by Michael Sisa
Although Big Mona held no solid evidence yet, according to his intelligence network, this was most probably the work of Black Midas. The most powerful underground syndicate of the kingdom.
Mavas City was ruled by Lord Hais. After his death, his eldest son acceded the role. Unfortunately, his eldest son’s rule was short-lived. All of Lord Hais’ children, including his wife, died in the fire. Big Mona surmised that all of this was done to prevent any more information regarding Black Midas from leaking out. As expected of the underground syndicate—they were thorough in eliminating any trails they’d left behind.
“Where there is tragedy, there is profit!” Big Mona smirked. “I’ve got to hand it to those arsonists! Well done! Well done!”
Big Mona thanked the arsonists from the bottom of his heart. Because of this incident, he’d managed to sell all of the wheat and meat he’d bought from Blackstone Town at several times its original price. The citizens of Mavas City—the city where Lion City used to import their grains from—even went as far as selling some of their children to survive.
“Big Mona, Sir,” said his administrative assistant. “We’ve received a letter and a parcel just now. I believe you may want to look at it, Sir. It’s from the Lord of Blackstone Town.”
“The Lord of Blackstone Town?” Big Mona’s eyebrow twitched. He put down the ledger and said in a gleeful voice, “From Lark Marcus, my dearest partner? Bring it to me. Immediately.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Big Mona’s belief that Lark Marcus was an undug goldmine had already been solidified after he came back victorious from the war against the Empire. That young noble was simply too competent for his age, too ambitious. Just like Lui Marcus in his younger days.
The administrative assistant soon came back carrying a parcel and a letter. He handed it to the fat merchant obsequiously.
Big Mona opened the letter first and read its contents.
If you’re interested in these items, come to Blackstone Town.
A single line, but it was more than enough to pique Big Mona’s interest. He quickly unwrapped the parcel and opened the box. Contained inside were a vial of an unknown liquid, several fruits the fat merchant had never seen before, and a strange fabric.
The fabric and the fruits were definitely unusual, but what concerned Big Mona the most was the vial. It was the same container used for middle-grade potions. But unlike the red liquid seen in middle-grade potions, the liquid sloshing inside this one was yellow.
“D-Don’t tell me.”
Big Mona shuddered when a certain thought crossed his mind. He immediately wanted to try it out. He wanted to confirm if his suspicions were true.
“Summon one of the slaves here!” said Big Mona, his eyes still glued to the vial. “Now!”
“Which slave, Sir?” the assistant said hesitantly.
Big Mona glared at him. “Are you stupid? Any of them! If that scrawny kid cleaning the drawing room is still there, call her! And a sword! Bring a sword!”
“Y-Yes!”
The assistant ran outside the room and soon came back with a scrawny girl. Although she was wearing clean clothes—the same ones used by the maids tasked to clean the rooms—her skin looked greasy, as though she hadn’t taken a bath for weeks.
Big Mona grinned impishly upon seeing her. “William. The sword. Stab her.”
The girl trembled upon hearing this. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes as color drained from her face.
“Pardon?” The assistant was greatly perturbed by the order.
“I said stab her. Just make sure she doesn’t die immediately,” said Big Mona. “What? You’re going to disobey my order? Should I stab you instead, is that it?”
The administrative assistant was horrified. He instinctively took a step back.
The girl looked at the assistant pleadingly. She croaked, “P-Please don’t!”
“This softy! She’s just a slave! What are you hesitating for?” snarled Big Mona. “Here, give it to me!”
Big Mona forcefully grabbed the sword from the assistant, unsheathed it, and without hesitation, stabbed it into the girl’s stomach. Big Mona pulled out the sword and blood spurted out. The woman immediately fell to the ground and started coughing up blood.
“S-Sir! What, what are you doing?” said the assistant.
Big Mona ignored him. He took out the vial, uncorked it, and shoved the contents down the girl’s throat. After a few seconds, the girl’s complexion visibly brightened. There was a hint of confusion on her face as she stared at Big Mona, then at the place where she had been stabbed.
“The wound closed,” mumbled the fat merchant. “It healed even faster than when I used the middle-grade potion. The potion’s limit, what is it?”
Using the sword, Big Mona cut off the girl’s index finger. The girl screamed but Big Mona simply ignored her. He stared intently at the new wound. Just like before, the wound closed over in mere seconds.
Big Mona clicked his tongue in dismay. “It’s incapable of regrowing body parts, huh?”
Big Mona cut off another of the girl’s fingers, but this time, reattached it. To his delight, the cut finger reattached itself in mere seconds. He ordered the slave to move her fingers and they all moved without any problems at all.
Big Mona chuckled.
The Lord of Blackstone Town was indeed a gold mine. And this time, he’d presented a potion far more potent than the ones before. Just the thought of selling these to the kingdom made the fat merchant shudder in ecstasy. With this, his dream of becoming a more prominent merchant than the Vont Family had become closer to reality.
Big Mona couldn’t wait to meet Lark Marcus once again. His beloved partner.
“William, prepare the carriage,” said Big Mona. “I shall depart for Blackstone Town immediately.”
AFTERWORD AND WHERE TO FIND ADVANCE CHAPTERS
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for buying the sixth installment of the novel. If you like my work, please take the time to leave a review. The algorithm of Amazon requires a certain number of reviews before they start promoting my work. Every review is greatly appreciated.
You can find the drafts of the novel (and some art) on my Patreon page: patreon.com/crazyblackchili
And you can read the chapters on Tapas (although Patreon and Amazon are way ahead of the releases compared to that site).
A big shout out to my Patrons! This isn’t much, but I hope to at least immortalize your names in this book: Adams, Bigtree, Elfie, Marr, Forge, and Borchers. Thank you very much ^_^
-chili
