Chapter Five: Procuring Equipment
Unusually lively?
Ro Xiu thought of the sudden increase in people at the slave market on the west side of the town, and the eight or nine unfamiliar adventurers who had just left.
“Is something about to happen?”
A wave of unease welled up in Ro Xiu’s heart as he asked.
“I don’t know, but it probably isn’t anything good.”
Lise began counting the copper coins.
“Why do you say that?”
Ro Xiu felt that Lise must know something and was trying to warn him.
“Because wherever that red dragon goes, nothing good ever happens.”
Lise placed the counted coins into a pouch and smiled as she handed it to Ro Xiu.
“Your payment, esteemed adventurer.”
Ro Xiu took the pouch, feeling the heavy weight in his hand, yet he did not feel the joy he had expected.
His mind was deeply immersed in Lise’s words.
The town’s population had increased, more wanderers and traveling merchants appeared on the west side, more foreign adventurers arrived, and there was the red dragon Santaya, the red dragon...
The red dragon...
A flash of insight struck Ro Xiu’s mind, and he felt as if he had pieced some things together.
That’s right, something major must be about to happen in this town.
The red dragon itself wasn’t the main point; the people around the red dragon were the key.
The young son of Count Larry was visiting Wheel Town? Impossible.
Wheel Town lay at the far northeast corner of the entire kingdom, known as the harshest climate and environment in the whole realm. What could there be to play with in such a place?
At least Ro Xiu had never heard of any important figures coming to Wheel Town for pleasure. Even Baron Torell, the lord of the Wheel Town territory, rarely lived in his manor.
Recalling that earlier when he gave Lady Chelsea a massage, she mentioned that the baron would return to his manor tonight,
Ro Xiu was certain that something big was indeed happening.
Though he hadn’t yet figured out what event could gather all these people in this small town, a major event meant change, and change meant danger.
The unease in his heart deepened again; Ro Xiu even considered going with Leila to chop down another goblin.
“Ro Xiu, you look especially handsome when you’re thinking.”
Lise’s voice beside him pulled his thoughts back to reality.
She looked at him with smiling eyes:
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing much. Thank you, Miss Lise.”
Ro Xiu sincerely thanked her and then called Leila, preparing to leave.
“Wait!!”
Lise called out from behind.
“Now that you have some copper coins, won’t you buy something before you go?”
“Buy something?”
Ro Xiu paused, turning to look at Lise’s beaming face.
-----
“If you really want to thank me, then support my business a little.”
Lise’s smile was radiant as she lightly snapped her fingers.
Her silver hair fluttered slightly, and concentrated magical energy flowed from her fingertips. In the blink of an eye, the counter before her transformed into a display stand.
Behind transparent glass were arranged armor, weapons, and bizarre magical artifacts.
The wall behind Lise, which had once prominently displayed the words “Adventurer’s Guild,” now read “Lise’s Weapon Shop.”
“Welcome to Lise’s Weapon Shop. Here is our catalogue.”
Lise smiled as she handed a booklet to Ro Xiu.
Ro Xiu hadn’t expected Lise to also run a weapon shop on the side.
Opening the booklet, he saw around thirty to forty items listed—from weapons to tools—with each item marked by tier and price.
Ro Xiu scanned it quickly.
Fortunately, except for a few items, most were within his budget.
For example, a tier-one iron sword with a fire attribute enchantment was priced at 130 copper coins.
A similarly fire-enchanted steel sword cost 180 copper coins.
After reviewing the list, Ro Xiu pondered.
The goods were good, but the key was that the money in his hand was only enough to buy one item.
After much thought, Ro Xiu finally chose one.
“This one—a tier-one magic pouch.”
“Alright, 130 copper coins. Thank you for your patronage.”
Lise retrieved a slightly worn crossbody bag from the counter and handed it to Ro Xiu.
It was a magic pouch with storage space marked as a cubic meter measuring 1.5 meters in length, width, and height—perfect for carrying goblin corpses.
Ro Xiu thought that in the coming days, he would inevitably shuttle frequently between the guild and the Sunset Forest. He certainly couldn’t parade around town carrying goblin bodies every day.
He pulled out 130 copper coins from the 170 he had just received and paid Lise.
Feeling the pouch much lighter, Ro Xiu felt a bit dazed.
Had the money left his hand too easily?
“Welcome back anytime.”
Lise’s smile was dazzling—like a shopkeeper with impeccable service.
But for some reason, Ro Xiu felt there was deceit behind that bright smile.
Probably just overthinking.
Shaking his head, Ro Xiu was about to turn and leave.
“Wait just a moment!!!”
A familiar voice rang out.
Ro Xiu turned in surprise.
He saw Lise smiling brightly and snapping her fingers again.
The items in the display case instantly changed to volumes of skill books, and the sign behind her changed to “Lise’s Skill Shop.”
“Welcome to Lise’s Skill Shop. Here is our catalogue.”
Lise smiled as she shoved a new booklet into Ro Xiu’s hands.
-----
Still in a daze, Ro Xiu automatically took it and flipped it open...
Wait, hadn’t this just happened?!
Ro Xiu rubbed his brow.
Sure enough, there was trickery...
They had only massaged and chatted a few times, but he hadn’t realized Lise not only worked at the adventurer’s guild front desk but also held multiple roles.
Moreover, her magical skills were far beyond ordinary.
This woman was definitely no simple person.
A foreboding feeling surged in Ro Xiu’s heart.
He vaguely sensed danger to the wallet at his waist.
Opening the catalogue, he saw that because he had just spent 130 copper coins, only a few skills were affordable.
Yet the more he looked at these few skills, the stranger his expression grew.
Finally, he couldn’t help but ask Lise:
“Why are the skills for the healer class so cheap?”
Indeed, although there were only three skills, all of them belonged to the healer class.
They were the beginner-level Healing Spell, Beginner-level Antitoxin, and Dust Dispelling Spell—all tier-one skills learnable by healers, each priced at 25 copper coins.
“Oh, Ro Xiu, you’re a healer?”
Lise’s expression was one of surprise,
But Ro Xiu felt she was pretending.
This woman just wanted to squeeze every coin from him.
“Don’t look at me like that. Healer skills have always been the cheapest; it’s really not intentional.”
Lise looked innocent:
“Nowadays, if one wants to focus on healing, they usually choose the priest path, since priests only need to pray to the gods to advance, whereas healers have to undergo exhausting healing practice.”
“Also, although healers focus on healing and debuffing, their healing is not as strong as priests’, nor their debuffs as powerful as sorcerers’, so nowadays hardly anyone chooses this profession.”
“I don’t even know why you picked this class.”
Ro Xiu was speechless.
He had already been a healer when he arrived in this world.
But there was no use dwelling on it now; what’s done is done.
Looking at the descriptions for Antitoxin and Dust Dispelling, both tier-one skills had weak effects and weren’t very useful to him now.
Still, he decided to buy one, hoping to take the opportunity to ask Lise some questions about the cultivation system in this world.
Besides, weak tier-one skills could be improved by investing skill points.
With the intent to maximize his healing ability, he chose Antitoxin.
Paying 25 copper coins, the moment Ro Xiu touched the Antitoxin skill book, a system panel popped up before his eyes.
[Detected learnable healing skill. Automatically grants 5 skill points in the corresponding skill tree. Skill effect will be reflected at the next skill upgrade.]
[Skill: Beginner Healing Spell LV.2 (5/10)]