Balthazar sat on a cushioned stool behind a large table with a couple of chairs on the other side. The mayor’s staff had arranged a spot for him inside the building, near the hall of the rchant’s Guild, for the crab to et and negotiate with all the traders, rchants, suppliers, and other important figures who wished to et the city’s new celebrity.
And there were many of them.
When he started early in the morning, Balthazar saw a line extending over the hall’s atrium and taking several turns around corners. It was filled with local nobles, extravagant rchants, rich businessn, and even the occasional adventurer who saw a long line and had joined in thinking there was free stuff being given at the end of it.
“Next!” the crustacean called after sealing yet another deal with a local supplier of nightti freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers.
A less visionary rchant might have considered a deal to receive and sell that supplier's stock at their establishnt a waste of ti and resources, but not Balthazar.
Sure, he had no idea why anyone would ever buy those things, but he also knew that he could sell anything to a dumb enough adventurer if he really set his mind to it. And with those suppliers practically throwing their products at him for nearly free just to say they’re in business with the rchant crab, the mark-ups on those nightti freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers were surely going to be huge.
And so he kept striking deal after deal.
“So it’s a deal, Mr. Balthazar!” a young man with a big smile said, extending his hand to the crab.
“Sure is!” the crustacean replied, along with a nod. He wondered if people would ever start realizing how silly they looked offering a handshake to a crab.
The young man was the nephew of Marquessa’s most famous jeweler. What stood out the most to Balthazar was that, unlike all others that morning, the jewelry trader hadn’t co to see the rchant crab in person, instead choosing to send an emissary in the form of the young man.
Despite what the crab could have easily taken as an affront—soone thinking themselves too important to bother eting him in person—he decided to let his rchant instincts speak louder.
Their pieces were famous in Marquessa and sold at high prices. Becoming the exclusive reseller of Marquessian jewelry on the other side of the continent was certainly going to be a profitable deal. Adventurers, much like crabs, also loved to collect shiny things.
If the jewel-maker didn’t want to et him, so be it. Balthazar valued making coin a lot higher than eting new people anyway.
“Next!” the rchant called.
They were just a ans to an end. Whether that end was money, trading experience to level up, or even pastries.
“Mhmm, sure, mhmm…” Balthazar idly mumbled as he continued chewing on a slice of mango pie and another local salesman waxed lyrical about what an honor it was to et him.
Mada Margo had dropped by earlier, right after the mayor led him inside to et the Marquessian nobles, with several boxes of mango delicacies. According to the baker, she and her husband had been hard at work in their boutique’s kitchen since before the sun ca up to put the returned mangoes to good use.
They decided the very first batch of pie and other mango goodies needed to go to the city’s new hero, the traveling crab that—as Mada Margo apparently had established—had co all the way from the other side of the continent just to try her baking.
A marketing strategy Balthazar was more than fine to let her have, so long as it ant he’d keep getting free pastries.
The crab then proceeded to spend the morning negotiating with Marquessians while stuffing himself with all manner of mango sweets. Mango mousse, mango puddings, mango delights, even a mango éclair. Each one more delicious than the last but still none better than the simplicity of a slice of mango pie.
It was simple pleasures like these that Balthazar missed most from ho. Sitting on a comfy seat, stuffing himself with sweets while making deals and trades.
Yet, one thing was bugging him. The more hours that passed, the less satisfied he felt. The greater his disinterest. The more bored he beca.
Perhaps it was his new key to the city making it all too easy and unrewarding? Every trader and rchant he t practically tripped over their own feet trying to please him and offering the best items and deals they had. There was no arguing, no haggling, no satisfaction of finally coming out on top like when dealing with the adventurers back ho.
Or maybe he had just spent too much ti on the road, seeing the world, experiencing so many new things in his life. His mind had opened up to so many new perspectives. Could it be that what once was enough for the old crab living by a pond next to a small road was now simply unfulfilling for the more experienced crustacean who had been matured by his travels?
In the end, Balthazar went with the more likely answer to that existential crisis: he was just feeling drowsy from stuffing himself with so many desserts.
All things considered, that was probably the more reasonable answer.
Crabs don’t change anyway. They’re already the perfect form.
Thankfully, his nagging feeling of unfulfillnt was finally struck down after finishing a trade deal with a local seller of hand painted seashell candleholders with a little chain to hang them from the windowsill. While the product na was quite the mouthful, the crab was certain it was a market about to go big and that he’d do well to get in early.
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As the deal was sealed for him to beco the sole reseller of hand pai… of the seashells, a new notification appeared in front of Balthazar’s vision.
[You have reached level 22!]
Oh! He thought, suddenly perking up on his seat. I leveled up again already! I haven’t even had ti to assign the points from the previous one. It makes sense, with all this trading and dealing I’m making. Lots of experience.
The crab frowned slightly. There was another notification after the level up one.
[1000 sales completed! You have gained the rank of Expert rchant.]
[As an Expert rchant, your clients are more likely to accept your deals, and you will always have a natural advantage when negotiating with lower rank rchants.]
Woah! A thousand?! It feels like a lifeti ago when I reached one hundred and beca an adept rchant.
Feeling quite pleased with himself and his new achievents, Balthazar decided to pull up the stats screen before calling the next person over. They were there for the honor to et him, they could wait a few more minutes for the city's hero.
