Transaction

Argus glanced at Shawn once more, his gaze lingering for three seconds before he shifted it away with a look of disdain. "I'm busy forging a Guard Set for Old Grian; what time do I have for you? Run along, kid. I've got no candy for you here."

Shawn was so annoyed he nearly fell ill. Since when am I a kid? he thought. Are my eyes small, or is my mouth small?

Fine, perhaps he was a bit young, but surely not "kid" level? He was a proper youth, wasn't he? What kind of eyes did Old Man Argus have?

Displeased, Shawn let it show. He turned to leave, muttering as he walked, "Turning down high-quality fish scales and Naga scales—what a massive business to pass up. What a total blockhead..."

Before the words had even faded, a loud thud echoed. A burly man appeared right in front of Shawn—it was Argus the blacksmith. This guy had somehow put down his hammer and dashed over to block Shawn's path in under two seconds.

He's hiding his true strength!

Shawn was startled and immediately cast Eye of Insight on Argus. Only then did he realize the man was actually a Level 6 intermediate warrior with a challenge rating of 8. Who would have guessed?

"Little one, what did you say? You have Naga scales? Is that for real?"

Shawn was taken aback by Argus's reaction, but he quickly understood: Naga scales must be very important to him. It made sense; such high-level materials could at least be forged into blue-quality scale armor. Argus must have been excited by the prospect of such a rare find.

However, having just been looked down upon, Shawn wasn't in a good mood. He shook his head and said, "You heard wrong, you heard wrong. What Naga scales? What even is a Naga? Is it edible? Never heard of it."

Shawn turned to walk away.

But at that moment, Argus sneered, "Little one, I don't care where you got those Naga scales, but let me tell you: in all of Goldshire, no one but me knows how to process them, and no one else will buy them. Planning to keep them for your retirement?"

Hearing this, Shawn turned back, furious. "You're the one retiring! Your whole family is retiring! I'm not even fifteen yet, okay? I'm not selling them anymore, so mind your own business!"

Seeing that his intimidation hadn't worked, Argus immediately changed his tune, grinning. "Haha, little brother, don't be like that. That was my fault; just pretend I was passing gas, alright? Look, just sell the Naga scales to me. We can discuss the price, we can discuss it..."

Who holds a grudge against money?

Besides, Shawn really had nowhere else to sell the Naga scales. He stopped and looked back at Argus, his face full of suspicion. "Discuss the price? You aren't planning to swindle me, are you? I still remember clearly how you swindled Lord Grian yesterday!"

Argus didn't show the slightest bit of shame at being called out, which proved his skin was thicker than wild boar hide—it had reached the level of wild rhino hide.

Argus grabbed Shawn and patted his own chest. "Little brother, you should ask around about the reputation of Argus the Master Blacksmith! Everyone says I'm 'Pure and Kind Argus'! Little brother, don't worry, I definitely won't swindle you!"

Shawn blinked, still skeptical. "Really? But I heard your reputation isn't that great. I'll have you know I came here with Old Saldean, and I know Lord Grian, so don't you try to trick me!"

Argus quickly apologized with a smile. "Haha, of course not! You're the child Old Saldean adopted? Let me tell you, Old Saldean and I are good friends; all the farm tools on his land were made by me! Don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly!"

Shawn thought it over and figured Argus wouldn't dare cheat him too badly. "Fine, wait here. I'll go get the goods."

Argus: "..."

A while later, Shawn drove a carriage over from the Lion's Pride Inn, bringing back a cartload of items.

The moment Argus saw the full cart, he was completely stunned, his mouth hanging wide open. "Th-this many Naga scales?"

Shawn curled his lip. "As if! You think I raided a Naga lair? This cart is mostly Murloc scales; only a small portion are Naga scales."

Shawn pulled a bundle from the carriage and handed it to Argus. "Here, this is it. Aside from 120 Naga scales, there are two Naga claws and one Naga hide."

Argus took the bundle and opened it.

The palm-sized scales shimmered with a dazzling, piercing light. A potent flow of mana pulsed from them.

Argus stroked the Naga scales, then suddenly looked up. "Little brother, where did you get these? I recall there aren't any Nagas nearby, are there?"

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "I picked them up. Is that a problem?"

Argus quickly replied, "No problem, no problem. Whatever you say—it's got nothing to do with me. Good stuff, this is all good stuff. Look at these scales: smooth, hard, and flowing with mana—top-tier material! And these two claws are perfect for crafting fist weapons. And this hide is perfect for leather armor, though it's a pity I'm not a leatherworker..."

Shawn interrupted, "Let's get this straight: these are sold as a package. The cart of Murloc scales outside is part of the package too. Don't think you can pick and choose."

He was joking—of course he had to sell it all as a package. Otherwise, where would he sell that Naga hide?

He knew the only leatherworker and skinner in Goldshire was quite eccentric. Shawn worried that if he went to sell it alone, he might end up being skinned himself—it was rumored that the skinner specialized in skinning children...

Argus didn't object, though he said with some disdain, "That cart of Murloc scales isn't worth much—one copper per scale... As for these Naga scales, 10 silver each, how about that? And for these claws..."

"Stop, stop, I'm not selling!" Shawn cut Argus off, wrapped up the bundle, and turned to leave.

What a joke!

These were the scales of the Murloc Guard Kosta; they weren't just ordinary Naga scales. He knew that Kosta's colleague, the Murloc Guard Slardar, was a legendary Naga hero. Even if Kosta was slightly inferior, he couldn't be that far off.

At the very least, his challenge rating was over 10!

If it hadn't been for the thousands of Murloc Killer Crabs at the Murloc Shoal throwing themselves at him like moths to a flame, how could Shawn have killed Kosta?

10 silver per scale for this stuff?

Not a chance!

Seeing Shawn's firm attitude, Argus panicked. He quickly grabbed Shawn and apologized. "Let's talk, let's talk. How about this, 20 silver? Er, no, I misspoke—30 silver, 30 silver! Don't go! 40 silver, just 40 silver! I'm losing money here! Even if I forge them into scale armor, it won't be worth much... Fine, the honest price: 50 silver per scale! I really can't go any higher!"