Chapter 389: Paying the Future

"Divination?" Muria narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Master Muria, I won't predict any specific events for you; the risks are too great. I'm merely going to see what state you are in five hundred years from now," the hooded merchant said with a smile.

"Why speak so cryptically? Just say whether I might die unexpectedly in the future or not."

"Heh heh." A gender-neutral chuckle echoed from beneath the merchant's hood. Under Muria's watchful eyes, he pulled out a crystal ball shimmering with a mysterious glow and began chanting an incomprehensible spell.

A strange aura emerged around the hooded figure, and time around him seemed to distort. Within the crystal-clear orb, chaotic images flashed by—mountains, forests, rivers, giants, golden dragons, cities...

The images flickered rapidly until they finally settled on a pair of eyes—golden, majestic, bearing the weariness of ages and a trace of fatigue.

Then, the crystal ball exploded into fine powder finer than sand, and the merchant, having anticipated this, had already put up defenses to prevent any shards from scattering.

"Those are my eyes in five hundred years?"

"Yes, Master Muria," the merchant replied, gathering the crystal dust. "If you wish to pay for this little customer, the price you need to pay is a promise to intervene once in five hundred years, at your discretion, without compromising your safety or principles."

"Such lenient terms?" Muria raised an eyebrow, surprised. He remembered the obscure terms the merchant had set for Remilia—unconditional intervention three times in five hundred years.

"Of course, your future holds greater value," the diviner said respectfully, having glimpsed something else in his vision.

Paying with his future as currency intrigued Muria, who voiced a small doubt: "Can you be certain your divination is absolutely accurate? Is the future certain to unfold this way?"

"Master Muria, no diviner can guarantee that the scenes they foresee will definitely occur. The future is constantly changing," the merchant explained. "My predictions only present one possible future."

"So, it's possible that I might not even be alive in five hundred years, or that I could die unexpectedly?"

"Please, Master Muria, don't speak like that. Even without divination, I can deduce the outcome. Given your background and the world of Erathia, I can hardly imagine any accident that could lead to your death."

"Can we change the terms of the deal?" Muria pondered before speaking, "I don't want to leverage my future. Can we trade with elemental crystals instead?"

"Of course not," the merchant replied firmly. "Master, look at my wares. Which of them could you buy with elemental crystals? Don't you think using elemental crystals would demean and insult them?"

"I don't think so," Muria said, expressionless.

"Master, you must have dealt with our kind's disgrace, the merchant Stallone."

"The disgrace of planar merchants?" Muria's mouth twitched; the title was indeed unique.

"Yes, it is the only one in our line of business who prices its goods in elemental crystals."

"So, all you planar merchants sell your goods like you do, asking customers to pay with their futures?"

"One could barter, among other payment methods. Each planar merchant can choose their preferred way to sell. Those who wish to buy from me must make a promise, to act on my behalf in the future when I call upon them."

"Isn't this type of trade akin to gambling? Aren't you afraid of losses?" Muria asked curiously. "What if someone agrees to act on your behalf in three hundred years but dies within those three hundred years due to an accident? Wouldn't your promise be nullified, resulting in a loss?"

"Master, our clients are like you, favored by fate, with a mortality rate lower than the fall of gods. This isn't gambling; it's a guaranteed investment. I just need to wait a while to reap at least several times the profit."

"So there are cases like I described, where the favored by fate do die?"

"Of course, there are no beings who do not fall. It's just that those favored by fate have a very high survival rate."

"That makes sense," Muria nodded.

"Noble Master, will you still pay on behalf of Princess Remilia?"

"Yes." Muria eyed the crimson spear on the stall. "I promise you, in five hundred years, without violating my principles and without risking my life, I will act once."

"The deal is sealed!" Something seemed to be drawn from Muria and formed into a pale golden dragon scale in the merchant's hand.

"What is this?" Muria, feeling as if something was missing the moment he spoke, frowned at the merchant, his expression unfriendly.

"Just a token, Master Muria, it does you no harm; be at ease

," the merchant explained.

"Is that so?"

"You may examine it." The merchant wisely handed the dragon scale to Muria for inspection.

Muria examined the scale, which seemed to be an energy conglomerate bearing the terms of the agreement, but it posed no real constraints for him. It was merely a token that would remind the future him of today's promise.

"Will you sell this token?" Muria tossed the scale back to the merchant.

"If the price is right, there's nothing I can't sell," the merchant answered.

"Is that so? Then you truly live up to your name as a merchant," Muria said calmly, looking down at the hooded figure. "You may consider this token a commodity, but I do not wish for some chaotic beings to use it to call upon me in the future."

"Rest assured, Master," the merchant bowed slightly. "If someone comes to you with this token in the future, it will surely be a benevolent being."

"Let's hope so."

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