Chapter 25 – Making a deal

Roland was back in his room, the day had been a strange one. He went out to test his spell scroll slinging abilities on some goblins. But what he found there was a young girl almost getting herself killed. He didn’t want to pry too much into her business and she didn’t react kindly when he started reprimanding her.

The other peculiar thing was how she acted. The whole encounter made him think that he was stuck in some kind of game world as he didn’t think people like that existed. She had multiple emotional outbursts towards him, while on the other hand acted all grateful and even shy while bringing over some food.

‘Well… she might just be bipolar…Should I stay clear of her?”

He thought, but maybe he was reading too much into her character traits there. There were all sorts of people in this world. He had managed to get a free sausage as a reward so it was worth it. He was now stuffed and back in his room. He would scribe one more fire arrow spell before going to bed.

Tomorrow would be the day when he would finally go on a spending spree. He needed to buy out as many runic spell scrolls as possible. He could then start creating schematics for them to quickly gain levels.

The more levels and the better stats he achieved, the faster he would become at creating his wares. He was also hopeful that in the future the Libra Auction House would drop their percentages. Losing 25% after they got their cut was a bit much, he wasn’t sure if the regular stores charged others as much for their wares.

He used his usual disguise that made him look like a little Warlock in training. The place he was visiting first was the same one he got the runic fire arrow spell from. It was the store that was called Exeor’s Magic Emporium.

He stepped forward the doors opened by themselves with the help of some kind of enchantment. He wanted to examine this door, maybe it also operated on some runes and he would be able to add another one to his collection.

There weren’t that many people in here and he didn’t really come here often. The general store that was closer to his inn had all the necessary items. He was also concerned that if he came here too often his disguise as the person selling the runic scrolls would fall through.

The elven girl by the name Zilyana was still here acting as the main salesperson. He just moved over to the display case with the runic spells. They were all still there, even though there weren’t many he could use them for research. They looked dusty as before and even though he was able to make some profit on them, the other crafters didn’t seem to be able to.

He had a bit of an advantage over other people. He could just take their work and improve upon it. Even if the person made the lowest of low runic spells he could turn it into the highest one in a matter of hours.

The common grade runic spells were a bit harder to correct. They used a lot more runes and even their schematics were double their size. This was also why he needed more time to scribe them down and why it took him half a year to get the crafting process down to near perfection. This was also just for one rune, if he tried completing a totally new one it could take him just as long.

He looked to the elf lady, motioning her over as he wanted to buy a couple of these scrolls. She smiled at him and went over. He wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose but her hips were swinging side to side in an alluring way. The high heels she was wearing were making clicking sounds against the wooden floor panels when she moved forward.

“What will it be dear customer?, I see that you have decided~”

“I’d like to buy this Runic Orb of Light spell scroll and this Runic Aqua Ball spell scroll… also this Frost Bolt one…”

He started listing them off, he wasn’t sure if he had enough money for all of them. They would be great for his future research as he was itching to start fiddling with the runic components. He had already listed down all the parts into his notes and now he just needed some time to experiment.

“You want to buy the runic spell scrolls?”

“Hm… wait a moment I’ll be right back.”

The elf replied and walked away. This was an unexpected reaction. He started wondering if there was something wrong. Normally they would just hand over the goods, take the coins and it would be over. Maybe she had more scrolls in the back and she didn’t want to move these dusty ones?

He remained in the store and waited. He even saw the elf go up the stairs, the same ones that he had used before.

‘Are the scrolls stored up there?’

He wasn’t sure what this was about but he just waited. He needed these spells scrolls as without them he wouldn’t be able to progress. He needed more samples to work with, the number of rune schematics he possessed wasn’t that high and only one was good for earning money.

After about five minutes the elf finally descended from the stairs and started walking back towards him. She wasn’t carrying any scrolls with her so Roland’s first assumption was wrong.

“Excuse me, I’ve made you wait.”

“It’s fine, can I get these scrolls then?”

He asked as he didn’t want to waste any more time here, he still wanted to see if he could get some better materials for his work.

“I have to apologize, but that won’t be possible.”

“Excuse me?”

He was baffled by the answer. Was there something wrong with him buying these? Did someone figure out his scheme and that he could make schematics of already completed runic symbols? His mind spun into conspiracy theory territory as he started sweating.

“Ah don’t worry, It’s not like that. The manager would just like to speak with you.”

“The manager?”

The image of a gnome working with some large beakers popped into his head.

“Yes, he wishes to discuss some business opportunities, I’m sure he will allow the purchase of these scrolls after that~”

“Business opportunities?“

The elf girl just smiled without explaining herself. Roland tried deducting the answer in his mind and the only thing coming to mind was that he was found out. They didn’t want to sell him the runic spells and they wanted to talk business, if this wasn’t about him going to the auction house then he would eat a shoe.

He had two options. Leaving and trying another shop, this wasn’t the only one with these unused runic spells. The other one was to head up and see what this person wanted from him. If he just left then he would be left uninformed about this manager’s motives.

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Roland had decided to go and see him. He didn’t think that he was in any danger as this man wasn’t a warrior but an alchemist. He was also a store owner so he probably did just want to throw a business proposition his way. He could always decline and move on with his life. Leaving the city if things got complicated was also an option.

“Okay, lead the way.”

He nodded while the golden-haired elf smiled. He was soon before the same door as half a year ago. Not much had changed there, the person inside still looked the same. The alchemist equipment might have increased with a few pitchers and beakers here and there though.

The door closed behind him after the elf woman had left. He was now left alone with the store’s manager, if he was also the owner of it was unknown to him. He remained standing and looked around, besides the alchemist utensils there was also a furnace to the side.

He wondered why something like that was here, right next to a bunch of chemicals and flammable books that were standing on a nearby bookshelf. Then he remembered that this world probably didn’t have anyone to check the safety measures of stores.

“Runic fire arrows, eh?”

“Huh?”

He could hear the gnome finally speak up. He had a higher-pitched voice than a human and was a lot shorter. Roland compared the man’s height to the other gnomes he had seen around the city and he was a bit on the taller side, close to 120 cm.

“What about runic fire arrows?”

He replied, playing dumb as he didn’t know if he had been really found out or just being tested. The older man stopped doing what he was and finally stepped out from behind the alchemist setup he was working on.

He had a grumpy expression on his face. Roland could finally get a good look at him. The man had a full beard that was gray and was wearing some kind of turban on top of his head. His ears were pointy and long, not as long as an elf’s though. He had quite a large nose with a large wart on the left nostril. His clothes consisted of a baggy robe that was tied to him with a brown leather belt.