"The Sea Clan is a very stubborn and strange race, we rarely interact with them," the Moonlight High Priestess once said. Two days later, Rody and she arrived at a harbor town of the Sea Clan. The town wasn't large but bustling with a variety of peculiar races. There were fish-people, lizard-people, snake-people, green-skinned monsters, large-eared creatures, centaurs, flower-clothed dwarves, powerful goblins, and even some species that neither Rody nor the Moonlight High Priestess had ever seen. These races each had their unique items for sale in little shops and stalls.
When Rody and the Moonlight High Priestess arrived, many creatures stared at Rody with a strange gaze, as if they were seeing a monster. "Look, over there, a human has come, just look," a centaur pointed out. "Oh my, humans look so terrifying!" exclaimed a creature with a crocodile head, ironically. Rody almost fainted upon hearing this, considering that these creatures would be considered monstrous in human cities, but here, they were the norm, making him, the sole human, seem very out of place.
Mitil, undaunted by the strange creatures, eagerly looked at the goods on the stalls, showing an interest in purchasing. In human cities, she was timid and would scream upon seeing strangers, quickly hiding in Rody's embrace. However, here, among all these creatures, she felt normal, even friendly.
"Little sister, let's go, the terrifying human is here!" A large, sharp-toothed monster, upon seeing Rody, panicked and fled with its companion. "So scary, wuwuwu..." As a result, the sight of Rody in shock made the massive creature's sister, who weighed at least 500 pounds, burst into tears. Rody stood with his mouth agape, never imagining he could scare someone to tears, especially a 500-pound monster sister.
"You, what would you like to buy? Humans, we are creatures of the good alignment, and it's against the rules to trade with humans. But if you insist on buying, that's also possible. You must pay, though. We are law-abiding citizens, surviving on legitimate trade, please, you must pay..." A small stall owner, a fish-person with a large head selling shells and corals, saw Mitil pulling Rody over and seemed interested in his shells. He was troubled and spoke with a trembling voice.
"What? Do you think humans won't pay in a transaction?" Rody was puzzled and asked, "We humans are also of the good alignment!"
"You can't be considered entirely of the good alignment; at best, you're of the neutral alignment with a slight evil tendency. Of course, some rare individuals, like you, this big lecher, might be classified under the good alignment," said the Moonlight High Priestess. Hearing this, Rody almost collapsed to the ground.
In the Land of the Seven Races, humans were viewed so negatively. Humans have always considered themselves part of the good alignment, yet in the eyes of other races, the self-righteous humans were regarded as neutral with evil tendencies. Rody felt a need to correct this misconception. When he spoke loudly to clarify, the surrounding creatures retreated in fear.
"Listen, humans are actually very friendly and kind. We love peace and are civilized," Rody said, his face almost turning red with the contradiction of his words. But to salvage humanity's reputation, he decided to continue with the lie, coughed slightly, and announced loudly amidst the stunned creatures, "Human trade is fair. We not only pay, but pay the exact amount. How much for this shell? I'll buy it!"
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"What did he say?" some creatures who didn't understand Rody's Elvish language asked.
"Ah, he seems to be saying humans are kind and merciful..." some repeated in disbelief.
"You must have heard wrong," many creatures doubted, "Your Elvish is worse than that of the Donkey Tribe."
"No, I clearly heard him say that, and he also said he would pay for things!" one creature argued anxiously. After a quiet argument, all creatures tensely watched Rody to see if he really would pay.
"You're really buying this shell? Six, no, just five Pukes will do. Or you can give three Pukes," the fish-person said, both surprised and delighted.
"What's a Puke?" asked Rody, causing all the creatures to fall over.
"It's a currency, similar to a human silver coin," Mitil knew a bit about the prices.
"What? This lousy shell costs five silver coins? Ah no, what I mean is, I don't have Pukes, you misunderstood. I'm not refusing to pay, I just don't have Pukes. I said I would pay! Why are you crying? I will pay!" Rody struggled to explain and finally pulled out a handful of gold coins, loudly saying, "Look, I give you gold coins! I don't have Pukes, but I have gold!"
"We don't want gold..." the fish-person looked unimpressed.
"You don't want gold coins?" Rody was puzzled.
"Gold is rare in your human lands, but plentiful in the Land of the Seven Races. The Sea Clan's palaces are made of gold. In short, gold isn't valuable here, a gold nugget here is like a copper piece to you humans!" explained the Moonlight High Priestess, leaving Rody dumbfounded. He thought he was the world's wealthiest man with all the gold from the Abyss, not knowing that in the Land of the Seven Races, gold was so common.
Rody felt increasingly awkward. "No problem if you don't want gold. You must want magic crystals, right? So many magic crystals, pick any!" Rody pulled out magic crystals, scaring off all the creatures around, including the stall's owner. The fish-person also tried to leave but was stopped by Rody.
"I won't take money, please just let me go!" the fish-person trembled, appearing as if they were about to faint.
"Put away the magic crystals, you're scaring everyone. These crystals are soulstones in everyone's mind, the most precious thing to them. They fear humans will cruelly kill them for these magic crystals... Just put the magic crystals away, the sight they fear the most is their companion's soulstone," the Moonlight High Priestess explained, which Rody hadn't known before.
"Ah, these magic crystals, cough, were given to me! I'm very kind, I wouldn't even step on an ant," Rody tried to reassure the fish-person with his friendliest smile, patting their shoulder, "Tell me, what do you want? I have everything. How about you name something you need, and we can trade, how does that sound?"
"An ant wouldn't be stepped on, huh, big talker!" the Moonlight High Priestess had seen Rody mercilessly kill, not sparing even the defenseless creatures, leaving none alive. His claim of not stepping on an ant made her blush for him.
"Please let me go! I'm just a second-class fish-person merchant!" the fish-person shivered in fear, worried Rody might covet their soulstone.
"Poor fish-person, it's doomed now!" creatures in the distance felt sorry for the fish-person's predicament.
"We should run!" many creatures turned pale with fear.
"Where's the patrol guard? Help! If they don't show up soon, that fish-person's going to lose their life…" some creatures were anxious, while others held back the fish-person's companion, warning, "Don't go there, humans are very dangerous, he'll kill you too!"
"Brother, how can you believe what a human says, how can you ask him for money?" the fish-person's sibling cried quietly, not daring to be loud.
"Mitil, I don't have the money to buy, put that shell down," Rody sighed, thinking he could redeem humanity's reputation, but it only got worse. If he hadn't taken out the magic crystals, it might have been slightly better, but now, the terrified creatures likely wouldn't believe anything else he said.
"Wah, I wanted the shell…" Mitil reluctantly put it down and threw herself into Rody's arms, her eyes reddening.
"Don't cry, darling, it's just a shell!" Seeing Mitil's disappointed face, Rody's heart softened. Remembering how Alice used to pester him for a windmill, only to be disappointed again and again, he gently stroked Mitil's head, took off his shirt, and said, "I'll dive into the sea and personally get you the biggest and prettiest shell, just wait here!"