When Luck entered Merchant Halt Star's store, there were a few customers inside looking for clothes, but he couldn't see Merchant Halt.
Sighing with disappointment, Luck said, "It's ridiculous to expect him to be here all the time."
Turning to leave the store with the thought of coming back later, Luck stopped when someone called out to him.
"Mr. Luck, is that you?"
Luck turned and looked at the person calling him and saw Halt's assistant.
"Yes, it's me."
"Are you looking for Mr. Halt, Mr. Luck?"
"Yes, but I don't think he's here." Luck looked around one last time with his eyes, hoping to see Trader Halt.
"Yes, Mr. Halt is unfortunately not here, he went to lunch with a friend."
Noticing the disappointment on Luck's face, Halt's Secretary said, "If you like, when I see Mr. Halt I'll tell him you're looking for him, you can meet him here tomorrow."
"All right, then I'll be here again tomorrow at this time."
Even though he said that he was not sure if he would be able to come back here tomorrow. Just like today, what if he showed up somewhere else again?
He thought about going to the restaurant where he had eaten earlier and selling the spices in his bag since he wanted to at least make a few gold coins before he tried to go back to his world.
If he couldn't sell it, he wouldn't be able to pay Dean and his crew. He was sure that if he couldn't pay them he would be marked by the adventurers' guild and he didn't want that to happen.
When he arrived at the restaurant, it was full of people eating and laughing.
When he went up to one of the waiters and asked to speak to someone in charge, the waiter looked at him questioningly.
"What business do you have with our manager?" He was worried that someone would go and report him to the manager.
Sometimes he ate the food he took to the customers.
Luck opened the bag in his bag and took some salt and showed it to the waiter.
"I have some good spices to sell, would your manager be interested?"
Realizing that Luck wanted to see his manager sell spices, the waiter relaxed, told Luck to wait, and went upstairs to call his manager.
A short while later, a short, smartly dressed man arrived with the waiter he had just spoken to.
"Hello sir, I am the manager of this restaurant, my name is Sam."
Luck took the manager's outstretched hand and said "Hello, I'm Luck, I have some quality spices, would you be interested?"
"Sure, let's talk about it in my office."
On the way upstairs to the manager's office, he noticed that the tables and the atmosphere on the floor where the office was located were much more luxurious, and the people sitting at the tables were much more elegantly dressed.
Although the manager's office was small, it was well organized and didn't feel cramped. The window behind the principal's desk lit up the room.
Luck sat across from Principal Sam and started to take out bags and bags of spices from his bag.
Principal Sam's eyes widened in shock at the bags of spices Luck placed on the table.
"Salt, black pepper, chili pepper, mint, oregano" Luck began to introduce each bag of spices.
Swallowing, Sam asked, "Can I check their quality?"
"Sure, knock yourself out."
Sam carefully poked a hole in each of the plastic bags he was seeing for the first time and began to test the spices.
With each spice he tasted, his surprise grew.
"Not bad, really not bad at all, even though they are very poor in mana, the spices taste quite pungent and good."
Smiling Luck, "Mr. Sam, are you interested in buying my spices?"
"Of course I am, what do you want for your spices?"
"I would like to hear your offer first."
"Hmm, well, you have 5 kinds of spices, you say they are 1 kilo each... hmmm." Sam seemed to be thinking.
"I'll give you 55 gold coins for all of them."
"What? 55 gold coins?" exclaimed Luck in surprise, expecting much more.
"I paid 80 silver for just a few grams of salt in the meal I had here, you're going to give me 55 gold for all these spices?"
Sam put his hands on his chin and said "Yes Mr. Luck, as good as your spices are, they are so poor in mana, I can't offer them to my high-end customers, I can only offer them as a cheaper alternative for my downstairs customers."
Sam opened his drawer and handed Luck a box, "For example, the salt you paid 80 silver for is cheaper than the salt in this box, this salt is very rich in mana and very useful for mana users, you can test it."
Grumbling, Luck opened the box, touched his pinky finger to the salt, and tasted it.
