"That is the standard price for a cloak such as this, although I am willing to knock it down to two gold and five hundred silvers as you seem like a nice lad," the lady said, probably seeing the conflicted expression on Ryan's face.

Ryan had to take a moment to calm himself. He pulled up his stat screen to the sound of a chime.

[Name: Ryan Lionheart

Profession: Merchant

Class: Alchemist (journeyman)

Coin: 7 gold, 500 silvers

Debt:

-35 gold (deadline 2 days)]

Closing it, he reflected on what he currently had left. Seven gold. Soon to become five gold, five hundred silvers if he went through with this.

Could he really put a price on his life though? Because he was very certain that Looter's Heaven would have no problems doing that if push came to shove.

"I'll take it," Ryan said reluctantly.

"Excellent!" The dwarf said as she started packaging the cloak. Ryan handed over the coins and collected his new purchase.

Soon he was outside Listar's Threads and on his way to his shop, and this time he wasn't going to stop midway.

---

Back at his shop, Ryan began arranging the stones he had bought, making sure to optimize their display locations so that they caught the eye of any customer who came to his shop today.

The cloak remained in the bag used to wrap it. He wasn't going to wear it until tonight; no need to dirty it before it was needed.

It was a pretty slow day for Ryan. He managed to sell a few potions here and there. A couple of adventurers claiming to be from Cicero came by to purchase potions from him.

He haggled, discounted, and even shared a few laughs with customers. There were a couple of interactions that made quite the tale.

The first was of a gnome who came to buy minor health potions, and to be honest, it was Ryan's first time seeing a gnome adventurer. He couldn't even imagine why or how it was so.

His disbelief must have shown on his face because the opening salvo from the gnome was quite the strike.

"Who are you looking at like that, merchant?" the gnome said while simultaneously stabbing a knife into the wall beside Ryan's face, the blade sliding to its hilt.

Ryan was both terrified and amazed. The gnome was the size of a human child, a good bit shorter than Ryan, which meant that he had to stretch his hands upward before slamming the blade that close to Ryan's face.

He could've laughed—heck, he wanted to laugh—but it was never wise to do so at someone who clearly felt the need to prove something. Ryan certainly didn't want to be used as an example or a cautionary tale.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"You've made your point. Please pull out the blade from the wall," Ryan said while pointing at the blade lodged in the wall

"Ha! A merchant trying to tell me what to do, imagine that," the gnome snorted, picking his nose like a barbarian.

Why can't I ever get normal customers? Why do I always get the unruly ones?

He decided to be the bigger person in the situation.

"Please sir, take away your blade so that we can do business, like gentlemen," Ryan said, even if he sincerely doubted that the gnome in front of him had a cultured bone.

"Only because you begged," the adventurer said as he pulled the blade from the wall, sheathing it with flourish.

The annoying sound of metal grating against stone filled Ryan's ears, something that made him irritated, but he had to keep it down.

"Now that we have that out of the way, what can I help you with today? Potions? T-stones?" Ryan asked, eager to end their interaction as soon as possible.

"I want a T-stone and ten potions, plus a discount."

"Unfortunately, I can't give you a discount for the items that you requested. However, you should know that my prices are the best in Denair," Ryan said.

"I'm sure they are. All you need to do is take them a little lower. As a gentleman."

Ryan didn't know what to say to the gnome. Should he lie about the prices? After all, he hadn't even told the adventurer the bill for his items.

"Aye, I can see the lies forming in your throat, and if you still want to have a complete one when I walk away from here, I suggest that you tell the truth," the gnome said.

Well, that narrowed down his options. He had a couple of ways to think about it: one, tell the truth and save his life; two, lie and find out what the gnome was capable of.

To be honest, Ryan didn't really want to find out what the gnome could or couldn't do. He didn't want to find out whether the adventurer was just bluffing or if he wasn't.

"While I can't give a discount for your current purchase, I do have a package deal that I could offer you," Ryan suggested.

"Come on, merchant, tell me about your deal. My patience is running thin."

"I'll let you have fifteen potions and a teleportation stone for six gold," Ryan said, careful to keep his tone even.

"You'll let me?"

The gnome said while going up on his tippy toes to stare Ryan in the face.

"No, I let you offer me that. Isn't that right, merchant?" the gnome asked, the bloodlust clear in his eyes.

"Of course sir, I apologize for my poorly chosen words," Ryan said placatingly, somewhat relieved that they were finally making headway with their back and forth.

His answer seemed to pacify the gnome, the adventurer dropping to his feet and pulling out a handful of coins from his pouch.

Within moments, the tense interaction ended and both sides had gotten what they wanted. Ryan didn't relax until the gnome was out of sight.

He wasn't out of mind yet, but he supposed that would have to do. Weighing the coins in his palm, a smile spread across his face—it was definitely worth it. After all, he'd charged the adventurer way more than what he would have for the items.

Plopping into the chair as he waited for the next customer, he let his mind wander, the wayward part of him instantly latching onto his latest interaction with Freya.

He internally winced at the cringe-worthy memory, the image of him falling and being caught by Freya burned into his mind. A very embarrassing moment in his life, but at least he'd managed to make her stutter.

A win is a win, even if it wasn't one worth mentioning. He could remember vividly how she looked with the sun shining upon her face. The way she smiled brightly at him—he felt a blush creeping up on his face at the thought.

Ryan's face turned neutral when he remembered why she actually sought him out. He was meeting up with Cicero later in the day. Hopefully, the adventurer had found information on the ring.

Ryan stood up and began to pace around the shop. What if he didn't find anything on the ring? What was Ryan supposed to do then? Back out of the deal that would still profit him either way?

Surely a dumb decision, but anyone who could play him once and get away with it would have zero hesitation when another opportunity arose.

Fucking schemes. He hated not knowing things, but luckily for him, he wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

Focusing on the present, he began arranging and rearranging the potions on the shelves. It was a useless act but one that kept him straight and focused on the present—something that kept him alert as his mind tried to wander off in different directions.

Ryan turned and stared out the window, looking at the throng of people moving about the marketplace.

A few of them would stare at his wares before moving on, and Ryan didn't really care as that was what the market was all about. Sometimes you'd spy items that you'd really like but weren't prepared to purchase at the moment. It was a feeling that Ryan knew all too well, and so he didn't judge them. Harshly.