and they left immediately.

The trio headed mostly for taverns. Alcohol loosened lips, dulled minds, and blurred memories—the exact combination they were looking for in their intelligence sources.

Meanwhile, Alex and his wives returned to sifting through the piles of documents, sorting and categorising them.

About an hour later, Havel and the two crossbowmen returned with their findings. Combining their report with the scant information he had gleaned from the documents, Alex slowly pieced together a clearer picture of what a berserk beast nest truly was.

”Now, that’s interesting,” he muttered unconsciously as Havel and the scouts left the suite.

”Alex Fury, don’t think about it,” Zora immediately said.

”Huh?” Alex snapped out of his thoughts. ”Did I say that out loud?”

”You did,” Eleanor replied.

Udara nodded in agreement.

”We shouldn’t go near that berserk beast nest,” Zora said with a frown. ”It’s not our fight.”

At this point, Alex could even bring himself to be surprised that Zora had figured out what he was thinking. Still, he wasn’t about to back down so easily.

”But it could be,” Alex replied calmly. ”As long as we’re on this plane, we could run into a berserk beast nest at any time. This is an opportunity to learn more about them and prepare while we don’t have much at stake.”

He paused briefly before adding, ”Besides, I have a duty to a customer who will be testing my product.”

”Don’t worry. I won’t force anyone,” he continued. ”I’ll put it to the party. Anyone who wants to come can join me. Those who don’t, can stay behind and explore the camp and its surroundings.”

”You really think anyone would stay behind if you go?” Zora rolled her eyes.

After a moment, she asked, ”You won’t be giving him the current iteration, will you?”

”Of course not,” Alex replied flatly. ”It’s common sense to keep the best for yourself and sell lower-quality versions to others.”

Zora waved her hand. ”Fine. Do what you want. It’s not like we can stop you anyway.”

Alex grinned at her, then turned to Eleanor.

”It’ll be on you tomorrow,” he said. ”Try not to fleece the orcs too badly, alright?”

”I’ll do my best,” Eleanor replied.

-

The next day, Alex returned to Azgrug’s castle—this time accompanied by Eleanor.

Once Azgrug learned that Eleanor was a ’priest,’ he immediately came to his own conclusion regarding the origin of the healing scrolls. After all, in this world, only the clergy possessed the ability to heal.

As a result, his attitude towards her shifted noticeably. He treated Eleanor with deep respect, even going so far as to accord her greater courtesy than Alex himself.

Mogal and Kavakan placed a heavy box behind Alex and Eleanor. Alex opened it, revealing the neatly arranged healing scrolls and potions within.

Azgrug’s eyes flashed with satisfaction.

Between the sorcerer and the priest standing before him, Azgrug trusted them enough that he did not request a demonstration of the items’ effects. He accepted Eleanor’s explanation at face value.

A group of orcs stepped forward and carried the box away.

Azgrug and the Shaman then led Alex and his party deeper into the castle, arriving at a vault hidden within its depths.

The vault was clearly magical in nature and could only be opened by the Orc Shaman. Even then, the massive doors were immensely heavy, requiring someone of the tribe chief’s strength to lift and pull them open.

Inside, a wide array of valuable resources lay piled together in careless heaps. This was the accumulated wealth of Azgrug’s tribe over many years.

In truth, many of the items here were things the tribe did not fully understand. They only knew the items were valuable, and so they were simply stored away here.

Almost immediately, Alex noticed a tray holding five high-grade Berserk Stones. Azgrug expected the humans to go straight for them, yet Eleanor merely glanced at the stones for a moment before calmly looking away.

’Berserk stones can be obtained anytime,’ the Imperial Princess thought to herself.

With a sharp, mercantile glint in her eyes, she began carefully sifting through the piles, selecting items she deemed truly worthwhile.

’Amorphous Red Steel...? This much could easily fetch two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins.’

’Gold Sandshaker Mandrake... a key ingredient for regeneration potions.’

’Sandscotch Brass... Deathworm tears... Deathworm stone heart... Deathworm teeth...’

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

’Blood cactus... a one-eyed rock lizard’s sole eye?’

Eleanor continued selecting resource after resource, all the while subtly observing the reactions of the two orcs present in the vault.

It didn’t take long for her to confirm her suspicion.

From their expressions—and the careless manner in which the items were stored—it was clear that the orcs did not truly understand the value of most of what lay within the vault.

’No... I need to take these resources out of their hands,’ Eleanor thought coldly. ’At this rate, they’ll just let them rot away in this excuse of a vault.’

***