Author Note: Hey everyone, I wanted to make you aware that I will not be publishing chapters the weeks of 10/7, 10/14, and maybe 10/24. My girlfriend and I are taking the next big step: moving in together. Both of us have started the arduous task of sorting what is coming with us and what is going into long-term storage.
For the next year, we will live with roommates while save up for a down payment on a home. By next September, our goal is to move into our own place somewhere close to her current job. What she doesn’t know is that I’m planning to propose this December. I’ve already started saving for a ring, so wish us luck! 😊
---Evening---
After devouring an entire restaurant’s worth of food, our group went shopping. While we had the two princesses in our company, they needed arms and armor to accompany us on our dives. Fenris rejected the offer, stating that the clothes made with her magic were more than sufficient to repel attacks from lesser creatures. We visited several reputable stores before finding quality equipment in, of all places, a pawnshop.
Hertrude and Hertrauda strutted out in their freshly cleaned and polished armor, forged by a master smith from a distant desert nation. Similar to ancient Persian scale armor from ancient Terra, the mithril armor plates and fish scales sparkled like jewels in the evening light. On their waists, both sisters carried a quiver full of arrows, a common short bow, and a mithril rapier.
“Thank you for these exquisite gifts, Leon.” Hertrude twirled in front of us with a smug smile.
Next to her, Hertrauda nodded in approval. Not only was the young princess happy to see her sister make a move on Leon, she was also eager to go on her first dungeon dive. Such a thing back home would never be allowed; everyone treated them like fragile glass.
‘Come on, Sis! You’ve got to win him over for both our sakes. I don’t want to go back to the way things were before. Seeing the world and making friends has been too much fun to stop now.’
“Was it truly necessary for you to splurge on such expensive equipment for them?” Angelica’s eye twitched as she watched Hertrude flirt with her fiancé.
‘I wish he would think about his fiancées too. We wouldn’t mind some new equipment too…’
Throughout the long shopping trip, Angelica, Clarice, and Deirdre had dropped countless hints about items they wanted. Leon had simply nodded at their choices, then continued browsing without a word.
“The Crown placed Hertrude and Hertrauda’s protection in my hands. As such, I must carry out that duty to the best of my ability.” I cracked my neck with a relaxed sigh.
The trio’s shoulders drooped with dissatisfaction. Just as they were about to storm off in anger, Leon’s voice spoke into their minds.
“Calm down, ladies. I know you’re upset that I purchased nothing for you, but I have other plans for your equipment. My fiancées deserve only the finest protection I can offer them; hence, we will forge your upgraded arms and armor together. Is that alright with you?”
In an instant, their demeanors did a full one hundred and eighty. Pure joy radiated from the three women as they thought up designs for their custom equipment. Compared to buying items off the rack, forging everything with Leon was far more heartfelt and romantic. After all, they would get to have some private time alone with the man who would one day be their husband.
“Leon, do you think we could stop by Miss Wiz’s shop?” Yunyun hung her head as she ground her foot into the cobblestone road. “We could use extra potions, and she might’ve bought more relics you might be interested in.”
Since the attempted kidnapping incident, we had avoided going to see her, not out of anger, but of concern. Wiz was a very kindhearted woman. If she learned the errand Yunyun went on for her almost got her kidnapped, the Lich was bound to have a mental breakdown.
“Are you certain?” I looked at Yunyun. “We can do this another time when it is just the two of us.”
“No, we’ve put this off long enough. If we wait any longer, Wiz will think we hate her.” Yunyun lifted her head, eyes full of determination. “I don’t blame her for what happened. She is as much a victim as I am.”
I reached out and ruffled Yunyun’s hair. The Crimson-Eyed Demon was too kind and pure for this world. No matter what the future held for me, I could not allow her to be corrupted by this cruel universe.
“Alright. Since you are so dead set on this, we will go see her.” I said.
Decision made, Solaris and I led the way to her new shop location.
---Fifteen Minutes Later---
Relocated near the Adventurer’s Guild, thanks to my connections, business appeared to be great for the klutzy lich. As we approached the shop, we saw her restocking rows of barren shelves. Her prices were well below the market price, so newbies likely cleared her stock daily. With everyone winding down for the night, this was probably the only time she had to restock.