The difference was obvious. He felt a pleasure that spread even to his soul when he tasted the salt in a way he didn't feel when he ate it with food.
"It feels different." Luck was still savoring the pleasure that made his body tingle.
"Yes, non-heat-treated ingredients are more effective because they retain mana better, monster meats are very high in mana, but they lose most of their mana after cooking."
"So Mr. Luck, what do you think of my offer?"
"Deal." Luck held out his hand.
Principal Sam's face broke into a smile. He took out a bag of gold from his drawer and handed it to Luck.
"Happy cooperation."
"Happy cooperation."
Luck left the principal's office with the bag of gold in his pocket and was about to go down the stairs when he heard someone calling him.
"Mr. Luck! Hey Mr. Luck! Over here!"
Turning in the direction of the voice, Luck saw two familiar faces.
Halt Star and Horace Bringer.
Happy to see Halt Star, Luck quickly made his way to the table where they were sitting. He was glad that he could sell the clothes in his bag today.
"Mr. Luck, sit like this." Merchant Halt greeted Luck with great enthusiasm.
"I'm sorry if I'm a bother."
"What inconvenience?" Trader Halt's gaze seemed fixed on Luck's back.
Taking the last bite of his meal, Horace said, "Do you eat here every day, Mr. Luck?"
"No, I'm here on a little business."
"Business?" Halt took his eyes off Luck's bag for a brief moment,
"Yes, Mr. Halt, would you believe I stopped by your shop before I came here? I have some new clothes to sell if you're interested."
As he took some t-shirts and shirts out of his bag and put them on the table, some spices like salt and pepper spilled over the clothes.
"ah the spice bags in the bag must have leaked, I hope the clothes are not dirty."
Halt was absorbed in the clothes on the table and didn't care about the spices or the stains they might have left, but Horace the Merchant seemed to be interested in the spilled spices.
"You carry spices in your bag, even these spilled spices are worth a lot of money Mr. Luck, but you didn't react at all, as I expected, you must be wealthy."
"Hahaha I wouldn't say I'm rich, some of the spice packets I just sold to the manager of this restaurant must have spilled." He scratched the back of his head with his hand in embarrassment.
Surprised, Trader Halt said, "Are you in the spice trade?"
"I guess you could say that."
After gathering the spices scattered on the table with the tip of his finger, Trader Horace tasted the spices one by one and said, "The spices don't taste bad, Mr. Luck, how much did you trade?"
"Salt, black pepper, chili pepper, mint, oregano, I sold them all for 55 gold at 1 kilo each."
Horace's eyes widened in shock, "You sold a total of 5 kilos of spices and only for 55 gold coins?"
"Yes, the manager offered me such a price because my spices had very little mana."
"Does it matter if they are low in mana? Spices are a rare resource, whether they contain mana or not, they are very valuable."
Merchant Halt shook his head, "Spices are a rare resource, this restaurant is the shop of a powerful noble, so it is difficult for a noble to find spices, let alone commoners."
"Are you saying that I sell my goods too cheaply?"
"Even I, who am not competent in the food trade, would offer you at least a hundred gold coins." Said Halt the Merchant.
Shaking his head, Horace said, "Yes, Mr. Luck, you have experienced something basic that any newcomer to the trade would experience. You got ripped off. Hahahah."
His face darkening with embarrassment, Luck stood up "I'm going to talk to that manager!"
'100 Gold!!! 1.5 million dollars!!! The asshole cheated me and I'm going to kill him.' Luck was clearly upset.
"I wouldn't advise you to do that," Horace said, pushing Luck's shoulder and sitting him back down at the table.
"Why not? That man has swindled me."
"That's the rule of business, Mr. Luck, no one will offer you more when you can get a more profitable deal. It's your fault for not knowing the value of your property."
"Besides, if you make a scene here it won't end well for you, the nobleman who owns this restaurant is known for his ruthlessness."
"Well, I guess that's that then," said Luck, who seemed to have taken a cold shower at Horace's words.
"Anyway, can we talk about those clothes and the bag on your back?"
Merchant Halt looked very excited.