Chapter 414: Some rest [1] The Luxury Smoothies, however, remained almost entirely untouched except for the Duke’s earlier purchase. At five thousand golden coins equivalent value, none of the remaining nobles could bring offerings that justified such an expensive exchange. The gap between what they possessed and what would be required was simply too vast. Final Tier 2 Inventory Status: 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Instant Coffee: SOLD OUT Herbal Tea: SOLD OUT Rose Candy: SOLD OUT Luxury Smoothie: 8 remaining For the items received from the last two Coffee and Tea exchanges, the ones that hadn’t particularly excited him, Noah decided to simply convert them through his system’s exchange function to get their estimated market value in golden coins rather than keeping inventory he didn’t need. [Exchange confirmed: Various traded goods converted to 5,400 golden coins] The conversion averaged about 1,350 golden coins per tier 2 item exchanged, which was actually quite good considering the baseline price was 1,500. Only a 150-coin loss per transaction, and it cleared out items he had no use for while providing liquid capital. So in the end, from this evening’s barter session alone, Noah had acquired: Monetary value: 5,400 golden coins ($540,000) As for the items exchanged, he had gained -> Damaged Elemental Sword (Tier 5, potential Tier 6 when restored): A Legendary weapon with four-element channelling capability -> Stormglass Orb (Tier 4): A Wind attack storage artefact useful for sword restoration. -> Mithril Ingots x5 (Tier 4 materials): Rare magical metal perfect for weapon crafting and repair. -> Large Spatial Ring -> Rare alchemical reagents -> Ancient swordsmanship technique manual -> Thunder wolf beast cores x3 (Master-rank) The exceptional items were what truly mattered. Noah felt extremely satisfied with how the barter system had worked out. He’d moved inventory that would have taken days to sell, acquired genuinely useful treasures that money often couldn’t buy, and strengthened his relationships with Esta’s noble elite, who viewed him as a generous and fair trading partner. As the nobles departed with their precious acquisitions—each one expressing profound gratitude and promising to return with more offerings in the future—Noah began organising his newly acquired treasures. Lola watched with amusement as he carefully examined the Elemental Sword for the third time, his excitement barely contained despite his attempts at maintaining composure. "You’re practically vibrating with excitement over that weapon," she observed with a smile. "Can you blame me?" Noah replied, running his fingers along the blade’s edge. "This is a Tier 6 legendary weapon just waiting to be restored. Once I find the right artificer and use these materials...I’ll have one of the most powerful treasures in the world...if not the strongest," he gestured to the mithril and orb, " "Then we should start looking for a master craftsman immediately," Lola suggested. "Someone with the skill to work with mithril and restore damaged legendary artefacts. That’s not common expertise." Noah nodded thoughtfully. "King Aldric might know who to contact. The royal family probably has connections to the kingdom’s best artificers and enchanters." He carefully stored the sword and materials in his ring, already planning his next steps. Find a master craftsman, arrange the restoration, continue training to push his skills toward Level 21, implement the wholesale partnership with the king, and prepare his companions for the eventual conflicts ahead. The pieces were falling into place. Slowly but surely, Noah was building the power, resources, and alliances necessary to challenge the elven kingdoms and help Lola reclaim her demon throne. Noah had also managed to completely sell out his bread and iced tea stock during the evening’s extended business hours. These basic tier-0 items had proven much easier to move in bulk than he’d initially anticipated, and for good economic reasons that the nobles clearly understood. The value proposition was fundamentally different from the premium consumables. While a single powerful item like a Luxury Smoothie strengthened one individual dramatically, the basic consumables provided scalable benefits across entire households and military units. A noble might purchase ten bottles of iced tea at 30 golden coins each—a total investment of 300 coins. But once ten of their household warriors consumed those iced teas and gained the temporary attribute boosts, they could undertake more dangerous and lucrative hunting contracts. The enhanced speed, strength, and stamina allowed them to take down monsters that would have been too risky before, earning back far more than the initial 30-coin-per-person investment through valuable materials, bounties, and monster cores. The same logic applied to the bread. At only 15 golden coins per loaf, nobles could feed their entire staff and guard contingents these enhancement items regularly, creating a persistent baseline improvement to their household’s overall capabilities. The return on investment was excellent when applied at scale. So the nobles had purchased bread and iced tea in bulk quantities, viewing them as force multipliers for their organisations rather than mere consumables. Noah had earned a total of 11,520 golden coins from completely depleting both stocks: Iced tea: 192 units × 30 coins = 5,760 golden coins Bread: 384 units × 15 coins = 5,760 golden coins Combined with his earlier sales and barter conversions, today had been extraordinarily profitable. He checked the status of his tier-0 auto-makers: [Auto-IceTea Maker: Level 5 | 8/Hr | Max Stock 192 | 517/1000 EXP] [Auto-Baker: Level 5 | 16/Hr | Max Stock 384 | 1000/1000 EXP] The Auto-Baker had reached maximum experience, 1000/1000 EXP. It was no longer accumulating additional points despite continued sales. The auto maker had apparently hit its ceiling at Level 5, unlike the iced te,a which was halfway through. Noah closed the status screens and looked around his now-empty shop with satisfaction. Tomorrow would bring fresh production, new customers, and continued progress toward his larger goals. "Lola," Noah called out. "Let’s close up. You should also get some sleep. Tomorrow we need to meet with King Aldric about the wholesale partnership and start looking for that master craftsman who can restore the sword." Lola nodded. "You’ve had quite the productive day—fought a grandmaster Manticore, explored the city, and conducted business worth tens of thousands of golden coins."