“Hello!” Wiz said, turning to greet us as we entered. “Welcome to the…”
The moment Wiz saw Yunyun, she set the crate she was carrying down and ran over to her. Tears streamed down Wiz’s cheeks as she pulled Yunyun into a big hug.
“Yunyun, please forgive me!” Her grip tightened around the panicking woman. “If I had done my due diligence, you would not have been attacked by those horrible men. The man who made the purchase looked so nice that I thought little about where the delivery address was.”
Forgetting she was undead with inhuman strength, Wiz was not holding back. Poor Yunyun was snapping, crackling, and popping like a certain cereal brand.
She frantically tapped Wiz’s arm. “It’s… okay… Miss Wiz. Please… calm… down...”
“You are such a kindhearted girl, Yunyun. I promise to compensate you handsomely for my grave error.” Wiz eased off her death grip. “Yesterday, I purchased a high-grade magic staff at auction. It is yours if you… YUNYUN!”
Only now noticing that Yunyun was blacking out, Wiz let go of her, stumbling backward in a panic. Her rump bumped into the shelf behind her, starting a domino effect that knocked down half of her displays. While most were empty, crates full of product were crushed beneath the shelves. In seconds, over half a store’s worth of product was ruined.
“No, not again…” Wiz hung her head in dismay. “That is the third time this week. I’m going to go bankrupt at this rate.”
As I floated the recovering woman over to me with telekinesis, the rest of our party stared at Wiz in disbelief. Wiz’s words had left them dazed and very concerned. Even Olivia and Roxanne, who already knew her, were stunned silent.
“How… Why…” Lucoa struggled to come to terms with this. “You actually trust this airhead to sell you lifesaving potions!? She seems more likely to sell you poison, thinking it’s a health potion.”
Wiz whipped her head around, cheeks puffed in anger. “That only happened twice!”
The room fell silent. Her confession only fueled Lucoa’s frustration.
“That’s it, we are leaving this shitshow right now!” Lucoa spun on her heels. “I will go report this shop to the Guild so no newbies drop dead because of this dingus.”
“No, please don’t! My business is finally in the black for the first time. If you report me, I will lose everything and become a poor beggar on the streets…” Wiz collapsed to her knees and bawled her eyes out.
Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, Hertrude, and Hertrauda shot me a look. They wanted to get out of this place before something else happened. Olivia, Roxanne, Yumeria, and Yunyun looked at me with pleading eyes. Lucoa would not listen to them, but might be persuaded by my words.
As for Fenris and Solaris, the two of them seemed to enjoy the show. The glint in their eyes said it all.
“Everyone, let’s take a moment to calm down here. Just because Wiz is a klutzy airhead doesn’t mean she is a bad person.” I used my psychic powers to swiftly clean up the mess. “Wiz, if you keep bumping into the shelves, space them out more, then bolt them to the floor. You shouldn’t have any more trouble after that.”
Wiz nodded her head, still sniffling. “O… Okay! I can do that.”
“Lucoa, instead of reporting her, how about finding resources to help Wiz? During our first dive, Roxanne’s life was saved by one of her potions. She sells high-quality goods at affordable prices. If you condemn this place, how many newbies will have to enter the dungeons without a means to heal their wounds?”
Lucoa looked at Roxanne for confirmation. She nodded profusely, gesturing to the patched spot where the slime had pierced her. With some reluctance, Lucoa relented.
“Very well, I will see what I can do. This is going to cost you, though, Leon. I expect you to treat me to dinner, just the two of us.”
Aside from Fenris, the rest of the team gave the dragoness dirty glares. Lucoa paid them no mind; she was going to secure her place as Leon’s fourth wife, no matter what. Even if she had to play dirty, the end justified the means.
“Very well, I can live with that.” I nodded. “You better not half-ass it. Otherwise, I am going to take you to the cheapest restaurant in the capital for dinner.”
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll make sure this dingus gets all the help she needs.”
Lucoa’s mind drifted to what she should wear for their date. She wanted to put her assets on full display, but hide enough to keep him interested. Her closet was chock-full of dresses that would work; all she had to do was find the right one for this situation.
