In the tavern toilet, Rhea turned into Rhea again and collapsed into the night with Gloria.
At dawn the next day, Rhea put Gloria on a ferry to Towsent, a village town downstream from Tristral, a port city that had nothing special, and the size and amenities were much smaller than in Tristral.
As soon as they disembarked, a quick query showed the Dorante Tavern where Jelyan was staying.
It was noon, and the tavern was full of sailors mooring their ships, and the waitress was serving beer and cutlets among the sailors who tried to grab her ass.
The lightness of a step that should be art.
The couple found a corner with a good view and ordered a grilled lamb chop in apple sauce and wine, with potato bisque and black bread.
But there was no sign of Gerian or anyone who looked like the owner of the store.
"He said he could be contacted when he gets to the tavern, so it looks like he's involved enough in this case."
There was no one around who looked like the owner, so Gloria stopped the waitress who was bringing the two of them food and asked: "Are you the owner?".
The waitress's slender hands were so strong that she easily put the wine and meat on the table, then smiled at Gloria and said.
"The owner accidentally went out shopping, how can I help you?".
Rhea, who was sitting opposite, cleared her throat and replied like this.
"Could you tell the owner that I would like to meet a man named Gerian."
I thought to myself that it would be normal if the tavern didn't know Gerian. After all, there were so many itinerant merchants who used the tavern as a contact point that the shopkeeper couldn't remember the name of every itinerant merchant who lived here.
However, Rhea's fears were unnecessary.
The shopkeeper, who was already quite cheerful and surrounded by an atmosphere of cheerfulness, looked even brighter when she heard Gerian's name.
"Ah, you mean Mr. Gerian? He paid for us."
"Well, I'd like to contact him."
"Mr. Gerian returned to Towzant last night, and he should be here every night for some time."
"So oh."
"He usually appears shortly after sunset, so I suggest you spend time in this store while you wait for him."
The girl had a good business sense.
However, what she said is not without reason. There were only three or four hours left before sunset, and if you luxuriated here with a drink, you could soon wait for Gerian.
"Then I'll take your word for it! And an additional order of grilled sea bass with bacon."
"Good."
Nodding to Rhea, the saleswoman shouted towards the back of the kitchen to bring more food.
Rhea lifted her wine glass and took a sip.
A slightly suffocating, refreshing sourness combined with the sweetness of the grapes melted the sides of her tongue.
Although rum with its strong flavor was also good, Rhea preferred sweet wines such as wine or mead.
Sometimes something else is also good, for example, apple or pear cider.
Malt beer is also good, but it differs from different brewers, and since everyone has their own standard of evaluation, Rhea does not really like it. Unlike wine, which tastes better at a higher price, beer cannot be priced, and it is not suitable for traveling merchants.
If you don't live in the area, you won't be able to find a beer to your liking.
Therefore, when a traveling merchant wants to impersonate a local, he usually orders a beer to drink.
While Rhea was thinking about these things, Gloria, who was sitting opposite, was no longer busy eating and drinking, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.
"What happened?"
Hearing Rhea's call.
Gloria took a few moments before speaking, "This girl is lying, isn't she, she had a very unnatural expression just now."
Gloria seemed to be waiting for the saleswoman to enter the kitchen before speaking.
"For example?"
"This young man, Gerian, doesn't seem to show up here regularly every day, so if it's a familiar customer like this, more or less special attention will be shown."
"Well, ...", - Rhea nodded, looking at the wine in her glass, "but Gerian was supposed to show up here, as the girl said."
The fact that the waitress had gone to such a lie meant that she would be able to contact Gerian at any time.
If not, then lying to the waitress will only create problems for both Rhea and Gerian.
But Rhea couldn't understand why the waitress lied.
Perhaps the waitress was just trying to stall for time so that Rhea and Gloria could spend more money, because she could contact Gerian at any moment.
It was common for businessmen to tell lies, big and small, and if they worried too much about each of them, they most likely stopped and did not move forward.
So Ray didn't care about the waitress's lie, but Gloria was still thinking about it.
