Raided The God’S Warehouse [EN]: Chapter 276

280. The Magic Guild, Serpent

The Serpent was the only magic guild in the port city, effectively monopolizing all magic-related business.

Their standards weren’t particularly high; the guild master was only at the 4th Circle, but even that was considered the pinnacle of magic in Zeheton.

Consequently, no one in Zeheton dared to challenge them when it came to magical matters.

However…

“What’s this? Who dares to encroach on our territory without the magic guild’s consent?”

Just today.

Some unknown upstart, from who-knows-where, had struck a nerve.

Not only was he selling magic equipment without authorization, but he was also flouting business ethics by offering items at half the market price.

Wasn’t this a blatant challenge to the magic guild’s authority?

“I must find him immediately! Lead the way!”

The magician, adorned with various magical implements, including a staff and cloak, stormed out of the guild.

Although only a 3rd Circle mage, he was confident he could take on the guild master himself if the latter was unequipped.

And so, he arrived at the location.

A store without even a sign, simply referred to as ‘Magic Item Shop’ by the locals.

Normally, a business without a sign would quickly fail, but this place was different.

In fact, the lack of a sign seemed to reinforce the name ‘Magic Item Shop’ in everyone’s minds.

Moreover, an incredibly long line snaked in front of the store, so long it was almost unbelievable.
A line longer than he’d ever seen outside his own store, even at its busiest.

“How dare he… so many customers at a store opened by some nobody!”

Looking around, he noticed most of the people in line were outsiders [players from other worlds or regions].

In the relatively peaceful Fifth Shelter, outsiders were valuable customers who readily purchased various items. If he lost these customers, his sales would plummet.

The magician confidently strode toward the store. Several players tried to stop him.

“Hey, get in line! Get in line!”

“Someone as old as you cutting in line? Act your age.”

“Do you think anyone has time to waste standing in line? Get in line!”

“How dare you! Do you know who I am?!”

It was like the pot calling the kettle black. Instead of apologizing, the magician turned red and raised his voice at those telling him to wait his turn.

Everyone wanted to retort, but they reluctantly shut their mouths at the sight of the huge snake emblem he displayed.

The Serpent Guild.

As the only magic guild in Zeheton, they wielded considerable influence, and no one wanted to provoke them and face the consequences.

“Outsiders, indeed. Now that you recognize it, get out of my way!”

“Tch, that’s why I hate residents.”

“Hey, hey, calm down. It’s not that we’re afraid of shit, we just avoid it because it stinks.”

Fortunately, the magician seemed oblivious to the players’ whispers and entered the store with his nose in the air.

Inside, everyone had stopped what they were doing and watched nervously, having heard the commotion outside.

The magician looked around with a smug expression.

“This is it? The trash magic equipment made by some rootless nobody! It’s obviously just overpriced garbage…”

Although he had long given up on improving his own skills, he was still a magician. He had spent his entire life enchanting, so he had a keen eye for quality.

The equipment that caught his eye was surprisingly excellent.

The magic circles were incredibly intricate, and the mana was distributed almost perfectly evenly.

The magic wasn’t simply carved; it was transformed to perfectly suit the equipment, achieving its optimal form.

It was enlightening just to look at it.

The magician stared blankly at the magic circles for a moment before regaining his composure and clearing his throat.

“Ahem! Your skills seem decent, but how dare you open a magic shop without the Serpent’s permission! Where is the owner?!”

* * *

‘The magic guild, huh?’

Of course, Se-un knew about the magic guild in Zeheton.

However, he had been ignoring them, preoccupied with the giant merchant guilds and the inner castle’s executives.

Come to think of it, it was natural for them to react first.

It was as if Se-un had openly threatened their livelihood.

“Sir, what’s going on…?”

“I’m here.”

Hailey, who worked at the store, tried to step forward, but Se-un pushed past her.

He figured it was better to handle this himself. Someone like this wouldn’t listen to reason from an employee; they’d only demand to see the owner. No need to waste time.

“Ha! So you’re the owner? Just a greenhorn who hasn’t learned any manners!”

The magician launched into a tirade the moment he faced Se-un.

“If you want to do business with magic in Zeheton, you should come to our guild and bow your head first! That’s what you get for being an outsider, tsk tsk.”

Who was the one lacking manners here?

The magician continued to spout nonsense, but Se-un was thinking something else.

‘Can’t he even recognize the difference in Circles?’

The magician’s level, which he had assessed immediately, was only the 3rd Circle.

That was less than half of Se-un’s.

No, the number of Circles was only half, but the total amount of mana and the level of magic were vastly different, like a pond compared to a lake.

“Are you listening? You have to answer when an adult speaks! Originally, we don’t accept outsiders, but I’ll make an exception and let you join our guild if you adjust the shares and profit margins.”

It was impossible to reason with this kind of person. Logical explanations were clearly useless.

That’s why Se-un chose a different approach.

Woooong-!

He simply rotated his mana Circles.

The six Circles spun so intensely it seemed they would unleash high-level magic at any moment, radiating immense mana.

This created a pressure difference made of mana between Se-un and the magician.

Even someone insensitive to mana would feel the gap, especially a magician.

“Heok!”

The magician, mid-lecture, choked and coughed as if suffocating. He grabbed his staff and trembled as the pressure bore down on him.

He rotated his own mana Circles, trying to resist, but a pond cannot contain the water of a lake.

“S, stop…!”

The magician eventually knelt under the overwhelming mana.

Se-un had demonstrated the difference in power, but he wasn’t satisfied yet.

“You have something to say to me.”

