Chapter 16
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In Bindan Village's central square.
Grandpa Dinran was sitting behind his medicine stand as usual. Around him, tens of different flowers and medicinal plants were laid out. In front of him stood Zairen, who was smiling energetically.
Two days had passed since the day Zairen had first come to visit the village square with Alivia; today, Zairen had come to visit his grandfather's shop again. However, strangely enough, Grandpa Dinran seemed to be talking frantically.
"A-all of it? You want to buy... ALL of it?!" Grandpa Dinran practically shouted at his grandson. His eyes were widened in incredulity.
"Of course Grandpa Dinran, didn't I just tell you? I want to buy every single herb and medicine in your shop." Zairen laughed. "Here's the money."
He placed down a handful of gold coins on the counter in front of Grandpa Dinran.
"This... this..." Grandpa Dinran stared at the gold coins in front of him, struggling to even produce words. "Zairen... with this amount of money, one could buy my entire shop a hundred times over! Where did you get this?"
Grandpa Dinran was telling the truth. A single gold coin was worth ten silver coins, and a single silver coin was worth one hundred copper coins. A single gold coin could feed a three-person family for months! The amount of money Zairen had just presented to Grandpa Dinran was enough to let him live in luxury for a long time.
Zairen smiled and replied: "I told you I would help out, Grandpa Dinran. Your herbs and medicines are of top quality; of course I will pay top dollar to get them!"
"B-but..." Grandpa Dinran stuttered. "I-I can't accept this! This much money... especially from my own grandson!"
Seeing Grandpa Dinran's distressed face, Zairen couldn't help but giggle. "Grandpa, relax! I'm not giving you this money; I'm merely buying your herbs and medicines. It's because your items are of excellent quality that I gave a little extra bonus."
"Besides, there's plenty more from where that came from." He jiggled his pants, which let out numerous little clinks. Clearly, a large number of coins were residing in his pocket.
Grandpa Dinran glanced up at Zairen and then quickly looked back down at the gold coins in front of him. Mumbling, he insisted: "This... this money... how can I... you should keep it, Zairen..."
In reality, Grandpa Dinran really needed the money. How could Zairen not know? His grandpa ran a measly stand that barely brought in twenty copper coins a day, and also, he needed to feed a growing child! Because of this, he could not afford to buy anything that wasn't essential; even with just one child in the past years, he could not afford to buy Alivia birthday presents!
"Grandpa! This is a business transaction!" Zairen declared with serious eyes. "If you can't accept a payment in exchange for your goods, then I won't come to your shop again!"
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Grandpa Dinran looked up and stared at Zairen's face. Large pools of water had gathered in his eyes, and his body was trembling. "... how...? This... much. How... could I ever... thank... you?"
Seeing how emotional Grandpa Dinran was becoming, Zairen couldn't help but rush forward and hug his grandfather tightly. He felt a pounding in his core, feeling incredibly happy to be able to support Grandpa Dinran like this.
Grandpa Dinran felt Zairen's embrace and fiercely hugged back.
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With an enormous sack on his back, filled with numerous herbs and medicines, Zairen walked his way through the Bindan central square.
Grandpa Dinran had helped him bundle the enormous number of herbs and medicines in a sack that Zairen could carry. Although Zairen had bought the herbs and medicines to support Grandpa Dinran, he was just as eager to use them to make some of his own medicines.
Not only did he want to treat the strange goddess-like woman in his grey ring’s interdimensional space, but he also wanted to create medicine for himself that could accelerate his training progress. After all, in his previous life, he was a genius doctor, and knew how to make thousands of different kinds of top-quality medicines. Thus, he was heading back to the cabin to start refining.
On the way back, he came across a stand that sold different types of needles, originally meant for sowing. He paused by the stand, picked out about a hundred identical small silver needles, paid for them, and then went on his way.
As he approached the edges of the central square, a small restaurant in the corner of his vision caught Zairen's eye. He paused his steps.
After thinking for a moment, he changed his direction and started walking towards the restaurant.
Even though Zairen was eagerly anticipating making medicine, he still didn't want to do it on an empty stomach.
"Hello! Table for one, please!" Zairen called out as he walked into the small tavern. It was not a large place, and only a couple people were eating at the few tables that were there.
"Of course, little one! Come this way." An amiable-looking waitress called out to him. She led him over to a small table in the corner of the restaurant, and passed him a menu.
"Thank you ma'am." Zairen said courteously as he sat down. He accepted the menu and quickly flipped through it.
"Can I have... the chicken meal please?" He said to the waitress as he pointed at a food option on the menu.
"Of course. Your meal will be ready very soon." The waitress smiled. She took back the menu and walked off.
Seeing the waitress walk off, Zairen let out a sigh of satisfaction and relaxed his body. At the moment, he felt truly content. Just recalling Grandpa Dinran's tearfully happy face caused exuberant feelings to emerge in Zairen’s heart.
As Zairen sat relaxedly in his seat, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the table next to him. Two men were talking loudly as they ate.
"You’ve heard about that legendary black cloaked man from yesterday, right?"
"Oh yeah! I heard about that! Is it really true that on the arena, he beat fourteen people in a row?!"
"It's 100% true! I saw it myself. That black cloaked person may have been tiny and short, but he was amazingly strong! I've never seen anything like it in my life."
"Seriously? How did he fight? No one could beat him?"
"Every single person he faced was beaten in one move! One. Move. It was amazing! His movements... how can I say it... it was like he was a shadow!"
“Even the strongest fighters - they were all beaten in one move?!”
“That’s exactly right! At the end, after beating fourteen people, he wasn’t even tired. However, the arena ran out of money and begged him to stop fighting!”
"Holy hell; that’s amazing! I wish I could have seen that... Man... I want to meet this guy so bad!"
"That's the thing! No one knows who he is. His entire body, including his face, was completely covered by a black cloak. After fighting in the arena, he disappeared, and was never seen again. This mysterious expert could be anywhere..."
The conversation continued for a couple minutes.
Finally, Zairen's food arrived. "Sorry for the wait, young sir. Here's the chicken meal you ordered!" The waitress called out as she placed a plate of chicken in front of him.
"Thank you." Zairen smiled, and he wasted no time in digging into his food.
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