Chapter 28：Guard Set

Gryan slammed his palm onto the desk and yelled, his finger pointing at the middle-aged Blacksmith. "Anyway, I wouldn't want this piece of sh*t even if you gave it to me for free! Bring out your good Equipment and you should cut the price by half to make up for the emotional damage you've caused me! Otherwise, I'll report you to Dughan. We'll see if your Smithy can stay open then!"

Hearing these words, both Sean's eyes and jaw opened wide. 

F*ck! He knew better than to expect any noble virtue of this old guy. 

Putting himself in the shoes of his underlings? Afraid that his subordinates would get in harm's way? It was all for show! All that talk was to drive down the price!

Old Gryan was not one to mess with, but who said the middle-aged Blacksmith was a pushover? 

Unwilling to budge, the guy tossed his hammer onto the desk. With folded arms, head high, and chest out, the man answered in disdain, "Old Gryan, do you think you scare me? You think I would operate a Smithy in Goldshire without ensuring everything's above board? You want to report to Sir Dughan? Well, I'll see if he needs my annual support and significant tax payments! Humph! I couldn't care less whether you purchase something or not. Get lost if you're not buying, I have better fish to fry!"

Gryan's expression completely changed from a fit of rage to brown nosing. "Hehe, about that, everything's up for discussion! I'm here to cut a huge deal for you if you're willing to bring down the sale prices a little? What do you say? 40% off?"

The middle-aged Blacksmith's eyes lit up at the mention of a huge deal. Pressing both palms on the desk, his cold yet arrogant face loosened up while his narrowed eyes opened wide. His single-turned-double eyelids showed a livelier side to him. "How big of a deal are we talking?"

With that, Gryan immediately resumed the bearing belonging to the Commander of The People's Militia. He waved his arm to add to his imposing appearance. "Give me five hundred Hauberks, five hundred Two-handed Swords, and any other supporting Equipment that comes with them!"

Taken by surprise, the middle-aged Blacksmith rolled his eyes. "Do you have money?"

Oh! Gryan was being looked down upon. 

However, the guy did not blow his top. Instead, Old Gryan smiled proudly, giving off the vibe that he was loaded. 

The middle-aged Blacksmith got the picture. 

To finally be buying Equipment sets for his struggling men, this guy must have swindled off a quite sum from some gullible rich people. Over three hundred soldiers, and every single one would get a full set, plus replacement sets. It came up to a total of five hundred sets, which was a really big sale!

The middle-aged Blacksmith wasted no time now that he knew more about Old Gryan's situation. He knew that dawdling with this guy would come to no good. Hence, he smacked the table and said, "My best offer is a 20% discount! Don't bother negotiating or I'll show you the door! You're welcome to try other Smithies!"

He was confident. 

After all, there were no other Smithies around. 

There was only one Smithy in Goldshire; his shop. The closest Smithies were in Stormwind City and Lakeshire. Lakeshire was quite a distance, at least ten days away. Meanwhile, the insatiable merchants in Stormwind City would probably ask for a higher price. Where else could Old Gryan go? 

Indeed, Gryan came to the same conclusion and knew a 20% cut was good enough. Thus, he smacked the desk and answered, "Deal!"

Next was viewing the stock. 

The middle-aged man waved his arm, signaling his Blacksmith Apprentices to retrieve a pile of samples from the warehouse. Displaying them all on the desk, the Blacksmith then began to introduce each piece. 

"The Charger Set, includes a hauberk, a two-handed sword, and a tactical dagger. Made from pure iron, simple yet practical. I'll throw in an oak shield with a layer of iron over it. One set is 10 Gold and with 20% off, it's 8 Gold. Pretty good price, huh?

"The Ironforge Warrior Set, includes a hauberk, a two-handed sword, a tactical dagger, and a hammer. A blend of iron and bronze mixed with a small amount of silver. Thick and practical, provides good defense. Oh, there's also a Wooden Buckler, making the whole set 12 Gold. 20% off would be 9 Gold and 60 Silver. How about I throw in a helm to make a nice round figure at 10 Gold? 

"The Bronze Scout Set includes light armor, a one-handed sword, a tactical dagger, and a shortbow with 20 feathered arrows. The light armor is made from bronze while the one-handed sword and dagger are forged with steel. We used high end rattan for the shortbow to make it lightweight and convenient. 15 Gold for the whole ensemble and the 20% discount makes it 12 Gold, what do you think?

The middle-aged man was growing enthusiastic as he spoke, a contrast to Gryan's grim face. 

He could figure out the numbers without counting with his fingers. The cheapest set that the middle-aged Blacksmith offered was 4000 Gold for 500 sets. His 5000 Gold would not be enough if he were to make any other Equipment purchases. 

This heartless unscrupulous Merchant!

However, Gryan knew well that the price quoted by the middle-aged Blacksmith was reasonable. Only, these Equipment sets were simply too high end for him to afford. 

Surely, this guy did it on purpose. It must be, right?

Before the middle-aged Blacksmith moved onto the fifth set, Old Gryan cut him short with a stiffened face. "Five Gold, five Gold, the most each set should cost is five Gold! I'll pay no more than five Gold's worth for each set! I won't accept any more than that!"

The middle-aged Blacksmith was in the zone when Gryan's words put a damper over him. He murmured under his breath, calling the guy a poor wretch for being a wet blanket before ordering his Apprentice, "Go go, bring the most unprofitable set over!"

What kind of Equipment was most unprofitable? 

It was those that were unembellished, bare, stripped down, in other words, ugly Equipment with only its most basic defense mechanisms retained. Though, they were sturdy and durable. 

Pointing at the set brought over by his Blacksmith Apprentice, the middle-aged Blacksmith said in a weak voice, "The Guard Set, a blend of bronze and indurium. Five Gold a set but you can have it for four Gold. Just take it!"

It was a standard hauberk. It had been specially made for the Goldshire Guards several years ago but was now obsolete. No one would be caught dead in it in Goldshire because it was simply too ugly. It was definitely not a feast for the eyes. 

Nevertheless, Gryan was pleased. 

Sean used Appraisal Sight and found the Equipment to be up to par. 

Though a simple piece of White Common Equipment, its Armor had reached the limit of a Common Equipment; 5 points. An additional point would make it a piece of Green Uncommon Equipment. Moreover, it only cost 4 Gold. Compared to other beautiful yet useless Equipment, it was well worth the price. 

Gryan swung his arm. "This is the one. Five hundred sets it is!" 

The middle-aged Blacksmith nodded. "It's 2000 Gold for five hundred sets. It'll take 10 days to put together with the Smithy in full force, including whatever is in stock. Is there anything else you want?"

Gryan chuckled. "There sure is. You know, I'm the Marshal of Sentinel Hill and the Commander of The People's Militia after all. I should get a good set of Equipment myself. Help me pick a good one, an expensive and useful one!"

As five hundred Guard Sets cost him 2000 Gold, he had 3000 Gold left from the 5000 Gold pot. He estimated that he would have at least 1000 Gold extra after purchasing any other items, so of course he was going to get himself something good!