I Stole The Duke - Chapter 127

“Sir Ista, how does the cost of living feel compared to last year?”

“It doesn’t seem to have changed much overall.”

Eliana and Sir Ista were chatting as they approached the center of the market when—

Crash!

A large burlap sack toppled over, spilling its contents all over the street. Chickpeas and unfamiliar green beans rolled across the market floor in a chaotic mess.

“Pah! You filthy desert brat—trying to scam me?!”

“What did you say, you Imperial pig?!”

As expected, a Kantur merchant and an Imperial merchant were already grabbing each other by the collar in the middle of the market.

“It might be safer to walk around. Someone could slip on those,” Sir Ista said, frowning as he looked down at the beans covering the ground.

“Hold on, Sir Ista.”

Eliana, on the other hand, suddenly looked excited. She picked up one of the green beans that had rolled close to her feet.

“This is green bean… raw coffee.”

A small, green bean no bigger than her pinky nail. It was a very welcome find for Eliana. Forget avoiding the fight—for now, buying the beans was more important.

“Sir Roanes! Please break up that fight.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

At her command, Sir Roanes—dressed like a sailor—stepped forward confidently.

“You slipped trash like this in with what I paid for, desert rat!”

“You’re the one who said you’d buy the whole sack!”

“Excuse me.”

Sir Roanes spoke up calmly as he stepped between the two furious merchants.

“I said I was buying chickpeas. I didn’t say you could mix in whatever else. What if I hadn’t checked? I ought to—!”

“I never said they were only chickpeas. I said beans. Try using that brain of yours for once, pig.”

“……”

The merchants were too worked up to listen to Roanes’ calm words.

“You trickster!”

“Try eating that garbage yourself, pig!”

The shouting only got louder. Their voices were filled with rage, and the tension grew worse.

“…Haaah.”

Roanes let out a deep sigh. He had tried to handle it peacefully since Eliana was watching, but this clearly wasn’t a situation that could be resolved with words.

“What did you just say?!”

“I said EAT IT!”

Crack!

Roanes leaned in and delivered a clean headbutt—smashing both merchants right between the eyes.

“Gah!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Both men stumbled back, clutching their foreheads in pain, their faces flushed red. Just like that, Roanes became their shared enemy.

“I’m just a sailor passing by.”

In one smooth motion, Roanes drew his dagger, his voice cold and low. The blade, coated in blue aura, looked sharp enough to cut with just a glance.

“…A sailor.”

“Y-you’re a sailor?”

Aura—a sign of a sword expert. Even if both of them attacked him together, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Realizing this, the two merchants backed off quickly, their anger replaced by fear.

“You’re guilty of illegal sales. And you—public disturbance and disorder. The Kantur merchant will refund half the payment to the Imperial. The Imperial merchant will clean up the mess.”

Roanes pointed his chin at the empty sack lying nearby, his voice calm but firm.

“Why only half? I was clearly tricked! Shouldn’t I get a full refund?”

“You’re just taking his side because you’re both from the Empire—”

“Is there a problem?”

“N-no, sir!”

“Then get moving.”

Neither dared argue further. Roanes’ icy tone left no room for complaints. The two merchants immediately got to work.

“Unbelievable. What terrible luck,” the Kantur merchant muttered as he tossed a handful of coins onto the stall.

“Ugh, I’m never dealing with someone from the desert again,” the Imperial merchant grumbled. He quickly counted the money, shoved it into his pouch, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping up the spilled beans.

“Sir Joel.”

Eliana called quietly to Sir Joel, who was standing about five steps behind.

“Yes, My Lady?”

“Follow that Kantur merchant. I want to know where he goes.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

With that, Joel silently disappeared into the crowd, tailing the merchant.

“I’d like to buy some of those beans. Are you still selling them?”

Eliana stepped up to the Imperial merchant, who was still sweeping the ground.

“Yes, of course, Miss!”

His voice perked up at once. What a beautiful customer. After glancing nervously at the “sailor,” he propped the broom next to the stall and clapped his hands clean.

“We’ve got everything—Kantur chickpeas, sword beans, even soybeans from the Eastern Empire. If it’s a bean, I’ve got it.”

“I’d like to buy them by the sack. How much?”

Eliana looked past him, eyeing the large sacks piled behind the stand. She spotted three of the same kind that had spilled—each one weighing about 40 kilograms.

“Normally, a sack of chickpeas goes for 30,000 rium, but since this one’s mixed with inedible beans, I’ll only charge you 10,000. But you’ll need to sort them out yourself.”

The shameless Kantur merchant had filled half the sack with fake beans and covered the top with chickpeas—classic fraud. But since he’d been caught red-handed today, he had no choice but to slash the price himself.

“Actually, I don’t want the chickpeas. I only want the green beans.”

“Seriously?”

The merchant’s eyes widened in disbelief at Eliana’s response. An easy mark—no, a literal angel—had descended from the heavens.

“If you can sell me the green beans alone at 10,000 rium per sack, I’ll buy everything you have.”

“Uh… y-yes! Of course!”

