"Customers, please take your time!"
Amidst the store owner's warm farewell, Riezel, accompanied by Ain and Ian, exited the store.
In the end, he didn't purchase any swordsmanship books.
Since he knew that special swordsmanship was probably out of his reach, he naturally wouldn't buy swordsmanship from this place. Although the store had quite a few advanced swordsmanship, with some being quite impressive, he felt that Yuri's library, with its dozen or so advanced swordsmanship, was the best choice.
While the Frenzel family had recently risen and lacked a strong legacy, being a marquis family led by a Strategic-Class Magician, the advanced swordsmanship Yuri could collect wouldn't be too shabby.
Therefore, if Riezel only wanted advanced swordsmanship, he was more inclined to choose from Yuri's library.
Of course, he still had a lingering doubt.
'Is the breathing style of the Holy Dragon Sword Style really destroyed?'
Having experienced the uniqueness of the Holy Dragon Sword Style, Riezel was not eager to give up on this swordsmanship. As a result, with a bit of hope, he turned to Ain and Ian for confirmation.
"It's really gone, totally destroyed." Ian said with unwavering belief. "According to the historical records, the book containing Holy Dragon Sword Style was obtained by a Sword Saint who was attacked by several other Sword Saints. Driven to desperation, this Sword Saint destroyed the book in despair. Although it was later pieced together, its most crucial breathing style could never be restored."
This was also why the swordsmanship part of the Holy Dragon Sword Style spread so widely. It was the patched-up incomplete version, not treasured by many, and had been copied countless times over four centuries, ultimately spreading to every corner of the continent.
As for the most important breathing style, it was truly lost.
"This is the fact confirmed by the Theocracy's priests using the precognition system magic." Ain said with indifference, eliminating any lingering hope in Riezel's heart.
Since even the priests using the precognition system had confirmed this fact, there might truly be no hope for the breathing style of the Holy Dragon Sword Style.
Riezel, not one to be indecisive, accepted the reality. If something couldn't be done, he wouldn't dwell on it any longer.
The other special swordsmanship was the same. Since they were difficult to obtain, he decided to choose advanced swordsmanship to practice first.
"Let's go, we'll check out other stores."
After making that decision, Riezel shook his head and focused entirely on choosing advanced swordsmanship. Ain and Ian naturally had no objections and followed behind him, browsing the stores in the Royal Market.
For an hour, he continued to explore various stores, examining the advanced swordsmanship books. Yet, the result was still somewhat unsatisfactory.
The swordsmanship available for sale in the market, even the advanced ones, didn't really stand out. While some were indeed excellent, they were only that—excellent, not reaching the level of power that impressed him.
'It seems like I'll have to stick to Yuri's library for now.'
Understanding it was futile to continue, Riezel stopped browsing the stores.
Seeing that it was almost time, he walked back with Ain and Ian, returning to the entrance plaza of the Royal Market where everyone was supposed to gather.
However, when he arrived, no one was there yet.
After about five minutes, the two noble girls were the first to return.
"We're back." Carrera held Sylvanie's hand, looking satisfied.
She adorned her vibrant red hair with an exquisite hairpin, wore a beautiful necklace around her neck, and had a bracelet on her wrist that looked like a work of art. Her hands were full of shopping bags, clearly indicating a successful shopping spree.
"Heehee, delicious~"
Sylvanie also had added some accessories to her appearance, more on the cute side than Carrera's elegance. In addition to her numerous bags, she held something like an ice cream cone, licking it with each swipe, a look of bliss on her face.
The two girls seemed to have had a great time shopping, and there was even a hint of lingering excitement in their eyes as if they hadn't had enough fun yet.
"Where are Archie and the others?" Carrera, noticing that only Riezel had arrived, casually asked.
"They haven't come yet." Riezel gave a simple reply, not saying much.
Carrera's eyebrows slightly raised, and a somewhat uncertain expression appeared in her eyes as she looked at him.
In fact, not only Archie but Carrera had also noticed the change in Riezel.
As the only commoner in this small group, Riezel used to be a somewhat insecure guy, displaying a timid demeanor in front of the rest of the group. He would agree with whatever other people within the group said, only standing up for himself when in front of outsiders, giving off an air of being a noble and experiencing a sense of superiority.
