Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Мing wаs sо stаrtled that hеr hеаrt mоmеntarily sank.
Аs а member оf the Dandу Меrсеnаry Grouр, Ming was skillеd еnough tо tаkе dоwn а Goblin аlonе.
Yet, such а Мing соuldn’t see thе man in frоnt of her reасhing out his hand at all.
‘Whаt thе… I couldn’t see it at аll.’
Unаble to even reасt, Ming had hеr wrist grabbеd bу thе mаn just like that.
And that wаsn’t the end; it sееmеd her scаm hаd bеen cаught too.
“Тhe pebble in уоur hand. I just saw уоu takе it out from insidе the cup. Оpеn уour hand.”
“……”
The man sрokе tо Мing in a сalm voiсе.
Мing was momеntarilу dumbfоundеd bу his wоrds befоrе quiсkly rеgаining her composure.
She shook off the grabbed wrist and shouted.
Thump!
“What are you talking about right now!”
There were many eyes watching around, and in situations like this, usually the person with the louder voice wins.
It had been years since she started running scams at the mercenary group’s shop.
Having encountered many more troublesome customers than this, Ming thought she could easily resolve the current situation too.
“Open your hand.”
But Khan stubbornly repeated his words without backing down.
However, the reactions of those around were all on Ming’s side.
“Hey, what are you doing right now!”
“You kept betting money alone, and now you’re acting up because you think you might be wrong? Don’t be so petty and get lost quickly!”
“Choose a cup quickly! Do you know how many people are waiting behind you right now because of you?!”
The guests gathered around were shouting at Khan.
From their perspective, Khan’s current behavior seemed petty.
Ming didn’t miss that opportunity and pushed back strongly again.
“Now, hurry up and choose! Other guests are waiting!”
“……”
Then, Khan, without answering, merely moved his finger as if pointing at a cup.
But his hand passed by the cup and soon pointed at Ming.
“I’ve chosen.”
“No, you have to choose a cup! Are you joking right now?! If you cause trouble one more time, I’ll kick you out!”
Seeing that Khan wouldn’t back down, Ming decided to get a bit tougher.
After all, this place was the Dandy Mercenary Group’s shop where Ming belonged.
Kicking out one troublesome customer like this was nothing.
‘I’ll tell the Trading Company Master Deilis to put this guy on the blacklist from now on.’
All the shops in the bustling district belonged to Deilis’s Trading Company.
She planned to tell the Trading Company Master about this man and ensure he could never set foot here again.
Meanwhile, seeing the woman in front of him acting so brazen, Khan drew Mana from his Circle.
Vroom…!!
According to what he read in the Magic Tome, creating a Circle allows one to use basic Magic with a certain amount of Mana.
That’s why Sharin was able to use Magic on Godrik too.
Vroom…!!
The Circle between Khan’s heart spun rapidly, and soon blue Mana bloomed outward from his body.
Without moving a hand, Khan used Mana to lift the three cups in front of the scammer.
“Wh-what! There’s no pebble!”
“How did this happen! Were you really running a scam?!”
“No, more than that…! Isn’t this Mana?!”
“Th-that person was a Mage?!”
With no pebble inside the cups, the guests surrounding them now started shouting at Ming.
“W-wait a minute! That’s not it….”
And Khan didn’t stop there; he chanted an Incantation inwardly.
‘Barrier.’
He used a Barrier on Ming, and a transparent veil spread over her entire body.
He had bound her body with the Barrier.
By slightly adapting the Skill, it was possible to use it in ways different from its original purpose.
“Ugh! What is this…!”
No matter how hard she tried to move her body, it wouldn’t budge an inch.
Khan approached such Ming, grabbed her wrist.
And then forcibly opened her fist.
In her palm lay the pebble she had secretly slipped out.
“This woman really was a scammer!”
“See, that’s why I was watching without acting right away!”
“Does that mean the entire Dandy Mercenary Group are scammers?!”
“Th-that’s not it, everyone!”
As the guests protested like spreading fire, Ming panicked and opened her mouth.
‘Is this man a Mage? How can he use Magic of this level?’
She never even imagined there would be a skilled Mage in such a rural city.
