"Wow! Look at this!"
Eris excitedly pointed at a broad two-handed greatsword on the shelf and called out to the shop assistant to ask about it.
Seeing that the two were richly dressed, the shopkeeper, who sported a handlebar mustache, had a shrewd glint in his eyes. He immediately came over with an obsequious smile:
"Oh! Isn't this the young lady of House Boreas? What a fine eye you have!"
"This two-handed greatsword is no ordinary weapon. It's a magic-infused item forged by a master craftsman. Not only can it cut through iron like mud, but once you pour magic into it, it can also..."
As the shopkeeper spun his extravagant, fanciful boasts, Eris's eyes grew brighter and brighter. She looked so excited that she seemed ready to pull out her money and buy it the next second.
Rudeus sighed helplessly and stepped in front of her:
"All right, Eris, the material this sword is made of is too ordinary, and the magic circuits at its core are a mess. When we get back, I'll make you one that suits you better myself."
Eris's eyes widened in astonishment, and she stared at Rudeus in disbelief:
"Rudeus, you... you can even forge swords? That's amazing!"
"What's so hard about it? Just use earth magic to manipulate metal elements and shape them however you like."
Before he had finished speaking, he slowly raised his right hand.
In an instant, the magic in the air began to resonate violently. Under his precise control, countless tiny metal elements gathered in his palm.
Before long, a mass of silver metal resembling liquid mercury took shape in his hand. The metal intertwined, stretched, and rearranged itself as though it were alive.
As a brilliant shimmer faded, a long, slender sword with a perfect structure and exquisitely fine patterns appeared out of thin air, floating steadily above Rudeus's palm.
The whole process flowed effortlessly. To him, it felt no different from molding clay; it merely used up a little mental energy and magic.
Silence-
The entire shop fell deathly quiet in an instant. Both the well-traveled Ghislaine and the boastful shopkeeper were left gaping.
The next second, the shopkeeper didn't even pay attention to Eris, who was excitedly tugging at Rudeus's clothes and cheering. He scrambled out from behind the counter and bowed with a fervent look on his face:
"Honored mage! No, young master! My name is Jilda! Would you be interested in a long-term sword-forging partnership with our shop?"
"We can negotiate the profit split, the raw materials, anything! We could make an absolute fortune!"
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
Rudeus waved a hand in disgust and rejected him outright.
"We can split it forty-sixty! No, thirty-seventy! You get seventy, I get thirty! What do you say...?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly added, even reaching out to grab Rudeus's sleeve.
Rudeus frowned, and a faint, chilling pressure of magic emanated from him:
"I said, I'm. Not. Interested."
Eris had still been immersed in her admiration for Rudeus, but the moment she saw his displeased expression, the short-tempered young lady bristled.
Like a little red-maned lioness protecting her cub, she stepped in front of the shopkeeper, pointed at his nose, and burst into an angry tirade:
"Who do you think you are?! How dare you upset Rudeus?! Do you want this lousy shop shut down? Believe it or not, one word from me and you and your crappy shop will disappear from Roa for good by tomorrow!!"
"Uh... what?! Young lady! No! I-I absolutely meant no offense... I only... please spare me, young lady!"
The shopkeeper was scared out of his wits. His face turned deathly pale, cold sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall, and he bowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.
"All right, Eris."
Rudeus patted her shoulder gently and soothed her. "There's no need to concern yourself with a petty merchant's affairs. Let's go."
Only when she heard Rudeus's voice did Eris's anger recede like the tide.
She snorted and shot the shopkeeper a fierce glare, then, as if changing her face, broke into a sweet smile. She nestled obediently against Rudeus and slipped both hands around his arm with practiced ease.
After all that, neither of them felt like staying in the weapons shop, so they continued wandering through the market.
As they walked, a somewhat strange stall in an inconspicuous, shadowy corner of the street caught his attention.
It wasn't that its decoration was particularly unusual, but that it gave off a kind of... street-market air that looked questionable any way he looked at it.
Unable to contain his curiosity, he walked over.
The stall owner had looked listless at first, but then he saw me dressed like a top-tier noble.
