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“Um, Miss. I’m sorry, but because we are only carrying large currency, the village inn won’t accept the money. So we need to go to a market that our village deals with to exchange money,” Lancelot said with an apologetic face to the calmed down Leisha.
Leisha felt ashamed and said, “No, I’m the one who is sorry. Ok, I’m getting uncomfortable so let’s stop. I was being childish.” Then she added. “Also, don’t call me Miss. I don’t want to be called Miss by my younger brother’s friend.”
“Then what should I~”
“Just call me Noona. Leisha Noona. Try it.”[1]
Lancelot looked perplexed. “How can I~”
“What are you so hesitant for, you call Den, Den.”
“That’s because Den is Den~”
To Lancelot, Denburg was a close friend and an object of admiration. Leisha laughed and tousled the diplomat’s hair.
“I’ll say Lan too? You said Den calls you Lan, right?”
Seeing him nod, she also nodded. “I’ll call Lan too, so you also just relax and call me Noona. Got it, Lan?”
“Yes.  Le-Leisha Noona~”
Seeing that he was embarrassed and flushed, she hugged him. “Ah! So cute. It would have been nice if someone cute like you were my younger brother instead of Den whose outside doesn’t match the inside.”
“That, that’s not true! Den... Den is awesome! And strong! And kind!”
Leisha and Mac both burst into laughter.
“Well, I don’t know about that. It’s true that he is strong, but him being kind is a little... Yeah, if anything, he is a clever and wicked guy trying to take advantage of others.”
“That’s wrong! Den is definitely considerate and friendly,”
Lancelot broke out of Leisha’s embrace and shook his arms up and down in frustration.
“Ah! Whatever!” The sulky Lancelot grumbled and took the lead.
As they eyed the young diplomat, Mac and Leisha thought he was cute.
“Let’s go together!”
Lancelot took off without looking back, however, he’d reduced his walking speed noticeably. He was walking across the street when he stopped in front of a large building.
“This is the ‘Druval’ market that deals with our village.”
Mac and Leisha stare blankly at the large-sized building.
“Wow, isn’t this bigger than our village town hall?”
“I think so.”
The Druval Market boasted being the largest building in the last city of Warrant, even claiming to be 1.5x bigger than the city hall, where the mayor worked.
“What are you doing? Let’s go in.”
When Lancelot beckoned, the dumbstruck duo came to their senses and went into the building.
The inside of the building was rather noisy, like a small auction house with people looking like magicians auctioning for a monster’s body.
Lancelot passed through the familiar little auctions and headed to where a young man, who looked like a receptionist, stood.
“What can I help you with?”
When the young man asked, Lancelot took a small card out of his arms and showed it to him.
“All right. I will take you to the reception room. Are the two behind you in your party?”
“Yes, then a total of three people.”
The young man smiled and guided the party to the third floor. In front of a fancy door, the young man pulled the rope hanging from the ceiling, and shortly after, a bell rang. Soon after, he opened the door.
“Please rest assured, the inside of the room is completely soundproof. Then, excuse me.”
The young man bowed and went back to the first floor. The dazed Leisha and Mac followed Lancelot when he started walking into the room.
When all three stepped into the room, the door shut automatically behind them. Leisha felt the sudden flow of mana and realized that the closing of the door was due to magic.
Looking around, there was soundproofing magic and several other unknown magic in place. If it were Denburg or teacher, Elder Mirpa, then they would know what magic it was, but Leisha couldn’t figure out the details with her skills.
A door on the wall right to Leisha opened, and a middle-aged man entered.
“Now, now. It turned out to be VIPs. Here, please have a seat.”
The sturdy middle-aged man sat on a couch at the reception table, and the party sat on the couch without hesitation.
“Wow, Miss, isn’t it incredibly soft?”
As Mac was voicing his astonishment loudly, Leisha blushed and said, “It’s embarrassing so be quiet.”
Even as she said that she was also surprised by the softness of the couch.
The middle-aged man sitting opposite smiled and poured them some tea. “It’s all right. This couch is a special product and is one of the items that many people are surprised by.”
It was just lip service. The usual visitors were only old raccoons or really sly people, so he must have found Mac and Leisha’s reactions fresh and funny.
“Besides Mister Lancelot, it is my first time meeting you two. So if you don’t mind, may I ask for your names?”
Lancelot responded to the middle-aged man. “This person is one of the strongest in our Crow Tribe and vice-captain of the warrior group. And this is our princess.”
Mac had a proud face, and Leisha looked like she was about to say he exaggerated too much, but Mac stopped her with a look. She simply closed her mouth.
The middle-aged man stood up at Lancelot’s introduction and bowed respectfully. “Excuse my rudeness. Princess, this one is Zahanna von Philadel, and I am the head of the Warrant Branch of the Druval Market.”
Leisha was suddenly embarrassed by the excessive greeting that no one in the village did. Lancelot accepted the greeting on behalf of the hesitating princess.
“Mister Branch Manager, our princess is not familiar with the manners of the empire. Furthermore, she is not sensitive about manners, so you don’t have to overdo it.”
“Mister Lancelot, thank you for your words. However, if it is the Crow Tribe’s princess, then she is of even higher nobility than a princess from a small country of Gahi. Please allow a trivial person like me some face, as my shameful conduct would become the market’s shameful conduct. Please allow me to do my courtesy.”
