Sylas looked at this message in silence for a long while. It was from Lucius, expectedly. It was respectful, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it as well. But Sylas was too intelligent to take it at face value.
Still, his expression didn’t change. He calmly closed the message and stepped outside.
The wind hit him, along with a bit of the foul smell of these slums. He looked up into the skies, his expression calm.
‘Not yet…’
Sylas began to walk, his thoughts churning. He shed the previous suffocating thoughts and began to think. Something must have happened.
He walked aimlessly through the streets for about half an hour before he understood. Then, he began a new action plan.
…
An hour later, Sylas stood before a shabby shop that had quite a number of guests despite its small size. Making his way through these people was exceptionally easy… because he hardly had to do anything at all.
With a snap of his fingers, the city guards moved to his command, and suddenly the entire region was shut down. The merchant didn’t even realize what was happening until everyone scattered and Sylas walked in.
—
[Selvian Guatum]
[Officially Licensed Merchant of Guiz City]
[Level: 7]
[Profession: Memory Merchant (Bronze)]
[Special Talent: Record]
>[Able to record any witnessed memory]
[Favorability: N/A]
—
Sylas didn’t expect to see such a status screen. The problem wasn’t seeing it itself, because with his current scouting skill, plus the boost of Silver Mastery Madness, it wasn’t a surprise that he could see this. The real surprise was that he didn’t believe that this profession was as simple as it seemed.
He looked to the side to find that Selvian had a particular penchant for selling skills. They were weak, most were F-, with the very rare occasional F, but that was when Sylas realized what his intuition was pointing him toward.
‘Able to record any witnessed memory… the strength of this profession is going to be decided by what the barriers of the word “record” mean…’
If Selvian knew that Sylas had already seen through his greatest secret, he would be doing more than shitting the bricks he already was now.
The silence was deafening. Sylas didn’t seem to be in a rush to speak as he scanned every inch of the store, and every second that passed by was like another weight added to Selvian’s chest.
“You’re recording me right now?” Sylas suddenly asked.
Selvian choked on his own spit and almost directly passed out. However, the chair behind him caught him, forcing him to wake up again.
“You’ve made quite a bit of money off of me in these days and caused me no small bit of trouble as well.”
“This… I…” he didn’t know what to say.
“Tell me. How much money have you made?”
“I’m just…”
“That’s not a number,” Sylas replied.
Selvian felt a cold shiver run up his spine. He had never expected that he would bring this sort of trouble to his door.
He was just a normal citizen of Guiz City right now, and Sylas was a General who commanded 1,000 warriors, on top of being a Baron. Of course, in this context, the Baron title was next to useless. But even if he had just been a Baron, he would have more than enough ways to deal with Selvian.
“… I’ve made over 400,000 F Coins.”
Sylas gave him a look. That estimate was much higher than he assumed, but when he thought about it, he would have to have made so much to not only purchase a property but also a storefront like this one.
To think he had made so much in just a few hours. It seemed that Sylas’ face was worth more than he knew.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t in his calculations for his skill to be known so worldwide. But it was also impossible to account for every variable, especially in this world. The difference between the winners and losers would be decided by how they adapt.
“You can record the skills you see?”
Selvian froze again. “You… How…”
The chubby merchant’s face went completely pale. Sylas was just casually poking at his weaknesses again and again.
“What is the limit?”
“I… I…”
“Merchant Guatum, I can understand if you’re feeling a great deal of fear right now, but my time is precious. If you are useful to me, your life will be guaranteed. You used me to reach your current station, and according to the laws of Guiz City, I could have you executed for using my likeness without my permission, or for recording official military proceedings without permission, or for stealing skills—.”
Every charge made Merchant Guatum’s heart sink further.
He hadn’t broken any laws, he was sure of it. He had read the rule book and knew it like the back of his hand. But sometimes, especially in a world like this one where power reigned so supreme, the objective truth didn’t matter. So long as it was close enough to the truth, he would be finished.
Knowing that he was cornered, Selvian fell to his knees.
“I understand! I’ll do whatever you need me to do!”
Sylas’ gaze narrowed. This was the clearest Selvian’s voice had sounded from start to finish. This man wasn’t simple by any means, and if Sylas treated him like a careless fool, or worse yet, a coward who was easily coerced by fear, then he might end up being the one on the losing end eventually.
However, in a battle of wits, even if he would soon be on the other side of the Aether Plane, Sylas would always bet on himself. Plus, very soon, this merchant would come to realize that there was no better umbrella to be under. By the time he had a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t want to leave if he was even half as smart as Sylas thought him to be.
For now, though, he would be a pawn under Sylas’ thumb. It was the least he could do for all the trouble he put Sylas in.
