"You talk a big game." Chuan Wenwu raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by the magical beast merchant's self-praise. Merchants like him were experts at exaggeration, after all. They only did it to draw in customers.
Who knew how much of what they said could actually be trusted?
"But I'm not here to buy a magical beast. I wanted to ask whether you have any equipment suitable for a giant magical beast to wear." As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Bruce beside him.
The magical beast merchant followed his gaze. At the sight of Bruce, his eyes visibly lit up, and he offered a heartfelt compliment. "What a sturdy P 묘ro Demi-Human! Such outstanding quality! You've raised him remarkably well, honored Hero!"
(I felt that terms like "kobold" and "canine beastman" weren't quite fitting, so I borrowed the race-naming approach from Arknights and made Bruce a member of the "P 묘ro" race, a name with more of an otherworldly feel.)
"You know me?"
Chuan Wenwu was a little surprised that the man had immediately identified him as the Hero.
The magical beast merchant laughed heartily. "Ho ho ho, surely you jest! Your exploits have spread through every street and alley, honored Hero. How could I not recognize you? Especially that little trick you used to make those arrogant material merchants suffer a loss. Everyone in our trade has heard about it!"
"So that's why." Chuan Wenwu remained calm, his tone betraying neither pleasure nor anger. "I thought you knew me because of all the slander people have been throwing at me."
"Please don't misunderstand, honored Hero! For us merchants, honesty comes first, followed by the ability to judge information! If we couldn't tell real news from rumors, we'd go bankrupt sooner or later!" The magical beast merchant rubbed his hands together, his face covered in a fawning smile, then added, "And I've also heard that you carried yourself most impressively in the Royal Palace. You even dared to shout down the king to his face. Such courage!"
"You even know what happened in the Royal Palace? Those people wouldn't go spreading something like that around, would they?" Chuan Wenwu frowned, instinctively recalling the onlookers he had surveyed in the Audience Hall that day. "I don't remember seeing you among the people there."
The magical beast merchant discreetly wiped the sweat from his temple, his tone turning evasive. "Oh ho ho ho... A customer happened to let it slip while shopping here. That's how I came to hear that little secret."
Chuan Wenwu gave him a suspicious look but asked no further questions. "Never mind. Back to business. Do you actually have any equipment suitable for Bruce?"
"I do..." The magical beast merchant kept rubbing his hands, but a note of hesitation entered his voice. "But, honored Hero, what did you mean by 'giant magical beast' just now? You've certainly raised this P 묘ro Demi-Human splendidly, but I wouldn't call him 'giant,' would you?"
Chuan Wenwu did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned and surveyed their surroundings. Apart from the circus-style tent before them, the area was fairly open.
He nodded slightly and gave Bruce a meaningful look. "Bruce."
Bruce understood at once. He immediately took the greatsword off his back and laid it on the ground, then dropped onto all fours and threw back his head with a deafening roar:
"Waaaa!!!"
As he roared, Bruce's body swelled rapidly before their eyes. His fur grew at astonishing speed, and his hands, once capable of nimbly grasping objects, gradually turned into canine paws tipped with razor-sharp claws... In the blink of an eye, the two-and-a-half-meter-tall P 묘ro beastman transformed into a fearsome hound fully seven meters long!
"Grrr..."
With a low growl, Bruce slowly lowered his head. His eyes, round as full moons, fixed on the diminutive magical beast merchant, and his mouth opened slightly, as though he could swallow the man whole in a single bite.
"All right, that's enough, Bruce. Change back."
At Chuan Wenwu's voice, Bruce gave his enormous tail a gentle wag and growled again. His body rapidly shrank, returning to his beastman form.
But the hide apron he had worn around his waist had already been torn to shreds when he changed size, so Chuan Wenwu had to take a fresh one from his backpack and wrap it around him to preserve his modesty.
"You saw that, right? That's the size I mean." Chuan Wenwu spoke casually. "I'm planning to get Bruce something like horse barding... 'Dog Armor,' I suppose. Something along those lines... Do you have any equipment that would suit him?"
"A beast-type Demi-Human with an advanced transformation ability! How incredibly rare!" The magical beast merchant lowered his head, his whole body trembling slightly, yet his eyes shone with an almost crazed light. He muttered to himself, "An ability like that, quality like that... He'd be worth at least 100 gold coins. No, at least 500!"
Those baffling words were infuriating to hear.
"Hey! Shopkeeper! Are you even listening to me?" Chuan Wenwu abruptly raised his voice, finally dragging the magical beast merchant out of his fantasies. "If you don't have anything, I'll ask somewhere else!"
The magical beast merchant hurriedly collected himself and smiled at the two of them. "Yes! Of course I do! Magical beasts as fierce as this P 묘ro Demi-Human you've raised are rare, honored Hero, but I do have magical equipment that can change form to fit beasts of that size! I'm not boasting. No other magical beast merchant could offer you anything like it!"
Having given his solemn assurance, he turned toward the circus tent's entrance, then looked back to invite them in. "Honored Hero, please step inside with your companion and rest a moment. I'll fetch the magical equipment right away."
With that, he slipped into the tent with strangely light, uncanny steps and vanished in an instant.
Chuan Wenwu and Bruce exchanged a look, then followed him into the surprisingly spacious "circus" tent that housed the magical beast merchant's shop.
The light around them dimmed the moment they entered. It took Chuan Wenwu quite a while to adjust to the gloom inside and barely make out his surroundings.
Then a strange odor forced its way into his nostrils: a mixture of mold, a faint trace of blood, the bitterness of medicinal herbs, and the rank musk peculiar to wild beasts. It made him deeply uncomfortable. The surroundings alone made it clear how poor the conditions were.
The tent was far larger inside than it appeared from outside. Numerous iron cages stood around them, seemingly holding indistinct, humanoid shadows, but it was far too dark to make out their features.
"Grrr... whine..."
Bruce smelled danger and suffering, and he could also see their surroundings clearly. A low whine rose from his throat.
"Bruce..." Chuan Wenwu gently patted Bruce's lower back, trying to calm him, but his own brow remained tightly furrowed as he muttered suspiciously, "Something's wrong with this place... It doesn't look like a shop selling magical beasts and equipment. It looks more like..."
He was about to approach the nearest large iron cage to see exactly what was locked inside when the magical beast merchant's sinister chuckle suddenly sounded beside him:
"You have an excellent eye, honored Hero. You've spotted our most highly recommended slave right away!"
Before you continue