For a whole time, Marcus stood there unmoving, his eyes completely locked on Eren's face as if checking whether it was a lie or not.
Seeing Eren's no-nonsense expression, a thin layer of sweat began forming on his forehead.
The value of the listed items and their sheer number made his mind go blank.
Each of the materials was extremely valuable and could easily fetch at least hundreds of thousands each.
"…A thousand… each?" he repeated under his breath, his voice barely audible.
It shook him to the core.
The scale of business before him was entirely different from anything he had dealt with so far.
Even the famous guilds in this city wouldn't casually move resources on this scale without reason.
Yet, Eren, sitting in front of him, had said it so plainly as if it was nothing.
His throat felt dry as Marcus swallowed hard before forcing himself to speak.
"W-why…"
His voice came out slightly shaky.
"Why did you come here… instead of selling directly to a trading center?"
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing with unease.
"Those places may treat unaffiliated hunters like trash… but not guild representatives. If you had backing, you wouldn't even need to find a middleman like me."
Eren calmly met his gaze, seemingly intrigued by his reaction.
"I don't belong to any guild. All the items I have belong to my team. And yes, I did try to sell them at a trading center, but even after waiting a long time, I couldn't sell anything. At that time, that kid came to me and told me he will help as if he had been watching me all along… So, I got interested and came here. Can't you help me sell them or not?"
Instead of answering immediately, silence once again engulfed the surroundings, as Marcus was processing every word he had heard.
His eyes slowly widened before he instantly rushed toward the window, pulled the curtains shut immediately, blocking the view from outside.
Then he leaned slightly, peeking through the edge as if checking whether anyone was watching from any direction.
Only after confirming everything was fine did he turn back, take a chair, and sit down heavily.
His eyes once again fixed on Eren as his hand ran through his hair.
"That punk seriously bought some one like you this time..."
"My name is Marcus Brutus… How may I address you?"
His tone was very polite, low, almost a mutter.
"Just call me Eren."
Marcus nodded politely.
"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Eren… are you from another city?"
"Yes."
Marcus let out a low breath as he heard that.
"No wonder you don't know how things work here. You are really lucky you didn't end up selling your things at a trading center."
Marcus leaned closer, a serious expression on his face.
"Please listen carefully to what I'm about to say."
"This whole Virelith City has only four trading centers, and all of them belong to a single clan, the Zorvath Family. Have you heard of them before?"
Eren shook his head.
He had never heard of such a clan before.
"The Zorvath Family is the one controlling every trade happening in this city. They are the local tyrants who take a certain portion of the profit from all sellers and buyers."
"It's an unspoken rule that every trade must be under their watch, and the rate they fix is absolute. They've monopolized the buying and selling rights of all guilds and powerful organizations by offering them somewhat fair prices for their items. But for independent hunters and unaffiliated teams, they force them to sell at heavily discounted prices."
"If hunters try to sell items through the association forum, it takes too long. Since hunters have daily expenses, they can't afford to wait. Nor can they transport their items to another city, the transportation costs are too high. Not everyone has the money to buy storage items."
Marcus's eyes lingered on Eren for a moment, as if silently adding not everyone is as rich as you, before continuing.
"If that were all, it wouldn't be much of a problem. But the real issue is that the Zorvath Family is far from decent. There are rumors, no, it's the truth… That these people secretly target teams that earn more money than others. Many of them have disappeared without a trace."
Marcus paused for a moment, as if remembering something, and clenched his fist until it turned white.
"Someone I've known for a long time also disappeared a few months ago. The security officials didn't do anything to find him…"
Eren just watched in silence, giving Marcus some time to adjust his emotions.
He could feel anger welling up within himself, but he didn't say anything.
Don't get cocky just because you've gotten a little powerful and saved four people… You are still nothing…
He repeated it in his mind, reminding himself not to meddle in another mess, recalling how he had been forced to run away from the city because of his meddlesome actions, not that he regretted what he have done.
Marcus let out a long sigh before speaking again.
"Sorry about going off track… What I'm trying to say is, currently, Mr. Eren, you have two options. Since I don't see any cart or vehicle brought with you, I believe you have a storage ring…"
Eren didn't bother to hide it and simply nodded.
"Then you can go to another city to sell your items."
Marcus paused briefly before adding his next words in a cautious and hesitant tone.
"But selling all of them at a trading center would suddenly drop the prices and cut your profits deeply. Also… there are hidden dangers of attracting powerful forces like the Zorvath Family from that city."
He leaned slightly forward.
"And your other option is to hire me as a middleman and let me help you sell all your items in a single day at a fairly reasonable price."
Eren looked directly into Marcus's eyes as if assessing him, making Marcus visibly uncomfortable.
Eren knew exactly what Marcus was doing, indirectly warning him about attracting powerful forces, which was actually a low probability, while subtly pushing him toward the second option.
But Eren didn't get angry.
In fact, he became more interested.
"You said the Zorvath Family monopolized all trading in this city, right?" he asked calmly.
"How can you help me sell them?"
Marcus's eyes lit up instantly.
"Zorvath Family does monopolize major trades, supplies to big workshops, and they're even material suppliers for major transportation companies," he said excitedly,
"but they're not capable of completely satisfying the entire demand. A lot of high-end hotels, small workshops, and independent companies still need materials. The materials they want are often sold at high prices in this city, so they're always ready to buy goods at reasonable rates."
He took a quick breath before continuing,
"And not only that…"
As he spoke, Marcus pulled out the map out of nowhere and spread it in front of Eren, tapping his finger on a particular area.
Eren's eyes followed where he pointed.
The map showed Virelith City and its surrounding regions.
"This is Virelith City we're currently in…"
His finger moved north.
"And this… is a mid-tier city, one of the biggest trading hubs in this region. Traders and merchants from multiple regions pass through here, so demand is always high and prices fluctuate quickly. More importantly, luxury and specialty goods move fast."
He tapped lightly.
"That's where your Nightmare Silks, Nightmare Stones, and Abyss Weaver Wands will have high demand."
His finger shifted again toward a smaller marked city.
"This is Dunmere, another small-tier city. There's a festival coming in two weeks, so the demand for high-grade food items in premium hotels has increased a lot."
He pointed again.
"Verdant Breast Meat, Chimera Thigh Meat, even those Unfertile Chimera Eggs should go there."
Marcus let out another quiet breath, clearly getting excited.
"Selling items is the easiest part once you know where your products are needed. You can easily find small-scale merchants traveling between these places, using this city as a bridge."
He looked back at Eren, his voice turning more serious.
"We should split your items and sell them across different places without attracting anyone's attention."
Marcus stopped.
He looked at Eren with a glance mixed with hesitation, expectation, and a hint of desperation.
"I only need three… no… just two percent of the total value I sell as my cut… What do you think?"
Eren blinked once, intrigued then nodded his head.
"Deal."
***
Author's note:
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
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