"I've been informed you are in need of an exchange, is that correct, sir?"
Theo raised his eyes, taking a moment to scan the approaching stranger.
From the solid, thick shoes that feared not water or mud, through the high-quality pants, linen shirt and then a thick jacket, all the way to his swirling, styled mustache and a fancy hat, the man oozed the image of an early industrialist with every fiber of his being.
"And you are…?"
Theo stood up from where he inspected the sugar and faced the man properly.
'Doesn't look like the manager here,' he thought while stopping his eyes from squinting, not to let off any hints of how he felt about the other party.
"Kremy Ignacios, at your service," the man said, reaching up and taking his hat off only to step back with his off leg and then execute an elaborate bow, one that could rival the elegance Theo experienced both in the courts of his old life and in the royal chambers of his current one.
It wasn't a bow one could make by imitating someone else or just trying to be fancy.
A bow like this could be performed only after a considerable amount of training. And it carried several different meanings all on its own, from the depth the man lowered his head implying the level of respect he had for the other party, the swing of the hat-holding hand describing the fanciness of the expected meeting…
In a way, the man's bow was like a whole setting for the terms he wanted to have a conversation at!
And if that wasn't enough…
My prince
Kremy merely mouthed out those words, knowing all too well how speaking them out loud would be too much, even for someone on his level.
"It's nice meeting you, Kremy," Theo replied without any wait, not giving the man the satisfaction of revealing his surprise. "And it is as you said, I happen to be in need to exchange several spirit stones for actual money."
While the spirit stone trade was heavily regulated… The stones Theo brought were still his to sell to whoever he wanted, for as long as he could verify the other party's identity.
If the sale went through, it would be then Ignacios' responsibility for who would be able to buy those stones next.
'On that note, Ignacios… Weren't they nobles in the past?' Theo's new memory jogged a bit, allowing him to recall some bits of trivia he learned while he was still back at the royal palace, a prince in theory and a slave to his tutors in practice.
The story of the Ignacios family wasn't anything special. They used to be lesser nobles, comfortably living off their small patch of land and with just several villages under them. A typical noble family that had just enough resources to their name to dabble into proper cultivation a bit to uphold the status of their nobility.
And just like it always happened, by not progressing to match the changing times, the Ignacios family ended up losing most of their lands to their neighbours, be it through some unfortunate bets, small scuffles or by selling their already thawing holdings just to maintain their old way of life.
The fall of the Ignacios family came even before Theo was born for the second time, leaving the heirs of the once noble name to go into the world and seek ways to make a living. And as it turned out, one of those heirs — or someone who stole their family name — ended up becoming quite a lot more successful in the field of trade than his family ever was as nobles.
All of that, however, boiled down to just one point.
'He has way too much to lose to play with fire. So, he should be trustworthy enough.'
As a fallen noble, Kremy couldn't count on any level of leniency with the law. In fact, it was quite the opposite, with most of the old nobles deriving great pleasure in bullying those who, even if by no fault of their own, lost the status those old wolves loved more than anything else in their lives.
And that's what, ironically enough, made him just the perfect mark for Theo to make a deal with!
"While I would most certainly be able to help you out with this issue, young sir," Kremy nodded his head at the end, just to show his respect to Theo's social standing that he couldn't really mention out loud, "prudence demands for me to ask, why not sell them off at the cultivator's market?"
Kremy locked his arms over his buffy chest, the seams of his jacket protesting as they struggled to contain his robust body.
"No matter what price I offer for them, it will never be enough to match what you could get by auctioning them off… sir."
Hearing this, Theo smiled.
'It's not just me being cautious about him. He's cautious about me too,' he silently noted. 'But well, can I blame him? It's not every day that the youngest prince of an impoverished royal family, one that was sold out as a political hostage, randomly appears in tow to sell a cultivator's treasure outside of the official channels. Heck, I should be doubting his intentions if he wasn't at least as suspicious of me as he is!'
"Let's just say that I care more about my time than about the money I would make by going through proper channels," Theo admitted while locking his arms over his chest, copying the man's position. "If I went to the auction, I would have to reveal my name. By doing so, I would be obligated to go and greet the local lord, accept his invitation to a dinner, then tour the city with him…"
Theo shook his head.
"I'm sure you are aware that would all be just the start to a long story of me fulfilling my obligations and wasting several days for the benefit of others," he stated before shrugging his shoulders. "I happen to be in a rush, for I need to buy everything that I came to this town to purchase and then be back on the road at tomorrow's dawn, if possible. So," Theo leaned his head over his shoulder.
"With the profit you stand to make from this transaction, would you like to help me out?"
After hearing all of this, Kremy first nodded his head knowingly, fully aware of all the ceremony that came with the royal visiting a noble's fief, a ceremony that could endlessly drag out in a place as remote as Vistra town. Then, at the end, when Theo finally posed his question, the man curled up his moustache with his finger before smiling and nodding his head.
"If it's the rush and speed that you value, then you couldn't have picked a better person to help you out… young sir!"