Chapter 7: Deals that never work (5)

Deros Mikk, a plump middle-aged merchant with a balding head and hairy, thick hands.

In the game, he transitions from an obscure merchant to a tycoon by engaging in various illegal trades alongside the hero.

He’s an indispensable NPC because he buys otherwise useless materials collected during adventures at decent prices.

However, the real reason he’s important is none other than his connection to obtaining magic crystals.

Once you’ve played around with and sufficiently corrupted the heroines, Deros makes a proposition: if you’re tired of those heroines, sell them to him, and he’ll pay you with gems he acquired from the west.

The hero, recognizing the ominous gem with its dark purple glow as a magic crystal, agrees to the deal.

This triggers a hidden event that enhances the Charm Eye skill to an even greater level.

The conditions are simple: corrupt the heroines past a certain threshold and conduct multiple trades with Deros to earn his trust.

These requirements make him a reliable and frequently used ally in the game.

If I weren’t in this situation, I might have been thankful and repaid his kindness.

Unfortunately, from the heroines’ perspective, both he and the hero are nothing more than trash.

“Looks like you’re lucky to have survived, merchant.”

“Haha, to think I’d meet the hero’s party… It must be divine protection. I’m truly grateful.”

Deros had barely escaped with his life and spent the night unconscious.

By the next morning, miraculously, he was awake and conversing with the hero’s party.

I should’ve killed him yesterday… It’s a shame the saint doesn’t have any offensive abilities.

“…But what about your goods?”

“That’s not something for you to worry about, hero. This isn’t the first time I’ve suffered a major loss. Perhaps it’s divine punishment for my greed. Haha…”

The mercenaries who had become corpses and the goods that had lost all value—it was a situation where Deros might’ve been better off losing his life.

The hero, at a loss for how to comfort him, hesitated. Deros quickly noticed this and continued speaking.

“Actually, I’ve been carrying quite a bit of debt recently.”

Deros began explaining: in the southern part of the Kingdom of Rozahan, in the Misty Forest, there’s a beautiful flower called Lapis.

This white flower, which only blooms in pure water, is notoriously difficult to cultivate or harvest.

However, it’s a valuable ingredient for various magical potions.

The unique thing about it is that to collect the flower, you need the mucus of a Whitewa that has eaten Moon Herb.

Because of this peculiar requirement, the price of Whitewa mucus depends on how many Lapises bloom each year.

What’s crucial is that anyone harvesting Lapises must have Whitewa mucus.

This led to the creation of a futures trading system, where people pay in advance for mucus before its price is determined, effectively purchasing the rights to a non-existent product.

It’s a strange structure, but according to Deros, this trading method ensures that even if few Lapises bloom, the Whitewa breeders don’t incur losses since they’ve already been paid.

On the other hand, if an unexpectedly large number of Lapises bloom and the mucus price skyrockets, the investors suffer losses.

But most people care more about minimizing losses than maximizing gains.

“…So you’re saying you traded a product that didn’t even exist yet?”

“Yes, to be precise, I traded the ‘rights’ to it. Haha…”

The problem was that Deros didn’t belong to the majority.

In any world, there are always people who ignore risks.

These individuals invest everything they have in something without knowing its actual demand.

Most of them don’t even intend to acquire the Whitewa mucus; they simply gamble their fate on non-existent goods labeled as ‘rights,’ causing constant price fluctuations.

Many merchants stake their lives on these price changes, but only a few manage to sell the rights at a high price.

“…So you missed the right time to pull out.”

“Yes, embarrassingly so. Haha… This year, not a single Lapis bloomed, yet I had to purchase Whitewa mucus at a ridiculous price.”

Even if the Whitewa mucus comes from creatures fed on Moon Herb, it’s meaningless if no Lapises bloom.

Since it’s a plant that only grows in clean water, cultivating it is out of the question.

With the current suspicion of the Demon King’s descent, the natural environment may already be tainted by demonic energy.

Even a slight amount of contamination would prevent Lapises from blooming.

Deros had made the worst investment—high risk, low reward.

“While I was pondering how to repay this debt, I received a certain proposal.”

“A proposal?”

“Yes, someone offered me a substantial amount of money to bring a single gem from Eureka to Rozahan. It felt suspicious, but the amount was too great to refuse. I had no choice but to take the risk, hire escorts, and secure the gem.”

“It explains why there were so few goods lost in the goblin attack. Their real target was the gem, wasn’t it?”

“…The other goods were mere decoys.”

“Haha, you’re quick to catch on. Yes, the goods on the destroyed wagon weren’t particularly valuable. From the start, there was only one thing that truly mattered. But now that I’ve lost it…”

Deros, speaking in a voice that seemed to suppress tears, eventually buried his face in his hands, remaining completely still.

In the game, the hero and Deros meet when the hero saves him from danger, but the backstory wasn’t this deep.

It was supposed to be a simple and heartwarming event where you earn his trust.

So why had the atmosphere turned so heavy?

“…Still, meeting the heroes like this makes me think it turned out for the best. If I’d kept holding onto that dark purple-glowing gem, it would’ve only led to darker thoughts.”

“Dark purple glow?! ”

“Se-Serra? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

If it’s a dark purple-glowing gem, I must’ve seen it hundreds of times while playing the game.

After all, I cleared it multiple times, resetting repeatedly to see every event.

And the magic crystals Deros supplied… If Deros had a way to obtain magic crystals from Eureka, it wouldn’t be strange that he kept supplying one crystal per heroine.

Though he’s now a completely ruined merchant, if he realizes the significance of the magic crystal and receives the hero’s support, he might rise again.

If that happens, every time a heroine is sold, the hero’s hypnosis abilities would grow stronger.

Worse, I might even end up being sold for a single magic crystal.

So no matter what, the existence of the magic crystals must remain hidden.

For now, I’ll act like I know nothing.

“Oh, no… It’s nothing…”

“Really? You don’t look well.”

“Of course! I’m fine, absolutely fine. More importantly, if we don’t start moving soon, we’ll have to camp out again, you know?”

As I awkwardly made excuses and pointed to the sun in the sky, the hero, seemingly unwilling to press further, began packing up the tent.

Last night, we couldn’t leave Deros behind, so we all squeezed into the cramped tent.

It was uncomfortable having the heroines huddled together, and it must’ve been the same for the hero sharing the tent with Deros, a complete stranger.

I doubt anyone in our party would be eager to camp out again, so we should hurry on our way today.

“We’re heading to the capital. If you don’t mind, would you like to join us?”

“Oh dear, to think I’d owe my life and yet another favor…”

“There’s no need to decline. Times like this are when we need to help each other.”

Natalia and the hero invited Deros, who had lost even his wagon, to join us.

Honestly, I’d rather part ways with him immediately.

However, if I let Deros out of my sight, he might meet the hero somewhere else and make another deal behind my back.

It’s better to keep him within my view and monitor him.

Moreover, as the game progresses, various routes reveal the magic crystals found along the way.

If I can trace their origins and destroy them all, I might be able to hinder the hero’s growth.

What’s crucial now is investigating Deros, who appears to have sourced magic crystals from Eureka.

And to be honest, it’s suspicious that Deros, as a merchant, didn’t consider the blooming conditions for this year’s Lapises.

There’s something fishy about this whole situation.