Chapter 125 | After Rebirth, I Became the Dungeon's Hidden Boss

When Isolde arrived in the study, the long table was already piled high with the books Lia had pulled out in advance.

Some of the books were relatively well-preserved, while others had cracked spines and dark, un-wipeable smudges accumulated on their covers.

Three books lay right on top.

《City-State Compendium》

《Red Kite Merchant's Journal》

《Celantia Trade Route Atlas》

Isolde first picked up the thinnest one, the merchant's journal.

Its pages had clearly been flipped through many times, their edges curled, and it was filled with handwritten annotations left by merchants.

They were likely dropped by merchants who had been lured and killed while passing through years ago.

The Red Kite City-States were located near the center of Celantia, to the east of Crow Candle Castle.

Surrounded by several major trade routes leading north, south, east, and west, it served as a bustling intersection for trade between various nations and towns.

Though the soil there was not particularly fertile and there were no large mineral veins capable of sustaining the entire city-state, it had become one of the wealthiest city-states by relying on its highly accessible trade routes, warehouses, and auction houses.

The Red Kite City-States bordered the vast territory of the Holy White City, and the two nations maintained close contact with frequent exchanges of mutual interests.

Humans, beastkin, elves, dwarves, and even Aberrants—any intelligent creature.

As long as they possessed something tradable and were willing to accept the merchant guild's supervision, any race could enter Red Kite to do business.

A sentence in the book was circled in red ink.

【In Red Kite, there are no foreigners—only guests who can afford the price, and goods that cannot.】

Isolde's fingertip lingered on the line for a moment, finding it both realistic and dark.

This city-state did not care about a merchant's race, background, or faith, because in the eyes of the Red Kite people, none of those things were as tangible as gold coins.

Foreign merchants wishing to operate long-term in the city first had to declare their cargo types to the merchant guild.

Ores, herbs, magical beast materials, weapons, food, and even information, lifespans, and souls had their corresponding trading zones.

After the goods passed a minimum standard of inspection, a security deposit had to be paid.

Every month thereafter, merchants had to continue paying operating fees to the merchant guild based on their shop's location, business category, and transaction volume.

If they could not pay, their shops would be temporarily sealed.

Once the security deposit was exhausted, the merchant guild would auction off their cargo, properties, and personal belongings to cover the arrears.

If they still could not repay after selling everything, the merchants could only use other things to clear their debts.

Labor, skills, bodies, lifespans.

Or even their lives.

Isolde turned to the next page, where a line of tiny words had been added along the margin.

【In Red Kite, bankruptcy is not the end of everything.】

【Because just when you think you have nothing left, the merchant guild can always find one last thing for you to sell.】

Isolde raised an eyebrow slightly. This was truly carrying the concept of "money is king" to its absolute limit, completely devoid of any human touch. It certainly fit the city's reputation.

According to the book, the Red Kite City-States worshiped the God of Gold Chips.

That deity's tenets were somewhat similar to those of the God of Contracts, as both recognized transactions and exchanges, yet there was a fundamental difference between them.

The God of Contracts valued promises; once a contract was established, regardless of any subsequent regret, one had to fulfill what they had agreed to.

The God of Gold Chips was much more direct. He did not care whether a promise was sincere, nor did He care if the buyer and seller were on equal footing.

He only recognized price and payment.

As long as neither party was coerced during the transaction and the seller did not violate the explicitly written terms, the trade would be recognized.

Whether the buyer paid too much, whether the seller intentionally hid something, or whether the item was truly worth the price were not within the God of Gold Chips' scope of consideration.

Thus, Red Kite had an even more famous moniker.

A liar's paradise.

A common stone, as long as the seller did not explicitly guarantee that a gem was hidden inside, could be packaged as an "unknown ore from near a dragon's lair" and sold for hundreds of times its actual value.

Once the buyer paid, even if they smashed the stone to find nothing inside, they could not demand the merchant guild refund their gold coins.

Because the seller had indeed made no promises regarding the outcome.

The merchant guild did not protect the buyer's intelligence, but rather the completed transaction.

【The God of Gold Chips only protects transactions, never stupidity.】

She leaned back against her chair, lost in thought.

Fortunately, Ur, who had made the deal with her back then, worshiped the God of Contracts. Otherwise, she would have truly been taken for a ride.

A place like Red Kite was indeed chaotic.

