Mark was reading his web novel, and the twins and Milena were watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid when halfway through the film they heard a knock on the door of the RV. He stood up, checked who was knocking, and saw Hamil and Lorendo outside. He invited the circus leader and the magician inside.
“What can I help you with?” Mark asked the two men.
Hamil saw the twins and Milena watching an animated film.
“What movie is that?” Hamil asked.
“It’s called the little mermaid,” Mark answered.
The movie was in the scene where Ursula the sea witch was using magic to transform Ariel into a human. Lorendo the magician was so fascinated by the magic the witch was using that it prompted Mark to say something.
“The movie is fictional and the magic you’re seeing is not real.”
“Oh. I thought it was another magic system by another race,” Lorendo said, which was understandable since the magic systems were as diverse as the race and species in this world.
“That sea witch has a nice voice!” Hamil said, which made Mark smile.
Mark invited the two men into the kitchen and asked the purpose of their visit while serving them cans of beer.
“We just want to thank you for allowing Nedertu to use one of your legendary items, the Rod of Healing,” Hamil said.
“We tested it since Nedertu said that we could test it and that its healing spell has forty charges and would earn one charge per hour. We went to Norunta’s place, and she happened to be treating several men who were injured on the job. You don’t need to worry since those are just mild injuries that usually happen in the circus. The worst injury there was a broken bone, and the mildest one was a child who had a fever. Of course, Norunta could have healed them without any problem, but it would consume her energy.” Lorendo paused and drank from his beer can.
“The rod of healing healed all of the injuries, even the child’s cold. Norunta was the one who used the rod, and she said that while she was wielding the rod, her mana increased greatly. What we’re getting into is, are you willing to sell the Rod of Healing to the circus? We asked because we usually send the young people who come of age to their adventure for them to learn and the Rod of Healing could become a safety net,” Hamil asked.
Lorendo blushed since they knew that what they were asking was a bit shameless.
“We tried asking since Nedertu said that it’s okay for us to ask and that you will not be angry.”
Mark looked at the two circus leaders and thought for a bit. He could see that Hamil and Lorendo were both nervous, which made him want to laugh and after a while he couldn’t hold on any longer and he did laugh.
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“You don’t need to be nervous. Of course, the circus can purchase the Rod of Healing. Just give me two hundred small mana stones and we’re even,” Mark told the two men.
“Two hundred mana stones! That item is worth at least five thousand mana stones!” Lorendo gasped.
“I know the value of the item but since it’s for the circus, I’m willing to sell it for that price. If you’re thinking that the twins could use it when they come of age, you don’t need to worry. By the time they’re ready to go on an adventure, they would be so well equipped with high-level items that only a god can damage them,” Mark boasted.
Hamil whistled and Lorendo had an envious expression.
“We did see the armor that you gave Nedertu, and he mentioned that it was the lowest item in your inventory, but we’re already amazed at the quality. Do you have some more magic armor that you can spare that you can sell to the circus?” Lorendo asked.
Mark stared at the magician and the man blushed. He was beginning to get pissed off. He was generous but he would not be treated as someone who would just give and give. Then he thought of the armor sets that he had on the first floor which he was planning to destroy using his Inventory Material Destruction skill and thought that it would be a waste to just do that so why didn’t he just sell it to the circus.
“I do have some magical armor, but I want you to pay me the market value this time,” Mark said.
“Of course!” Hamil said.
“Not only that, the armor should only be used by those young people from the circus.”
“Of course,” This time it was Lorendo who said it.
Mark then told the two men to wait for him. He went to his bedroom and went to the first floor of the dungeon to retrieve two sets of mage armor set and four sets of leather armor sets. He still hadn’t received any heavy armor set from the dungeon and he wondered why that was.
When he returned to the RV, he gave the armor sets to the two men and told them that although the sets didn’t have any skills, they would greatly increase the wearer’s defense and not only that, the individual pieces of the set would increase specific physical and magical capabilities. For example, one of the leather chest armor pieces would increase the wearer's vitality and one of the bracer sets would increase the strength, and so on.
He gave a list to Hamil that indicated which piece would increase which stats so they could assign the armor sets appropriately. Mark then mentioned that once Hamil calculated the total price of the items based on the market value, the circus leader could give the mana stone to him and of course, he didn’t have to give the total mana stone all at once.
The two men thanked Mark and immediately went outside the RV as if afraid that Mark would change his mind which made Mark laugh and alleviated his irritation by the two circus leaders. He then joined the twins and Milena in watching the rest of The Little Mermaid film.
After the film was finished the twins and Milena talked about Ariel and the whole movie in general.
“Ariel is so pretty!” Isaac said.
“When I grow up, I will marry someone like Ariel,” Aaron said.
“Her voice is so beautiful. Can you add the songs from the movie to my iPod?” Milena asked.
When Mark agreed the twins clamored that they wanted the songs added to theirs as well. So, he did it right then since it was an effortless process.
“My friends are so envious of us because of our iPods and toys. One of them received a thrashing from his mum when his mum overheard him saying that he wished a monster ate his mum so he could live with us,” Isaac giggled, and Milena laughed as well.
“I do want to thank you, Mark. My friends are all envious of me as well for experiencing what it meant to become a servant of a powerful wizard who was generous and kind. I told them that we were never treated as servants, but family and they couldn’t believe it. They kept telling me that I was lying when I described to them the experiences that I had when we went to your oasis.” Milena said.
Mark just smiled when he heard Milena and the twins and told them that he was happy to be part of this family as well. The twins hugged him and then they requested some late-night snack which made Mark laugh.