I followed the stairs behind Rosemary.
After passing the first floor and reaching the second, Rosemary glanced back at me and began to explain.
"While the first floor displays cost-effective items for upper-rank adventurers, the second floor sells more specialized equipment targeting mid-rank adventurers."
"Hmm. It definitely looks more high-end. Both the merchandise and the customers. But there are so few customers here—is that normal?"
The first floor had been packed with customers and quite lively. But here on the second floor, there were maybe twenty people at most?
Twenty customers might sound like a lot, but considering how massive the merchant guild building was, this number was practically nothing.
In Earth terms... it was like going to a major department store and finding only about twenty customers on a floor that sold consistently popular items.
With more staff than customers, I wondered if they were actually operating at a loss.
"The Cradle Merchant Guild has fixed prices for its items, with a few special exceptions. Take a look at the price tags."
"Oh."
Most shops in Pangrave were romantically inclined to rip off customers who looked like easy marks.
That made sense since the biggest spenders were adventurers, who could die at any moment.
Dead men tell no tales. Even if they realized they'd been scammed, if they died in the labyrinth, they couldn't even complain.
But for elves who lived and did business for a long time, it was probably more profitable to build a steady, honest reputation than to cheat a few customers.
Not just the Cradle Merchant Guild, but all the elven merchants I'd seen so far seemed to value this kind of trust.
"Hmm, let's see. 'Judgment'—an anti-undead weapon made from blessed silver with five enhancement spells and a Turn Undead spell engraved on it? Whew. Just the description sounds expensive."
The fourth floor was where the God of Death was buried, so undead monsters were common there. This weapon was probably for adventurers who hunted in that area.
The silver longsword looked like an excellent decoration piece on its own, but the details visible here and there indicated it was made for actual combat.
"So the price is... 80 silver?"
"80 gold."
"Come on. No matter how good the weapon is, 80 gold for a weapon used on the fourth floor?"
"Weapons made of silver have lower durability even with enhancement magic. However, this longsword comes with free repair and maintenance twice a year. Of course, intentional damage isn't covered."
"Twice a year? That's generous."
"A weapon that breaks in less than six months isn't worthy of being called a weapon. At least not one bearing the Cradle Merchant Guild name."
"Hmm. Still, 80 gold is a bit..."
"80 gold is the list price, but we don't always sell at that price. We offer up to 30% discount for contracted adventurers depending on their rank, up to 20% for regular customers based on their history and transaction volume, and various other discounts."
"That does make it more reasonable. But what's the actual discount rate? You're saying that's the maximum, not a guaranteed amount."
"Sharp observation. The maximum benefit you could get, Yona, would probably be around 10% in total."
"Oh, come on..."
"If you're short on money, you can borrow. The Cradle Merchant Guild has expanded into money lending. If you borrow from a Cradle lender to buy Cradle merchandise, the interest rate is halved."
"I'd rather not go into debt."
"Hmm... I could use my authority to lower it to 60 gold. What do you think? After monopolizing those Minotaur materials, that shouldn't be impossible for you..."
"I feel like you're trying to sell to me, so let me remind you, Rosemary—we're on our way to the banquet hall, right? I never said I was buying anything."
"...Urk."
Her strict, solemn expression instantly crumbled, replaced by a servile look.
I guess this was her way of escaping reality.
"Besides, I'm just going up to the third floor. Why would I need a weapon for the fourth floor already? And even if I did..."
I smirked as I pulled out my unicorn dagger. As usual, it emitted an unnecessarily bright light when I touched it.
"This is probably better, isn't it?"
"Grrk!"
Rosemary nodded while biting her lip in humiliation.
I had no idea where or how she'd been scratched, but there was no reason to waste more time.
I poked her back repeatedly with my index finger and continued.
"Considering what we're about to do... you should behave properly, right?"
That was my sincere advice. When I revealed Basileus, my reputation among the elves would completely flip, so it would be better for both of us if she showed off our friendship in advance.
But as always, sincerity doesn't easily get through.
Rosemary nodded with a face distorted by guilt and helplessness.
"...Then let's head straight to the third floor."
I followed the dejected Rosemary up to the third floor. Interestingly, there was a door set up at the stairway.
