God Of Merchants?

"Why is it so expensive?" Raymond groaned. They were waiting in line to purchase the tokens to pass through the tunnel carved into the mountain base.

Just before it was his turn to buy the tokens, he heard the man at the till asking for 10 gold coins per head.

Now, that was absurd!

"No way, this is daylight robbery!" Raymond exclaimed in shock. These last three days have been nothing but costly. He had to buy supplies and a bunch of clothes for themselves.

And then he had to pay the toll fee to enter this town. Things didn't end there, he had to book a room for a day and had to buy two expensive fur coats for his girls.

Raymond's heart bled as he mentally summed up the money he had spent in the last three days.

It was nearing 100 gold coins!

Blasphemy!

Gold coins don't grow on trees. He had to put in extra effort and loo—cough! Catch the bad guys to make ends meet. All the money he had earned from doing these good deeds would be spent before he could settle down.

After all, Raymond wasn't going to spend his whole life travelling the world. At one point he was going to settle down in a nice place.

'That's it! I am going to take up missions till the guild runs out of business!' Raymond decided.

The mercenary guild had branches all across the Continent. So, Raymond didn't have to go through the annoying registration process again. He could just show his badge and take up the missions.

"Look here, boy!" The guy manning the till shouted. "If you're here to complain, then go stand by the side and do it! There are people waiting after you!"

"Hmph, you're a bloodsucker! How are you charging so much and no one is complaining?"

"Our charges are justified! Do you have any idea how much it costs us to open the tunnel and maintain it?" The man berated. "If you think the prices are too much then go dig a tunnel yourself! No one is stopping you!"

The man said rather smugly. This wasn't the first time he was being accused of overcharging by someone. He knew exactly how to deal with these kinds of people.

"Don't tempt me! I might just do it." Raymond warned.

"Haha, go ahead and do it." The man snickered. "I don't care if you succeed or not, you're banned from accessing this tunnel. You can dig a new one or better yet climb the mountain."

"Hehe, but let me warn you, the cold at the mountaintop is enough to freeze your balls off!" The man laughed mockingly.

"Is that so? Then I will carve out my own path…" Raymond raised his eyebrows and walked towards the far right side where a mountain was standing tall and proud.

"Hu…" He let out a breath and bent his knees. He pulled back his right elbow with his hand balled up into a fist.

-Doomsday Bash-

Raymond bellowed comically and threw his punch towards the mountain. Jasmine cringed at the silly name and buried her face in her hands. For all the power he had, she wished some of it had gone to his naming sense too. Maybe it came from reading too many fictional books from his grandpa's collection.

-Fwoosh!

However, before she could mull over this fact, a deafening sound of shockwaves spreading sounded out, sending ripples through the air.

Jasmine raised her head and her jaws almost hit the floor. What was once a majestic mountain had simply vanished into thin air. If not for the pitter-patter of the pebbles falling from the sky, no outsider would believe there was a mountain here.

"A God! He is a God of Merchants!" One of the travelling merchants got down from his carriage and kneeled in Raymond's direction.

His eyes welled up with tears of happiness and slid down his chubby cheeks as he looked at the wide pathway formed between the mountains.

He could only make two trips per day through that tunnel due to the long queue of people and every time, he had to pay an exorbitant fee. He was still not in loss but he was not getting any significant profit either. Everything was going well until he married a pretty wife recently who was spending his money like water. He was on his last legs and his timber business was about to get shut down in a few weeks.

"Waaa~ Mighty One! You've blessed this poor soul of mine!" He wailed like a baby and repeatedly banged his head on the grassy ground. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Thank you!"

"Thank you!"

Similar shouts followed as more and more merchants started to kneel in front of Raymond.

"Wait! Wha—" Raymond was flabbergasted by the fat merchant banging his head in front of him.

"You!"

Just as Raymond was about to deny the merchant, a thunderous voice interrupted him. It was the guy collecting the toll.

"You bastard! How dare you? You've ruined my business!" He felt like crying. He shouldn't have challenged this guy. Even his uncle, who was the mayor of the town, wouldn't be able to help him now. This man had carved out a valley in just a blink of an eye.

"Listen to me, my fellow merchants! This scoundrel had strayed too far from the grace of our god by cursing him! Beat him to death!" The merchant's belly fat jiggled as he raised his fist above his head and roared fiercely.

Several shouts of agreement rose in the air as the poor guy was dogpiled by the merchants.

