By morning, we followed the instructions of the self-assured blondie. To my surprise, Vina managed to change her hairstyle overnight; now her hair was pulled back and held by a headband.
After selling the "junk" we retrieved from the first dungeon, we only managed to get about fifty gold coins for the guild. Vina evenly divided the amount of antiquities each guild would donate and began trading. Nearby the storage area, the merchant guild gathered, evaluating the loot brought back by the guilds returning from their campaigns.
A third-year student approached Vina, judging by his appearance, he held an important position within the guild.
"Vinila, I heard you left your previous guild. My offer still stands," he said.
"Sorry, sorry, I've already joined another one. I don't know how long they'll last, but I think they have better chances than Alfred and his company," she replied.
The guy glanced at us; he easily recognized us. "Lady Katrina, I see you've finally acquired a decent merchant in your guild. I hope now you'll be able to improve the prosperity of your guild. If you came for information exchange, please approach my comrades. I'm only responsible for receiving artifacts."
"What on earth, Henry, are you trying to expose newcomers to my shrewd tactics?"
"They have to learn someday. If you manage to get money out of them, then I'll explain where they went wrong. They can't always rely on successful deals."
A satisfied smirk flashed across Vina's face. "Well, get ready. I'll fleece your guys for everything they've got, hehehe."
"Oh, please, don't underestimate them too much. Anyway, I have to go. I hope you have a conscience or that it'll eventually show up."
"Goodbye, Henry. Good luck in the competition."
When Vina turned back to us, the most devilish smile I had ever seen appeared on her face. "He practically played into my hands. Now I'll show them what real trading means. Let's find an easier target and start with basic information."
"Vina, I've been wondering, why did you ask us to call you by a shortened name? You don't strike me as a particularly friendly person," I asked while we searched for a target.
"Huh? It's just a habit. I tell everyone to call me that; it reduces the psychological distance and gradually makes them consider you a friend."
"Heh, it seems you really want to have many friends."
"Of course," she said, suddenly switching to a sweet girlish voice, "I love having maaaany friends around! When everyone around is a friend..." She suddenly narrowed her eyes and adopted a low, sinister voice, "it's so easy to squeeze money out of them, hehehehe."
She frightens me!! Honestly, she scares me!!
"But why did that Henry address you by your full name? Even Katrina noticed that," I said.
"Ah? His name is Henry Winner; he's the guild master of the 'Romantics of the Great Highway'. He's not supposed to have so many friends on the side. Besides, he's long since figured out my strategy. He's probably the only one in the academy who can compete with me in trading skills and assessments."
"For some reason, his surname sounds familiar to me," Katrina fell into contemplation.
"Oh, princess, it's embarrassing not to know. He's the nephew of your Minister of Finance."
"WHAT?!"
After wandering for some time, we noticed our first targets in the park next to the storerooms. Two young students stood in front of the storerooms - a freshman guy and a sophomore girl. Judging by the guild emblems, it wasn't hard to guess their intentions.
"Lucky us. Looks like the guy is an appraiser, but not the best. And the girl handles the trading. Act like you're completely clueless from behind," Vina said.
"WHAT?!?!?!" Ragni cried out so sharply that she accidentally bit her tongue.
"That's exactly what we need. Fixate that expression," Vina said.
Emerging from the shadows of the trees, Vina appeared alongside Ragni, who was busily rubbing her bitten tongue, and Grain, who seemed disinterested and was simply observing the birds perched on the branches. Vina deliberately took one of the plates they fished out from Leira and Algo's dungeon the previous day. As it turned out, Asura and the company had retrieved two more similar plates from that dungeon, only the seal on them was fancier, and they were in better condition.
"Well, Vina, what's next?" Ragni finally broke the silence.
"Hmm, I don't know, sis. We seemed to have had a successful trip to the dungeon yesterday, but we need to come up with a plan for today, or we can forget about the fight for first place."
"What the hell! 'Sis'? 'Ragni'?! Is this some excessively cute behavior?" All this performance made me nauseous, but maybe she really knows what to do.
"Hmm, are you also participating in the festival? Do you need the services of an appraiser or information about dungeons?" the sophomore girl quickly caught on to the passersby's conversation and hastened to intervene.
"What? Well, I don't know. In yesterday's dungeon, we only found tableware. And here I was hoping for gold, diamonds. Who could possibly need all this?" With tears forming in the corners of her eyes, Vina raised her left hand to her mouth and, embarrassed, looked away.
What an acting performance. She's so convincingly playing innocence.
"Well, well, don't worry. There are dungeons with both gold and diamonds. But even your plates could be worth a fair amount. Allow my comrade to assess your loot, and we'll get down to trading. Perhaps you're interested in information about specific dungeons?" the sophomore girl quickly picked up on the conversation and stepped in.
"Hmm, alright," Vina said hesitantly and handed the well-known master's plates she had obtained from Asura. "What do you think of these?"
The guy began examining them hastily and couldn't help but notice the seal on the back. He pulled his companion aside and started whispering softly to her, nearly inaudible to others. Of course, his hearing as a dragon was incomparable. Ragni easily eavesdropped and passed the gist of the conversation to Vina.
"He noticed the seal and said that these items are from a renowned master and could be worth quite a sum. Are you sure about this, Vina?"
"Quiet! Everything is going according to plan."
The girl turned back to Vina with a joyful face. "These are very valuable items. We can offer you information about several dungeons in exchange. What interests you?"
