Chapter 163
Chapter 163 -- The Merchants Guild Of The City Of Doran
Doran's Merchants Guild occupied a very fine building fronting on to the main street of the city . Ugor-san led me directly into the entrance where we were met by a stout Merchant who appeared to be in his late 40s, well-dressed and neatly groomed, the very picture of a prosperous citizen .
"I've been looking forward to meeting you," he said, waving his hand towards the hallway beyond the entrance . "Please be welcome . " I looked behind me, was it okay for Fer and the others to accompany me? This wasn't the Adventurers Guild where they were familiar visitors . The Merchant added, "Follow me with your contracted monsters, if you please . " The Merchant had noticed my hesitancy and quickly responded to it as you might expect of a high-ranking man of business . He led the way to a room in the back of the Guild's reception area with Fer and Dora-chan tagging along . This room was one like others in the corridor where I saw more people, presumably Merchants, discussing some kind of business around tables .
* * * * *
Once we were comfortably seated around a table in the room the Merchant spoke . "Firstly, let me introduce myself . I'm the Guild Master of the Merchants Guild here in the city of Doran . My name is Adriano . I'm glad to make your acquaintance . "
I was impressed by the fact the Guild Master himself had come to meet with me . "I’m Mukouda, I look forward to working with you . " I responded politely, keeping in mind that I was also a member of the Merchants Guild, if only the lowest rank and this man was effectively my superior .
Adriano-san turned to the Deputy Guild Master and bowed his head . "Ugor-san, I'm sorry for bothering you so many times over the past two days about this matter . "
"No no, I understand your reasons . ” Ugor-san replied rather stiffly .
"I'm glad you feel that way," Adriano-san smiled . For some weird reason the Gustave level boss monster we had fought in the dungeon suddenly came to mind . "Now can we get down to business?" He turned to me . "Ugor-san has informed us that you have gems and jewellery of various sorts to offer us, is that correct?"
"Yes I do . " I said . Adriano-san sent an assistant out to fetch an appraiser, someone who was an expert in examining and valuing gems and the like . The fellow who entered the room after a few minutes was a grandfatherly type, in his 60s perhaps, with sharp eyes .
"Now, please show us what you have to offer, Mukouda-san . " I started taking out the various gemstones we had collected in the dungeon .
"First, there's this ruby . ” I passed the stone to the old man who screwed a loupe into his eyesocket before holding the ruby up to the light, examining it closely on all sides . It was the first time I had seen someone use a loupe in this world . Glasses and other optical devices seemed to be rare and expensive, I had noticed only a few wealthier individuals wearing spectacles here and there .
"It's a small stone," the appraiser muttered, "but it's a wonderfully deep red colour . A dungeon stone, I expect . " He put the stone down carefully on a soft black cloth Adriano-san had laid on the table . It sounded like the old man knew his stuff, I decided .
"Well then, can you bring out the next one please?" he requested . I asked him if it wouldn't be easier for me to get all of them out at once but he demurred .
"No, it’s been a long time since I've had a chance to work with gems from the dungeon . " he explained . "I must judge each stone with my full attention . Having them all lying in front of me would only be a distraction . " That really sounded like he was taking a very professional attitude to his job so I complied with his wishes and brought each stone out one by one . He examined the smaller emerald, garnet and aquamarine gemstones, the amethysts and the peridot, commenting on each of them in turn before laying them down on the cloth on the table . However when I said "This is an Imperial Topaz" and handed the stone to the appraiser, I saw his eyes light up .
"An Imperial Topaz!" he said after a long time, turning the larger stone in his fingers in the light as he studied it through his loupe with great concentration . "I haven't seen this golden color for decades! This is very fine . . . " he said, "there are no flaws I can detect and the size is impressive . " He put the Imperial Topaz down beside the others with some reluctance, as if he didn't want to let go of it .
"You seem somewhat excited, Ruslan-san . " Adriano-san said, "Is this gemstone important?" Ah, so the appraiser's name was Ruslan-san .
"Yes . This is a big find . " Ruslan-san said, resting a finger on the large yellow gem . "To start with there aren't many Imperial Topazes around, it's a very rare gemstone . The people that know of them are aware of their scarcity but they're very much in demand, regardless of the price . The colour of this example too, the red-tinged golden shade, that makes it even more attractive to possible buyers . " He nodded . "Once word gets out that this stone is on the market there will be a lot of people interested in acquiring it . "
Adriano-san leaned in to look at the Imperial Topaz, muttering to himself, "True, that clear golden color is very attractive . ” I had no idea of the value of such things but if both these gentlemen thought that way it looked like the Imperial Topaz was very valuable . I still had more gems to be appraised so I continued with the sapphire and alexandrite, following up with the smaller diamonds . Ruslan-san was quite enthusiastic about all of them .
"Huhu, the quality of dungeon products is very different to regular gems . ” he explained .
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