Zahanna did not rise from his bow leaving Leisha at a loss. It was all the more burdensome because it felt sincere, unlike Mac who said it jokingly.
At the same time, Mac spoke to Zahanna, “We understand your courtesy, however, we do not have time. I cannot allow wasting of time with unnecessary courtesy.”
Zahanna rose and said, “This one is only trying to maintain basic courtesy. These manners are just naturally ingrained, but I won’t take any more of your time.” He gave a small fake cough and sat down.
“As the vice-captain said, we are rather short on time. I would like to get right to the point.”
Zahanna agreed to Lancelot’s request. The latter took out 5 platinum coins from his chest and put them on the table.
“We need money to spend in the empire. Please exchange these platinum coins for us.”
Zahanna looked pained. “I’m sorry, but currently at our branch, we don’t have enough to exchange 5 platinum coins.”
There were a few platinum coins for trading with the Crow Tribe, but besides that, there weren't enough coins below platinum coins to exchange. If you swept the branch clean, you could probably have enough to exchange, but a scenario where all the usable money in the branch at once disappeared had to be avoided.
It was because Lancelot was privy to this fact, that he deliberately announced where Mac and Leisha were from, for nobility was a law that was bound to status.
From Zahanna’s perspective, if he wanted to keep doing business with the Crow Tribe in the future, he had to accept this demand. But the 5 platinum coins were really too hard. The manager looked at the group sitting on the opposite side.
From his discerning eye, he didn’t think that they were lying about the girl being a princess but it didn’t seem like she had a strong influence in the Crow Tribe. Of course, even so, a princess was a princess. One couldn’t guarantee what would happen if one were impolite.
However, the man who was introduced as vice-captain was dangerous. His senses that had developed from decades of working in Warrant were indicating. If one were to wrong that man, forget about the future, one’s life would be in immediate danger. The subtle dangerous pressure he was exuding was no joke.
The best knight in the city would be no match. The best knight would have to team up with a squadron of knights to even be a match. There was no evidence. But if one could say that his sense from when he rose all the way to branch manager in Warrant, nicknamed Valhalla, was any evidence, then there was evidence.
To what extent should I exchange the money. They definitely did not come here to request an exchange of all their platinum coins. 2 platinum coins? 3?
Zahanna smiled inwardly. No matter what the other party was thinking, there was only one thing he could say first.
“It seems, it really is too much.”
At the same time, Mac explosively released his aura.
Zahanna suddenly felt like his life was flashing before his eyes, but he ignored it. It was not just one or two times that he had experienced this sort of situation before. Since he was young, these situations where he was met with excessive demands from armed parties were as common as eating meals. If he had yielded from just that, he would not have such confidence now.
“Then how about this. We will buy some items; then you can just give us the change, right?”
Zahanna sang a joyous song in his heart. The other side was also very aware that their demands were excessive. Mac’s aura also gradually diminished.
“If it’s only something to that extent, of course, we are able. What kind of products would you like to see?”
“First of all, please give me items that are easy to exchange.”
“Then I will bring over gold, silver, and jewelry. Their value does not diminish easily and for their value, it takes up very little space, making it easy to carry. Gold and silver shops are about the size of a city, so you can exchange them whenever you need them.”
“All right. Princess, Vice-Captain, are there any items that you want?”
Right after Lancelot asked, Zahanna continued speaking,
“The Druval Market brings goods from all over the empire, so there is nothing that we don’t have. We have things ranging from all kinds of jewelry, swords, magic materials, tools, perfumes, and real estate. There is nothing we don’t have.”
“Then, I want a cane,” said Leisha
Zahanna said with his eyes wide open, “Do you mean a magic wand? I’ll bring out the best. Is there anything the vice-captain needs?”
“Not right now. For weapons, I don’t trust craftsmen outside the village.”
“Then how about items to maintain weapons? Whetstone, oil, silk cloth, etc. Doesn’t it take a lot of care to maintain a weapon?”
“That is true.”
“Then I’ll bring those out too.”
Zahanna left for a moment to go grab the items. As he exited, the nervous Leisha sighed and pinched Lancelot’s cheek.
“Princess, who’s a princess? Huh? Didn’t I tell you that I hate those kinds of words because they give me goosebumps?”
“Uh… But in order to do the exchange, you have to pressure the other party.”
Lancelot rubbed his cheeks with a tearful look.
“Oh, and he’s funny too, saying that he can’t just exchange the money.”
As Leisha snorted and spoke, Lancelot shook his head.
“From his perspective it’s obvious. It’s the same thing as asking for all the money they have in this branch.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This platinum coin is worth a ridiculously high amount of money. Two platinum coins will allow the village to buy all the supplies for medicine it uses for half a year.”
“What?!”
“In addition, the magic items that Princess uses are also included in the supplies.”
“Don’t call me Princess,” Leisha said, pinching Lancelot’s cheek again.
“Yes, I understand, Noona.”
1. Noona is the Korean word that males use for a biological older sister, but is also used by males as a friendly/close title to refer to female friends who are older. Females say ‘unni’ for older sister. Guys say ‘hyung’ for older brother and girls say ‘oppa’ for older brother.