"Master, did you know this was going to happen? You show off!" Jasmine chastised him quietly as she walked to his side. At least, her master had the decency to look sheepish.

"Now what? Are they going to start giving you offerings?" Jasmine asked dumbly but Raymond's mouth widened in a shit-eating grin at her words.

Indeed, how many gold coins had he lost in these last few days?

100?

Raymond snorted. "Ahem! What is your name, human?" He asked the fat merchant who was cheering for his friends that were beating the guy.

"Ah! Forgive me, My Lord! I was too focused on punishing that heretic!" The merchant bowed again. "Your humble servant's name is Arlo…"

Raymond's lips twitched at being treated like some blasted lord. But he kept his facade up to recover his losses.

"Not a bad name, Arlo!" Raymond smiled. "Now, where are my offerings?" He asked shamelessly, putting his thick skin to good use.

"Huh?" Arlo got flustered. "I have always contributed a part of my earnings to your temple, My Lord! I have always believed you would come to help us one day!"

'Hmmm, this guy is good! He knows how to bootlick without losing anything!' Raymond praised him inwardly.

"Hmph, so it was you!" Raymond pointed his fingers at him. "You're the one promoting that false god by giving him offerings!"

Arlo paled and sweat trickled down his forehead.

"F-false god?" He asked hesitantly.

"Indeed, I had to personally come down here to investigate the matter. Much of my time has been wasted because of you!" Raymond thundered. "How are you going to compensate for my loss of time?"

"My Lord, please forgive this foolish one!" Arlo kneeled and started banging his forehead on the ground again.

He stopped after his head started to hurt and took out a silken pouch tied to his waist. He tentatively reached out and handed it to Raymond.

Raymond frowned, weighing the pouch. It didn't seem like a lot.

"My Lord, you shouldn't worry about this humble servant. Although this paltry sum of 30 gold coins is all I can offer at the moment without seriously hindering my business, I will be able to make tenfold profit from now and it's all because of your grace!" He added, looking at Raymond's frowning face.

Raymond had to give it to him. This merchant was either too good at acting or he was being completely serious. He couldn't tell the difference. But one thing was sure, Raymond would definitely start to feel guilty if he took more from Arlo.

"Hmm, I do not care about the money!" Raymond nodded. "It is the feeling that matters. You have given this offering as a testament to your faith and I have been pleased with you. But what about them? Surely, they too must have been praying to that false god!"

"My Lord, how brilliant! You guessed it right!" Arlo admitted. "Hey! Stop beating him and come here. All of you!" He turned towards his friends and shouted.

-Thud!

The guy from the tunnel was thrown at Raymond's feet, all battered and bruised up.

"My Lord, Please forgive me! I was wrong!" He pleaded, holding onto Raymond's legs.

"Hmph, do not be so greedy! It can lead to your downfall." Raymond kicked the guy aside and looked at the pile of coins in front of him— the offerings from the rest of the merchants.

Arlo, who was observing Raymond's face like a piece of artwork, immediately noticed his frown and blinked. He looked at the pile of coins and understood.

"You dogs!" He glared at his friends. "How dare you offer so many copper and silver coins? Do you think our lord has the time to separate them? Take them back and only offer gold coins, now!" He ordered like a cult leader.

"Yes, yes, forgive us, My Lord!" The merchants bowed at him reverently and offered the gold coins.

"Arlo, you will go far in life." Raymond complimented the beaming Arlo. His already jiggling jugs were swelling with pride.

"Ahem, My Lord!" Arlo quickly realised that Raymond was about to leave and called for him to stop. "Please give a name to this pathway! You're the creator and the honour should belong to you! We will guard this route with our life and not let the authorities take control of it!"

"Hmmm," Raymond thought about it seriously. "How about naming it 'The Great Thomas Route?"

"Aha, what a wonderful name!" Arlo exclaimed. "We will call it the Great Thomas Route then! Anyone who causes trouble in this place will be punished by our lord!" He cheered loudly.

Again, Raymond felt like he got the short end of the stick. These merchants would rake in shitloads of profit by using his name and he would be a fool to give it away for free.

"Ahem! You have all been praying to the false god till now," He spoke and the cheerings stopped immediately. The merchants looked at him with sombre faces. "That should change from now on! I will come here every once in a while and collect the offerings! Spread the word and have all the merchants gather here in this town to pay respect!"

"As you command, My Lord!" The chorus of the merchants shook the ground as the rest of the people looked at them strangely. Some— in disbelief and most of them— in awe.