“I, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, so stop…! I can’t breathe… Keok!”

“That’s not sincere enough.”

Woooong!

“Keuheok!”

The magician dropped his staff and supported himself on the floor, kneeling on both hands.

The pressure wasn’t even Se-un’s full power. There was no need to exert himself fully to subdue a mere 3rd Circle magician.

Pajik!

It wasn’t visible or audible, but Se-un could feel the magician’s Circles shaking precariously.

If this continued, he could become mana-disabled [unable to use magic due to damaged mana pathways].

The magician seemed to realize this as well, abandoning his pride and slamming his head on the floor, something he had resisted until now.

“I’m sorry! Please stop!”

“Now you’re showing some sincerity.”

Thud.

“Keoheok!”

Se-un stopped the rotation of his Circles.

As the vast, undulating mana dissipated like a dream, the magician gasped for breath as if he had been pulled from underwater.

‘Still, this won’t be the end of it.’

He looked quite old, but the Serpent Guild’s master was a different matter.

Even if this guy gave up, the interference would continue unless he dealt with the guild master.

It would be fortunate if they continued to confront him openly, but they might resort to underhanded tactics to disrupt his business.

So, he had to defeat the guild master, not just these lackeys.

“If you understand, go and bring your guild master.”

“Heok, heok… O, our guild master doesn’t act so rashly…”

“Can’t you? Should I give you another demonstration? I don’t know if your Circles can withstand it this time.”

“A, I understand! I’ll call him right away!”

He fled so urgently that he forgot his staff.

Se-un gestured to Hailey to retrieve it.

The material looked quite good, and it seemed like it could be sold for a good price if it was re-enchanted.

Even if he came back for it, well, he could just pretend he didn’t know.

“He defeated the Serpent!”

“Wow, he’s really no joke? Is the Serpent’s monopoly finally breaking?”

“Hurry up and move! I have to pick out the good stuff before this place gets even more famous!”

The only magic guild in Zeheton.

With the news that the Serpent had been humbled and chased away, even more players flocked to Se-un’s store.

And, the cautious giant merchant guilds finally began to take an interest in Se-un’s store.

* * *

Se-un’s store thrived day by day.

The line grew even longer, and he leased the second-floor alchemy store that had closed down, expanding his business to the entire two-story building.

“I heard he defeated the Serpent Guild, but the prices are still the same?”

“I told you, they were really ripping us off there! They thought they were something special.”

“Well, that’s why I haven’t been able to afford any magic items until now.”

“Compared to that, this place is heaven! If I get one more piece of armor, I can attempt the next trial.”

The only downside was that the main customer base was still limited to players.

Besides equipment, he also made various items such as lighting and jewelry, but the residents didn’t patronize his store. It seemed they were wary of the Serpent Guild.

Meanwhile, the Serpent Guild, which had been quiet after being defeated by Se-un, finally reappeared.

As Se-un had predicted, with the guild master.

“Is the owner here?”

He expected the guild master to be an old man, but he was younger than he thought.

He was subtly manipulating his mana, trying to conceal his level, but Se-un could clearly see the four Circles surrounding his heart.

For the master of the only magic guild in the city to be only the 4th Circle… It highlighted how weak the magic guild truly was.

As Se-un stopped working, he bowed his head slightly.

“You’re younger than the rumors suggest. Nice to meet you. I’m Merop Myrtle, the guild master of Serpent.”

“You’re late.”

“Haha, our guild is a bit busy. I heard that our Godric made a mistake. As the guild master, I apologize once again.”

Had he been planning something during that time?

The magician, who introduced himself as Merop Myrtle, maintained his smile and spoke calmly, rather than getting angry.

As the two conversed, the surrounding customers naturally paused their shopping to eavesdrop.

The conflict between Se-un’s store and the Serpent Guild was one of the hottest topics in Zeheton these days.

“I have a good offer to make as an apology.”

“An offer?”

“First of all, we will accept you into our Serpent Guild. As an executive! This is an unprecedented and groundbreaking offer in our guild’s history!”

The offer was to accept him into the guild.

It would be fortunate if it ended there, but he seemed like a cunning snake. He wasn’t just trying to resolve the conflict by offering him membership.

As Se-un expected, Merop continued, a sly smile playing on his lips.

“Of course, there must be a certain fee for joining the guild… Ah, you don’t have to worry too much! We will take good care of you so that you can adapt well to Zeheton, in exchange for the fee!”

Merop revealed his true intentions.

A fee. Adaptation or whatever, his business was already thriving, so why would he need to pay a fee to join the guild?

“That’s an offer not even worth considering.”

“So you’re still refusing? That’s a shame.”

Se-un immediately rejected the offer.

Merop shook his head leisurely. He presented his next move as if he had anticipated this rejection.

“Then, unfortunately, I’ll have to cut off your supply of mana stones. We can’t sell mana stones to someone who creates dangerous magic items without the guarantee of our magic guild.”

This was the biggest card Merop had prepared.

In Zeheton, all mana stones were traded through the Serpent Guild.

Since the Serpent Guild was the only magic guild, all the merchants exclusively supplied them with mana stones.

What if he couldn’t buy mana stones? Of course, Se-un could no longer use enchantments.

Mana stones were essential for drawing magic circles and engraving runes.

‘He came prepared.’

The guild master of the Serpent Guild.

His magic level was low, but he seemed to have a good head for economics, considering his position in Zeheton.

However, Se-un hadn’t been idle all this time.

The moment he was about to respond.

“Mana stones. Our merchant guild will supply them.”

A woman interrupted Se-un and Merop’s conversation.