Merchant Crab

Balthazar sat on a cushioned stool behind a large table with a couple of chairs on the other side. The mayor’s staff had arranged a spot for him inside the building, near the hall of the Merchant’s Guild, for the crab to meet and negotiate with all the traders, merchants, suppliers, and other important figures who wished to meet the city’s new celebrity.

And there were many of them.

When he started early in the morning, Balthazar saw a line extending over the hall’s atrium and taking several turns around corners. It was filled with local nobles, extravagant merchants, rich businessmen, and even the occasional adventurer who saw a long line and had joined in thinking there was free stuff being given at the end of it.

“Next!” the crustacean called after sealing yet another deal with a local supplier of nighttime freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers.

A less visionary merchant might have considered a deal to receive and sell that supplier's stock at their establishment a waste of time and resources, but not Balthazar.

Sure, he had no idea why anyone would ever buy those things, but he also knew that he could sell anything to a dumb enough adventurer if he really set his mind to it. And with those suppliers practically throwing their products at him for nearly free just to say they’re in business with the merchant crab, the mark-ups on those nighttime freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers were surely going to be huge.

And so he kept striking deal after deal.

“So it’s a deal, Mr. Balthazar!” a young man with a big smile said, extending his hand to the crab.

“Sure is!” the crustacean replied, along with a nod. He wondered if people would ever start realizing how silly they looked offering a handshake to a crab.

Despite what the crab could have easily taken as an affront—someone thinking themselves too important to bother meeting him in person—he decided to let his merchant instincts speak louder.

Their pieces were famous in Marquessa and sold at high prices. Becoming the exclusive reseller of Marquessian jewelry on the other side of the continent was certainly going to be a profitable deal. Adventurers, much like crabs, also loved to collect shiny things.

If the jewel-maker didn’t want to meet him, so be it. Balthazar valued making coin a lot higher than meeting new people anyway.

“Next!” the merchant called.

They were just a means to an end. Whether that end was money, trading experience to level up, or even pastries.

“Mhmm, sure, mhmm…” Balthazar idly mumbled as he continued chewing on a slice of mango pie and another local salesman waxed lyrical about what an honor it was to meet him.

Madame Margo had dropped by earlier, right after the mayor led him inside to meet the Marquessian nobles, with several boxes of mango delicacies. According to the baker, she and her husband had been hard at work in their boutique’s kitchen since before the sun came up to put the returned mangoes to good use.

They decided the very first batch of pie and other mango goodies needed to go to the city’s new hero, the traveling crab that—as Madame Margo apparently had established—had come all the way from the other side of the continent just to try her baking.

A marketing strategy Balthazar was more than fine to let her have, so long as it meant he’d keep getting free pastries.

The crab then proceeded to spend the morning negotiating with Marquessians while stuffing himself with all manner of mango sweets. Mango mousse, mango puddings, mango delights, even a mango éclair. Each one more delicious than the last but still none better than the simplicity of a slice of mango pie.

It was simple pleasures like these that Balthazar missed most from home. Sitting on a comfy seat, stuffing himself with sweets while making deals and trades.

Yet, one thing was bugging him. The more hours that passed, the less satisfied he felt. The greater his disinterest. The more bored he became.

Perhaps it was his new key to the city making it all too easy and unrewarding? Every trader and merchant he met practically tripped over their own feet trying to please him and offering the best items and deals they had. There was no arguing, no haggling, no satisfaction of finally coming out on top like when dealing with the adventurers back home.

Or maybe he had just spent too much time on the road, seeing the world, experiencing so many new things in his life. His mind had opened up to so many new perspectives. Could it be that what once was enough for the old crab living by a pond next to a small road was now simply unfulfilling for the more experienced crustacean who had been matured by his travels?

In the end, Balthazar went with the more likely answer to that existential crisis: he was just feeling drowsy from stuffing himself with so many desserts.

All things considered, that was probably the more reasonable answer.

Crabs don’t change anyway. They’re already the perfect form.

Thankfully, his nagging feeling of unfulfillment was finally struck down after finishing a trade deal with a local seller of hand painted seashell candleholders with a little chain to hang them from the windowsill. While the product name was quite the mouthful, the crab was certain it was a market about to go big and that he’d do well to get in early.

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As the deal was sealed for him to become the sole reseller of hand pai… of the seashells, a new notification appeared in front of Balthazar’s vision.

[You have reached level 22!]

Oh! He thought, suddenly perking up on his seat. I leveled up again already! I haven’t even had time to assign the points from the previous one. It makes sense, with all this trading and dealing I’m making. Lots of experience.

The crab frowned slightly. There was another notification after the level up one.

[1000 sales completed! You have gained the rank of Expert Merchant.]

[As an Expert Merchant, your clients are more likely to accept your deals, and you will always have a natural advantage when negotiating with lower rank merchants.]

Woah! A thousand?! It feels like a lifetime ago when I reached one hundred and became an adept merchant.

Feeling quite pleased with himself and his new achievements, Balthazar decided to pull up the stats screen before calling the next person over. They were there for the honor to meet him, they could wait a few more minutes for the city's hero.