Chickpeas were a popular, high-demand product. But those green beans? Trash. No one bought them.

“Just give me a moment! I’ll sort them out myself.”

The merchant quickly scooped the chickpeas off the top and separated them into another sack, offering an impromptu bean-sorting service.

“What a waste… spilling so much perfectly good coffee like that.”

Eliana couldn’t help but feel regretful about the raw coffee beans that had been scattered and were now unsalvageable.

“Thank you for waiting. Here you go.”

Soon, a full sack of green beans was ready. By combining the contents of a few half-filled sacks, the final bag was packed to the brim—almost bursting at 60 kilograms.

“Amy, could you handle the payment?”

“Oh! Thank you so much!”

The merchant beamed as Amy handed over the money. He had been worrying about how to get rid of that worthless bean stock, and now it was gone in one smooth transaction.

“Heave-ho!”

Sir Roanes hoisted the heavy sack onto his shoulder. In his sailor disguise, the sight of him carrying the bag looked completely natural.

“Wow… how many cups of coffee can that make?”

Eliana couldn’t stop smiling just looking at the bag on Roanes’ shoulder. Sixty kilos of raw coffee beans for only 30,000 rium? What a deal.

The thought of roasting those beans, adding a mountain of ice, and sipping cold coffee made her want to run straight back to the estate.

“Sir Joel, what about the Kantur merchant?”

“I’ve located the warehouse he’s using.”

About an hour later, the group regrouped in front of the carriage depot, and Joel gave his report.

“Lead the way.”

“It’s in the rental warehouse area by Dock 3.”

Sir Roanes sat beside the coachman, while the “wealthy merchant’s son” and “freelance knight” rode their horses alongside the carriage for escort.

“Ship coming in! Galleon over 2,000 tons! Get the tugboats ready!”

At Dock 3 of Flencia Port—where trade ships from various nations were anchored—a booming voice rang out from a watchtower.

“Ship incoming!”

As expected of the region that handled goods from all four countries, porters and freight wagons bustled back and forth nonstop, hauling cargo for a fee.

“I’d love to help out, but the scale of this is overwhelming.”

As soon as Eliana stepped out of the carriage, she felt the weight of the workload Mihalis was shouldering every day.

Collecting docking fees from trade ships and renting out warehouse space to merchants—these were some of the Duchy of Acher’s revenue sources. While middle managers probably handled most of the day-to-day work, all major decisions and disputes still passed through the Duke’s hands. On top of governing the territory and managing the military, he also had to oversee the salt farms, shipbuilding industry, weapons manufacturing, and port logistics.

“This way, please.”

Joel led the group ahead, passing rows of identical square-shaped rental warehouses.

“Come out a moment!”

They stopped in front of warehouse number 83. Joel knocked firmly and called out.

“Ugh, my ears…”

In less than a minute, the same Kantur merchant emerged from the warehouse, rubbing his ear and frowning.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“What do you want from me?”

The merchant responded with a sour tone. She looked like just another tourist—definitely not someone he expected to make any real business with. He clearly wasn’t interested.

“You’re speaking to a noblewoman. Watch your tone.”

Roanes, unable to stand the merchant’s rude attitude, reached for his dagger.

“Ah, of course, of course! Ask me anything.”

“Why is that sailor back again?”

The merchant quickly corrected his posture and tone.

“I’m interested in purchasing those green beans. Can you supply them?”

Eliana held out a single raw coffee bean as she asked.

“…To be honest, I was tricked into buying these too.”

He had opened the sack in the Empire only to find that half of it was green beans. So, he offloaded the same scam onto the Imperial merchant earlier.

“Then does that mean you can’t get more?”

At Eliana’s question, the merchant’s ears perked up. This was starting to sound like real money.

“How much are you willing to pay? If the price and quantity are right, I might be able to source some on my next trip to Kantur.”

He sniffed the scent of profit and carefully tested the waters. The bean was something a small minority tribe in Kantur used to brew tea. It usually cost less than a third of chickpeas—uncommon, but not impossible to find.

“10,000 rium per 40kg sack.”

“Oh, but at that rate, I can’t even cover shipping costs. I’d need at least 30,000 rium per sack.”

“All right, 30,000 rium. But in 60kg sacks.”

“If you’re buying by the ton, I can make that price work.”

Even if it was profitable, small orders weren’t worth it. He couldn’t make a cross-country trip just to deliver a sack or two.

“I’ll buy everything you have in the warehouse now—and I’d like to place an additional order for 10 tons.”

“You’re really buying all of it? And an extra 10 tons?! Uhm… Then I’ll need a 5% deposit for the custom order, along with a signed contract.”

The merchant nodded rapidly and pulled out a contract form. If the order was canceled after he’d hauled in 10 tons of an unpopular product, it’d be a massive loss.

“With coffee in this world, I might just have a way to shake the Tower’s grip on power…”

The moment Eliana realized she could secure more raw beans; a bold strategy came to mind—a way to challenge the Tower’s monopoly on magic.

“I’ll draft the contract.”

Since Eliana couldn’t afford to reveal her identity as a tourist, the “passing sailor” stepped forward once again.

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