Additionally, Carrera observed that this future great magician, whom Archie had brought into their group, seemed to be in love with her when he first joined.
He would occasionally steal glances at her, genuinely listen to what she said, even memorizing it all. Sometimes, he would even blatantly try to please her, and all of these actions were quite plain to see. He would also eagerly run over to help her carry her bags and packages and wore a happy expression if she gave him something.
However, today's Riezel was entirely different from the past.
From start to finish, he remained calm and indifferent, his gaze no longer dodging due to insecurity or timidity, daring even to give orders to the group.
He was entirely changed compared to the past.
Now, he completely ignored her, no longer trying to please her as before. His gaze, once infatuated, now treated her like an irrelevant stranger.
Senna thought Riezel's boldness and arrogance were due to his connection with the Frenzel family, but Carrera didn't agree.
For no apparent reason, Riezel's expression was too calm, too plain, and his demeanor reflected the same. There was no trace of the self-satisfied look he used to have when mingling with nobles in public.
During her shopping spree, Carrera even discussed this matter with Sylvanie but still couldn't make any sense of it.
However, she remembered Sylvanie accidentally blurted out a sentence.
'Maybe it's because he's been through life and death, so his personality has changed a lot.'
As Carrera thought of Sylvanie's words earlier, she silently nodded.
It was possible.
Experiencing something close to death, gaining a different perspective on things, and thus undergoing a personality change were quite normal things to happen.
"We're back."
At that moment, Archie's voice interrupted Carrera's train of thoughts.
Archie, Senna, and the four tall, short, fat, and skinny youths seemed to be acting together, and now they were all back, joining the rest. However, the expressions on their faces were not very good, a look of anger but reluctance to speak.
Especially Senna, his discontent completely written on his face.
"What happened to you?" Sylvanie curiously asked.
"Hmph, could it be that your desired female slave was bought by someone else?" Carrera asked disdainfully.
It seemed she guessed right.
"Don't say..." Senna said ill-humoredly. "That guy is too horrible, he didn't leave any for us and bought them all."
The four tall, short, fat, and skinny youths nodded in agreement with Senna's view.
"That guy?" Carrera asked, intrigued. "Which guy is so wealthy that he bought all the slaves you wanted?"
The value of a slave depended mainly on the individual.
If they were only labor without any skills, the value would be very low, and a wealthy merchant could buy a large batch at once without much cost.
But if they had additional value, that was a different story.
For example, if they possessed impressive combat abilities, their value would skyrocket. Moreover for female slaves, their appearance was their greatest additional value. The more beautiful they were, the more valuable they became.
In the case of slaves specially marked on the Royal Market's promotional parchment, their looks were undoubtedly top-notch, and their prices were definitely high. Someone who could buy all these slaves, not leaving a single one for others, was truly rich.
Carrera and Sylvanie were curious about the identity of this so-called guy.
Riezel, on the other hand, paid no attention to their discussion, not even casting a glance at them. However, in the next moment, Archie's words suddenly caught his attention.
"He said he is the son of the Basolo family." Archie revealed.
"Basolo family? You mean that marquis family?" Carrera asked in surprise.
"Yeah..." Archie nodded and helplessly added. "He's the eldest son of the Basolo family, the chosen next heir of the family. He bought almost all the valuable slaves in the slave district."
"When we got there, it seemed like he was only interested in buying slaves with combat abilities. But as soon as he spotted the female slaves we had our eyes on, he just swooped in and grabbed them without a second thought!" Senna exclaimed, her face full of indignation. "Isn't he just too cocky?"
"So what if he's cocky?" Carrera shook her head. "He's from a marquis family and the chosen heir at that. Do you really want to pick a fight with him?"
Hearing that, Senna instantly fell silent.
Fight with the heir of a marquis family? Him, someone from a mere viscount family? No, he didn't want to be kicked out of Yeluvia.
"Just let it go, Senna..." Archie sighed. "We can't afford to provoke him. Let's just forget about it."
Everyone very much agreed with his words. The difference in status brought by noble titles was evident from this situation.
Only Riezel, upon hearing their discussion, squinted his eyes.
'Buying all slaves with combat abilities, huh?'
Smelling something fishy, he began to ponder.