Chapter 5: Bargaining

Chapter 5: Bargaining

In the autumn courtyard, occasional withered leaves drifted down.

Stepping out of the gate, Suye saw a middle-aged man in a white robe lying on a light brown reclining bed, leisurely flipping through a yellow-brown papyrus book. Occasionally, small fragments of papyrus fell, and a nearby servant carefully picked them up.

Suye’s nose twitched slightly. The faint scent of tea wafted over, and his gaze landed on the teapot on the table, which seemed out of place for this era in Greece.

The middle-aged steward approached Kelton in small steps and whispered beside him.

Kelton lifted his head, handed the papyrus book to the nearby servant, and looked quietly at Suye, a faint warmth appearing in his brown eyes.

Suye met Kelton’s gaze without fear.

Most Greeks at this time were slight, but Kelton’s appearance was like that of a Greek statue—tall and strong, with deep-set eyes, a penetrating gaze, a straight nose, and a head of black curly hair, making him an excellent model for sculptors.

Suddenly, Suye focused on Kelton’s left ring finger, where a silver ring with twin snake heads encrusted with a red gemstone stood out. At the sight of it, his eyes stung slightly.

What caused Suye’s eyes to sting was not the large red gemstone but one of the green gemstone eyes in the two snake heads.

Kelton did not rise but spoke with a nostalgic expression, "I have heard about your parents. I deeply regret what happened. Your parents were true artisans, and I loved eating your father’s bread. If you need help, as long as it is within my power, I will not refuse."

As Kelton spoke, his gaze quickly swept over Suye’s entire body.

“I don’t need help,” Suye said, standing tall and proud, showing his stubbornness.

Kelton slowly sat up straight on the reclining bed, revealing a kind smile. "Then what do you want?"

Suye sighed lightly. "Since I was young, I had a dream—to become a great mage and use magic to make the world better. Later, my parents spent all their savings to send me to Plato’s Academy. Now, someone is taking advantage of my parents’ death to seize my house, which might prevent me from continuing my studies at Plato’s Academy and becoming a mage. So, I am here to make a deal with you to continue my education.”

"What kind of deal?" Kelton’s expression shifted slightly.

Hake, who had been looking up at the sky, turned his head to look at Suye, as if seeing him anew.

"A deal that could make Dolphin River famous throughout Greece and even the world," Suye said.

"Good fame or bad fame?" Kelton stood up, still smiling, but the aura of a Silver Warrior spread silently.

Suye suddenly felt as if Kelton had transformed into a ten-meter-tall giant with a menacing grin.

"I have the food recipes left by my parents!" Suye said solemnly, his voice tinged with subtle sorrow, his eyelids slightly lowered, shifting his focus from Kelton to a lower table nearby.

On the way, Suye had thought about this gesture dozens of times.

Kelton paused, reined in his aura, and nodded. "Go on."

But Suye shook his head. "I don’t want to say too much. In short, I have a recipe meticulously researched by my parents, worth thousands of gold pieces, but today I am willing to sell it for a thousand gold Zeus coins."

Kelton looked at Suye, smiling silently.

He flipped his right hand, and a golden coin appeared in his palm, with a majestic yet indistinct profile of Zeus, the king of the gods, carved on the front.

With his thumb, he flicked the coin, causing it to spin in the air, emitting a buzzing sound and flashing gold before landing back in his palm, face down.

"Golden eagles are always so captivating," Kelton said.

On the back of the coin was engraved a majestic eagle about to take flight, Zeus’s favorite animal and his herald.

In ordinary situations, Greeks called these coins golden eagles; in formal settings, they were referred to as gold Zeus coins.

This involved a legend of the gods.

According to legend, the Greek gods decided on three types of coins but argued over whose image should be used.

Later, Athena said that the most precious coin, the gold coin, should bear the image of the king of the gods, Zeus. This pleased Zeus greatly.

Then Athena added that the silver coin, second only to the gold coin, should bear the image of Hera, the queen of the gods, as no one else could come second to Zeus. Hera was also pleased.

Athena then asked, since nobles would never touch cheap bronze coins, destined to circulate among the lower classes and even slaves, which major god would want to be touched by slaves?

The highest-ranking gods abandoned their claims, originally aiming for the gold and silver coins. Ultimately, Athena’s image appeared on the bronze coin, with her beloved owl on the reverse side.

The goddess of wisdom had not lied, and the outcome was as she predicted—the bronze coins circulated among the common people, and some aristocrats never touched them. However, this also made Athena’s name widely known among the lower classes.

Many did not believe this legend.

One golden eagle coin could buy a sheep, fifty golden eagle coins could purchase any dwelling in Athens’s poor district, and when Kelton bought this land and built the Dolphin River Restaurant, he spent only two thousand golden eagle coins.

"I said this recipe would surely be passed down through the ages and could even make your name immortal," Suye said, his gaze firm.

Kelton stared intently into Suye’s eyes.

The middle-aged steward, who had initially smiled with a hint of mockery, suddenly changed his expression and hurriedly leaned close to Kelton, whispering, "Sir, could it be that his parents sold their old shop and borrowed money to get a larger one because they possessed such a recipe?"

Kelton nodded slightly; he had considered this possibility.

Kelton asked, "What is the recipe?"

Suye replied firmly, "My recipe can add a dish to every table in Greece and even the world."

"Congratulations, you have achieved your dream of changing the world with magic ahead of time," Kelton said, his face filled with enthusiasm.

The middle-aged steward and the servant laughed softly in unison.

Hake did not laugh.

Neither did Suye.

"I name my price; you make your offer," Suye said, looking up at the towering Kelton.

"Ten gold eagles." Kelton still wore a smile.

Suye was taken aback, looking around with a puzzled expression, bewildered. "Has there suddenly appeared a miserly Mr. Kelton in the workshop district? Could I have come to the wrong place?"

The middle-aged foreman and the maid slightly frowned.

Kelton looked at Suye, saying nothing.

Suye’s expression turned serious as he continued, "I came here not because I heard that you, Mr. Kelton, are generous, not because I heard that you are wealthy, not because I heard that you are kind, and certainly not because I heard that you are easy to deceive. But because I heard that you are one of the wisest people in the workshop district, and also one of the most far-sighted."

"I will work hard to remove the ‘one of’," Kelton said with a confident smile.

Suye continued, "What do you think would happen if Dean Plato were to visit Dolphin River?"