Chapter 46 - 45: In Hand
Chapter 46: Chapter 45: In Hand
Langai Street, Old Jack’s grocery store
Although this young man claimed he was referred by someone, Old Jack remained on high alert.
Although it was their first meeting, this young man seemed a bit strange to Old Jack.
Looking at Lis’s ordinary attire, the halo of Magic Elements surrounding him revealed to Old Jack that he was a rare Mage.
But the calluses on certain parts of his hands indicated he was accustomed to wielding weapons like Longswords.
Strange!
...
Moreover, one must know that the clientele of his shop often consisted of members from underground gangs, yet this handsome young fellow did not exude the slightest bit of the bloody and ferocious aura.
Especially… the guard behind him.
A Golden Warrior, huh? It seemed not only his Strength but also his status was extraordinary!
In an instant, numerous thoughts flickered through Old Jack’s mind, but he did not tell Lis and his companion to leave.
Being able to run a store in the chaotic and lawless environment of Langai Street and maintain it for so long meant that Old Jack had the ability and confidence to protect himself.
Even if this was a rare Gold Level Warrior, in the confined space of the house where they could hardly maneuver, a prepared mind against an unprepared one could be fatal.
Welf was unaware that Old Jack was sizing him up with ill intentions, and he followed Lis, curiously examining the myriad of items that filled the surroundings.
The floor was cluttered with various pieces of Equipment like Longswords, armor, iron spears, etc., the weapons stained with dark blood, proving their complex origins.
The materials hanging on the right wall were all derived from various Magic Beasts: the white fur of a Snow Wolf, the claws of an Earth Bear, the single horn of a Split Rock Rhinoceros, and even what Welf suspected to be Dragon Skin from a Two-legged Flying Dragon. Besides these, there were many other Magical Beast Materials that Welf did not recognize, most likely none of them cheap.
No wonder the young master wanted to come here; there seemed to be some trick to this shop ⊙∀⊙! Ah!
Lis paid no attention to Welf’s curiosity, as he himself had been astonished during his own first visit, but sadly, with his meager funds, all he could do was drool over them.
However, his purpose this time was not to buy any Equipment or weapons; the Jade Mage Set he currently wore as Gold Level gear was more than sufficient for him. His actual target was a piece of Secret Treasure Old Jack had in his collection.
Of course, now this treasure was merely an ordinary brooch.
Old Jack took a seat on a broad-backed chair against the wall and said gruffly:
“Since you were referred by someone, you surely know the rules. Pick whatever you fancy, no bargaining!”
Lis didn’t mind, as Old Jack’s demeanor had softened quite a bit from earlier, perhaps giving him some face for having Welf with him.
To think that in his past life, some player had been driven to attack by Old Jack’s vicious tongue, losing their life, which revealed Old Jack was a Gold Level Shadow Assassin.
“Welf, see if you like anything, I’ll have a look by myself first.”
Lis instructed Welf and then began to rummage through a pile of miscellaneous items on his own.
These were the jumbled and disarrayed items piled in the corner of the room; Old Jack could not recognize many of the eccentric goods, so he simply threw them there for people to pick through at random.
Each item was priced at 100 Gold Coins, like a lottery, with what one got depending entirely on their eye for detail and luck.
“A Magic Ring? …Just an ordinary stone, though.”
Lis tossed aside a ring that emitted a faint light, a counterfeit that was quite deceptively crafted.
“Is this an aphrodisiac or an aphrodisiac?”
Lis held a crystal potion bottle of ambiguous pink color, revealing half a bottle of unknown liquid inside.
After searching for a while, Lis finally found his target.
A dark gray brooch with a four-leaf clover pattern.
This was the one, exactly the same as the one in the picture posted online in his previous life.
Lis took the brooch into his hands, thought for a moment, and also picked up the potion bottle containing the aphrodisiac.
Sometimes these things are much more effective than poisons.
“I’ll take these two, two hundred Gold Coins.”
Lis placed the bag holding two hundred Gold Coins on the table in front of Old Jack.
Old Jack opened it, glanced inside, and then tossed the hefty bag directly into the cabinet behind him.
As for what Lis had taken from him, Old Jack didn’t really care; getting good goods is a mark of your keen eye, but if you end up with junk, don’t blame others.
All these were swag from fencing goods that were quite cheap to obtain!
Perhaps the two hundred Gold Coins he spent had some effect, Old Jack’s attitude improved ever so slightly.
“Anything else you need? I can get my hands on quite a few good items here,” Old Jack offered.
Lis shook his head. Apart from the brooch, nothing else here held much attraction for him.
Perhaps later, when he started researching Magic Rune, he would come back here for some rare Magical Beast Materials.
So, Old Jack closes up shop from time to time, probably to stock up elsewhere.
Just as Lis was about to leave, the door to the house was gently pulled open and a soft, slightly mushy voice came from outside:
“Uncle Jack, I’ve come in, and I’ve brought something tasty for you.”
Ashley walked in carrying a basket and suddenly saw that there were two strange men in the room besides Uncle Jack.
But this young man looks kind of familiar, doesn’t he?
Ashley was curious, but a bit shy, she immediately kept her head down and walked straight to Old Jack, placed the basket containing bread and vegetable soup on the table, then hid behind Old Jack’s wide chair, stealthily taking in the somewhat familiar looking Lis.
Isn’t this the Little Easter Egg? Indeed she’s still just as cute.
Years later, in a side quest related to the assassination of Kingdom Nobles, players eventually discovered that the killer was a curvaceous and attractive female assassin who liked to wear skin-tight leather. In later main quests, this female assassin made several appearances, yet no one knew her origins.
But the power of the LSPs is terrifying. The identity of this beautiful assassin was finally uncovered by the players—it was the little girl who would occasionally be seen at Old Jack’s in Bright City in the early stages of the game.
This topic was hot on the player forums for a while; Lis remembered clearly that someone compared the screen-captured image of the young Ashley with the photos of the dashing and elegant female assassin later on, which had all the gentlemen proclaiming that one should “look at a person with new eyes after three days.”
As Ashley was an extremely popular character among the players, the plotline where players could encounter the young Ashley at Old Jack’s was affectionately referred to as “Little Easter Egg” by the players.
However, at this time, the Little Easter Egg had not yet shown signs of becoming a Professional, and Old Jack probably hadn’t officially taken her in as his apprentice yet.
“Hello, little girl. By the sound of it, you were the one who warned me behind the window last time, thank you for that.”
Lis thanked Ashley warmly; after all, mingling with an important character in the plot could have its benefits.