Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 230: Greed, Compromise, and Discoveries!

Tereza says in a calm but forceful voice: “I need high-quality wand wood! The price does not matter! It must be powerful enough to contain this wand core.” She takes out the beautiful [Mutated Dittany Stalk], a treasure of nature that mutated from a simple Dittany Stalk but is even rarer and more powerful—than the [Basilisk Horn], thus also more valuable, which even Lucius can appreciate.

“Incredible. You’d want a wood suitable for this core I take it? My recommendation would probably be…” Lucius begins to say, but Tereza doesn’t let him finish, decisively interjecting: “Elm!”

“Correct,” Lucius nods, acknowledging her previous research. Elm is most compatible with exotic wand cores and is known for having a great amount of magical capabilities, especially if it’s from a very old tree that has been properly imbued with magic. It’s also durable and offers a good amount of flexibility.

“Curious, I myself use a wand made out of Elm. It’s the preferred wood for nobles, after all. It's a rather surprising choice, but I don’t know you well enough to comment deeper on it. I have many contacts. What’s your budget?” he asks.

“How about 2,000 Galleons?” she responds, hoping that amount would be more than sufficient.

“Forget it. Whatever it takes, even if it’s 10,000,” Alex interrupts.

“Oh, you’re taking care of your ‘partner’? I like that. However, you’re both way off. I couldn’t even find a rare piece of wood worth 1,000 Galleons. Even high-quality exotic wands often don’t cost as much as 100 Galleons, so don’t expect to pay that much. I figure you’d want the absolute best money can offer? If you’re willing to overspend like that, I can assure the quality of the wood,” Lucius responds with a smile.

“10,000 Galleons for a piece of wand wood? I didn’t expect you to be so rich. Color me impressed. I guess it pays off to be your girlfriend?” Narcissa jokes, clearly surprised by Alex’s willingness to spend Galleons.

“Just prepare the very best wood—the older and more powerful, the better,” Alex says firmly.

Alex and Tereza nod at each other, and they both hand over the [Acromantula Poison] and the [Basilisk Horn].

“That’s our proof of good faith. Thirty vials of [Acromantula Poison] and a [Basilisk Horn] should be worth at least 7,000 Galleons.”

“I’d probably offer you up to 10,000,” Lucius responds with a smile. “Are you sure you want to just hand that over to me?”

Rishi laughs a little and says, “Surely you jest. We would never expect you to scam us for a measly 10,000 Galleons. That would be beneath you. That would even be beneath us.”

Lucius and Narcissa both begin to laugh as well. “Indeed, it’s good that I’m dealing with reasonable people up to my standard. We have an agreement. I’ll return the rest of the Galleons that aren’t needed for the Veritaserum and the Elm wood,” Lucius responds with a smile, adding, “I’ll see that I deliver you the best Elm wood any wizard can obtain. You have my promise, it won’t take long at all for such easy tasks.”

I doubt he’ll return much money, that greedy snake. It’s not like we have a different choice.

Greedy snake! Let’s eat snake!

Maybe later, Jewel. We need that snake… at least for now.

The group talks for a few more minutes before Lucius and Narcissa excuse themselves, leaving the pub, obviously satisfied with their business.

The group stays seated for a while longer, Alex asking the obvious question: “Did we get scammed?”

Rishi sighs. “Probably, but we didn’t really have another choice. Anyway, Alex, I didn’t know you had so much poison. We owe you.”

“I might need to accept that offer, Rishi. I wonder how much the damn goblins will charge. Maybe they won’t charge to repair the bow as long as they get to study it, but they’ll sure as hell want money for the necessary items to repair it, which won’t be cheap,” Alex explains.

“Anyway, what are your plans? Obviously, you’ll pay Ollivander a visit, right, Tereza? Still have to get him to craft a wand for you. Lucius probably won’t take too long to deliver the wood. Wouldn’t surprise me if he sends it right away.”

“Yeah, I’m checking it out. Menchi will probably come along, right?” Tereza asks, looking at her with puppy cat eyes.

“Sure, I can’t deny you, if you look at me like that, you really dislike doing things alone, huh?” Menchi says with a smile. “However, after that, we’ll check out a few restaurants and shops!”

“With that Veritaserum, we can expose the traitorous team, Rishi… but are you sure this doesn’t count as an attack?” Alex asks Rishi, curious if their plan will really be that simple.

“It shouldn’t count, since we’re not doing obvious harm. Your Aura attack didn’t count either, right? I’d say it’s about on par with that. Even if it does count, I doubt the system will judge it as severe enough to warrant heavy punishment. Don’t worry—I’ll take care of it. It’s a risk I’m willing to accept,” Rishi says with a determined voice.

“Might as well get them to willingly submit to it. We just need one from each team, and the one who refuses is obviously the traitor,” Alex suggests.

Rishi smiles, agreeing with Alex. “That’s an option as well. We’ll think about it once we have the Veritaserum in our possession. Anyway, do you want me to go along? Otherwise I’d want to check out Borgin and Burkes.”

“After the cabinet, huh? I wouldn’t expect it to work! Perlah couldn’t enter it the normal way—this way will surely fail as well,” Alex says, quite pessimistic about Rishi’s endeavor to find a way into the Room of Requirement.

“Worth a try,” Rishi says, not looking very optimistic either.

“I guess let’s go then. We’ll see each other back in Hogsmeade. Rishi, are you selling the jewelry as well? If yes, take Jewel along. You’re studying mind magic with Dumbledore—might as well see if you can talk to her a little,” Alex says, throwing a few Galleons to the waiter and exiting the bar.

“I’ll first sell the jewelry and then head toward Borgin and Burkes. I need the Galleons first. If Jewel wants to come along, I’ll gladly take her,” he says, looking calm, but Alex detects a small hint of discomfort—probably not used to Jewel yet.

