POV: Albert
I finally made it to the capital. Thank goodness I made that last wish for magic, otherwise I would have died to the zombies and other monsters along the way.
I approached the city entrance. To avoid paying the entry fee, I decided to speed up the process and handed my merchant ID to the guard before he even asked for it. The soldier took a quick look at the document and nodded:
"You may pass, Mr. Albert."
I nodded back and headed toward the center. As a merchant, I hold numerous documents, including my licenses to work as a street vendor. Over the last few days, I hadn't received any large delivery orders, so I decided to sell my leftover merchandise as a peddler in this bustling city. Truth be told, I had gotten lost in the desert before arriving here, and that was when I found the magical lamp. They are legendary, but extremely rare. I took the risk of unleashing an evil genie—which could have ended very badly—but I got incredibly lucky: she was an immensely powerful female Genie.
Since I had already used up my three wishes, I needed to find a way to pass the lamp along. I preferred to sell it, as I could set whatever price I wanted, though my intention was to charge a fair amount.
I found a spot on a busy market street and spread out my items as a vendor, placing the magical lamp right in the spotlight. I spent the afternoon calling out to promote the artifact, but many doubted its authenticity. Though famous, real lamps are rare, and the market is full of scammers who create fake replicas to sell for fortunes.
I managed to sell most of my other products. Just as I was getting ready to pack things up at dusk, someone approached. The man wore incredibly expensive clothes, and thanks to the knowledge the Genie gave me, I could see that all of his garments and accessories were immensely powerful magical items. He stopped in front of the lamp and asked:
"This is a real magical lamp, correct? I am a collector of magical items, and I will pay whatever price you want for it."
I didn't doubt his word for a second, as his clothes practically exuded luxury and mana. However, I wanted to understand his intentions with the artifact before handing it over. I decided to ask:
"What do you plan to do with this lamp, sir?"
He gave a slight chuckle and replied:
"I plan to use it one day. Unfortunately, my wife believes I will never actually use it... But it's just that I simply don't feel like wasting such powerful items."
I immediately understood that he was a true collector—or rather, a hoarder. He only wanted to satisfy his urge to possess objects of great power, but he would probably never actually use them in practice. I decided to sell the artifact for a low price: just 5 gold coins. The collector insisted on paying more, but I firmly refused. The deal closed at 5 coins. I said goodbye to the nobleman and made my way home.
POV: Henry
After purchasing the bronze lamp, I returned to my castle and, as expected, had to listen to a long lecture from my wife. She insisted that I needed to stop spending fortunes on relics and that just because we were royalty didn't mean I should squander wealth on things that, according to her, would just sit around gathering dust.
"You are a Duke, Henry!" she scolded. "You need to spend money on your duchy, not on things you will never use."
I agreed for the hundredth time just to calm her down. Afterward, I went to the fortified vault where I keep my precious relics and the treasures I love to admire so much. I entered the room and placed the bronze lamp on a very high shelf in an isolated corner.