Ember gets up from his seat and walks out of the private room's massive doors to be greeted by Randel and Syl.
"You've completed your assessment of the documents we had transferred over already?" Syl comments.
Ember shakes his head and begins walking down the narrow hall to make his way back to the main shopping center.
"No, not yet. There seem to be some unique guests selling worlds down on the first floor. I believe they're going to cause some trouble. I'd like to be there when it happens."
The two Red Ogres look at each other with confused expressions but follow the long-haired human they've been tasked to protect into the main hall and down into the transport elevator to bring them to ground level.
Once the door clicks open and the three walk out, with the Ogres ahead first, the tense atmosphere in the room is very apparent. The lack of active shoppers points the two bodyguards' heads to the left.
Two 9-meter-tall 1st Class Demon Lords exude an ominous pressure, standing with their arms crossed and white eyes locked on a moving status screen, while one of the 2nd Class Red Ogres below them diligently scrolls through the worlds they've provided, giving quotes for how much Ether they can purchase them for outright, one by one.
The sweating Red Ogre looks up from his status and stutters to the Demon before him with a single purple horn jutting from his forehead.
"Myron Vermillion, your excellence. I... I can't agree with this pricing. It's double the market's price."
Myron lets out a domineering pressure, rippling with Demonic Energy, a Green True Core, and waves of Ether radiating off his entire Premium Avatar. He turns to the Demon beside him, who has two jet-black horns curving out from his head.
"Leonard. Shall I teach them a lesson?"
The more well-composed Demon stood behind him smirks, looking to another sales rep and waving him over.
"I have a similar-sized bundle of worlds to sell in bulk too. 1,410 5th Class, 434 4th Class, and another 21 3rd Class."
Ember spots the [19,882] on his palm as he turns back to the purple-horned hothead and whispers under his breath, "Don't worry, they'll submit before we have to make a mess..."
Then, turning back to the Red Ogre salesman, he accepts the worlds into an escrow status device to be appraised of their total energy as a spectator only.
The Demon looks down on the worker and speaks up for the entire lobby to hear.
"I want 5 Low Quality Ether apiece for the 5th Class, 25 for the 4th, and a minimum of 200 each for the 3rds. We're not accepting no for an answer..."
Ember and his bodyguards stop about 30 meters from the commotion, standing out like a sore thumb as no other passersby dare to intervene.
Even the bodyguards whisper to Ember as they halt.
"Are you sure about this, Sir? If they decide to become hostile, we cannot defend against the Vermillion Lords..."
"Yes, it's fine. I'm the new manager, after all. I can't watch us be ripped off this badly on my first day on the job," he replies, walking through the two guards and making his way over right behind the Demons who tower over the salesmen, continuing to plead that these prices are unreasonable.
The newest salesman who just accepted Leonard's worlds replies to his words in a cowardly manner.
"Impossible. The best I can do is 1.5 Ether average cost for these 5th Class worlds. And... maybe 9 Ether apiece for the 4th Class you've brought. These 3rd Class... they're completely drained of their mana, and populations are declining rapidly on all of them. Dungeon contracts would be impossible to form on these. They're... worthless... This price is impossible." ŕ
The Demon laughs and takes a step closer to the worker.
"I wasn't asking. It's an order..."
The hotheaded purple-horned Demon steps in, finishing his black-horned partner's words after letting out a degrading laugh.
Leonard watches them with confusion racing through his mind, as in the 18,000 years he's been following his Lord, even before they were established as one of the 5 Great Families, he's never seen a human even look a Demon in the eyes.
This was meant to be a simple task. Overcharging for a few thousand 5th and 4th Class worlds, plus getting rid of some junk 3rd Class worlds, might only set the trade center back a few months' worth of profit.
It's a simple hit any logical owner would take not to anger the Citadel Lord.
However, this new human in charge is willing to set the entire city on fire just to prove a point...
He whispers under his breath, "So short-sighted... then again, what else would I expect from a human..."
As Myron is about to burst with anger and cause an even bigger scene, Leonard believes this is exactly what the Ogre Conglomeration wants.
He steps forward and pushes a hand in front of his hotheaded partner to save some dignity.
"It is a negotiation, after all. This is the largest public trading center in the district. It's only right to challenge the market prices and see if we can get a good deal, isn't it?"
Ember grins and walks right in between the two Demons, ignoring their domineering presence.
Standing in front of the salesman who initially took their planets to trade, he peers into the holograms floating above the escrow status devices to look at the worlds in question for himself.
Ember swipes through the worlds, replying to the Demons, forcing them to turn around to be spoken to.
"The prices my salesmen gave were already at the market. If anything, I'd offer even lower. They were already being courteous."
Myron yells out, equally mad at his partner for holding him back and at this human disrespecting him.
"You do not understand who you are dealing with. I should crush your avatar right now, shatter your soul to pieces, and wipe this shopping center off the face of the Citadel for your insolence!"
Ember raises an eyebrow, and speaks with a sarcastic undertone.
"Oh? Was that a declaration of war? Against me? Or the Ogre Conglomeration? Or this entire district? Or all of our trade allies? I'm just a human. It's hard to understand the hidden meaning behind your words..."
The black-horned Demon, unable to stop his counterpart, wishes he came to this shopping center alone today, dreading telling Andras of this blunder and being outwitted by a human.
However, Ember's next words make both of the Demons' eyes widen in shock.
"How about we settle things with a duel? This is a simple dispute of prices, isn't it? No reason to set the Realm on fire over a few thousand Low Quality Ether, right?"
The hotheaded Demon lets out a murderous laugh, taking a step forward and yelling back.
"Humans are even more stupid than I ever believed they'd be! Duel accepted! Come on, let's go right now!"
His laugh continues to echo throughout the floor, while Leonard is hit with both a wave of relief and worry mixing together.
This human had them right where he wanted them, then gave up any chance of leverage without batting an eye.
The black-horned Demon scans Ember over and over with his system, but nothing out of the ordinary comes back.
He is merely a 5th Class human lord... It should be impossible for a being like him to even stay conscious while standing in their presence.
Something isn't quite right about all of this. However, Myron already publicly accepted their duel, so there is no backing out now.