End of Volume 108

On the side of Silver Sand City, with Kairen’s help, the upheaval within the Silver Coin Chamber of Commerce ultimately concluded with Flor regaining control of the organization and the steward being brought down. This outcome surprised many, Weng among them.

Numerous factions that had painstakingly gathered information, preparing to intervene only after the steward disposed of Flor, found themselves sorely disappointed. Even though the chamber was returned to Flor in the end, by this time, at least half the assets of the Silver Coin Chamber had evaporated compared to its peak, and its status as one of Silver Sand City’s oligarchs was now perilously unstable.

Moreover, Flor’s luck seemed never to favor him. No sooner had he removed the steward and found his footing than he faced another crisis: a broken capital chain.

Flor had taken over the chamber too late. By the time he finally understood its true state, he discovered that the funds had all but been squandered. A business once boasting over ten thousand gold in assets now struggled to produce even fifty gold in liquid capital.

Flor was well aware that this was the result of insiders exploiting the chaos after the old chairman’s death to embezzle the chamber’s assets. If Flor could gather evidence and single out the culprits, there was a chance he could recover his losses—but in the current circumstances, such a feat was all but impossible.

Thus, Flor saw only one option: to sell off what remained of the chamber’s assets. He neither had the time nor the will to salvage an institution rotten to its core. Rather than exhaust himself over such a chamber, he would sooner start anew.

This time, however, he did not sell his remaining assets to Weng. Instead, he chose to sell them to the council. The last third of the assets, under the incredulous gaze of the city’s gnomes, went for twelve hundred—a sum far below their true value.

Flor knew he was taking a loss, but he didn’t care. To him, if he could not journey on burdened, he would travel light. He sold off the decaying assets and turned his sights to the ores in Goblin Forest.

The Goblin Forest mines had always been managed by Weng, who controlled all the distribution channels. Previously, desperate to break the deadlock, Flor had traded away two-thirds of his fortune without a thought for future consequences.

Now, things were different. Having shed the weight of his old life, mining was one of his few remaining options. Just as Flor was preparing to develop his mining interests, Weng’s men approached, offering to buy his batch of ore.

Naturally, the price they offered was cut to the bone—fifteen gold, even less than Weng had paid the goblins. While this still left the Silver Coin Chamber with a twofold profit, Flor merely smiled at the offer. Without hesitation, he lodged a complaint with the council, accusing Weng of commercial fraud in the Goblin Forest ore trade.

To everyone’s surprise, the council accepted the case.

While the council deliberated, Flor used the money from his asset sale to establish a smelting workshop. He even poached a team of master smiths from Weng’s refinery, paying them triple their usual wages.

Even more astonishing, as soon as Flor’s workshop opened, he received an order from the council for refined iron ore—a contract that should have gone to Weng.

In an instant, the Silver Coin Chamber, which had been all but dissolved, was revived.

Behind this dizzying series of maneuvers, both Weng and Flor knew full well that the true puppeteer was the council. The council would never allow a single chamber to dominate the city, especially in a border town like Silver Sand City.

Of course, Flor’s willingness to sell his assets cheaply also played a crucial role.

Whatever the case, with the council’s support, Flor and the Silver Coin Chamber finally set sail on a new journey.

Once Flor had regained his footing, Kairen began preparations for the border trade project. Soon, Flor and Cliff met in person, with Kairen entrusting them with full authority over the frontier trade negotiations.

To Kairen’s surprise, perhaps because of their similar backgrounds and experiences, the human and the gnome quickly hit it off. Especially in matters of commerce, the two reached a consensus after only a few words.

Throughout the process, Kairen could scarcely follow their rapid conversation. After all, he was just a homebody with little knowledge of business or many other things. But it hardly mattered—once Flor and Cliff had settled on a perfect plan, they explained everything to the bewildered Kairen.

The plan was simple: Flor and Cliff would initiate trade and observe the reactions of the Silver Hand and the Bourbon Kingdom. According to them, both factions had internal demands for commerce. As long as they made the first move, Kairen’s border trade initiative would unfold smoothly.

Of course, though it sounded simple, there were countless details to manage. But those were no longer Kairen’s concern. All he needed to do was entrust the matter to Flor and Cliff, build the marketplace within Goblin Forest, and leave the rest to them.

In truth, Kairen considered himself extremely lucky. Not only did he have the System as his golden finger after transmigrating, but he had also won the allegiance of Cliff and Flor. Without them, even after conquering Goblin Forest, Kairen’s path would have been fraught with hardship.

Even if he had conceived of the border trade idea, and even with Old Jack’s help, bringing it to fruition would have been a daunting task.

But now, he barely had to lift a finger—Cliff and Flor saw to every detail, ensuring everything was perfectly arranged.