In this situation, making more excuses would only lose more trust.
Moreover, if the man before her eyes right now was truly a Mage, it would be better to quickly wrap up the situation here.
Half-giving up, she had no choice but to speak again.
“F-first, I apologize. It seems the pebble inside got into my hand while I was moving the cups. For this guest, I’ll give double the amount bet….”
“Does that make sense?! Huh?!”
“You were caught running a scam, and you’re only giving double?!”
“You promised ten times! Damn it, I’m never coming here again.”
“O-okay! For this guest, I’ll give the promised 4 Silver Coins as promised….”
Given the situation, it seemed she had to give the promised amount of 4 Silver Coins.
Ming, who had just started business today, suffered a significant loss.
But giving 4 Silver Coins seemed like the only way to put out the immediate fire.
“Here you go. I’m sorry….”
She took out 4 Silver Coins and handed them to Khan.
“Stop doing such things from now on.”
After saying that, Khan left the Dandy Mercenary Group’s shop.
“Let’s go too!”
“Ugh, I just wasted my time for nothing!”
“I’m never coming here again!”
The guests gathered around also spat curses as they left the Dandy Mercenary Group’s shop.
“Sigh, nothing goes right. Seriously, what’s with that bastard. Really stepped in shit….”
Ming looked at the empty shop interior and watched Khan’s retreating figure.
Guests could be gathered again anyway, so it wouldn’t be that big of a problem.
“What an annoying man….”
She went outside the mercenary group’s shop and started gathering guests again.
To make up for the 4 Silver Coins.
* * *
Meanwhile, Khan, who had pocketed the 4 Silver Coins, was looking around other shops.
‘An unexpected harvest.’
4 Silver Coins was a large sum, enough to buy even a somewhat shabby Artifact.
‘I should see if there’s something good.’
Now that he had money, he planned to use it right away.
If he acquired a decent item, it would help his growth more in the future.
He moved his steps to a shop run by a Mage.
A shop he had visited once while playing <Geo Arc>.
Of course, back then, he had no money on hand, so he just looked around and left.
“Welcome!”
As Khan entered the shop, the shop owner, who appeared to be a Mage, greeted him.
[LV.7 Magic Apprentice Niyen]
Magic Apprentice Niyen.
She was the owner of this shop.
In the world of <Geo Arc>, not all Mages enter Magic Towers or go to the empire to secure high positions.
Magic Apprentices without much skill sometimes craft Artifacts or, like Mercenaries, take Commissions to exterminate Monsters.
“I came to look at Artifacts.”
“What kind of Artifact are you looking for?”
Despite Khan’s brief words, Niyen asked back in a kind and gentle tone.
“Is there an Artifact that increases mobility?”
“Hmm… Just a moment. I happen to have something good!”
Niyen, her long black hair fluttering, quickly brought a pair of shoes from the corner of the shop.
Even when seen in the game, she had a decent appearance, but now, having entered the game and seeing her in person, her beauty shone even more.
Of course, feelings of attraction as the opposite sex weren’t something Khan currently felt.
For some reason, ever since obtaining the ‘Sage’s Heart,’ such useless emotions weren’t felt at all.
“It’s an Artifact called Boots of Swiftness; an adventurer said they found it in a Dungeon!”
“Hmm.”
Outwardly, they were shabby and ordinary boots.
But their interior was quite the opposite of their exterior.
[Boots of Swiftness]
-
Item Rank: Normal
-
Level Restriction: 5
-
Agility: +3
Though it was a Normal Rank item, the +3 Agility Stat would be a great help to Khan.
No matter how much creating a Circle improved physical abilities, it was still only slightly superior to an ordinary person.
“How much?”
“Currently selling for 3 Silver Coins.”
“I’ll take this.”
Saying that, Khan took out 3 Silver Coins from his pocket and handed them over.
“Thank you, Guest! Are there any other Artifacts you need?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Please come again!”
After saying that, Khan left the shop, receiving Niyen’s farewell.
“That man… if he can equip this item right away, he must be a fairly skilled Mage, right?”
Niyen, left alone in the shop, whispered to herself while looking at Khan.
The Mana and unique aura felt from Khan.