“Moving on.” I steered the conversation back on track. “We need to buy a large quantity of health potions, magic ores and stones, and potentially more of those eccentric items I like.”
Wiz wiped her tears away as she rose to her feet. “I have everything you requested in stock. If you would please follow me, I will show you what I’ve got in the back.”
I rubbed my palms together, full of anticipation. The more data disks I got my hands on, the better prepared my legion would be in our fight against Davoth and his legions of twisted souls.
As we followed Wiz into the backroom, she walked over to a storage rack and retrieved a small crate of fifty health potions for us. Instead of handing them over to me like usual, Wiz shoved them into Lucoa’s hands with a proud smile.
“I may be a klutz, but my alchemy is second only to Leon.” She puffed out her bountiful chest. “You will eat your earlier words after seeing the results of my work for yourself.”
“We will see about that.” Lucoa retrieved an inspection tool from her magic bag. “May I borrow a workbench to perform the inspection?”
Wiz gestured toward an oaken workbench near the alchemy table. Left by the previous tenant, it had several crates of empty potion bottles on top.
“Forgive the mess, but I haven’t had the time to clean up back here.” Wiz gave the dragoness an apologetic smile.
Lucoa paid her no mind, choosing to wait and see what her tool found. While she got settled in, Wiz led the rest of the group to another part of the small warehouse.
“What grade of magic stones do you want, and what sorts of magic metals are you looking for?” Wiz asked as she glanced back at me.
“I need Rank B or higher magic stones for a project. As for magic metals, I will take whatever I can get in bulk.” I said.
In this world, magic stones were ranked from F to SSS. Mined from ore veins in Rank 3 and higher dungeons, many mid-ranked adventurers earned a living by selling them to the guild.
“I’ve got several raw B and A ranked stones in stock. If you ever need qualities above that, those can only be purchased at noble auction houses.” Wiz gestured toward a pile of six-foot-tall crates near the shipping doors. “Let me show you the ore first, then we can look at stones.”
With a snap of her fingers, Wiz’s magic ripped open the sides of three crates. Raw ore tumbled onto the floor like an avalanche; a few large chunks broke apart as they hit the floor. The exposed ore reflected the light of nearby lanterns throughout the warehouse, creating a dazzling light show.
“Since I buy direct, the mining companies package the raw ores together to save coin. There are four hundred pounds of adamantine, hihi’irokane, mithril, and orichalcum between those twelve crates. Will that be sufficient?”
I nodded, using telekinesis to pull a few samples over for inspection. Each ore chunk was packed with raw material, much more than other samples I had seen at the smithies we visited.
“I’ll take it all. How much is it going to run me?” I asked.
“Since you are a repeat customer and you saved Yunyun from my stupidity, I will sell it to you at cost. Eighteen thousand dia is what I paid for the shipment.”
Without hesitation, I shook Wiz’s hand to seal the deal. I had expected to pay close to seventy thousand dia for the lot; there was no way I would let a deal like this pass me by.
“Now, as for the stones…” She led us over to a built-in, five-level shelf near her enchanting table.
She pulled a large iron box off the middle shelf, setting it on the table with a thud. After removing the three locks with a key from within her bosom, a place many women kept their valuables, Wiz popped the lid open for us to see.
Gemstones of various colors sparkled in the light, ranging in size from a fingernail to a grapefruit. My companions gasped as their eyes became like saucers. While they admired their beauty, my eyes fell on three fist-sized blue, green, and red stones. As they were for my fiancées’ armors, the colors could not have been any better.
“I will take these three.” I gestured to them. “How much?”
Wiz looked at the stones for a moment, then looked at my group. She fixed her gaze on the three women who wore engagement rings, understanding why I had picked out those three.
“Hehe!” Wiz grinned with delight. “How about three thousand for all of them?”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
We shook hands as she set them aside for us. With the first two requests complete, Wiz’s grin became even bigger as she took us back to where Lucoa was working. Close by, three large crates sat separate from the rest of Wiz’s inventory.
“Please tell me they are more of the same inert chunks of crystal and metal.” I ran ahead to pry the nearest one open. “Come to… Oh no… This isn’t good.”
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