Chapter 239: Chapter 238: The Unscrupulous Merchant Chapter 239: Chapter 238: The Unscrupulous Merchant “Phut! Mm!”
Richard pushed Gro’s face into the bowl of meat soup and then let go.
Gro lifted his head, his face smeared with minced meat, and looked at Richard in panic, “Lord Richard, you—”
Richard didn’t speak but merely grabbed Gro’s shoulder and pulled him to the side. Before Gro could react, he heard a “whoosh” of a dagger flying past his ear and “thud” embedding into the wall beside them.
Richard gestured to something in the distance, and Gro turned his head to look. He then realized the chaos had started from a long table far away and was spreading all around. A group that had been chatting and drinking was now fighting for some reason. The dagger had been thrown during the fight. Another flying knife would have struck his head if Richard hadn’t pushed him into the meat soup.
This… was a bit dangerous.
Gro, somewhat fearful, watched the increasingly fierce fight and couldn’t help wanting to leave. He turned his head to look at Richard, who was as composed as ever, continuing to eat.
Seeing Richard’s demeanor, Gro felt slightly reassured and decided to stay and continue eating. Just as he opened his mouth, “Splat!” Richard pushed his head into the meat soup again.
After a moment, Gro raised his head, spitting out bits of meat and leaves from his mouth and nose, and he looked resentfully at Richard.
Richard shrugged, “Your sitting position was poor. There’s a high chance of objects from the fight flying toward you, and with your back turned, you couldn’t see them. Maybe you should change your seat.”
“Alright.” After hearing Richard’s words, Gro obediently moved to the opposite side of Richard and, sure enough, although many weapons flew past him, none hit him. Gro pushed the meat soup to the side, cleaned his face, and continued eating.
Meanwhile, the fight escalated to bloodshed. A man with an injured arm, holding a sharp dagger, brutally stabbed another in the stomach. An agonizing scream rang out, and the stabbed man crumpled to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay motionless. Few patrons in the tavern, seeing this, scrambled outside—some afraid of trouble, others simply seizing the chance for a free meal.
Only a few people remained, and Richard and Gro’s table stood out enormously.
The fighters, with weapons in hand and fury in their eyes, scanned the room. Spotting Richard and Gro, they approached with a menacing air, “Hey, kid, didn’t you see we’re killing people over here?”
“Uh…” Gro, looking at the speaker, shoved a fried mushroom into his mouth, nervously fluttering his eyes, and said nothing.
Richard spoke, “I saw you killing, so?”
“So!” the man squinted, “Then why aren’t you running? Are you not afraid of being killed along with them?”
“I’m just eating normally, have I offended you? Why would you want to kill me?” Richard asked.
“Because…” the man faltered. After a moment, he shouted ferociously, “Because I don’t like the look of you, okay?”
“Are you sure?” Richard said and pulled out from his robe a White Stone Tower Academy identity tag, placing it lightly on the table, “Are you sure you want to mess with White Stone Tower Academy?”
Seeing the identity tag, the man’s expression changed. “So you’re a student of White Stone Tower Academy. No wonder you’re not afraid, but you’re just an auditor.”
Richard kept silent, staring at the man.
The man’s lips moved several times, clearly still frightened, and he took a step back, forcefully saying, “We’ll leave you be this time.” He then turned, taking his people and the corpse, and swiftly left.
Gro’s eyes lit up, “Is this identity tag really that useful?”
“Hard to say,” Richard replied, “it depends on the situation—sometimes it’s useful for trivial matters, but in a real crisis, even flashing an elite student’s golden tag won’t save you. It depends on the person—against a bunch of actors trying to dine and dash, it works, but against real desperadoes, you must rely on strength.”
“Uh…” Gro didn’t quite grasp the hidden meanings in Richard’s words, but he felt a genuine impact.
“Come on, eat up so we can head back to the academy after.”
“Okay.” Gro replied, hurriedly eating his food.
After a while, Richard and Gro finished eating and were walking on the streets, getting ready to return to White Stone Tower Academy.
As they walked, Gro suddenly leaned close to Richard and whispered, “Lord Richard, do you feel like someone is following us?”
“They’ve been following us for quite a distance now.”
“Oh, so you noticed it before me, Lord Richard…” Gro was slightly disappointed, thinking he had a chance to impress.
Richard explained, “They started following us from the tavern after seeing me take out a black nameplate. They probably got some ideas and are planning something.”
“Let them keep following,” Richard said, “Let’s see what they’re up to. But since you noticed them too, it means their skills aren’t that great, so there’s no danger.”
Somehow that was supposed to be reassuring, but why did it feel somewhat painful to think about?
Richard and Gro continued walking. Gro’s eyes flickered as he muttered under his breath,
“He’s getting closer to us.”
“Please wait a moment, you two!” A man, resembling a short, stout person, suddenly blocked Richard and Gro’s path. He looked to be in his early twenties, not taller than five and a half feet, yet weighing over 440 pounds, with a belly that bulged like a ball.
Having followed them with such a physique, he clearly struggled, evidenced by his profuse sweating. Nonetheless, he managed a strained smile as he asked, “You two are students of White Stone Tower Academy, right?”
Richard and Gro didn’t respond but stared directly at him.
“Um… well…” The man awkwardly scratched his head, “Don’t get me wrong, my name is Alex. I mean no harm. I used to be a student at White Stone Tower Academy too. I followed you guys to confirm your identities. After confirming, I thought, maybe we could do some business.”
“What kind of business?” Richard finally spoke up.
“Lots of businesses.” Alex sighed in relief and continued, “Although I’ve left the academy, I still have many friends there, so I can get a lot of things.
Whether it’s Magic Tools, Casting Materials, or precious Magic Books, I have everything. As long as you can afford it, we can make a deal. I can also help with exchanging Crystal Coins and Gold Coins, or hiring someone to handle trouble…”
Hearing this, Richard understood that Alex was a broker—what would be referred to as a middleman on modern Earth.
At this moment, Gro spoke up, looking at Alex, “Can you really exchange Crystal Coins and Gold Coins?”
“Yes, of course!” Alex quickly responded, “For exchanging Crystal Coins to Gold Coins, one Lower-grade Crystal Coin can be exchanged for ten and a half Gold Coins, completely fair!”
“How about exchanging Gold Coins to Lower-grade Crystal Coins?” Gro queried. He urgently needed to convert the Gold Coins he had from selling jewelry into Crystal Coins for use.
Alex rubbed his hands and replied, “Thirteen Gold Coins for one Crystal Coin.”
“What?!” Gro was startled and then frowned, blurting out two words, “Rip-off!”