The Crooked Shop

Ben's expression stiffened at once, and he looked extremely uncomfortable. He followed behind Renard, opening his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed his words.

Renard noticed. He knew without having to think about it what the other man wanted to say: Why did you have to do that? We could have handled it in a much more tactful way, and so on.

They had gone out to do a good deed, but somehow it had turned into a bad one. Not only had they received no gratitude, they had even become scum in the other person's eyes.

Renard didn't seem to care. His persona was that of a bastard and a scoundrel to begin with. It wasn't as if one more person hating him would make his skin crawl.

For some reason, he was starting to like his scoundrel identity. It spared him a lot of pointless explanations.

"Follower: Benjimin. Loyalty decreased by two points."

But the system notification dampened his mood. He suddenly realized how serious the problem was.

Renard stopped walking, thought for a moment, then said, "Sorry, Ben. There are some things I can't explain, so I have to do this. You might think my methods are a little excessive, but..."

Hearing him say that, Ben hurriedly interrupted, his voice filled with trepidation. "You don't need to explain anything. As long as it's your order, I'll carry it out without fail."

"All right!" Renard gave a wry smile and didn't dwell on the matter.

"Ding! Bounty task complete: Help Madam Tamara find her lost pet. Reward: twenty denars."

"Ding! System Shop unlocked!"

The two crisp notifications drew his attention back to the system. He'd heard a friend who recommended the game mention that denars were the game's currency, but he'd never heard of a System Shop.

After a little thought, Renard understood. Denars were probably used to exchange for items in the System Shop; otherwise, it couldn't be a coincidence that the shop had unlocked just after he'd received denars.

He forgot his displeasure from moments ago in the blink of an eye. His curiosity was eating away at him, and he couldn't wait to return to the castle and see what this System Shop was all about.

The two weren't far from the castle, and they were eager to get back. They made it there in less than five minutes, while the guards who had left barely managed to return to their posts ahead of them.

Renard didn't notice anything unusual. Even if there had been something strange, he wouldn't have noticed, so completely absorbed was he in the System Shop.

Ben, however, noticed the guards' deliberately subdued panting. He didn't jump to conclusions, but quietly kept it in mind.

Once they reached the living room, Renard told Selina to bring him some water, then sat down on the sofa and stared into space.

To an outsider, he looked like he was daydreaming. In truth, all his attention was focused on the System Shop.

The System Shop offered a dizzying variety of items, divided into four broad categories: weapons and equipment, mounts and war beasts, magic scrolls, and materials and miscellaneous goods.

Each of the four categories was further divided into countless subcategories. Weapons and equipment, for example, were split into ordinary weapons and equipment, and magic weapons and equipment.

The ordinary weapons and equipment category was itself divided into three branches: ordinary weapons, ordinary defensive equipment, and special equipment.

Ordinary weapons had dozens of subcategories, such as knives, swords, spears, and so on.

Renard was dazzled by the choices. Curious, he opened the knife section, and a heap of information immediately popped up: single-edged knives, two-handed knives, curved knives, sabers, pudao...

The kinds of knives were countless, and those were only the broad categories. The single-edged knife section alone contained hundreds of pictures in different styles and lengths.

There were hundreds of styles of single-edged knives alone. Browsing through everything the shop had to offer would be an almost impossible challenge.

Renard figured he probably wouldn't manage the feat in his lifetime. Fortunately, the system thoughtfully solved that problem for him.

"Based on the host's physical condition, this system has automatically filtered out the eighty-six types of knives best suited to the host."

"Ordinary straight saber. Handle length: sixty-six centimeters. Blade length: ninety-nine centimeters. Suitable for mounted combat and close combat. No additional attributes."

"Ordinary curved saber. Handle length: forty centimeters. Blade length: one hundred and twenty-six centimeters. Suitable for close combat. No additional attributes."

"Ordinary field knife. Handle length: eight centimeters. Blade length: twelve centimeters. Suitable for hand-to-hand combat. No additional attributes."

"..."

Renard was a little tempted by the first few weapon pictures. Just then, the system automatically produced comparison images of him holding the weapons. They looked quite good, but the prices were hard to accept.

An ordinary straight saber cost twenty denars, an ordinary curved saber cost twenty denars, and an ordinary field knife cost fifteen denars...

Renard couldn't believe that after working so hard to complete a task, he could only afford one ordinary weapon.

Of course, calling it hard work was a bit of a stretch, but the task really hadn't been easy. It had taken a long time, and cost him plenty, too.

And these were only the prices for ordinary weapons and equipment. Who knew how many denars magic weapons would cost? If those weapons and pieces of equipment cost hundreds or even thousands of denars, would he have to complete dozens of similar tasks?

Renard could hardly imagine it. But he soon realized he'd underestimated just how crooked the system was.

He took a sip of water to soothe his dry throat, then opened the magic weapons and equipment section. The categories and weapons were the same, except that they came with additional attributes.

Renard immediately understood. Magic weapons and equipment were basically the same as ordinary ones in style; they simply had certain added attributes. Some could increase attack power, others could improve durability, and still others could weaken an enemy's combat ability.

He opened the sword section again and skimmed through it. His head began to ache.

"Based on the host's physical condition, this system has automatically filtered out the twenty-six types of swords best suited to the host."

"Ordinary longsword (magic grade). Hilt length: twenty-four centimeters. Blade length: one hundred and ten centimeters. Suitable for close combat. Additional attributes: Sharpness and Hardness. Sharpness increases the weapon's cutting ability; Hardness increases its durability."

"Ordinary shortsword (magic grade). Hilt length: eighteen centimeters. Blade length: eighty centimeters. Suitable for close combat. Additional attributes: Sharpness and Hardness. Sharpness increases the weapon's cutting ability; Hardness increases its durability."

"..."

The longsword designs were rather plain. They weren't ugly, but they still didn't suit his taste. The two additional attributes were quite useful, though. It was just the price...

Renard's eyes widened. In disbelief, he said, "Holy crap, system, you're such a crook! You're charging two hundred denars for a lousy sword. Why not just rob me? You shouldn't call yourself the System Shop. You might as well rename yourself the Crooked Shop."

After a brief silence, the system retorted, "All items in the shop have clearly marked prices. No haggling, no tricks. My service motto is: Buy it if you want; if not, get lost!"

"..."