CHAPTER 92: MERCHANT’S RANK

Abel Meyers’ two companions became confused when he suddenly cut his words short, leaving them in suspense.

"You can’t be serious now, right? Why are you pausing on the culprit’s name?"

"Yeah, it’s illegal to keep us curious and then refuse to divulge the culprit."

Abel was already stricken with fear at encountering the said culprit. Yet they continued to urge him to reveal the culprit in a somewhat loud voice, and he finally snapped.

"Shut up!" Abel roared and flung his sleeves.

"Get the hell away from me!" He continued, shoving them aside.

Needless to say, the companions’ expression turned ugly at his sudden change of behavior. Although they were somewhat beneath the merchant rank, they were still of similar noble ranks.

What rights did Abel have to suddenly throw a fit at them when the fault was his for rousing their curiosity?

Just when they were about to lash out in response, they suddenly witnessed an unbelievable scene.

They witnessed Abel exhibiting submissive behavior while approaching another person.

"Haha, I didn’t expect to see Sir Vincent here. Please pardon my earlier conversation." Abel greeted Leonard and hoped the latter could be lenient.

Without a doubt, Abel was certain that he must have overheard his ranting earlier.

’Curses! Why is he waiting outside at the entrance and not entering?’ He was dumbfounded and wondered if Leoanrd was waiting specifically for him.

"I was admiring the scenery since I’m new to the city." Leonard coolly said before gazing at him. "Or is it that I need your permission to admire the scenery as well?"

"Of course, not." Abel hurriedly said in a panic.

"Why would Sir Vincent need my permission? I should be the one who requires your permission about whether or not I can enter through the special channel instead." He continued, clearly frightened of Leonard’s means.

’He shouldn’t have known that I sent some people to spy on him, right? They were professionals who would keep their mouths shut.’ Abel was internally troubled over the fact that he might have been exposed.

Granted, there had been no news of the people he hired to check Leonard’s whereabouts, which made him think of the possibility that they had long been silenced. What made him more fearful was that his involvement might have been exposed, which prompted Leonard to wait here for him.

Thankfully, his worries and concerns were unfounded when Leonard became curious.

"Permission to enter the special channel?" Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, the special channel." Abel clasped his hands and hesitated briefly. His eyes darted around before finally pointing at the entrance where multiple merchants had to walk through the detection formation.

"You see how those merchants have to line up and go through strict inspection. Those merchants aren’t certified or are only in the bronze rank. Only silver ranked and above could walk through the special channel, skipping past the strict inspection."

"Wait a second? They aren’t certified? Isn’t the Merchant Guild only for those certified?" Before Leonard could respond, Mirelle took the lead to inquire about the situation.

Abel shifted his attention to the source of the voice with a somewhat annoyed expression. However, he quickly suppressed the thoughts when he realized it was the hired bodyguard.

’Crap, she’s capable of withstanding Lord Wesley’s pressure. Better not mess with her.’ Abel thought to himself and kindly explained.

"The circumstances are different this time, allowing even non-certified merchants to enter. Hence, many of them were rushing here eagerly because seats are limited for the non-certified."

Instantly, realization dawned upon Leonard’s group.

They finally understood why so many merchants rushed out of the pleasure houses with such haste.

Apparently, they were only merchants without the certification to become a part of the Merchant Guild. Since there was a golden opportunity knocking which enabled them to enter the exclusive Merchant Guild, they naturally would forgo the flesh of pleasures.

The flesh of pleasures could always be enjoyed whenever they wanted, but entering the Merchant Guild was not something they could always do.

Meanwhile, Mirelle continued to be the voice of inquiry on behalf of Leonard as she questioned, "So those non-certified merchants were going through the detection formation. Then my boss is a certified gold merchant who could bypass the long wait?"

"That’s a given." Abel wanted to sneer at her ridiculous question. If someone like Leonard was barred from entering the special channel, then who else could be qualified?

One must know that the majority of certified merchants in Velastra were only bronze-ranked, with a few minority in the silver-ranked, such as himself. As for those in the gold-ranked, that was even rarer.

Lastly, there was only one platinum rank in Velastra, which was none other than Wesley Livingstone. To obtain a Merchant’s Rank, it was determinant in multiple aspects, with the most common ones being their revenue, influence, power, and background.

A Merchant might not acknowledge a noble’s rank much, especially those below a Marquis, but they definitely cannot ignore the merchant’s rank.

Take Leonard and himself as an example.

Because he was only a silver-ranked merchant, whereas Leonard was a gold-ranked merchant, he must remain respectful toward him, while Leonard didn’t need to.

This was their classification of hierarchy in the Merchant Guild, and was strongly enforced as opposed to the regular laws of Velastra.

"It appears that you know a lot, Abel." Leonard suddenly commented. "And here I thought you were only lustful and blinded by the flesh of pleasure."

"Haha... I only visit them occasionally to relieve stress." Abel smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.

’What an obvious lie.’ Leonard sneered inwardly. The guilty expression was all over Abel’s face. But he didn’t bother to expose the latter now that he had some actual uses.

"Anyway, I was only informed of the meeting through Researcher Caroline, but wasn’t informed of the topic. Do you happen to know any news?" Leonard inquired, subtly revealing the matter regarding his meet-up with Caroline.

Abel’s eyes lit up once he realized this was his chance of redemption. ’Phew, it’s a good thing I inquired of many people before rushing over here.’