"Little one, Grandpa has been in business for so long, today I'll teach you a sure-fire trick."
An old man sat in the temporarily closed inn's lobby, smiling as he spoke to the little girl sitting beside him.
This old man was actually Northern Fire's person in charge of this inn in the Holy Capital.
He had once been a merchant who owned considerable properties in the Holy Kingdom.
After experiencing the great catastrophe, he resolutely chose to sell almost all his family assets to support Northern Fire's resistance cause.
After joining Northern Fire, he was appointed as the organization's manager of some properties in the Holy Capital due to his previous identity as a successful merchant.
These properties had indeed created considerable income for Northern Fire under his management.
It was just a pity that because the organization was about to launch large-scale attacks on the Holy Capital, the organization in urgent need of money ordered him to sell off many properties.
This inn he had operated for so long also had to be sold...
The old man continued smiling at the girl:
"Look, we've been operating this inn for a long time. This inn embodies countless memories and time for us, so it's definitely worth a fortune to us."
"And now... we have to sell it, so we definitely want to sell it for more."
"But... for buyers, this inn isn't actually that precious to them, so the price in their hearts is definitely much less than what we're thinking."
The girl became anxious upon hearing this.
"Then Grandpa... how can we sell this inn for a good price?"
The old man smiled mysteriously and said to the girl:
"People... all like to compromise!"
"According to my years of business experience... our inn is probably worth five hundred gold coins."
"If we quote this amount to them, buyers will definitely find this price unacceptable, so they'll bargain down."
"So..."
The old man smiled mysteriously:
"We'll first tell them—'Our inn costs at least one thousand gold coins!' This will form an extremely high psychological expectation for them."
"Then the price will be easy to negotiate..."
"Ah... Grandpa, won't they be directly scared away by what we say?"
Seeing the girl's shocked expression, the old man laughed heartily:
"Hahaha, this is indeed asking for an outrageous price."
Then, a shrewd gleam flashed in the old man's eyes.
"So you see, doing business is different from fighting. When trading with others, we must not only show strength, but also show weakness."
"Then... as long as we encounter someone who isn't directly scared away by us, we tell them—'Actually... we urgently need money now, so we have to sell this inn that we originally planned to sell for one thousand gold coins at a bargain price.'"
"Then this person will think—'Looks like I'm definitely getting this bargain.'"
"So they'll develop a very strong desire to trade."
"Believing they hold the advantageous position, they'll start bargaining, and then..."
The old man smiled shrewdly at the girl.
"When they bargain down to six or seven hundred gold coins, we'll agree. We'll get a great bargain, and they'll also think they got a great bargain."
Patting the girl's head, the old man smiled:
"This way, we achieve a 'win-win' situation, don't we?"
"Wow! Grandpa is amazing!"
The girl exclaimed excitedly after hearing this.
Seeing her excited expression, the old man also smiled proudly.
"Hehe, want to try it yourself, little one?"
The girl nodded excitedly.
"Yes, yes, yes! I want to try too!"
So the old man handed the stack of papers on the table to the girl, smiling shrewdly:
"Then help Grandpa put this stack of s on the surrounding bulletin boards."
The girl pouted.
"I knew you'd make me do things..."
"Knock knock knock!"
However, before the girl finished complaining, the door was knocked by an unexpected visitor!
"Who is it!"
They both immediately stood up!
There was a "Temporarily Closed" sign posted at the door!
Anyone coming now definitely couldn't be a guest!
Moreover, the girl hadn't put up the s yet! No one knew this inn was for sale!
Could it be... they were exposed?
Logically, that shouldn't be possible...
"Grandpa! Hide first!"
After confirming the powerless old man was hidden, the girl instantly drew two short knives from her sleeves! And took a combat stance facing the inn's front door!
She knew it was time for her to function as a bodyguard!
However...
"Hello! Is this inn for sale?"
A girl's voice came from beyond the door.
"Ah?"
The girl holding twin knives was immediately stunned!
This... wasn't from the Holy Court?
Judging by the voice, the girl beyond the door seemed about her age...
The Holy Court surely wouldn't send such a girl to catch them, right?
While she was lost in thought, the voice beyond the door sounded again.
"Hello! Is anyone there!"
The girl thought about it and decided to observe from the upstairs window!
Perhaps this girl was just a decoy to paralyze them, and hundreds of soldiers ready to capture them might be following behind her!
To buy time, she quickly said:
"Someone's here! Someone's here!"
"But! Please wait a moment! I need to go upstairs to get the key!"
The gentle female voice beyond the door immediately replied:
"Okay, no rush."
So she immediately ran upstairs!
When she rushed upstairs and looked down...
That scene filled her with despair.
Her previous thoughts seemed indeed correct—about a hundred people were following behind the girl who knocked on the door!
Although these people were dressed as merchants, visiting their inn at this time...
This boded ill!
An even more terrifying scene immediately occurred!
Among the crowd, a blue-haired nun... spotted her!
That nun even smiled at her...
The girl was so scared she dropped her short knives on the ground!
This... although young, she was a professional assassin who had received assassination training!
Logically... normal people shouldn't be able to discover her whereabouts!
It's over! Looks like they've alerted the Holy Court's elite forces!
This time it really boded ill...
She knew—she had to make a choice quickly!
Otherwise... what awaited her was the Holy Court's torture!
The girl hurried to the lobby.
"Grandpa! Quick! Hide in the cellar!"
After having the old man hide in the cellar, she made an extremely risky decision!
She would open the door! And face this group directly!
She knew she definitely couldn't defeat these hundred-plus Holy Court elites, so she wasn't planning to fight this group.
She would pretend to know nothing and open the door, then act like she was the only one here!
This way! At least Grandpa's life could be saved!
No matter what, Grandpa was already old—he absolutely couldn't be captured by these Holy Court bastards!