Sinbad, this is Crystal.

Chapter 12

"How much do we have, Sinbad?"

Sinbad dug in his pockets to pull out a single copper coin.

"This is all I've got left. I gave the rest of our profits to the crew so they could get more goods."

Crystal deflated a little.

Sinbad smiled at Crystal and said," Let's see how far this gets us."

Crystal cheered up and grinned in return.

Sinbad stomach growled again, causing him to groan and keel over a little. The coin slipped out of Sinbad's grasp and rolled down the sidewalk.

A shadowy figure picked up the coin before Crystal and Sinbad could do anything about it.

As they got a closer look at his face, the shadowy figure was actually the mystery man that scammed the crew earlier.

"What?" Mr. Mystery Man said. "This is yours, right?"

Sinbad took a contemplative look at Mr. Mystery Man, who had light blonde hair and light red, almost pink eyes.

"Here's an idea," Sinbad said," How about you join us for dinner?"

~

"My name is Harun," Mr. Mystery Man said. "I'm a trader hailing from the land of Balbadd."

"From Balbadd?" asked Sinbad. "Next to Reim, Balbadd is the world's leading economy."

Harun sighed. "Yes. And an active city like that is worth a visit for any merchant worth his salt."

"Right. I'll see you there." said Sinbad.

Harun frowned and said," You know, don't you? That I'm re-selling the goods I purchased at a higher price."

"You bet your disgusting salt we do," Crystal interrupted hotly. "And I have half a mind to knock your head on this table for it."

A small pause entered the conversation as Crystal glared at Harun, not breaking eye-contact once.

Sinbad awkwardly laughed in an attempt to break the tension and said nervously," She doesn't really mean that." He turned to Crystal urgently. "You don't mean that," turned to Harun, "She's normally not like this," turned to Crystal, "Seriously, calm down!"

Harun chuckled and said," It's quite all right."

Sinbad sighed.

"And yeah, I know," he answered," But to be fair, that was on us for our lack of knowledge and experience. If our trade negotiation was a battle, then it's one that I lost, to put it another way."

"So is that why you approached me? To learn the in's and out's of trade?" Harun said.

"Yeah," replied Sinbad, " You hit the nail right on the head."

Harun smiled.

"You have a composed greed about you," he said, amused. "That means you're a perfect fit to be a merchant, unlike your friend over there," Harun motioned to Crystal.

"She seems to have quite the temper, which is a very dangerous thing for the route of trade," Harun pointed out.

Crystal took a deep breath in and sighed out. "I'm not usually so hot-tempered, Harun. I just have a bone to pick with you since you hurt people that I deeply care about. Besides, I'd much rather leave the merchant-ing to Sinbad."

"I see," said Harun and turned to Sinbad," And how do you see her?"

Sinbad answered in slow words.

"She reminds of what my true purpose for doing all of this is for and always supports me to find it. She even decided to stay in Reim with me instead of traveling with everyone else."

Crystal looked down at herself and smiled slightly. 

"Sounds like you've got an advisor more than anything," Harun exhaled. "Very well. I'll teach you what I know."

Sinbad and Crystal grinned excitedly at one another, then turned their attention to Harun.

"Reim has never before seen goods from Imuchuakk. Because of that fact, you had the most lucrative product. But I'm sorry to say you missed the time to sell it at the highest price possible. In doing so, you allowed another merchant to dictate its standard market value. Going forward, think of this incident as the greatest loss you could ever imagine."

I'm starting to get the feeling this guys is more than a simple merchant, Sinbad thought.

"Now, how about a little give and take?" Harun said with a smile, "Tell me how you got the magnanimous Rametoto to approve of the trade deal?"

"I've been curious ever since you made your grand debut at the port. I've gone to Imuchuakk many times to ask for approval, but my requests always fall on deaf ears. So I find it odd they would allow an amateur to handle their goods."

Sinbad clenched his jaw for a second, unsure how to properly answer that kind of confrontation.

Then he suddenly felt this tender warmth on his tense hand under the table. He turned to see it was Crystal softly smiling at him, holding his hand tightly.

That's right. I'm not alone here.

Sinbad turned back to Harun and threw him a cheerful grin, catching him off-guard. 

"Amateur or otherwise, I'm not ignorant enough to reveal my business secrets. How about this? In exchange for helping me acquire a deeper understanding of this country, I promise to tell you anything you want to know. Deal? Let's be comrades that support one another in each other's knowledge."

Harun slammed his fist on the table.

"Are you seriously asking me to become your comrade? What reason would I have have to ally myself with a child like you?"

Crystal slowly stood up and looked down at Harun in an angry gaze, like a warning.

Harun smiled. "You underestimate me. Why not? It'd be rude not to hear you out."

Sinbad smiled.

"You honor me, sir." Sinbad reached out his hand to Harun's cup of wine. The eight-star symbol appeared above his hand and glowed. When Sinbad returned his hand to his side, Harun saw that his drink had been completely frozen.

Crystal smacked her hand against Sinbad's head. "Idiot! You're not supposed to be that reckless!"

Sinbad rubbed the back of head and smiled cheekily at Crystal. "Sorry, Crystal."

Harun's eyes widened in shock. "The wine...its frozen!"

Sinbad turned his attention to Harun. 

"That's the power of the ice Djinn, Valefor. It's an ability only dungeon capturers can acquire."

"A dungeon?" Harun spluttered out. "A boy like you captured a dungeon?"

Ssinbad smirked. "I did."