"Uh, well, I wanted to know... I heard there are dungeons with alchemical ingredients. My friend worked for a while with a doctor in her village. So, if you know anything about it?"
"Of course, may I have your map?" The girl took Vina's map and started marking a couple of points. "Here and here, there are dungeons with ingredients. But this one is much harder to enter; it's guarded by a powerful monster - a chimera. The three of you definitely won't be able to handle it. And here, a pair of basilisks guards the entrance. If you stock up on petrification antidotes, you can easily deal with them. The ingredients in the dungeon with the basilisks are mostly from plants, and with the chimera, they are trophies from strong monsters. Anything else?"
"Thank you so much, sis. You've been a great help to me. But we also found something else in the dungeon." With a friendly smile, Vina pulled out four more plates from her bag, almost identical to the previous ones but slightly more worn and with the seal in the corner smudged. "I'm not sure, but they seem to resemble those two I gave you earlier, just more battered, so I didn't want to show them immediately."
The guy once again moved the girl aside.
"I've heard something about items from this master with smudged seals; it seems they are from his early works and can be worth much more."
"It looks like we're lucky; the girl doesn't seem to know anything, and we can get those plates for next to nothing."
Of course, all their words were accurately relayed to Vina through Ragni. Soon, the girl returned to continue the trading.
"Oh, these plates may not be as valuable as the previous ones, but we'll buy them from you if you want information about one more dungeon," the girl said, realizing she was missing out on a good deal and trying to stop Vina from leaving.
"Ahmm, no, she's such a cute girl; I don't think you should trouble her that much. If those plates are indeed worth so little, then I don't believe they deserve any information," Ragni said, making the most innocent smile and bowing, seemingly clueless about Vina's intentions.
Ragni looked puzzled, not understanding what she was up to.
"W-wait, how about two small dungeons?" the girl, realizing that she was losing out on a good deal, attempted to intervene, "Come on, she's not that valuable."
"No, I'll keep it for myself after all."
"Three then?"
"No, that's too much for such junk."
"Four?" The girl seemed desperate; she was determined to strike the deal no matter what.
Sporting a coquettish smile, Vina turned to the girl and, with a voice as cold as the piercing northern wind, said, "Six." The girl didn't immediately understand what she meant. "Six guilds went to the western part of Verania yesterday, and I'm interested in the details. I know your spy network can already provide me with information about them."
"Well, well, that's too much," the girl tried to protest.
"No, no, not at all. I think this item is worth the information I'll receive. Unlike the previous deal we made."
The girl involuntarily glanced at the plates in her companion's hands and paled.
"What does this mean?"
"It simply means that the plates you bought from us in exchange for the provided information are practically worth nothing. They only slightly resembled the real ones, so I put a seal on them to confuse you. Your appraiser has a lot to learn, like the fact that in those times, there were no fast-drying inks for seals, so there couldn't be such distinct marks on ancient antiques."
"You-you deceived us!!! And you still hope to get information from us in exchange for this?!?"
"No, no, of course not. I want to get more from you than these plates are worth in exchange for the guarantee that I'll keep your slip-up a secret. If anyone from the other guilds finds out that such novices trade information here, they'll put you in reserve positions in the guild."
The girl was boiling with anger, but Vina was right - Authority is crucial for a merchant.
"Fine, I'll tell you," the girl reluctantly took the map from Vina, "You're right; six guilds went to the west. We have information about five of them. Alfred refused to make a deal with us and isn't planning to sell us anything. The dungeons there are not as complex as in Leran and Nordrune, but the rewards are more or less decent. Here," she pointed to a cave in the Renerim mountains from the capital's side, "there's an orc lair. They're not as strong but numerous, and there are even trolls among them. In their storerooms, you can find ancient and new weapons made from various materials. Maybe even your warriors will find something useful there."
The girl told us about all the dungeons she knew. It seemed that Vina had already planned our further course and selected three of them.
"Thank you so much; I'm so glad I came across you on the first try," Vina beamed with an innocent smile.
"Well, she's so happy," the girl muttered under her breath.
"Of course, she's happy; you won't often find such gullible people as you. Send my regards to Henry. Goodbye."
With that, Vina and her group left.
Having left the embittered traders behind, Vina returned to us.
"So, it's settled. We have the information, and we didn't even spend everything we planned," she said.
"You're so evil," Ragni remarked.
"Business, nothing personal," the trader smirked.
"In any case, what did you find out?" Katrina immediately got down to business.
"Alright, let's start with the swamp dungeons. I hope your former alchemist hasn't lost his skills," Vina glanced at Ragni, and she nodded in agreement, "After that, we'll head west, and then I think we'll have to return to the Academy for new information. As you decided, we'll go to Leran. If I calculated correctly, we'll reach Leran in two weeks, leaving us another ten days for two or three dungeons in the desert and the rest for the return to the storage."
"Krito and I have already made all the arrangements; the temporary storage will be ready for us and Asura," Leira interjected.
"And your father is okay with feeding a black dragon almost every day?" Vina inquired.
"Everything's fine; you promised to compensate for the losses."
"Excellent. Vina, now we can calmly set off on a distant campaign. We have a storage."
"Then to Merenlake?"
"Yes, we'll visit our acquaintances and earn some trophies!"
We set off on the journey in two wagons. Flying on the dragon would have been more convenient, but Ragni had an important task to complete, and while she did that, we had to move on to the next dungeon.