abnabooks Chapter 1160 - 1093:
Chapter 1160 - 1093:
Danio lowered his head and checked the name card again. Yeah, no mistake."Take another look."
"No need. Get lost, you fraud!"
He could hardly believe his ears. "What did you say? You don't recognize this name card? It's from the Meigedi Commerce Association!"
"Where'd this beggar come from, thinking he can barge into the Windmill Ground Commerce Association?" The gate guard slanted him a look and reached out to shove Danio's shoulder. "Hurry up and scram, don't be an eyesore here!"
Danio was shoved and stumbled, his lower back slamming into the door pillar, making him suck in a sharp breath of pain.
"Tch—you looking for trouble?"
He'd been in the army for so many years, fought so many battles; when had he ever suffered this kind of humiliation?
He immediately wanted to draw his sword, but just as his hand touched the hilt, Paolina pressed it down.
"Don't be impulsive." Paolina's voice was very low. "This isn't the Holy Alliance. If you start a fight, it won't end well."
But before Danio could calm down, two privately hired soldiers in iron armor came out of the warehouse.
"What's going on?" The leading private captain frowned. "All this shouting."
The gate guard immediately pointed at Danio to complain. "Captain, this punk is impersonating a member of the Association and trying to sneak in to scam people. When I exposed him, he tried to get violent!"
"Impersonating a member of the Association?" The private captain's face darkened. He stepped forward, intending to grab Danio's arm.
Danio jerked away, his hand on the hilt of his saber, his knuckles white from the force. "I'm the Holy Alliance's trade representative stationed at the Royal Court. Doing this to me—are you trying to provoke a dispute between our two countries?"
"A dispute between two countries?" The private captain acted like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "With just you? A fraud whose name card isn't even recognized? Take him down!"
The two privates immediately closed in, spear tips flashing coldly.
Danio's head was a complete mess at this point. He'd clearly just come to pay a visit to the Association; how had it turned into a brawl?
Isn't business supposed to be about personal connections and social dealings? How did it turn into stabbing and killing!
Where exactly had things gone wrong? Every step he'd taken was correct.
Just as the situation was about to explode, Paolina suddenly stepped forward.
The bat wings behind her unfurled slightly, her feet lifting just off the ground, scarlet eyes coldly locking onto the private captain.
"He's one of mine." Paolina said softly. "Your Windmill Ground Commerce Association—are you planning to make an enemy of our clan?"
The private captain's movements froze, his expression suddenly turning rather ugly.
He looked Paolina up and down, seeing the wings behind her, those eyes, and her feet off the ground.
In the end, he grudgingly drew back his hand. "But this is Windmill Ground Commerce Association territory. Please behave yourselves."
With that, he shot the gate guard a glare, then turned and left with the privates.
The gate guard shrank his neck in fright and didn't dare say another word.
Danio stood where he was, his cheeks flushing red and pale by turns.
If Paolina hadn't stepped in just now, he'd probably already be dragged off to a cell.
He clenched his teeth, glaring at the front gate of the Windmill Ground Commerce Association, and squeezed out through his teeth, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—just you wait!"
Paolina gently patted his arm. "Let's go. Don't let them see through us."
Paolina's clan had long since been wiped out; at most she could scare people a bit with that noble vampire trait of flight.
If Danio got beaten up, she'd be the first to run.
Taking a deep breath and forcing down the anger in his chest, Danio turned and left.
The Holy Alliance's name carried weight, sure, but there were always people with no sense. If they won't have you here, there'll be somewhere else that will!
He refused to believe he couldn't find a Commerce Association willing to cooperate.
"Let's go check out the Dawn Island Commerce Association." Danio pointed not far away. "Dawn Island and our Holy Alliance at least have some ties. They should at least give us some face."
However, reality slapped him in the face again.
The gate guard of the Dawn Island Commerce Association didn't even let him hand over his name card. After giving him a once-over, he simply shook his head and said, "The president said we're not receiving any outside merchants right now, especially… those of unknown origin."
"Unknown origin?" Danio was so angry he almost jumped. "I'm Captain Danio of the Holy Alliance, here with spices. How exactly am I 'of unknown origin'?"
