Smiling Merchant

Akai also stopped practicing and walked over to the two of them.

The three of them quickly walked out of the yard to play outside. It had been a long time since they had a good time.

Although they didn't have to go hungry like before, they were still a bit unaccustomed to it.

"Where are we going?" Akai asked, walking across the street with his hands behind his head.

"I want to go see the paper and pen first," Mel Carlo said, walking slowly behind.

"Mel, you want to buy paper and pen? Don't tell me you've been studying writing recently?" Lily's interest was instantly piqued, and she looked at Mel with an extremely serious gaze.

"Yes, Master Anke teaches me some things, but his writing skills don't seem to be very good..."

"Mel, you're so sly! You didn't invite me to learn writing. I want to learn too!" Lily clapped her hands like wings, which looked quite cute.

Akai, standing beside them, remained silent. He just stared blankly at the street. "Lately, there seem to be more beggars? Those shouldn't be people from the gangs, right?"

"Did something happen?" Mel Carlo looked at the beggars scattered all over the street. There were indeed more of them. The Imperial City Gang's bosses each had their own territories, and people managed by other bosses shouldn't casually enter another boss's territory.

"The Demon King's Army invaded again, probably because there's fighting on the border again," Lily said, her tone becoming very dejected, and she lowered her head.

"The Demon King's Army?" Mel Carlo looked confused. This was the first time he had learned this information. No one had mentioned it in the past three months. Although there were demon races and the Demon King's Army in the game, they were just monsters for grinding levels. Except for bosses, who were described in the story, the rest were just background elements.

Aren't monsters like slimes also part of the demon race?

"Mel, do you really not know? Lily and I are both from the Outland, which was occupied by the Demon King's Army."

"Tell me carefully. I was sick before, so I might have forgotten this memory." Mel Carlo stopped. He had to clarify issues that concerned his life.

The three of them stopped and sat on a step, and the two began to explain the Demon King's Army to Mel in detail.

A race that was naturally hostile to humans launched a war and killed many people. The original Outland was under the jurisdiction of the Gard Empire, but it had now become a pure war zone.

Mel had seen it when he looked at the map before. To the west of the Gard Empire, there was an area called the Outland. That area was almost equivalent to a duchy.

From these words, Mel discerned some hidden meanings. Humans were currently at a disadvantage. That region was more like an area the Empire had directly abandoned, as the Gard Empire had sufficient strategic depth, and its defenses had basically retreated to the vicinity of the mountains.

These were not things children would consider. In Akai and Lily's eyes, demons were evil, but they never thought about the Empire's problems.

However, there was nothing wrong with thinking that way. He didn't understand this world well enough and had too little information to make a judgment.

Knowing that demons killed humans was enough.

"One day, I will drive out all the demons!" Akai declared, suddenly standing up, his eyes fixed firmly on the sky.

His family had all died in the Demon King's Army's attack. He had wandered all the way to the Imperial City, where he had managed to save his life and avoid starving to death.

"Mel, where are you from?" Lily asked Mel, her emotions returning to normal. She shouldn't burden others with her pain, as Mel was not at fault for this matter.

"I don't know, I forgot," Mel Carlo shook his head.

He wouldn't and couldn't say. Otherwise, he would be considered a devil by the church and burned at the stake. His soul did not belong to this world.

This world was very similar to the game, yet not entirely so. Mel didn't know how many times he had thought this.

"Alright, let's buy the paper and pen first. We can study writing together when we get back," Mel Carlo said, steering away from the topic. These children weren't born orphans. They had families once, but they were all dead.

The three found a bookstore and went inside.

The shopkeeper, seeing three poorly dressed children enter, didn't look too pleased. In his impression, these brats were always penniless and couldn't afford books or anything else. They were just coming to waste his time.

"If you're begging, get out. Don't dirty the books in the store. You can't afford to pay for them!" a curly-haired man shouted at the three in a sharp voice.

Mel raised an eyebrow but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he maintained his proper politeness. "Hello, sir. I'm here to buy paper and pen."

"Do you know how expensive paper and pen are?"

"Name your price? I'll see if I can afford it."

If he took out all the money from the stolen wallet, it would definitely be enough to buy them. He currently had 83 Oren to use, and buying from a fixed shop like this was too risky.

"A quill pen and this notebook, a total of two silver coins. I can give you some paper for free if you can afford it?" The curly-haired man slightly softened his attitude but still looked at them askance.

"Two silver coins! Why don't you just rob us?" Akai was startled. They usually couldn't even get a few copper coins, and most of the time, they were whipped when they got back.

That was 200 copper coins!

"Mel..." Lily tugged at Mel's sleeve, her lowered eyes wondering what she was thinking.

"It's too expensive," Mel said lightly, then led the two of them out.

Although he wasn't sure of the exact price of the paper, pen, and notebook combined, the shopkeeper was definitely trying to rip them off because they were young.

"I knew they couldn't afford it!" The curly-haired man spat and slammed the bookstore door shut.

Mel Carlo glanced back. There was more than one place to buy things in the city. He really was looking down on them.

The three hadn't walked far when they were called out by a merchant driving a cart. The merchant smiled brightly, and a child about their age sat beside him, likely the merchant's child.

"Are you looking to buy paper and pen? I have some for sale."

"Oh?" Mel turned his head and saw a cart pulled by an Earth Dragon. Various goods were piled inside the cart.

"The price is absolutely fair, although the quality might be slightly inferior. Would you like to take a look?" the man said with a smile, taking out a stapled paper booklet, which was likely also a notebook.

Then, he took out a row of quill pens from a cloth bag.

"If you buy in bulk, I'll only charge you 35 Oren per book. For three books, I can charge you one silver coin. The quill pens are the same price."

Mel Carlo had originally intended to say he only had 83 Oren, but seeing the merchant's demeanor, he decided to ask about the situation in other cities first.

"Excuse me, are you a traveling merchant?" Mel Carlo looked earnestly at the smiling man before him. If this merchant wasn't local, he could relax a lot more when making purchases. It would also give him a chance to figure out how to leave the city and the best way to travel to Oak City.

Oak City was very far from the Imperial City, and he couldn't possibly walk there.

"Yes, I also sell other goods. You can buy from me with absolute safety, but at your age, you probably won't need those kinds of goods," the man continued to say with a smile, his eyes still narrowed.

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.