First thing to do was pick what base stats to increase.
Hmm, can never go wrong with more health. He thought, recalling his repeated encounters with the commander’s baton.
He increased his health by 10, but still had another 10 points to use.
Right, two level-ups. Could just do more health…
Balthazar thought back to how he had almost failed to activate his Copycrab skill the night before due to having used most of his mana to activate the Imbuing one earlier. Things would have gone a lot differently with Velvet if that had happened. With a growing list of skills in his arsenal, perhaps investing on a little more mana wouldn’t hurt.
Rolling his eyes at the idea of skipping on more health, the rchant placed the other 10 points into his mana begrudgingly.
[Health: 230/230]
[Stamina: 30/30]
[Mana: 30/30]
Next up were his attribute points. With six of them to distribute, Balthazar rembered his other new skill he hadn’t been able to use yet.
[All-Tongue]
[Requirents: 40 CHA, 20 INT]
He groaned. I only have 16 Intellect. Do I really spend four out of six points into it just for a skill I don’t even know I’ll use?
His imdiate instinct was to put them all into Charisma. After all, his encounter with the witch proved that despite how high that attribute already was, it still wasn’t high enough to beat her when his special trait failed against her.
But the crab also knew that the mont he chose not to unlock that new skill, he’d find himself in a situation where he needed it desperately. That was always how those things went, and he had learned better by now.
Fine, just these four and then it’s Charisma all the way.
Adding four to Intellect and two to Charisma, Balthazar nodded in approval at the attributes list.
[Strength: 5]
[Endurance: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Perception: 5]
[Intellect: 20]
[Charisma: 63]
He dismissed the system text in front of his eyes just as a delicate hand touched his shell.
“Mr. Balthazar,” Lady Marquessa called. “I’ve made the arrangents I ntioned earlier. Would you like to co with now?”
“Ah, great! Let’s go,” he said, hopping off the cushion he was sitting on. “I’m done talking to stuffy people for the day. I need to stretch my legs.”
The few dozen people still left in line watched as the crab left with the baroness, disappointnt all over their faces.
“Sorry, folks,” the rchant said loudly. “Ti is coin, and I’ve got other business to tend to. You will have to find so other ti, maybe back ho. Balthazar’s Bazaar is the na of the place. All the way across the continent, next to the town of Ardville. A bit of a stretch, but if you’re really determined to do business with , I’m sure that’s no big deal.”
“I’m not sure Bergen will be too thrilled to see so much trade from Marquessa passing right by his front door,” the baroness said as they headed out the rchant’s guild hall.
“The mayor of Ardville?” said the crab. “What makes you say that? You seem to know him well.”
She smiled as she looked ahead. “As I told you before, we used to know each other. Long ago, when we were both much younger. Let’s just say we used to… clash a lot. He’s quite stubborn, as you probably noticed. Might also still hold a bit of a grudge against the Marquessa na, by the way. Just so you know.”
“I’ll try to rember that,” the rchant said. “But my business is my own. I’m not beholden to Ardville or his mayor. I’ll trade with whover I want.”
Lady Marquessa looked back at the plaque by the door as they exited the hall to the atrium.
“Sha the guildmaster of our rchant’s Guild is out on a business trip. I think you two would have liked to et each other.”
Balthazar rembered the only other rchant guild master he had t before, Antoine, and felt a hefty amount of doubt about her words.
“Say, I’ve made lots of deals this morning,” the crab started, “but I’m still missing the biggest one. Who do I talk to in order to arrange an export route for mangoes from here to my pond?”
The finely-dressed lady looked down at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“I’m afraid what you are asking for is not really possible, Mr. Balthazar. Mangoes only keep well for a few weeks and that’s under ideal storage conditions. A carriage taking them across the continent would take several weeks to reach Ardville. All you would be getting is a pile of rotten fruit.”
“Damn, you’re right,” the disappointed crab said. “But I’d really love to be able to enjoy fresh mango pies back ho. And… to hopefully show them to soone very special soday soon so she could use them in her baking too.” He let out a long sigh. “I’ll have to figure out another way.”
“I did arrange for that other item you requested earlier, if that brings you any consolation,” the mayor said as they crossed the atrium toward the exit.
“The gold ingot?” the excited crustacean asked.
“No,” the woman replied. “That one I’m afraid is a big ask on such short notice, even for the city’s new hero. There are no gold mines near Marquessa, and while there’s plenty of gold to go around, solid ingots of pure gold are hard to co by. I did get you an ingot of silver.”
One of the guildhall’s workers was waiting for them by the door, with a box in her hands.
“Ah, well, that’s still pretty good,” Balthazar said as he opened his backpack to let the girl place the ingot inside. “Thanks!”
“And finally,” Lady Marquessa continued. “I believe I promised you safe passage to where you wanted to go, off by the coastal cliffs.”
“That’s right! That was the whole reason why I ca here in the first place. I just wanted so directions.”
“Well then, as promised…”
The baroness extended her arm to the front door just as Captain Leander stepped through it.
“Ready to go, Mr. Balthazar?”
The crab smiled with determination. It was finally ti to get back on track and find the wizard that could help him bring Bouldy back.
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