But no matter what he said, the gate guard was completely unmoved, stubbornly refusing to let him in.
Unwilling to give up, Danio went to other Commerce Associations.
From Imperial Commerce Associations to the local Associations of the southern provincial territories, he practically ran the entire length of Commerce Street.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over the street, stretching his shadow long, yet not a single Commerce Association was willing to let him in.
Some even shut their doors in his face, too lazy to even say a word.
The sky gradually darkened. One after another, lights came on in the windows along both sides of the street, casting their glow over Danio's exhausted, disheartened face.
He leaned against a wall, breathing hard, his throat so dry it felt like it was about to smoke.
Why? Just why?
He couldn't figure it out. Holy Alliance spices were hot commodities anywhere; how come in Black Tower Port no one wanted to have anything to do with them?
If he couldn't find a distributor and failed to complete his mission, how was he supposed to go back and report to Horn?
Would that lie about the Creighton Business School be exposed too?
At this point, he couldn't very well admit his résumé was forged—it was already past the point of no return!
"Let's go back to the inn first." Paolina's voice carried a trace of sympathy. "We'll think of something tomorrow."
"Maybe we should keep heading south?" Danio scratched his messy hair. "Maybe this cursed place is our personal doom."
"If the spice deal has to wait, why don't we look into ship timber first…"
"Sure, and there's a night market around here in the evenings. Mm—wait…" Danio suddenly stopped walking, staring blankly at Paolina.
Right! How had he not thought of that?
Spices were hard currency; they were worth money anywhere.
They'd used spices to trade for water and supplies before, so why couldn't they trade them for ship timber now?
With a shout of delight, Danio scooped Paolina up and spun her around. "Yes! Exactly! Let's go, let's go, let's go, we'll do it right now!"
Under Paolina's guidance, the two of them quickly arrived at the vampire night market on the edge of the harbor.
This place was completely different from Commerce Street by day, with bone lanterns flickering everywhere.
The air was thick with the scents of spices, alcohol, and some strange sweet bloodiness.
Merchants of every skin color and race were haggling here, the place buzzing with noise.
Danio quickly found a stall selling ship timber.
The vendor was a tall vampire, his fangs slightly protruding past his lips, currently haggling with an Ogre.
Danio stepped forward and took out a small pouch of spices. "Excuse me, I'd like to trade this for some ship timber. Are you interested?"
The vampire vendor caught the smell of the spices and his eyes lit up instantly. He snatched the pouch, opened it for a sniff, and nodded repeatedly. "Interested! Very interested!"
He shot a glance at the Ogre beside him and waved him off impatiently. "You don't have enough money. Stop bothering me."
Turning back, he beamed at Danio. "Friend, what kind of timber are you looking for? Oak, pine, or ironwood? I've got everything."
"I need old, air-dried timber, preferably suitable for building big riverboats."
"Old timber, no problem!" The vampire vendor thumped his chest. "I just brought in a batch of hundred-year oak from the north. The quality is top-notch.
Trading for spices works. Currency's been fluctuating like crazy lately; spices hold their value better."
The two quickly settled on a price. Danio traded thirty bags of spices for enough oak and pine to build two large ships.
Afraid he might regret it, the vampire vendor immediately pulled out a contract and had him sign and seal it.
Danio looked over the terms on the contract. Although there were parts he didn't quite understand, he figured as long as he got the ship timber, it was fine, and signed without hesitation.
With the ship timber settled, a weight finally dropped from Danio's heart, and he hummed a little tune on his way back to the inn.
He felt he'd finally accomplished something and could at least have something to report when he returned.
But just as he reached the inn's gate, he froze.
Esuan and the sailors and crew from the Golden Ram were all standing in the inn's courtyard, faces grim, luggage piled beside them, looking like they'd just been kicked out.
"What happened?" Danio hurried forward. "Why are you all out here? Where's the ship?"
Seeing him, Esuan's face showed anxiety as he strode up. "Captain Danio, our ship… our ship's been seized by the provincial governor!"