The doorkeeper didn't stop Rosemary... but when we got to the third floor, I understood why they had one.
The third floor was like a luxury boutique. Clearly expensive items were neatly arranged, each with quality certificates written in elegant handwriting, and there were no browsing customers at all.
Instead, there was an extremely excited Lidia.
"Huff... hah... I love coming here. Do you see that, Yona? That's Bourn's Earth Crusher. It's a hammer made with the spine of the dragon guardian from the sixth floor as the frame, melted with fragments of heroes' equipment from the seventh floor. It hasn't sold yet because no one uses blunt weapons, but its power is probably comparable to Senior Ellie at her peak..."
"Shhh! Lidia, either close your eyes like Beni or just look at me!"
"...Okay."
The excited Lidia immediately deflated and nodded. The key point was that she kept her gaze fixed on the top of my head.
Just from the name, those materials sounded incredible—and a weapon made by a master craftsman who used such materials generously and gave weapons descriptive names was only comparable to Ellie's serious punch?
I realized anew just how ridiculously strong Ellie was.
I was planning to get Ellie an arm on the third floor soon... but would it really be okay?
There was a setting that it would fit her body perfectly and be just like a real arm, but still, it was a prosthetic.
I wasn't sure if it could match Ellie's specs.
Shaking my head, I continued walking and encountered an even more elaborate door blocking the stairway than the one we'd seen earlier.
"That leads to the fourth floor... the banquet hall. Please, I beg you to be reasonable... huh?"
Rosemary stopped mid-sentence and tilted her head. Following her gaze, I immediately understood why.
A special door decorated with gold and jewels, emitting magical light. In front of it stood elf guards, a man and woman who looked quite strong...
And on the floor were two familiar elves flailing their limbs.
"We won't move an inch from here until you bring out our boss!"
"When Lemon says she'll do something, she does it! But don't abbreviate when you speak!"
"As I've already told you, she's not here!"
"Get lost already! Do you know how many times you've embarrassed yourselves in front of our distinguished guests?"
"Then prove you're not lying!"
"Let us in to meet the head of the Cradle Merchant Guild! If there's no connection, Lemon will take full responsibility!"
"These troublemakers..."
The female guard gritted her teeth at their unreasonable demands. She was right. Why were these two troublemakers here?
Even Rosemary seemed unprepared for such a disturbance and hesitated. I was probably the only one who could make those two behave.
With a deep sigh, I said:
"Lemon, Apple. What are you doing here?"
"...Master Yona?"
"It's Master Yona! He must have come to help us!"
Lemon and Apple rolled around on the floor, flailing their limbs even more vigorously. Their chests remained perfectly firm despite all the movement, which was somewhat pitiful.
"Similar to or even bigger than Beni's...!"
"What?! Yona, what did you just say?!"
Beni, sensitive about her chest—or rather, sensitive to chest comments—growled and threatened me, but I don't listen to band-aid sized talk.
Ignoring Beni's outburst, I approached Lemon and Apple, who looked at me with sparkling eyes.
They wiggled their butts to the side, creating a space between them just big enough for one person to lie down.
"Master Yona! Lie down here!"
"Join our protest!"
"No thanks. I'll get these borrowed clothes dirty."
"Ah! Now that you mention it, your clothes look great today."
"Lemon is flirting. I can't lose either!"
Lemon made a "lero-lero" sound while wiggling her tongue, and I shook my head.
"Why are you even here? It's not like Eve is trapped in there."
"We don't know that."
"The boss last met with the head of the Cradle Merchant Guild before she disappeared, excluding us."
"That does sound suspicious... but wouldn't someone of the Cradle Merchant Guild's status know Eve's identity?"
They could help Eve run away or disappear.
According to Rosemary, some high-ranking elves knew Eve's whereabouts.
But that didn't mean they had kidnapped and imprisoned her.
After all, Eve was still a queen respected by the elves.
...However, Lemon and Apple seemed to think differently.
"Master Yona would be right about other elves! But not about the head of the Cradle Merchant Guild!"
"That person is pure evil! Must have received a bad upbringing! Otherwise, a person couldn't become so twisted!"
"What...!"
Rosemary, who had been waiting patiently, suddenly widened her eyes at the unexpected insult about her mother.