Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 73 (Part 1)

After returning to his room, Rodin recalled the conversation he overheard during the meal. It wasn’t a merchant who mentioned that the fortress city of Flandre had fallen, but a mercenary.

‘It’s not like a mercenary would have heard the news via magical communication.’

That meant the mercenary likely witnessed the fall of Flandre firsthand or heard about it from other mercenaries. In any case, it had probably been some time since Flandre had fallen.

‘If that mercenary traveled light, it would have taken him about four or five days to get here. So Flandre must have fallen about five or six days ago.’

From the Empire’s perspective, Flandre wasn’t a particularly attractive city. It wasn’t the kind of place where wealthy merchants or affluent nobles would frequent.

‘They probably just killed who they needed to in a day and then moved south.’

Unlike Flandre, Bontis was a hub for trade with the Kingdom and Veros, attracting many merchants. There were also plenty of wealthy merchants and numerous high-ranking nobles.

‘Bontis is a city the Empire covets.’

Wars drain a country’s resources. No matter how wealthy the Ingram Empire was, the prolonged war must have severely strained its finances.

In such a situation, a wealthy city like Bontis was a prize they couldn’t pass up. Flandre was merely a small obstacle to overcome on their way to this city.

‘The Imperial Army will arrive soon. At the earliest, they’ll be here in three days, and at the latest, within five.’

There wasn’t much time. If he didn’t want to run into the Imperial Army, he had to act quickly.

Rodin immediately packed his belongings and checked outside. The sun was slowly setting.

“I don’t want to travel at night, but there’s no other choice.”

Rodin headed straight outside and asked the innkeeper to retrieve his horse from the stable.

“Where are you heading, sir?” the innkeeper asked.

“I have an appointment to keep. Just stepping out for a bit.”

“Be careful. There are rumors that the Imperial Army has already reached nearby.”

The wealth of Bontis was like rain during a drought for the Ingram Empire. If they could thoroughly plunder Bontis, it would ease their tightening budget significantly.

That’s why, as soon as they toppled Flandre, they sent in their knights. Even if they let those in rags go, they made sure to capture the wealthy traveling by carriage.

“Already? Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s said that communication with some people has already been cut off.”

“Oh no. Aren’t you planning to leave, too?”

“I’ve lived here all my life. Where would I go? The Imperial Army supposedly doesn’t harm commoners, so I’ll just have to trust that.”

This was a rumor deliberately spread by the Ingram Empire. They did this to prevent wealthy commoners from fleeing prematurely, and unfortunately, many fell for it.

‘Telling him the truth wouldn’t make a difference.’

The innkeeper had no intention of leaving. His entire life was here, and he was unprepared to flee.

“Well then, I’m off. Take care.”

“Yes, sir. You too.”

Perhaps it was because the horse had been resting for over two months, but it was noticeably heavier than before. Its movements seemed sluggish, likely from gaining too much weight.

Rodin mounted the horse, and it stumbled under the sudden weight.

“Sigh, I should’ve been riding you more regularly.”

There was no one else to blame.

Caught up in his studies, he had neglected exercising and had left the horse unattended. It was entirely his fault.

Rodin spurred the horse toward the general store. It was time to sell his potions.

The Ingram Imperial Army would inevitably come to Bontis after conquering Flandre. Right now, just before the war, potion prices were at their peak.

While there were people like Rodin who would leave the city, many, like the innkeeper, had no choice but to stay. They would be forced to fight, whether they wanted to or not.

For those people, potions were life-saving elixirs.

“As expected, prices have gone up.”

In front of the general store was a sign that read, “Wound Healing Potions – 45 Gold – Unlimited Purchase.” Below that, it also said, “Negotiable,” implying they were willing to buy as many as they could.

“I’m here to sell potions.”

“Yes, 45 gold.”

“I have quite a few.”

Rodin had no intention of haggling. He didn’t want to feel like he was taking advantage of desperate people.

“How many…?”

“Four hundred.”

“What? Four hundred? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I have 400.”

Rodin opened his bag and gave the shopkeeper a glimpse of the potions inside. He pulled one out and handed it over for the shopkeeper to verify.

“Please, wait a moment. I’ll check right away. I’ll randomly select 10 to verify.”

“Go ahead.”

The shopkeeper wouldn’t use up a whole potion to verify it. A single drop would be pricked from the vial with a needle and dropped onto a special copper plate to confirm the potion’s effectiveness.

The shopkeeper pulled out nine more potions at random from the bag, making ten in total with the one Rodin had handed over. He then went inside the store to conduct the verification.

“Oh, these are of high quality. Are they from the Marshal Magic Tower?”

“Will you buy them?”

“Of course. Just give me a moment. I need to fetch the money. It’s a large amount, after all.”

Rodin sold all 400 potions for 45 gold each, totaling 18,000 gold.

The shopkeeper went into the basement of the building attached to the store and retrieved the money. It was gold coins minted with the image of the founding emperor of the Ingram Empire.

“Please count it yourself.”

“I will.”

The gold coins totaled 18,000, taking up much more space and weighing far more than the 400 potions had.

Rodin counted all 18,000 coins and poured them into his backpack. It was at least three times heavier than when it had been filled with potions.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

Hyung_Otaku

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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