A Demon's Journey

Chapter 9 - Market

After an hour or so, Azaroth reached the market that was controlled by the merchant union.

There were quite some people here. This market had an area assigned for many items, like the food market, the jewelry market, the accessory market, the weapon, and armor market, the clothing market, the spells shops, some fortune teller stands, etc.

Azaroth had come here for the clothing market. The clothes Edwin had at home were not to his liking. Those clothes seemed to have been given to make Edwin seem inferior to others in the Noble Family.

As guests arrive in the Rhodes Family Noble House, many of them had a bad impression of Edwin because of his low-class clothing among the Nobles. They could tell that he didn't possess a good status within his family just from his clothes.

Edwin couldn't really spend a lot on his clothing because his family hadn't supported him all that much.

So, it wasn't a wrong deduction by the guests. Azaroth knew he had to change these little things as well.

The first impression of people is quite frankly through judging the other person's appearance. And if the appearance wasn't noteworthy, the other person would have a slightly low impression of you initially.

In the diplomatic or other talks, this low impression at the beginning makes quite a difference. The small details matter quite a lot in the grand scale of things.

Besides, Azaroth also wanted to look good, so that was a factor as well.

Since Edwin had rarely come into the market as he hadn't been able to afford much here, Azaroth didn't know much about this market.

However, he wasn't entirely helpless. He smirked a little as he remembered the connection he made a few days ago. It was time to use that connection.

Instead of turning to the clothing market, Azaroth turned towards the Merchant Union's headquarters here in this square.

Now… This was the administrative building that handled all the data and other customers' problems here in this square.

Moreover, this was also the headquarters of the Merchant Union's branch in Wrihull City, so unlike the stalls, there were quite some guards stationed there.

Although the number of guards was merely 10 or so. They were all at the 4 Star Rank. Also, Azaroth could sense the presence of a 5 Star Rank Warrior in the building.

This energy signature wasn't that of Sir Ashton, and this warrior seemed to be stationed near the entrance.

Azaroth thought to himself 'This might be a guard captain.'

Azaroth went over to the building's entrance with a stony expression and said to the guards at the gate, "I want to meet with Sir Ashton."

With a robotic expression, a guard asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

"No. But Sir Ashton knows me. Inform him, and he will give you permission." Azaroth said, rather stoically.

"No appointment means you can get lost!" Another guard stationed at the entrance said with a rough voice.

Azaroth didn't even look at the man and just stared at the guard with that calm gaze.

"Brat, are you ignoring me?!" The guard who had been ignored angrily asked.

Once again, Azaroth ignored this fool and asked the guard, who had a calm look on his face, "Can you really not even inform him that Edwin Rhodes has come to see him?"

"You are from Rhodes Family?!" A guard at the side looked surprised as he spoke that out.

Azaroth was a little relieved as he heard that surprised voice. This meant that this issue should be resolved without a problem. The Rhodes Family should have enough prestige over here.

"So, what if he is from the Rhodes Family? I have also heard of the trash from the Rhodes Family."

"Isn't he that guy who went to the forest a few days ago and lost his servants? It's said that he has no supporter in the Rhodes Family and no servant. In fact, he is a young lord of the Rhodes Family in name only."

The guards started talking among themselves.

The guard who had been talking to Azaroth rather rudely also heard those words and grinned. Hardly would there ever be a chance where guards like them could bully these young lords of the Noble Houses.

That guard remembered how he had been humiliated by that young lord named Laurance from Rhodes Family. He was rather happy that the heavens have given him a chance to vent his frustrations on this man.

"So, you are that trash from the Rhodes Family? Who do you think Sir Ashton is? You think he has time to meet trash like you? Just scram before I make you." Although the guard seemed to be telling Azaroth to scram, internally, he was praying for Azaroth to stay behind and get angry.

Only if Azaroth did that could he push the matter ahead, or he would have to forget like this matter never happened.

"Sir Ashton is meeting someone else right now. It's not appropriate for us to go and interrupt his meeting." The man with the stone-cold face replied to Azaroth's question.

Azaroth let out a sigh, "Looks like I was the one who came at bad timing. Very well, I will return at a later date."

All this while, he didn't even give so much as a glance to that guard who had spoken rudely to him.

To Azaroth, giving importance to such a person was like wasting his time to squash a bunch of ants. Simply unnecessary.

"You…! You are ignoring me again?!" The guard shouted loudly in Azaroth's direction.

For some reason, Azaroth stopped. He turned around and looked at that guard for a few seconds.

After that, he was once again on his way back to the mansion.

Not just that guard, but the other guards were confused by this action from Azaroth.

"W-What the fuck was that?! You bastard! Stop!" The guard looked like he would go berserk from all that anger as he stared in Azaroth's direction.

Azaroth let out a tired sigh as he turned around. He could deduce that if he avoided this anymore, this firecracker would just straight-up attack him.

Letting his power known to the public was not what Azaroth wanted.

"You seemed like a pitiful child who was going to cry unless I gave you some of my attention. So, I did just that. I gave you my attention, and then I was on my way." Azaroth said with a clear gaze.

"Who are you calling a pitiful child?! How dare trash like you call me a pitiful child?!" The guard looked really angry as he shouted at Azaroth.

Azaroth shook his head and then replied, "Not just pitiful but stupid as well."

"You fucking bastard…" The guard growled while staring at Azaroth.

Meanwhile, Azaroth went forward and stood in front of that guard. There was just a one-arm distance between them, and if the guard didn't have reasonable control over his anger, he would have already pounced over Azaroth to beat him up.

