The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 58: A Trusted Ally of the Snow Trade Emissary

’Is this a threat?’

Reynard read the note again and nodded to himself.

’This is a threat! Someone must’ve watched Marien and me from the houses on the street, and now they imply that if I don’t act friendly, they will snitch on us to the local orders. I didn’t worry about random citizens, thinking that they wouldn’t poke their noses into the doings of magi. But clearly, someone here was involved with these Children of the Frost. Hm. Does this name refer to the Loremaster of Frost?’

Scowling, Reynard put the note in his pocket.

’Looks like I will have to visit them later. But there’s no need to involve Marien for now. If they wanted a fight, they wouldn’t need to blackmail me.’

***

Reynard was pleased to see that the news of the recent fight had already reached Snow Trade Emissary. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

When he came there, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the clerks and the magi looked at him with newfound respect. People in the queues whispered to each other.

"Is this the magus who made the Winter thugs flee with their tails between their legs?"

"What stage is he? Second, Third Cycle Albedo? I thought he’d be at the Final one!"

"I heard he had some help..."

"Oh, you heard? I bet the cowards from the Winter just made it up to make their defeat less shameful..."

Reynard stood in a queue, expecting to wait for his turn with a clerk. However, soon a female servant of the Snow Trade Emissary approached him and bowed respectfully.

"Mister Faust, the Head of the Trade Emissary, wishes to speak with you. Please, come with me."

Reynard eyed the servant over. She was middle-aged, plump, and short, and like all other female servants in the Trade Emissary, she was wearing a pretty closed dress.

’Not my taste... But not bad-looking, either.’

"Lead the way, ma’am."

The servant nodded and walked to the back part of the Snow Trade Emissary. Reynard followed, enjoying the view of her ass moving under the dress like two giant, bouncy hills.

’An absolute dump truck, just as I thought. He-he...’

The servant led Reynard into an office. There, an aging, thin man was sitting in a chair.

He was wearing only black and white and had salt-and-pepper hair. Just like the man, the office was also furnished in shades of gray, and most of it was taken with document shelves. The man’s aura showed that he was a Final Cycle Albedo magi.

"Johan Faust is here, sir," the servant said, bowing, then left the room.

"Greetings. Please, sit down, Mister Faust." The man gestured at the guest seats in front of his desk. "I am John Norton, Head of the Snow Trade Emissary."

Reynard eyed the guest seats. They were simple wooden stools that weren’t even sanded. He was sure that if he merely brushed them, he’d get at least three splinters.

’This had to be a power move.’

He sat anyway, forcefully relaxed his body to look as comfortable as possible, and put his bag with potions on the ground.

"Hello, Mister Norton. Why did you want to see me? Not to offer me some tea, I suppose..."

If Norton drank anything, it wasn’t anywhere in this room. But the man looked like a cardboard cutout.

"News has reached me about your accomplishments in the service of the Order of Snow. Both your trade deals with us and your more recent military achievements. As I do with all other magi of worth, I wanted to personally congratulate you, Mister Faust. You are an ally our order is pleased to work with, and I will ensure that you have access to our best deals."

Reynard grinned. Finally, he was getting what he wanted! But Norton wasn’t done.

"Also, I would like to invite you to the Order of Snow on a more permanent basis. Since you have already proven yourself trustworthy, the order won’t require you to donate ALL your personal possessions to our cause... Just half will be enough."

"No, thanks, Mister Norton. I like our current arrangement enough. Speaking of these deals..."

Norton scrunched his nose as if the word "deal" smelled bad.

"Yes. I have the right to sell spell manuals up to red class, along with some rarer artifacts and ingredients produced in the Order of Snow. You will also be given a ten percent sale on everything you buy from us. The clerks have already been notified about your change in status as our trusted ally. But if you want to purchase spells and rare artifacts, you must speak with me directly, as only I have the authority to sell them."

Reynard nodded.

"I understand, Mister Norton. Well, since I’m here—can you sell me metal-smelting spells?"

"I assume you speak about the Bound Flame spell. Yes, it’s a white-class Albedo spell, so I can sell it. The price will be fifteen hundred gold pieces. Counting to the ten percent sale."

Reynard choked on air.

’Fifteen hundred? That’s... Fuck, I wouldn’t know if this is a fair price or not. White-class Albedo spells aren’t often sold on an open market, anyway! The sellers can hike the price as much as they want!’

Complex calculations were going on in Reynard’s head. He had this much money in savings, but after spending it, he would have nothing left even to buy a new batch of ingredients for Order of Snow’s requests.

He would get some money from selling his current potions, but he would still be scraping by at least for a while.

Marien had more money on her person, but she would hate to share it. Especially since most of Reynard’s cash was already earned by selling her school’s treasury.

’And I still need to pay rent for the workshop if I want to keep it. Hm... Ah, fuck it.’

"Yes, I would buy it, Mister Norton. I just need to bring the money—I don’t carry all this gold on my person, naturally."

"Naturally. I will wait for your return with the money."

Reynard really wanted to try smelting his magical gold.

’And if I can sustain a magic fire, I will save money on coal!’