King of Titans and Dragons
Chapter 394 - 394 389 Paying for the Future

Chapter 394: Chapter 389: Paying for the Future Chapter 394: Chapter 389: Paying for the Future “Fortune telling?” Muria’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Your Highness Muria, I won’t predict anything about you, it’s too risky. I’m just trying to divine, what state you will be in five hundred years from now,” the Black Robe Merchant said with a smile.

“Why so cryptic? Just say you’re divining whether I will die unexpectedly in the future, isn’t that enough?”

“Hehe.” A gender-neutral laughter emanated from beneath the hood of the Black Robe Merchant. He then pulled out a crystal ball with a mysterious luster from his fine black silk-gloved hand, muttering an incomprehensible incantation, under the watchful gaze of Muria.

An unusual aura emerged around the Black Robe Merchant, the time around him seemed to become disoriented, and chaotic images emerged in his crystal-clear crystal ball – mountains, forests, rivers, giants, Golden Dragons, cities…

Various images flashed across the crystal ball and finally settled on a pair of eyes, golden eyes, carrying an air of majesty and the vicissitudes of time, along with a faint hint of fatigue.

Next, the crystal ball exploded completely, turning into a pile of dust finer than sand. The Black Robe Merchant seemed to have anticipated this, setting up a barrier in advance to prevent any crystal sand from flying out.

“Are those my eyes five hundred years from now?”

“Yes, Your Highness, Muria.” The Black Robe Merchant scooped up the crystal dust in his hands, “If you wish to pay for this little guest, the price you need to pay is a promise to lend a hand once in five hundred years, without endangering your own safety or beliefs.”

“Such lenient terms?” Muria raised an eyebrow, a touch surprised. He remembered that the mysterious and reticent merchant had given Princess Remilia more stringent terms: to lend a hand three times without conditions five hundred years later.

“Of course, your future is worth more.” The Black Robe Merchant who had divined Muria’s future said respectfully. As a fortune-teller, he seemed to have seen something else.

Paying with my own future as goods, this is really interesting. Muria voiced a small doubt, “Can you be sure that your divination is absolutely accurate? Will the future be as such?”

“Your Highness Muria, no fortune teller can assure that the scenes in their divination will definitely happen in the future. The future is changing every moment,” the Black Robe Merchant explained, “The result of my divination is just a prediction of a possibility that may happen in the future.”

“So you’re saying, I may not be still alive five hundred years from now, there’s still a possibility of dying accidentally?”

“Your Highness Muria, please don’t say that. Even without divination, I can predict the results. Considering your background, in the Erathia World, I simply cannot imagine any accidents severe enough to cause your death.”

“Hmm, can we try a different form of transaction?” Muria pondered for a moment and then asked, “I don’t want to use up my future, could we trade using Elemental Crystals?”

“Of course not,” the Black Robe Merchant unequivocally denied Muria’s proposal, “Your Highness, please take a look. Which of the goods I am selling can be purchased with Elemental Crystals in the outside world? Don’t you think it’s an insult and a humiliation to trade them for Elemental Crystals?”

“I don’t think so,” Muria said, expressionless.

“Your Highness, you must have come across our shameful Planar Merchant, Stalon, and traded with him.”

“The disgrace of the Planar Merchants?” Muria’s mouth twitched, what an unusual label.

“Indeed, he’s the only one in our line of work who prices his goods with Elemental Crystals.”

“So all of you Planar Merchants sell your goods like you do, asking customers to pay with their future?”

“We can trade items for items, and there are other forms of payments. Every Planar Merchant can sell their goods in a way they prefer. If you want to buy my goods, you have to make a promise to lend a hand when I come calling in the future.”

“This method of trading is like gambling, aren’t you afraid of suffering a loss?” Muria asked curiously, “If someone pays with a promise to lend a hand three hundred years from now and buys an item from you, but dies unexpectedly within three hundred years, wouldn’t the promise be nullified? Wouldn’t you end up without any returns?”

“Your Highness, all of our customers, like you, are favored by fate. The death rate is lower than the probability of a divine entity falling, so this is not gambling. It’s a foolproof investment, all I need do is wait for some time, and I can reap multiple profits.”

“So there are situations as I’ve just described, the favored can die?”

“They can, there is no existing entity that will not fall. It’s just that the survival rate of the favored is extremely high.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Muria nodded.

“Honorable Prince, do you still intend to pay for Princess Remilia?”

“Yes,” Muria eyeing the scarlet lance on display, “I promise you that five hundred years from now, without violating my beliefs and endangering my life, I will lend a hand.”

“The transaction has been made!” From the hands of the Black Robe Merchant, something seemed to abstract from Muria’s body, condensing into a pale golden dragon scale.

“What is this?” Muria, who felt as though he’d lost something the moment he made the promise, frowned at the Black Robe Merchant, his expression somewhat unfriendly.

“Just a token, Your Highness Muria, it won’t harm you. Please, don’t be impatient,” the Black Robe Merchant explained.

“Is that so?”

“You can examine it for yourself.” The Black Robe Merchant, very understanding, handed the dragon scale to Muria for inspection.

Muria took the scale and examined it for a moment. It seemed to be an energy aggregate combined with contract terms. However, for Muria, there were hardly any restrictions. It was indeed nothing more than a token that could remind him of the promise he made today when he saw it in the future.

“Will you sell this token as merchandise?” Muria passed the scale back to the Black Robe Merchant.

“As long as the price is right, there’s nothing that can’t be sold,” the Black Robe Merchant answered.

“I see, you do live up to your title as a merchant.” Muria peered down at the Black Robe Merchant with a calm expression, “You can sell this token as merchandise, but I don’t want some random individuals in the future to use it to ask me for help.”

“Please rest assured on that point, Your Highness.” The Black Robe Merchant bowed slightly, “If someone comes to you with this token in the future, they will definitely be kind creatures.”

“I certainly hope so.”