His eyes lit up at once, especially when he saw the impressive beastfolk bodyguard following behind me. He hurriedly lowered his voice and called out:
"Hehe, young sir, don't go! Come take a look~ My little shop just got a batch of premium new goods shipped in from the royal capital!"
The owner glanced around mysteriously, then carefully took an exquisite wooden box out of a hidden compartment beneath the counter.
He slowly opened the box a crack, revealing a bottle of potion inside that flowed with a pink shimmer.
"This is a top-grade aphrodisiac, made by an alchemy workshop that supplies the Asura royal palace directly. It's extremely rare, and its effects are absolutely unmatched! Just take one little sip, young sir, and I guarantee seven times in one night won't be a dream~"
Hearing that, Rudeus couldn't help feeling intrigued.
"That good? How much?"
"Hehe, just ten Asura gold coins, if you please~"
"Ten gold coins..."
He pinched his chin and fell into thought.
As he recalled, high-end potions of this kind really were extremely rare.
Most importantly, after the world-shocking Teleport Incident in the future, the method of making such luxury goods was completely lost on the Central Continent, causing their black-market prices to soar dozens of times over.
If he used the resources at his disposal to start stockpiling them now, wouldn't this be a path to riches that could rival a nation's wealth?
Just as he was rapidly working out a business plan in his head, a familiar, unguarded shout suddenly rang out behind him:
"Rudeus! What are you crouching in front of this lousy stall looking at?!"
As loud as ever, Eris casually leaned over and stared curiously at the pink bottle:
"What's that shiny thing? Is it tasty juice?"
The sudden voice made Rudeus shudder from head to toe and nearly scared his soul out of him.
But the thick skin he had developed in his previous life allowed him to regain his composure in an instant. He stood up as if nothing were wrong and pulled her away:
"Ah, it's nothing, just some strange local drink. It probably tastes awful. There's nothing to see, let's go, let's go~"
Eris looked at him suspiciously, then at the vendor with a suggestive smile on his face. Suddenly, she thumped her chest and laughed generously:
"But Rudeus, you looked really interested in it! It's fine. If you like it, want me to buy it for you?"
"I really don't need it! Besides... if I remember right, Eris, you never seem to bring your purse when you go out, do you?" Rudeus looked at her with half-lidded eyes.
"Tch, what does that matter?"
Eris proudly raised her chin and shouted with complete confidence:
"At worst, I'll just put it on Dad's bill and make him pay!"
"That's still money your uncle worked hard to earn."
At a loss whether to laugh or cry, Rudeus reached out and gently tapped her smooth forehead.
"When you've earned your first bit of money yourself, then you can think about giving me a gift."
"Ngh-"
Eris covered her forehead and glared sulkily at Rudeus, her cheeks puffed up like a little hamster's.
A few seconds later, she tossed her hair as though giving up.
"Hmph! I don't care! When I get back, I'll go shake Dad down for gold coins! If he won't give me any money, I won't speak to him for a month!"
"All right, all right, whatever makes you happy..."
I wiped the nonexistent cold sweat from my brow and hurriedly led the young lady away.
Just then, Eris suddenly seemed to remember something.
"By the way, how much does Rudeus get paid each month?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
Rudeus looked at her, a little puzzled.
"Hehe, I'm just curious, that's all~"
"Two Asura silver coins."
"Huh? That little?!"
Eris's eyes widened at once, her face full of disbelief.
Then she immediately turned to look beside her.
"What about Ghislaine?"
"Ten Asura gold coins."
Ghislaine answered calmly, her tone unruffled, though her gaze drifted subtly elsewhere.
Eris froze for a moment.
Rudeus nearly lost his footing and immediately challenged her:
"Are you bullshitting me? Can you answer honestly?"
"I already multiplied it by ten."
"..."
The air was quiet for a moment.
The next second, Rudeus finally realized what she meant.
So that was what she meant by "multiplied it by ten"?
He immediately covered his forehead.
"Ghislaine, that's not what I taught you math for!"
Ghislaine blinked, her expression still innocent.
"So... I can't use it that way?"
"Of course you can't!"