I Became the Progenitor Vampire

Chapter 21: A Soon-to-be Bankrupt Guild

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

He remembered that the Goldwheat Guild was located within the area of influence of the Vermillion Tower, and the guild would provide him five gold Pykes for protection.

And could be considered as an acquaintance.

With few other smaller caravans watching as he made his way to the Goldwheat Guild’s grounds, Reed could clearly feel a big sigh of relief coming from the guards around him.

As the sky was still dark, and the caravan had yet to prepare to set out, the caravan guards of the Goldwheat Guild was standing vigil.

Seeing that Reed was approaching them, the guards immediately had a headache at hand.

What was this master mage thinking of doing? They had already run into bandits halfway through their trip, are they going to suffer another nightmare at the gates of Grimm?

A guard captain in a gray leather vest gritted his teeth and walked up to Reed, a little wary as he smiled.

“Master mage, what can we do for you?”

Reed looked at him impassively.

“I’m the master of the Vermillion Tower.”

That sentence instantly allowed the captain to heave a sigh of relief. He was aware of the Vermillion Tower, and the Goldwheat Guild would provide protection fees to the tower master every month, and he had accompanied the guild master there a few times.

While he had never met the tower master of the Vermillion Tower before, he believed that the other party must have some impression of the Goldwheat Guild.

“Master Reed, it’s my honor to see you. The Goldwheat Guild is at your service, I’ll get someone to call the vice guild master over, please wait a moment.”

His name was naturally not a secret within the Goldwheat Guild.

Reed nodded and did not refuse.

In this world, mages and nobles undoubtedly stood at the top of the pyramid, and for this group of merchants, much less a guard captain, even if the guild master of the Goldwheat guild were to come he was not qualified to be on par with Reed.

Reed turned his head and looked around the thirty-odd caravans of the Goldwheat Guild. To have such a scale for the delivery of a single good, it seems like the Goldwheat Guild’s commercial strength is pretty good.

Unfortunately, half of the carriages were empty, and he had no idea if they were robbed by bandits or had lost them in the middle of the journey.

He then asked out of curiosity.

“What does the Goldwheat Guild mainly trades in? Have all the goods been taken away?”

The captain shook his head, looking a little dejected. “We mainly deal in cloth and food, the orcs in the south had broken through the defensive line at the border, and the caravan had run into a band of raiding orcs half-way through our journey, and the caravan suffered heavy losses…”

“That’s right, Master Reed, this loss is the largest we have suffered since the Goldwheat Guild was founded. The orcs had taken all of the cloth and food that had been shipped to the border to support the war effort.”

A middle-aged man in a high-end merchant garb came to Reed with a wry smile. He had blonde hair, and his shrewd brown eyes particularly left an impression.

“Master Reed, this is the guild master of the Goldwheat Guild, Laurent Orlando.”

“You may leave. Wake the team up, and prepare to enter the city. I shall accompany Master Reed.”

“Yes, Guild Master Laurent.”

Reed looked at Laurent Orlando before hi,, and nodded slightly. He had seen this man before, based on the memories of the Progenitor Vampire.

And the other party’s reputation was good, and his business acumen could be called top-notch.

“Greetings, Laurent. I was going to look for a caravan team to sit down and rest, then return to Grimm after sunrise. I never thought to run into the Goldwheat Guild here though. I deeply regret what happened to you and your caravan, but all of this will pass, and I believe this single encounter will not bring down the Goldwheat Guild.”

The Progenitor Vampire had spent most of his time in Grimm studying magic and was totally unconcerned about anything else.

So, Reed’s understanding of Grimm’s business community was as good as blank, and he planned to reach out to Laurent to get a gist of what was going on with the local economy.

This massive purchase of food would need the cooperation of a guild as Reed did not have the energy to purchase them himself.

A flash of surprise appeared in Laurent’s eyes, and he did not expect the frosty mage would be so approachable.

“Master Reed, hope is still there, but luck isn’t with me this time around.”

As he said that he shook his head, and did not want to dwell on the topic, as he reached out towards the tent at the center of the caravan.

“Sir, please take a break in my tent, and head back to Grimm with us once the sun rises.”

