After their weird encounter the siblings hastily left the tavern. Their minds were unsettled, their thoughts filled with worry. Lilly and Iain realized that this was the first time they confronted a real strong being directly.
The young Rottals had already heard from Groob that level 50 was a dividing line. It was like a deep chasm. Only those beyond level 50 were taken serious in this universe.
Naturally the siblings had figured out that their parents had surpassed this defining level. However, how could they ever feel any pressure from their parents?
Only after facing the mysterious musician could they gain a glimpse of the capabilities of someone at this level.
An additional fright hit Lilly and Iain when they turned to leave. While they paid, Deri brought up the musician, explaining that she hadn’t noticed the man coming or going. The siblings felt a coldness creep into their bones. Not wanting to delay any longer, they hurried back to their temporary homes.
Under the soldier’s confused gaze Iain even grabbed Lilly’s bed and pulled it into his house. Some disgusted expressions appeared on the few adventurer’s faces, who knew that Lilly and Iain were siblings.
At this point the young Rottals didn’t care, however. In order to offer at least some security, they decided to stay close to each other.
Despite their efforts Lilly and Iain continued to talk about the man for a long time, refusing to sleep. Analyzing everything about him might not actually help them during their next confrontation, but it managed to demystify the musician.
Only after talking for a few hours did the siblings finally succumb to their exhaustion. Fortunately, the musician didn’t appear again.
A while later a loud knock startled Lilly and Iain. The young man yawned loudly before shouting:
“Yeah, yeah. Clam down, I’m coming.”
Still groggy from the short sleep, Iain opened the door with a displeased face. Naturally, team 5 was awaiting him on the other side.
Scattered greeting’s left their mouths, before Uramant led the conversation:
“What’s going on? You don’t look great. Where you stuck in the tavern last night?”
Suddenly the adventurers showed some confusion when Lilly’s face appeared behind Iain.
The young man ignored their looks as he answered with some obvious fear in his voice:
“We were in the tavern but not too long. Let me ask you something:
Did you ever encounter a weird musician in the tavern? Black coat, black knee-heigh boots, tall guy?”
Frowns appeared on the adventurer’s faces. They tried to remember for a second, but nothing seemed to come to their minds. When most of them shook their heads, Forgoz voice sounded out. Suppressed feelings even mixed into as he exclaimed:
“Yes. I met him! Dangerous man. Better keep your distance!”
This answer didn’t offer them much new information. The siblings took it as a warning as they seriously nodded their heads.
Noticing that this topic was done, Groob addressed everyone:
“Tell us about this later please, Forgoz. For now, we have something else planned. Lilly and Iain, how about you sell some of our loot today?”
Shock still in their bones and dragged down by sleepiness, the siblings were glad to relax for a day. Selling some items sounded like the perfect tasks for them. They nodded without hesitation.
Judging from his proteges’ expressions, Groob had already expected them to accept. Thus, he continued directly:
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“Ok then. You guys can freshen up and put on some new clothes. We will meet at the market.”
“We won’t take long.”
Hearing those words the adventurers turned around and went to fetch their collected loot.
Meanwhile, Lilly and Iain peacefully ate some breakfast. They were still digesting the shock from the last day, but the routine helped them to leave it behind.
Twenty minutes later the team gathered at the busy market street. Listening to Groob’s advice Lilly and Iain had put on new clothes. Although it was hard to tell, as their wardrobes didn’t offer much variation. They still wore light, airy clothes but they left their restricting armors at home.
Observing the market street, the siblings seemingly fit right in with this decision. Judging from the happily conversing adventurers without their weapons and armors, one wouldn’t be able to recognize this place as a base camp close to the dangerous Frozen Hell.
When he noticed the sibling’s appearance, Groob nodded in appreciation:
“You paid good attention the last few weeks. You remembered that merchants don’t wear weapons.”
Lilly only nodded calmy. The clever woman had naturally remembered this detail.
“Wearing weapons as a merchant is a sign of distrust. You don’t want every buyer to feel as if you treated them like a thief.”
Smiling wryly upon getting to know those weird customs, Iain asked in confusion:
“But what about the buyer? Can they wear weapons?”
“Sure. They need to defend themselves in case the store screws them over.”
Iain shook his head. He simply accepted this explanation.
“Of course, you shouldn’t underestimate any merchants only because they look harmless. In reality everyone has their own means of defense, while stores are usually packed with security mechanisms.”
Lilly thought back to the intelligent AI Nua at their store. She was sure the peculiar being could pulverize any potential threats.
“Only streets like this one seem a bit strange because everyone here is a buyer and seller at the same time. Most just book a booth here and from time to time inspect what others have to offer. No one would be stupid enough to steal something within the white-robe base camp.”
Their group sauntered down the street while Groob explained some of the empire’s customs to the siblings. Friendly voices approached them from all sides.
Lilly rolled her eyes as she had never seen any adventurers this enthusiastic. Calculative eyes lured at the bags every one of their team members carried with them. Some merchants already anticipated the arrival of new wares.
Groob was under special scrutiny, as his master rank wasn’t a secret. Naturally his loot was more promising than an apprentice’s.
After a few minutes their team arrived at a special stall at the street’s center. I didn’t have any wares on display, but it still drew a lot of attention. Some almost pleading people talked with the white-robed soldiers manning the stall, trying to convince them of something.
A small screen at the stall’s back gave more information. Lilly and Iain quickly understood that the army’s business model was different from the adventurers’.
At this stall you could actually buy from the Luminous Army’s huge stock, but they only accepted credits as a last resort. They were more interested in exchanging for other rare materials.
However, who could have more rare materials than the army, which had soldiers stationed in the Frozen Hell all year round.
Therefore, the deals at this stand were often in favor of the army. Lilly silently judged this dishonest business, but she had already recognized that might makes right in this universe.
So what if the army ripped you off? Where would you go to complain? The God of Light?
Fortunately, their team wasn’t here to buy something from the army. Groob thus approached the only unoccupied soldier.
A polite smile appeared on the white-robes face as he recognized the approaching master warrior.
“Bright morning, Groob.”
“Morning”, grumbled the bald man.
“We’re here for a stall.”
“Of course.”
Not showing any change in expression, the soldier observed their team. Or rather the bags they were carrying.
“Seems like your hunt was pretty successful…”
Listening to those hypocritical words, Groob cursed the soldier a thousand times inwardly. Not knowing how often he already had to listen to this sentence, he could only helplessly answer:
“It’s not that much actually. You see, we had those two apprentices with us. We were training them most of the time and only hunted level one beasts.”
“Oh. Well, level one materials don’t sell that easily, right? Maybe if you had a stall in a good position, you would be done faster.”
Lilly could see Groob’s muscles tense from behind him. The bald man was inwardly burning but had to grit his teeth and smile nicely while the soldier openly asked for bribes.
Naturally this situation didn’t come unexpected. Groob had already prepared as he took out a small metallic box now.
“We aren’t in a hurry today. A decent stall should do I guess.”
Groob had just put down his box as the soldier already swiped it beyond the counter in one swift motion. A strange smell reached Iain’s nose. The soldier had obviously already taken a look at the offered material.
Observing their surroundings, Lilly noticed that no one judged their little exchange. It seemed everyone was used to this scene.
After a short contemplating the clever woman figured out that the soldier wasn’t trying to hide the fact that he received a bribe, but only its exact worth. As long as no one knew how much to pay for a specific stall, the soldier held the initiative.
Judging from Groob’s face he at least achieved his desired result when the soldier handed him a token with the number 11 on it.