Nightmare Mythos

The bell from the door jiggled which produced a welcoming and soothing sound. It also gave a signal to the owner of the store that customers who enter her establishment was merely there to trade.

'What type of person should I scam for today…' The owner mused inwardly before giggling inwardly, 'Well, didn't matter. I will always be the one with the upper hand,'

The businesswoman stood up from her chair and looked at the unfamiliar customers. Her acquisitive eyes gaze upon their uniforms up to their hats, quickly recognizing them to be students of the Resisting Academy.

She instantly knew what they came here for.

"Welcome~"

The woman went to greet them personally and couldn't help but admire four of the students who were excluding a leakage of their power. As a knowledgeable businesswoman herself, she understood what it meant.

'A group of Shaded… But for me to be unable to sense the two of them to have Facet as well… is it some sort of Technique?'

The woman immediately came to the conclusion after remembering and combining the set of information she had gathered regarding the students of the academy.

They might appear docile on the outside but most of them are arrogant and proud with their egos inflated that had been carved throughout the years they've been through that prestigious school.

The merchant understands it.

Finally, she introduced herself with an amiable smile, "Welcome to Moren Shop, one of the best trading companies in the world. I'm the branch owner of this place. By the way, the name's Melinda."

Quentin stepped forward and replied, "Hello ma'am Melinda, we're here to do some exchange regarding contribution points. I hope you can help us,"

Melinda answered, "If it's just contribution points, then there should be no problem. Judging your clothes, you must be from the academy on deployment, right? If I remember, fourth-year students usually do it. You can't be graduates since you'll be sent to sites right after,"

Quentin cast a glance to Cesar to see if he had any reply but seeing him appearing silent, he answered on his behalf.

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"You are very right and smart, ma'am. No wonder this place is… thriving. It might be lacking visitors but I heard Moren Shop is the best shop one can encounter when trading and exchanging goods,"

Melinda chuckled, "Don't worry. If you're worried about the lack of customers for our famous brand, it's only because we're almost at our closing time. If you look around, there are only a few items left here to be exchanged. But I don't mind if young heroes like you come. So let's get right in business!"

Melinda led the group at the counter, turned towards one cabinet, and grabbed a heavy metal case placed on a false bottom which she struggled to put on the desk. After entering its password, she opened the case and revealed it to the cohort.

"This is newly printed and inked twenty-five thousand Vennon cash. I'm willing to exchange it for fifty contribution points."

Melinda didn't waste a single second as she immediately went straight to her goal. Her atmosphere still excludes amiability but her face was nothing but serious. Under her reserved façade was just the face of a scammer after all.

'Contribution is treated as gold mines for rich families who had their children accepted or admitted from the academy. With these points as their starting point, they'll be able to enhance themselves among their peers and fill a huge gap. The return when I managed to pull this deal will be astronomical,'

Melinda already calculated the benefits of being able to scam the students of the academy. By exchanging the precious contribution points the students are willing to trade, she'll be able to sell them twofold to those who are willing. It might increase much better than what it is right now.

Suddenly, Melinda saw the speaker of the group, Quentin, look at the same person from earlier and she couldn't help but follow his gaze.

There, the most inconspicuous of the group was staring back which made her shiver. Unlike the other four who were excluded some sort of dangerous aura, the person she was staring at didn't release any unnaturalness.

He was completely normal.

Melinda saw this person walking towards the front and inspecting the cash with scrutiny. Touching the bills, he remained silent while the others were keeping their composure intact. They are waiting for him to finish.

After a while, seeing the amount of contribution points was correct, Cesar retorted with indifference.

"It is indeed new,"

Observing that there was no ill intent on it, Melinda finally calmed down and nodded, "Yes… yes. They are all printed by the very own Schmitz Bank Company. Our Moren Shop had close ties with them, you see,"

"Twenty-five thousand cash is plenty as well,"

Melinda followed his response with another nod, "Very plenty enough. You're only getting this kind of deal from our very own shop. In the future, if you'll be able to return, we can talk about a much more great deal. Of course, with great benefits on both sides hahaha!"

Cesar paused and calmly shifted his attention back to Melinda. He looked through the cabinet before moving his eyes around the shop.

With a sigh, Cesar shook his head, "But was that it?"

Melinda's reserved face cracked for a moment before slightly tilting her head, "What was "but was that it"? Are you referring to the deal itself?"

"What am I trying to refer if not for this deal? It's not like we talked before this." Cesar lightly chuckled, "Here's the thing. Forty contribution points are already equivalent to one Nightmare Potion. If merely twenty-five thousand Vennon cash is enough to buy almost one single potion, then that'll be the craziest joke of the century for me.

He paused, "I think you knew the value of these points but you aren't willing enough to do a fair deal. Let's see… you're a merchant so you're going to sell these points to the highest bidder. Do I have to tell you who these bidders are? Well, definitely the rich families of the rich kids that attended the academy.

The return on investment will be huge obviously, hence I'm asking what additional offers you are willing to give,"

Melinda took a mouthful of saliva down to her throat due to nervousness, though her face remained stoic. She carefully closed the case full of Vennon notes and gave a reply.

"Mr..."

"Sparrow,"

"Yes, Mr. Sparrow. Your points are valid. Honestly, you are a very well-spoken young man but at the end of the day, business is business. If you think this fair is not a deal, you are entirely wrong. Go to other shops.

See if they are generous enough to offer you a great deal of mine. However if you came running back here, don't expect me to treat you the same way,"

Cesar appeared as calm as ever even after being pressured by a woman who was good at her job. Melinda let out a soft smirk after seeing him unresponsive until she saw him smiling the same thing, revealing his canine fangs that were slightly larger than before.

"Okay,"

Cesar turned around and gave a warning, "But remember this. If I pulled off a deal with other shops, I'm going to say you're a scam. Oh, and you'll never get to communicate with the Schmitz bank company again. After all, its heiress is witnessing a dog company like yours undermining people. Thankfully, we're not inexperienced,"

Melinda appeared to almost let out a chuckle when she realized that his words weren't entirely wrong. She realized that the points she was willing to sell were going to the rich families, and an example of this family is The Schmitz.

That's where the oddity comes from.

'Heiress of Schmitz Bank Company? She's witnessing this deal?'

Melinda gazed at the backs of the academy's young students slowly walked away from the front desk and immediately went to refresh her memories if she missed something.

'Oh...'

Finally, she remembered there was indeed news of the heiress of the company attending the Resisting Academy, over three years ago. This news brought a shocking development to the bank but not entirely in a bad way. It only raised the value of stocks involving them.

The Moren Shop had close ties with The Schmitz, this is not wrong. Yet Cesar's warning continued echoing through Melinda's head.

In a span of a few seconds, the image of one student in the group resurfaced in her head and had a clear similarity to the picture shown in the news when the involvement of Schmitz happened.

Her gaze fell onto Reyna's back, who was currently whispering to Cesar about something.

'Not good!'

Melinda immediately chased the group down and shouted.

"Wait!"

Cesar halted his steps, resulting in the group to stop as well. The tip of his lips moved sideways before turning around.

"Yes, Melinda?"

Melinda let out a ragged breath, curiously looked at Reyna to confirm her suspicions, and almost fainted on the spot when she realized it was the real deal.

Still, she managed to choke out the words she strongly struggled to let out. With an awkward smile, she chuckled nervously.

"How about we do another deal?"