Moreover, Artifacts have Level Restrictions and can only be equipped by trained Mages or Knights.
As a Magic Apprentice, Niyen could tell that Khan was a skilled Mage.
“Well, even so, all the Mages in this city are probably fakes. Like me….”
Saying that, she waited for another guest to visit.
* * *
‘I should head back now.’
After purchasing the Boots of Swiftness, Khan spent a few hours looking around shops.
‘I got a decent item.’
Khan called it an item, but in this world, items imbued with Mana are called ‘Artifacts.’
But Khan, adapted to the game, comfortably called them items.
He was now wearing the seemingly shabby ‘Boots of Swiftness,’ and their performance was better than expected.
‘My body feels much lighter than I thought.’
Just by walking, he could clearly feel the item’s performance.
‘I thought I might run into Byutek while wandering around. I’ll have to head back separately.’
Originally, he planned to find Byutek, who was wandering around the shops, and return to Deilis’s mansion with him.
But Byutek’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
Khan quickly moved his steps toward Deilis’s mansion, and on the way back, since the Dandy Mercenary Group’s shop where the scammer was earlier was there, he glanced that way.
Bustle. Bustle.
Earlier, all the guests had left, but now it was overflowing again.
‘There must be many fools falling for such stupid scams.’
Thinking that, he was about to just pass by the shop.
But then.
“Kehahaha! I’ll bet 1 Gold Coin!”
“Th-that, 1 Gold Coin…?”
“Yes. If I guess right, you’ll give double like you did for the person just now, right?”
“O-of course, Sir Knight! Would I lie in front of you, Sir Knight?!”
At the man’s loud voice, Khan looked toward the shop again.
‘Byutek… that foolish guy. But 1 Gold Coin…. As expected, is that guy a silver spoon?’
Khan speculated that Byutek was a silver spoon, given his low Level yet being a Knight of Kilpheon, and the incredibly expensive Equipment he wore.
You need 1,000 Silver Coins to exchange for 1 Gold Coin, and seeing Byutek casually bet 1 Gold Coin, he was now convinced.
That guy was definitely a silver spoon.
‘I’m curious.’
Khan was about to immediately enter the shop, stop Byutek, and take him away, but he paused for a moment.
He was curious about what reaction he would show after losing money.
He started watching the scene while rotating the Circle between his heart.
“Now, I’ll put the pebble in! Watch carefully~”
Ming, the mercenary and scammer, once again put the pebble inside a cup and then moved the cups with dazzling hand movements.
‘It’s the same again.’
That woman once again secretly moved the pebble from inside the cup with her hand.
“Now, choose!”
“Kehaha! I’m so sorry about this? Can the mercenary group handle 1 Gold Coin?”
Byutek laughed loudly with an apologetic expression.
Clearly, he was confident that the pebble was inside the right cup right now.
“This one!”
He confidently chose the cup on the right.
At that moment, the corner of Ming’s mouth lifted slightly as she lifted the cup.
“What a shame! Unfortunately, the pebble was here!”
As she lifted the cup on the left, she slipped the pebble she had hidden in her hand inside.
A hand technique absolutely undetectable by ordinary people.
“What…?! N-no, it was definitely the right one…!!”
“Haha, sorry about this, Sir Knight.”
“Aah… no…!!!”
Byutek, who lost 1 Gold Coin in an instant, grabbed his head with a despairing expression.
‘No matter how much of a silver spoon he is, losing 1 Gold Coin must be a big blow.’
Only then did Khan move his steps into the shop.
“Byutek, let’s go.”
“Kh… Sir Khan!! Th-that….”
“……!”
Seeing Khan, Byutek made a panicked expression.
But the person more panicked than him was Ming.
Khan glanced at Byutek once and then looked at Ming.
“Give it back.”
“……Yes.”
Without a word, Ming returned the Gold Coin to Byutek.
“Huh…? Why are you giving this to me…?! Huh?”
“Let’s go, you blockhead.”
“Kh… Sir Khan!”
Khan cursed at Byutek and quickly moved his steps toward Deilis’s mansion.
Byutek stood still as if unable to understand the current situation, then pocketed the Gold Coin and quickly chased after Khan.
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What a stupid idiot