Jewel wants to see more jewelry and other shinies but also wants to stay with Soulmate.

We’ll see each other in a few hours. It’s fine! You need to grow up and be a strong girl, okay?

Jewel… ok… only for Soulmate

The group slowly walks back toward Diagon Alley. As they stand on the busy street, Alex stares in one direction, leading to Gringotts, while Rishi, Jewel, Tereza, and Menchi need to head the other way for their business.

Jewel then jumps up to Rishi and sits on his back, looking a bit uncomfortable as it pulls on his clothes to keep her from falling off.

Back is not as good as head, but no want sit on Rishi head. Jewel will tolerate.

Rishi smiles, but a tiny bit of panic flashes across his face before he instantly calms down, apparently only possible through his strong MND.

“Hehe, you’ll survive. Jewel, be nice. Anyway, see you guys soon!” Alex says, heading toward Gringotts.

As he enters the joke of a building, a large structure that looks like it might collapse because of its absurd tilt and shoddy constructions, he immediately notices that the entire building has been enchanted. Despite the pathetic outward appearance, the inside resembles more of a noble but old castle than an actual bank.

Alex sees numerous goblins working, though thankfully, a few are unoccupied.

My last experience with goblins wasn’t really good. Hey, at least these aren’t green, hehe.

Alex approaches a random goblin, choosing someone who looks a bit younger and more willing to take a slight risk. The goblin, with a lot of hair for a goblin and no beard, looks at Alex with an annoyed expression and simply demands, “Key.”

“How about a card instead, huh? I’ve been referred… quickly call this person here. Sadly, I can’t read you the name—you have to read it yourself,” Alex replies.

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“Human expects me to call a random goblin on that card? Does this goblin even work here? You silly humans assume we all work at Gringotts!” the goblin snaps.

“You probably don’t, but I’ve been told to start here by my contact. So just do me the damn favor and read the card… ah, sorry, I forgot,” Alex says, taking out a Galleon and handing it to the goblin. “This was on the floor—surely it belongs to you.”

Choke on it, you filthy goblin…

The goblin greedily snatches the coin and reads the letter.

“Referred by… Lucius Malfoy? That snake is as informed as always. Even willing to swallow his pride to collaborate with us, all in order to make money. He referred you to Fannlok, probably one of the best goblin runesmiths still alive. The craft isn’t as popular as it used to be. We’re mainly focusing on banking. Wars and conflict have been steadily declining, and a strategic balance has been reached. While we’re in a weaker position compared to you wizards, we’re simply playing the long game. Anyway, he’s currently in town.

So he’s in Diagon Alley, good!

Usually, he prepares his materials and then disappears for many months or even years to some far-off place or minor settlement. You’ve got luck on your side, human. The referral says it’s business-related and a huge opportunity. I trust he won’t be disappointed by your offer. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Tell you what, if you get in trouble, I’ll add a few more Galleons to compensate you for your troubles,” Alex responds, trying to appease the younger goblin.

“I’ll try to visit him. Wait—this can take a while,” the goblin says before disappearing deep into the bank’s backrooms.

… … …

What the fuck is taking this guy so long? Did he take my Galleon and then maybe go home for the day? … I hope not, although I’d imagine he’d laugh about it for years, it’s a classic prank. But surely he wouldn’t offend me and Malfoy? His reputation would be ruined.

… … …

He fucking ditched me! Really?! Asshole—and he even took the note! I’ll find out his name and get him!

As Alex is about to approach another goblin, ready to not only complain but also threaten, he notices the same goblin returning after well over two hours.

“Follow me,” the goblin says to Alex, slightly out of breath and looking quite tired and exhausted.

Alex follows the goblin deep inside the bank, entering a minecart. Both ride deeper into the underground, Alex feeling like is riding a crazy rollercoaster, doing his best not to stare at the shoddy and simply insane construction.

“I don’t want to complain… but I’m not interested in banking,” Alex says, questioning what they’re even doing driving towards the vaults.

“I… I’m aware,” the goblin says, still breathing heavily. “Fannlok is deep inside our settlement, in his personal forge. We’ll taking a left here which will lead us all the way to our town. It’s only really known to our fellow goblins. Usually, you wizards wouldn’t want to set foot in there. However, it looks like you’re different and interested in our culture and craft. Fannlok invites you. Malfoy usually means money, and even Fannlok is willing to associate with wizards like him, as he needs a lot of funds for his craft and experiments. Anyway, we need to ride downward to reach it. It’s goblin territory, so you better behave yourself—your wizard laws don’t apply here. Also, beware of Fannlok. He’s a bit… eccentric, as you humans would call him, even for us goblins. I had to drive there, beg him to hear me out, and he finally agreed. You better reward me for my efforts!” the goblin explains, demanding money.

Guess he earned it. I’ll tip him some more coins later… if he didn’t make up this settlement crap and isn’t luring me into an ambush where I’m friggin surrounded by 10 goblins willing to rob and kill me… which isn’t totally impossible, now that I think about it.

“So you actually live under Gringotts? I never knew, but I guess it makes sense,” Alex says, trying to make small talk.

“Wizards like you don’t care as long as we do your bidding, right, wizard? Well, at least you seem somewhat more open. The glory days are over, and much of our great underground cities have fallen into disrepair. Quite a few goblins now live above ground, like you wizards. It’s a shame. However Gringnok remains our most populated town in this country.”

“Heh, sounds a bit like Gringotts, how uninspiring!” Alex notes.

“Fool, we just simplified it so wizards like you have an easier time, this is obviously the original name!” The young goblin responds, looking slightly offended.

The minecart slows down, and Alex is shocked by what he spots in the distance!