"Do you see this distance between us?" Azaroth started speaking with a rather cold tone, "This is your limit. This is the best you can do to me."

"What did you say?!"

"You can't do anything to me unless I start it even though you can be considered much stronger than me. That's just how weak you are." Azaroth said while showing a scornful look in his eyes.

"You are like a dog who is chained to his house. And such a dog can't bite others without the permission of his owner. So, spare me the useless threats. Also, just what can you do to me? You don't dare to touch me unless I attack you. You don't dare to touch my family even if you have a hundred times more guts. So just what can you do to me?" Azaroth finished speaking with a condescending gaze in his eyes.

"I… I will…" Just as the guard was about to continue, Azaroth turned his head towards the Merchant Union's headquarters entrance.

There he saw a familiar old man coming out of the entrance. Along with him was a man in his late middle ages. One of them was naturally Sir Ashton, whom Azaroth wanted to meet.

"Looks like fate is in my favor," Azaroth whispered with a small smile.

As Sir Ashton had come out of the headquarters to escort the other man out, his vision naturally fell on Azaroth.

He looked slightly surprised to see Azaroth here and quickly thought of why he could be here.

Sir Ashton spoke with an apologetic expression, "Young Lord Edwin, I haven't been able to find a wind affinity weapon just yet. Or are you here to exchange that thing for the Lightning sword in my possession?"

The guards nearby were stunned as they never thought that Azaroth was really telling the truth.

"I didn't come here for a weapon." Azaroth started speaking as he stared at Sir Ashton.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man stared at Azaroth with a rather curious gaze. He asked Sir Ashton, "Who is this young man?"

"He is Edwin Rhodes, an heir to the Rhodes Family." Sir Ashton gave a rather basic introduction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Edwin. I am Brynn Gaynor, the head of the Kloras town." Brynn Gaynor introduced himself to Azaroth. Once he was finished with his introduction, he even gave a short bow in Azaroth's direction.

He had to pay sufficient respect to the Noble Family that directly commanded him.

Meanwhile, the rude guard who had been quibbling with Azaroth just a few moments earlier was now getting paler.

He thought that Azaroth would be meeting Sir Ashton for the first time, but he never imagined that Azaroth actually knew Sir Ashton. He had been stationed as a guard here every day, but never did he see Azaroth come here, so he had been very sure of his deduction.

The guard thought that even if he did bully this guy a little, the noble family would look at Sir Ashton's face and won't make things too hard for trash like him.

However, now that he realized that Sir Ashton actually knew him. Moreover, it seemed as if they already had a business deal with each other. He knew that his days were numbered.

Azaroth nodded his head at Brynn Gaynor's words as if he was acknowledging him. He then spoke to Sir Ashton, "I came here not for a weapon but for Spiritual clothes. I am willing to exchange that thing for these clothes."

"Spiritual clothes?" Sir Ashton heard Azaroth's request and muttered to himself. Soon enough, a pleasant smile appeared on his face as he said, "That works as well. However, just be careful to not take anything too expensive."

"Rest assured, I know my limits," Azaroth said.

"Let me lead you to the clothing shop with the best clothes available for you." Sir Ashton said to Azaroth.

"Sure. That works fine for me. After all, I rarely come here, so I don't know this market as well as you do." Azaroth casually shrugged in response.

Brynn Gaynor then turned to Sir Ashton, "Sir, I will take my leave now. My village needs my presence. Please send the equipment as soon as possible."

Sir Ashton turned towards Brynn Gaynor and replied, "Rest assured, Brynn. All orders to the Merchant Union are fulfilled without a doubt. I am willing to stake the reputation of the Merchant Union that you will receive your order in a week."

"Thank you, Sir Ashton. With those words, I can rest assured."

With this, Brynn Gaynor walked away.

Sir Ashton then turned towards Azaroth, "Let's go as well."

"Sure." Azaroth casually said to Sir Ashton. And just as Azaroth was going to walk off, he added, "Also, Sir Ashton, just be stricter in recruiting the guards for the Merchant Union. Make sure to take a common-sense test. Because some of them don't seem to have any of that."

Sir Ashton frowned as he heard those words, "Did something happen?"

At this moment, the guard with a calm robotic voice stepped forward and spoke, "Sir, Rupert had been behaving rudely to Young Lord Edwin and taunting him for some reason. He has even threatened Young Lord Edwin…"

"You have quite some nerves Rupert," Sir Ashton spoke with an ice-cold voice.

"This servant apologizes, Master."

"A disobedient guard like you is unsightly. ELLIOT!" Sir Ashton shouted the name loudly.

Instantly enough, a large man came running out of the headquarters.

He had a frantic look over his face as he stared at Sir Ashton. Immediately after coming out of the building, he kneeled down in Sir Ashton's presence.

"What is your order, Master?" The man asked with a submissive expression, staring at the ground with a scared look.

"Deal with Rupert. This guy has become quite disobedient. Make an example of him." Sir Ashton coldly said before turning to Azaroth's direction, "Is young lord satisfied with this?"

"Hmm…" Azaroth calmly blinked at the scene.

In fact, he stared at the terror-struck expression of the guy named Rupert and spoke, "As I said before, this is the difference between us. But unfortunately for you, this is all too late for you."

With this, Azaroth and Sir Ashton proceeded to walk towards the clothing market from where Azaroth could buy Spiritual clothes.

In the background, they heard some screams and sounds of resistance.. People gathered towards it as they were curious to see what was happening.