The next morning, Vanda has already gone to do what Argo asked her, going to the Musia Kingdom. Usually, a normal journey would take at least a day to cross Meteor City because they would try to avoid the grunts here. But because almost all of them are dead now, she didn't have to worry about that, and it shortened her journey to only six hours.
And now, she is already standing in a queue, waiting to get an entrance to enter the kingdom. She raised her head slightly, looking at the massive gate in front of her, the symbol of hope for the human race.
Heaven Gate
It was built almost 150 years ago by five powerful mages to defend the kingdom when they were on the verge of defeat in the war against the elven race. They combined their power to erect a massive wall about fifty meters tall surrounding all the kingdom's territory which is impressive because the size of the kingdom itself is half as big as the Jade Forest, and Jade Forest is the largest continent in the world at that time. Even though it was a combination technique, erecting a wall that big in a night is something that no one could fathom before.
However, unlike all the people who looked at the wall with astonished eyes, all Vanda feels when she saw this gate is hateful, as this wall is the cause of the elven race's downfall in that war.
At that time, even though they were dominating the world, the elven race was still not famous for their magical ability. Instead, they were proud warriors who uses their physical ability to suppress their enemies. That is why when a 60-meters wall was suddenly erected in one night, they couldn't do anything about it at all, which was followed by humans' counterattack by using long distance magic attack to massacre almost 500 proud warriors of the elven race just in a day.
It was a disaster that would forever be remembered as the downfall of the elven race.
Vanda sighed when she remembers that part of the history. Even though she didn't born in that era, she still feels the sadness of the people around her after that massacre happened. A lot of elves lost their family in that battle.
'Well, it was a war. Someone had to be on the lost side, and unfortunately, it was us this time.'
She shook her head, trying to distract her mind. Then, her gaze fell to the artistic side that has been added to the wall, which was the first time she saw it as the last time she was here, it was just a plain wall. However, it was almost fifty years ago, so she understands how time would change almost everything.
'So, what is that?' She narrowed her gaze, trying to see what is it on the wall that makes everyone gasp in amazement every time they see it.
It was a mural that tells the story about how brave the warriors from the Musia Kingdom are to defend their home in the past. And at that art itself, she saw how the elven race was portrayed as the biggest villain in the world, which kinda makes her furious for a second.
'Calm down, Vanda…' She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. 'What is it about the war that big brother always said in the past? Oh, yeah.. History is always written by the winner. No need to make a big deal about it now.'
Five minutes later, after waiting for almost an hour in the queue, it is finally Vanda's time to enter the kingdom.
"State your name and your business."
"I am Brianna from the Jade Forest, the apprentice Lady Vanda of the elven race, coming for a business."
She uses a false identity considering her name is well-known in the world as the strongest elf of the century. She didn't want attention, but her identity also has a lot of privileges here. That is why she still puts her name on her new identity.
The gatekeeper who heard her name snapped her head immediately, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"It has been a long time since the elves from the Jade Forest to our kingdom, let alone the representative of Lady Vanda. Do you have anything to prove your identity?"
Vanda rolled her eyes before she opened her palm, and a beautiful purple flower bloomed from her palm, shaping itself into a small sword.
"This is the gladiolus flower, the insignia of Lady Vanda. Only someone who was chosen by My Lady herself can conjure the flower with mana. Is that enough?"
And what she said is completely true. All the elves who are the grandmaster mage or reach general-level knights have their own insignia as the symbol of their power. Only they and their representative who received their blessing are able to do that. The fact that she did it confidently also convinced the gatekeeper that she is telling the truth.
"My apologies, My Lady!" The gatekeeper bowed immediately, suddenly turned polite in one breath. "You can go this way."
Vanda nodded, ignoring the stare from everyone in the queue. Right after she entered the kingdom, she was welcomed by the sight of the crowded and lively market offering her to buy anything there.
"My Lady, a magic staff! Only one gold!"
"Beauty potion! Seventeen silver only!"
"If you want the best meal in the kingdom, come here! Only in Saeria!"
Vanda ignored all of them and went straight to her first destination, the alchemist guild.
"HALT!" One of the guards in front of the door raised his sword before she could enter the building. "STATE YOUR BUSINESS!"
Vanda stares at him blankly for a second before she picked the strengthening potion that she received from Argo and showed it to the guard.
