In a deep and dark cavern sits an old wise looking man holding a quill and parchment. Surrounding the man looks to be a knight, a priestess, and a thief. Marking something on the parchment the old man begins to speak-

“Greetings young adventurers. What brings you to this humble shop of mine?”

The knight looks towards the thief and begins to laugh.

“Ahahaha, Are you hearing this Remmy. Who’s nutters enough to actually run a shop in a C-tier dungeon.”

Ignoring the knight, the young looking thief walked towards the old man while looking him up and down. Stopping a couple steps away, he speaks-

“Oldtimer, this isn’t the place for jokes, what are you doing down here?”

“I'm here to buy and sell, young lad.”

Squinting in what looked like annoyance, the thief opened his mouth to speak, however before he could do so the priestess blurted out-

“Dungeon merchant!!!” 

A look of surprise crossed the old man's face.

“Correct young lady. Not many know about us nowadays. Could I ask who told you about this old merchant?”

The priestess looked surprised before quickly hiding her face in embarrassment. Lifting her head she spoke-

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“Some of the older sisters in the monastery were talking about your... occupation.”

“Oh from the monastery are you? Should be the one in Jothrent right?”

“That's right. Still standing thanks to the will of Jolth, blessed be his name.”

Placing her palms together while bowing her head, she looked back up to see the old man returned the gesture. 

“This chit chat is great and all, but are you a merchant or not?”

The knight asked with a look of interest on his face.

“Yes, and any who ask, may browse my wares, have a look.”

The old man reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a medium sized scroll before handing it to the knight.

The knight quickly looked over the scroll before giving a face of surprise followed by one of distaste. Throwing the scroll onto the ground the knight yelled-

“50 silver for a health potion? this is a total rip off! Come on guys, this fogey ain't worth our time.” 

The thief quickly followed after hearing the price. The priestess looked hesitant before reluctantly joining them.

“Alright, thank you for your patronage dear customer. Please come again~...

… Like you’re gonna be alive long enough for that to happen you little snot.

Bending over to pick up the scroll, the old man began mumbling to himself while frowning.

“God what is it with adventurers nowadays, This team wouldn’t even be considered F-tier in my time, but now they act all high and mighty like a goblin who dons a crown. They would be lucky to buy a waterskin off me at this rate! Haven't they been taught any manners? They don’t even look geard enough to travel another two floors and they think they can talk down to me. Don’t these kids know who I am? These brats couldn’t even leave a scratch on my boot, and they think they can take on the boss? Ha, they couldn’t even understand the value of a potio-”

“Excuse me sir?”

Quickly the old man put on a friendly smile before looking toward the source of the voice.

“Ah, young priestess. What brings you back, did you forget something?”

“Ah- um- no, actually I wanted to ask if I could look at your list?”

The old man smirked before handing her the scroll. 

“Also I apologise for my party members. they aren't bad people, they're just… not good people.”

Looking at the scroll, the priestess quickly unraveled it. She pointed at a lesser healing potion.

“Please give me this one.”

“Gladly!”

Pulling a crimson bottle out of his coat pocket, he handed the bottle to the girl before asking for payment.

“10 silvers.”

Handing the old man 10 silver coins she bowed before quickly running in the direction of the other two adventurers.

“... maybe there's still hope in this generation after all.”