Liars, speculators, and information brokers would gather there, and behind every seemingly cheap item, an even steeper price might be hidden.

But looking at it from another perspective, Red Kite also offered opportunities that were hard to find elsewhere.

It did not require her to have a distinguished background, nor did it care who she was in the past.

As long as she could produce valuable chips and was willing to pay the corresponding price, she could enter the local trading system.

For someone who possessed multiple faces and was unwilling to expose her true identity, there was no place more suitable.

Isolde closed the merchant's journal and picked up the city-state compendium beside it.

Red Kite's power was primarily maintained by the Lord, the Golden Scale Merchant Guild, and the Four Great Families.

The Lord was in charge of the city guards, customs duties, land, and the final approval of trade routes.

The Golden Scale Merchant Guild handled merchant registration, product audits, security deposits, foreign affairs, auction qualifications, and commercial disputes.

The Four Great Families were the earliest merchant nobles of Red Kite.

Centuries ago, when the paths around Red Kite were still occupied by monsters and bandits, the four families teamed up with the merchant guild to provide funds and manpower. They built bridges, warehouses, and stations, gradually linking the scattered roads into a complete trade network.

In return, they secured founding seats in the merchant guild, as well as the rights to supervise and guarantee different industries.

Isolde continued reading.

The Rosalind family was responsible for overland trade routes, stations, warehouses, and caravan transit.

The Castro family controlled large-scale fleets, high-value cargo transport, and commercial lending.

The Vesper family was in charge of product appraisal, identity archives, contract documents, and auction certification.

The Holman family controlled vast amounts of basic materials such as ores, salt, timber, and leather.

If a foreign merchant wished to enter Red Kite to run a certain business, they not only had to undergo the merchant guild's audit but also obtain industry sponsorship from the corresponding family.

A common peddler selling scattered herbs might only need a temporary permit.

But if one wanted to establish a long-term caravan, operate large-scale warehouses, or sell ores and magical equipment on a grand scale, it was virtually impossible to bypass the Four Great Families.

On the surface, they were only responsible for checking whether goods met the standards.

In reality, they possessed the power to decide who could enter the industry, and the authority to shut anyone out forever.

Isolde looked down at the page on the Rosalind family. The records in the book were already over a decade old.

Even so, the description of the Rosalind family was visibly much shorter than that of the other three.

After the northern main trade route was cut off, they lost their most crucial source of income.

Numerous stations and warehouses were forced to close, their fleets were gradually swallowed up by the Castro family, and the family's voice in the merchant guild grew weaker and weaker.

Yet they still retained their status among the Four Great Families, as well as priority participation rights for certain trade routes.

This was a rare display of leniency; Isolde had assumed the Rosalind family would have been utterly wiped out by now.

At least when this book was written, the Rosalind family had not completely vanished.

That family badge and management seal indeed still held transactional value.

However, the most suitable trading partner might not necessarily be the Rosalind family.

Putting aside whether a fallen family was still barely hanging on, even if they did exist, they usually could not offer a good enough price.

The Castro family, who profited from the alternative northern route, might be willing to pay to buy the old management seal just to prevent the Rosalind family from regaining their qualification.

The Vesper family, holding the archives and appraisals, would surely be interested in the perfectly preserved trade route documents.

As for the Holman family, their bulk materials relied most heavily on road transport. A reopened northern trade route would be equally important to them.

All four families could potentially need these items.

The only difference lay in who could offer the chips she truly desired.

Gold coins were important, of course, but they were not the most important thing.

What Isolde wanted was a road that could connect to the outside world without posing a threat to Crow Candle Castle.

Ideally, she could also use this to obtain a legal identity recognized by the merchant guild, allowing her to establish stations, warehouses, and her own sphere of influence on the castle's periphery.

She was not planning to decide which family to give the relics to just yet.

The information in the book was somewhat outdated. What the real Red Kite was like, who was strong or weak among the Four Great Families right now, and how much foundation the Rosalind family had left—all of this had to be seen in person.

Before that, she needed to repair the old station first.

With the treants gone, the Mist-Dwelling Forest had reopened to travel. Once she used the Immortal Hardwood on Goldie, she could pick out a portion of it to repair the station's main structure.

As for the road, there was no need to repair it too far out all at once.

First, she would clear the section from Crow Candle Castle to the vicinity of the old station, establishing a stable foothold, before gradually extending it toward Grey Oak Village.