Chapter 7
“Jewelry trade, huh.”
Bin, the shopkeeper, smiled slyly and his eyes glistened.
“To think a noble lady would come all the way here to sell her jewels. How rare. Kekeke.”
His expression was so blatant it seemed to say, ‘So you’ve come, my mark?’ I purposely stiffened my expression.
But it didn’t seem to faze Bin. He merely waved his thick fingers, adorned with many rings.
“Show me the goods.”
At his words, I took the pouch of jewels I had hidden in my robe and laid it out in front of him.
“Hmmm.”
“…?”
“What should we do about this? Hmmm.”
Bin, who had been carefully inspecting my jewels, finally spoke after a long pause.
“I’d like to offer a good price, but… unfortunately, the quality of these gems is not great. There are a lot of impurities, the stones are small, and the cuts are awful.”
“What?”
“Considering you’ve come all the way here, I could offer you maybe 10,000 dalings.”
“No, what do you mean by that?”
Although I couldn’t see my reflection, I was sure my face was full of disbelief.
The system had just kindly informed me that my jewels were worth 20,000 dalings in total. So, what was this nonsense about 10,000 dalings?
It was obvious from his tone that he had been planning to scam me. He wasn’t just taking a 10-20% cut; he was trying to pocket a full 50%. This was practically highway robbery.
“Excuse me, but I think you’re mistaken.”
This peridot is worth 1,400 dalings.
This ruby is worth 2,200 dalings.
And this diamond ring is worth 4,000 dalings.
Even if I allowed for a small commission, cutting the price in half was going too far!
“How can you say this is only worth 10,000 dalings? The stones are big, there are no visible impurities, and the cuts are perfect!”
“Yes, yes, I understand it must be hard for you to accept. It’s common for noble ladies to think their jewels are the best.”
But Bin didn’t stop there. He squinted his eyes even more maliciously and spoke in a slick voice as he continued to eye my attire.
“I’m afraid, in the jewel market, these stones you have… they’re practically treated like rocks. 10,000 dalings is actually a fair price.”
“No, what are you even talking about?!”
As I raised my voice, about to argue, the system window suddenly flashed and revealed something I really didn’t want to know.
[SYSTEM] ‘Bin the Shopkeeper’ has the title of ‘Back Alley Scammer’!
· Title Effect: In the ‘Back Alley’ field, this character can identify marks with 100% accuracy and has an 80% chance of successfully scamming customers.
To escape the influence of the scammer’s detection, your “Mark Power” must be below 30.
What? That’s impossible! This wasn’t in the game!
In Arc, which is a villainess growth simulation, the “Mark Power” stat was locked, and you couldn’t exceed 50 while playing the game. It did come with some penalties when it surpassed 30, but nothing like this…
‘Wait… is this because my main character’s Mark Power is so high?’
Dammit, I couldn’t accept it.
I may have been a pushover in real life, not saying a word when I was mistreated by the company I worked for, and I had even taken it as a compliment when people said I was “obedient” for an MZ generation worker. But that didn’t mean I was some kind of pushover!
I struggled against the system with all my might and tried to speak up.
“Overcharge! Peridot, peridot! 1,400 dalings…!”
But the words that came out of my mouth were just as incoherent as before, a foolish mumble.
I couldn’t accept it, so I flailed around wildly.
If this was the case, I might as well just leave! I’m leaving right now!
“I… I’ll leave… overcharge… nooo…!”
But no matter how much I raged, my tongue wouldn’t cooperate.
And then—
[SYSTEM] You have failed to break free from the influence of the scammer’s detection.
“Hahaha, what’s that? You’ve decided to accept my offer?”
Bin chuckled as if he could read my every thought.
And just then, the system window sealed my fate.
[SYSTEM] Negotiation failed! The negotiation is automatically accepted.
“Yes. 10,000 dalings, right? I’ll accept the deal.”
Once again, the system’s coercive power took effect.
I wanted to shut my mouth, but my lips responded with an innocent answer. I swallowed the curse that threatened to escape my throat.
Bin laughed as he watched me.
“Ah, you made a good choice. Come this way.”
…This is ridiculous!
I held back the tears that threatened to rise and trudged behind Bin with a defeated gait.
What should I even call this feeling?
A boiling rage? A maddening sense of injustice?
Anyway, the one thing I knew for sure was that the aftermath of that unfair transaction was gnawing at me.
“Hah.”
No matter how I thought about it, it just didn’t add up.
I had gone all the way to the back alley, and I barely had a little over 10,000 dalings in my pocket.
‘This is all because of…’
This terrible, unjust system!
This game didn’t even care about users quitting. But then again, I didn’t even know how to quit.
I couldn’t just leave carelessly either, because if I messed up, I’d probably end up facing the execution ending a year from now.
I was trembling all over from my intense frustration.
“No. It’s fine. There’s always a way out, even if the sky falls.”
The one small consolation was that I could afford the entrance fee to the Calamari Mine and buy the mithril pickaxe with the money I had.
If Bin had scammed me out of 5,000 dalings, I would have been finished. But thankfully, it wasn’t that bad.
“Hah.”
But still, it wasn’t something I could just shake off.
“A-are you not having dinner…?”
Sophy, looking frightened, asked in a voice that sounded almost like a goat’s bleating.
She looked so afraid that when we got home, she must have seen me angrily completing the daily quests and feared I’d lose it again.
…Well, I could understand that. I’d spent 30 minutes punching and kicking the air and cursing like a sailor.
What bothered me more, though, was that Sophy no longer feared me for my bad reputation. At this point, I realized I could sit her down and create a new one with some crazy antics.
Anyway, it seemed the system was making sure I could never look comfortable.
“Um, Miss?”
Sophy’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Ah, never mind. I’m not hungry.”
“Eh? But you skipped breakfast this morning…”
Did I?
I stared at her silently for a moment, and Sophy seemed to gain a little courage as she continued.
“After you came back, you only asked for water.”
It was true; I had only asked for cold water. My stomach felt a little empty now, but I was fine. I hadn’t eaten breakfast or dinner, but surprisingly, I didn’t feel like I was about to collapse.
I wondered if maybe my physical condition had improved.
‘Status window!’
Name: Adelhyde Ulmer
Age: 19
Occupation: Adopted daughter of Duke Ulmer
Title: Elder Abuser
Basic Stats
· Core Power: 7/100 (2↑)
· Intelligence: 3/100
· Grace: 10/100
· Charisma: 0/100
· Stress: 15/100
Special Stats
· Infamy: 45/999 (25↑)
· Karma: 10/999 (5↑)
· Persuasiveness: 1/100 (1↑)
· Mark Power: 95/100
Oh, I must have earned some extra core power and persuasiveness after completing the daily quests.
When I checked the overall stats through the system earlier, these two stats had increased noticeably.
‘So that’s why I’m feeling fine…’
The small increase was still quite an improvement, and the rising infamy meant that, if things continued like this, I might avoid the execution ending after all.
“Eek!”
As I turned my head, Sophy suddenly squealed in shock.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude! I-I’m sorry, it’s just… the housekeeper told me to make sure you have dinner!”
“…Housekeeper?”