"Tell your manager that I want to sell it. He or She better come here quickly or I will sell it to the other place."
There is a hint of arrogance that could be heard in Vanda's tone, which kinda makes the guard dumbfounded. However, it was necessary for her to show dominance from the beginning to avoid getting cheated by the alchemist guild.
The two guards in front of her looked at each other for a second before one of them said, "I will call Master Bolian! Wait here!" He runs to the building, leaving Vanda alone with the other guard.
A minute later, the guard is back, and now, he is accompanied by a mild-obesity middle age man who doesn't seem to have enough strength to walk while carrying his belly. Vanda could only look at her with disgust, not wanting to do anything near him at all.
"So, you are the little girl who wants to sell the potion, huh? Where? Let me see it."
The arrogant and bossy tone from the man himself makes Vanda roll her eyes for a moment. But what makes it funny is the comment about 'little girl'. She is almost 70 years old now, not something that any normal human could say little. Even in the elven race, 70 is already old enough, considering the normal lifespan of her race is about 150 years old. It is just the nature of the elven race itself to be able to stay young which makes the man in front of him misunderstand her age.
However, she still showed the stack of potions in her bag to the man in front of her, wanting the business to end as quickly as possible. The man inspected the potion for a few seconds before he let out a scowl.
"This is garbage!" Vanda raised her eyebrows slightly. "This is just a bastardized version of our strengthening potion! Only fifty percent effectivity for our knight? This is blasphemy! Even alchemist level two in our guild can make something better than this! Who is the one who makes this potion, girl?! Tell me, and I will give you mercy and buy it for five coopers per potion."
Vanda just smiles at his scamming attempt amusedly. If the potion that Argo makes is garbage, she doesn't know how to describe the other potion in the world.
"Well…" She opened her palm in the same manner as she did at the entrance gate, and a gladiolus flower insignia bloomed once again from her palm. "I am the representative of Lady Vanda of the Jade Forest. You heard her name, right? The one who makes this potion is her personal alchemist. I only sell it here because I want to do it before I do my business with the King. I will confirm if what you said is true or not by asking the alchemist from the palace."
*THUD!*
She could hear the jaw-breaking from the man in front of her, definitely didn't see it coming. The two guards beside him are no better. Their faces turned pale when they realized how their boss fucked up and if the palace hears his attempt to scam the representative of the strongest elf in the world, they could see their heads hanging on the execution site.
"H-H-Hold on, My Lady!" The man trying to stop her. "W-We can forget about our earlier conversation! Let's get to the business first! How much do you want for those potions?!"
She couldn't help but snicker inwardly at the shameless gesture that the man just showed before.
"Hmmm… I don't know.. My Lady said to only sell it to the one who is brave enough to buy at least eight silvers per potion. What do you think?"
"What?! That's…. That's outrageous!" The normal price for the strengthening potion is just three silvers, so for Vanda to set up the price to eight silvers per potion is indeed kind of outrageous. However, there is no change of expression on Vanda's face. The elf just shrugged nonchalantly and turned around as if she wanted to leave.
"Well.. I can try to sell it to the other place, I guess. But it is a shame. Lady Vanda said she would come over here personally to set up her own business in the near future. I guess you lose the opportunity to establish a connection with her."
"W-Wait!" She smirked when the man stopped her from leaving the building. "I will buy it! Wait a minute, I will pick my money first!" He left Vanda with two other guards who are still speechless at their boss's behavior. And a minute later, the man comes again with a small chest in his hand, showing it to Vanda.
"There are 100 golds here! I will take everything you have!"
"Well, thank you.." The smirk widened on her face. "I only have 50 potions here, so I will take 40 golds from you. But you are in luck because unlike what you told me, this potion has eighty percent efficiency and can be competed with the best potions that the military army buys from their supplier. If you show it to the nearest military base, I bet you can sell it one gold per potion."
Now, everyone is looking at her with dumbfounded expressions. However, it changed in a second as greediness could be seen in the man's eyes.
"Why, thank you for the advice, My Lady. Anything more that I can help you with?"
"Nah, that is enough." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "I will go straight to the palace after this. Good day, gentleman."
The man and his two guards bowed slightly when they saw her turn around and about to leave.
"Happy to do business with you, My Lady."
Vanda sighed as she left the building as she muttered lowly.
"Well, that is a good haul for one business. Let's see where else I need to go.."