Reed nodded slightly and did not ask more questions. After thanking Laurent he followed the latter into the central tent.

The space was not big, with woolen carpet on the ground. There was bread on the small table, with half-rolled-up bedding by the side. Clearly, it was the spot Laurent was resting in earlier.

The two took their seats and exchanged some pleasantries before Reed to the lead in asking questions.

“Guildmaster Laurent, I’d like to ask how much copper Pyke is the price of food in Grimm?”

Laurent gave Reed a strange look, a mage asking such a question?

Since when did these high-and-mighty mages cared about food prices? Even if the commoners were to starve to death, it will probably not affect them.

“Master Reed, while I don’t know why you are concerned about this, but I have to tell you some bad news. Due to the war with the orcs starting earlier than usual, most of the food stocks at the border had been plundered by the orcs long before they are harvested. So the price of grain this year is the highest in the last five years. A pound of wheat now had doubled in price to 8 copper Pykes. With the coming of winter, the price would probably exceed 10 copper Pykes. Goddess of Life above, the civilians of the borderlands would most likely suffer this winter.”

After Laurent said that, his expression was heavy, and his eyes looked sympathetic.

The moment food price rises, the first to be affected is undoubtedly the commoners. He could already predict that many will starve to death this winter, many, just too many.

Reed felt the bloodiness and sorrow from Laurent’s simple words. The ones that would always suffer the most in a war was always the civilians.

But this was not something he as a Progenitor Vampire could affect, so he shook his head and began to think of something else.

A gold Pyke could exchange for 100 silver Pykes or 10,000 copper Pykes.

The monthly income of an average person in Grimm was no more than 10 silver Pykes a month, and to feed a family, he could see how much impact the rise in food price would have on ordinary people.

One gold Pyke could exchange for 10,000 copper Pykes, and with the grain price at 8 copper Pykes per pound, a gold Pyke could purchase about 1,200 pounds of grain.

The unit of measurement used in Glory was pound and was not that different than the catty used in real life.

1200 pounds, with judicious consumption, was enough to feed two families of three for a year.

The 2,000 gold Pykes he had brought out, was enough to purchase a year’s rations for tens of thousands.

This bulk of grain was definitely enough for his agriculture program back in the castle.

As long as he had enough to last a year, no, even this winter, and when spring comes next year, the fertile lands behind the castle will be enough to feed hundreds of thousands of people.

The only problem now was he needed to get this huge amount of food stocks into his hands.

He could foresee that due to the war launched by the orcs in the south, the future food prices will continue to rise, and he needed to purchase all of the food items he needed as soon as possible before the prices skyrocket.

“How much food stocks does Goldwheat Guild have? I have a business to discuss with you, and I need a lot of food.”

The moment he heard what Reed said, Laurent’s eyes lit up, but in a flash, he looked down again.

“Master Reed, Goddess above, the Goldwheat Guild is going bankrupt, and we have no more capital to purchase anything.”

Reed was shocked.

“Bankrupt? It’s just a loss of goods, not to mention just cloth and food?”

Thirty carriages of food and cloth, thought a considerable sum, were far from valuable.

How could such a big guild could not even survive a single loss?

Laurent shook his head, and his eyes filled with despair.

“We have gotten in touch with a seller at the border, and they had dug up a mythril vein and produced a sufficient amount of mythril ore.

You should know that how precious mythril is as an alchemy material, and if I were to ship it back to Grimm I could earn a fortune. But this load of ores needed 1,200 gold Pykes. And for this business, I had sold off most of the guild’s stocks to get the needed amount, and I even owe the Grimm Chamber of Commerce 200 gold Pykes. But… those damned orcs, one day I will get them, and dragged them onto the gallows.”

Reed did not need the details to figure out that it was hard to come by chance to make a fortune, only to run into orcs all of the sudden.

“So, I’m sorry, Master Reed, but the Goldwheat Guild will no longer exist after sunrise, and I cannot accept your business.”

Bankrupt? Thinking that the Goldwheat Guild always had a good reputation in his memory, Reed did not look disappointed after pondering for a moment. Instead, a thought formed in his heart.

Perhaps this may be a good opportunity.