After that, nothing much happened, and by sunset, customers began to flock to the bar.
As Rhea had predicted, Gerian was indeed present among the influx of buyers.
"To celebrate our reunion!"
The wooden glasses clattered loudly against each other as Gerian opened his speech.
"How are wolf skins sold, miss?"
"Sold at a pretty good price, and you can see that the wine understands that, right?".
Expensive wine was an existence that a traveling merchant who had just set foot on the threshold could not afford.
"It's enviable, is there a trick to it?".
Rhea didn't answer right away, she took a sip of wine before replying with a sarcastic smile, "Secret."
"In any case, it's wonderful to be able to sell at a high price. As your funds grow, my lady, so will the money I can share."
"Although there are more funds, this does not mean that the amount of investment will be increased."
In fact, Rhea had already decided to invest everything in the business, if necessary, not only the proceeds from the apples, but also all of her and Fante's household, but so far she behaved disinterestedly so as not to raise the price of the person standing in front of her.
"Eh? Don't say that. I desperately prayed that the furs would be sold at a high price, just in the hope that Miss would be able to increase her capital."
"Then you're not praying for what you need, you should be praying so that I can increase the amount of my investment."
Gerian covered his eyes with his hand and leaned back exaggeratedly slowly: "So that's it, I was praying for the wrong thing!".
"Then it's time to get down to business."
"Ah, yes..."
Gerian sat up straight and looked at Leia.
"Your suggestion is that you are willing to provide information that the silver content of a certain silver coin will soon increase, but in relative terms, as a price for providing information, you expect me to share the benefits with you, right?".
"Yes."
"Is it true that the silver content will be increased?"
Hearing Rhea's frank question, Gerian's expression turned frowning.
"Well, actually, this information was conjectured by me on the basis of information that I heard in one of the mining towns. So you can safely trust me ... It's just that there is no such thing as confidence in business...".
A nearby mining town? A lie that is visible at first glance.
There are no ore veins in the Southern Kingdom, and all the mines of Aarvgard are located in the desert to the west, guarded by numerous flying dragons.
It was a complete lie, but Rhea repeated it anyway: "It's true."
Watching Gerian wince at Rhea's questioning look, Rhea nodded in satisfaction, grabbing a handful of dried beans and pouring them into her mouth.
"I was going to refuse if you answered confidently - there are no easy deals."
Gerian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is the share of money still three percent?"
"Yes, but in addition to that, the young man wants fifteen gold pieces for information."
"It's a small price to pay for what you're asking when you mention so many benefits of this business opportunity."
"Yes, my lady, my compatriots say that I am not greedy for money. However, this is because the kid has his own ideas."
"Do you mean the part related to the loss?"
"Yes. I'm afraid that if you suffer losses, I won't be able to compensate you; if I did, I would lose all my money. I will only take a third of the profits, but in case of losses, I will take care of everything except the return of the exploration fee."
Rhea's drunkenness had long since dissipated, and she was thinking with a clear mind.
A brief analysis of Jelyan's proposal suggested two possibilities.
The first was that when Rhea was defeated, Gerian could use that defeat to his advantage.
Another thing is that it was a really simple transaction.
"By the way, which of the silver coins did you say you would lose?".
"This is silver money made by Sander Akipel."
It was strange: the country, which, according to the staff of the Chamber of Commerce, is in a state of war and which the Chamber will have to evacuate, was not a Sunder Archipelago.
Obviously, a chamber of commerce that had been farming for many years was more reliable than a brat who had just entered the business.
In light of the previous article, Rhea already knew that the news that Gerian had said that the silver coins would be re-minted, that is, that the value of the coins would be increased by increasing the silver content in them, was false.
Therefore, the only possibility that could be assumed was that Gerian could take advantage of Rhea's losses to make a profit if the value of the coins dropped.
But how will Gerian be able to use this loss to his advantage?
After thinking about it, Rhea felt that she had probably made a mistake by pointing out that Gerian was lying.
Moreover, Gerian offered to return the exploration fee.