First thing to do was pick what base stats to increase.

Hmm, can never go wrong with more health. He thought, recalling his repeated encounters with the commander’s baton.

He increased his health by 10, but still had another 10 points to use.

Right, two level-ups. Could just do more health…

Balthazar thought back to how he had almost failed to activate his Copycrab skill the night before due to having used most of his mana to activate the Imbuing one earlier. Things would have gone a lot differently with Velvet if that had happened. With a growing list of skills in his arsenal, perhaps investing on a little more mana wouldn’t hurt.

Rolling his eyes at the idea of skipping on more health, the merchant placed the other 10 points into his mana begrudgingly.

[Health: 230/230]

[Stamina: 30/30]n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[Mana: 30/30]

Next up were his attribute points. With six of them to distribute, Balthazar remembered his other new skill he hadn’t been able to use yet.

[All-Tongue]

[Requirements: 40 CHA, 20 INT]

He groaned. I only have 16 Intellect. Do I really spend four out of six points into it just for a skill I don’t even know I’ll use?

His immediate instinct was to put them all into Charisma. After all, his encounter with the witch proved that despite how high that attribute already was, it still wasn’t high enough to beat her when his special trait failed against her.

But the crab also knew that the moment he chose not to unlock that new skill, he’d find himself in a situation where he needed it desperately. That was always how those things went, and he had learned better by now.

Fine, just these four and then it’s Charisma all the way.

Adding four to Intellect and two to Charisma, Balthazar nodded in approval at the attributes list.

[Strength: 5]

[Endurance: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Perception: 5]

[Intellect: 20]

[Charisma: 63]

He dismissed the system text in front of his eyes just as a delicate hand touched his shell.

“Mr. Balthazar,” Lady Marquessa called. “I’ve made the arrangements I mentioned earlier. Would you like to come with me now?”

“Ah, great! Let’s go,” he said, hopping off the cushion he was sitting on. “I’m done talking to stuffy people for the day. I need to stretch my legs.”

The few dozen people still left in line watched as the crab left with the baroness, disappointment all over their faces.

“Sorry, folks,” the merchant said loudly. “Time is coin, and I’ve got other business to tend to. You will have to find me some other time, maybe back home. Balthazar’s Bazaar is the name of the place. All the way across the continent, next to the town of Ardville. A bit of a stretch, but if you’re really determined to do business with me, I’m sure that’s no big deal.”

“I’m not sure Bergen will be too thrilled to see so much trade from Marquessa passing right by his front door,” the baroness said as they headed out the Merchant’s guild hall.

“The mayor of Ardville?” said the crab. “What makes you say that? You seem to know him well.”

She smiled as she looked ahead. “As I told you before, we used to know each other. Long ago, when we were both much younger. Let’s just say we used to… clash a lot. He’s quite stubborn, as you probably noticed. Might also still hold a bit of a grudge against the Marquessa name, by the way. Just so you know.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” the merchant said. “But my business is my own. I’m not beholden to Ardville or his mayor. I’ll trade with whomever I want.”

Lady Marquessa looked back at the plaque by the door as they exited the hall to the atrium.

“Shame the guildmaster of our Merchant’s Guild is out on a business trip. I think you two would have liked to meet each other.”

Balthazar remembered the only other merchant guild master he had met before, Antoine, and felt a hefty amount of doubt about her words.

“Say, I’ve made lots of deals this morning,” the crab started, “but I’m still missing the biggest one. Who do I talk to in order to arrange an export route for mangoes from here to my pond?”

The finely-dressed lady looked down at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I’m afraid what you are asking for is not really possible, Mr. Balthazar. Mangoes only keep well for a few weeks and that’s under ideal storage conditions. A carriage taking them across the continent would take several weeks to reach Ardville. All you would be getting is a pile of rotten fruit.”

“Damn, you’re right,” the disappointed crab said. “But I’d really love to be able to enjoy fresh mango pies back home. And… to hopefully show them to someone very special someday soon so she could use them in her baking too.” He let out a long sigh. “I’ll have to figure out another way.”

“I did arrange for that other item you requested earlier, if that brings you any consolation,” the mayor said as they crossed the atrium toward the exit.

“The gold ingot?” the excited crustacean asked.

“No,” the woman replied. “That one I’m afraid is a big ask on such short notice, even for the city’s new hero. There are no gold mines near Marquessa, and while there’s plenty of gold to go around, solid ingots of pure gold are hard to come by. I did get you an ingot of silver.”

One of the guildhall’s workers was waiting for them by the door, with a box in her hands.

“Ah, well, that’s still pretty good,” Balthazar said as he opened his backpack to let the girl place the ingot inside. “Thanks!”

“And finally,” Lady Marquessa continued. “I believe I promised you safe passage to where you wanted to go, off by the coastal cliffs.”

“That’s right! That was the whole reason why I came here in the first place. I just wanted some directions.”

“Well then, as promised…”

The baroness extended her arm to the front door just as Captain Leander stepped through it.

“Ready to go, Mr. Balthazar?”

The crab smiled with determination. It was finally time to get back on track and find the wizard that could help him bring Bouldy back.