Time Healer Ceres
Chapter 16
Why the sudden price hike? What is he plotting?
Ceres’s brow furrowed slightly. Seeing this, the shopkeeper hurriedly continued.
“Y-you look like you’re in a difficult situation, so I can give you up to 300 gold.”
“…….”
“Ahem, three hundred and fifty! This is truly an amount you won’t get anywhere else.”
“…….”
“…Four hundred?”
What is wrong with this guy?
Watching the shopkeeper, Lons, raise the price every time she scowled in silence, Ceres picked up the Magic Stone she had set down.
It seemed better to look for another shop.
“O-one thousand! I’ll give you one thousand gold!”
At her movement, Lons shouted out like a scream.
“…One thousand?”
Then what was that two hundred he called out at first?
Ceres’s eyes narrowed.
Look at this guy. Were you testing me?
“One thousand? What are you talking about?”
Just then, a strange voice cut into their conversation.
It was a young female customer who had been looking around the shop for a while.
“Anyone can see this is a high-quality Magic Stone.”
“Excuse me, customer. Butting in like this is….”
“My goodness! Besides, isn’t this a Magic Stone with a special attribute? Is it ice?”
The woman, seemingly a magician herself, immediately showed interest in the stone.
“Even ordinary Magic Stones, if the purity is high, start at over 5,000 gold.”
“5,000 gold?”
“Yes. And if it’s a Magic Stone with a special attribute like this, it’s a whole different story. You could say the seller sets the price.”
“…….”
Ceres threw a sharp look at the shopkeeper, as if asking if the woman’s words were true.
“A-ah, no. That is… because a special attribute Magic Stone only gets its full value if it meets the right owner, even if you go elsewhere, they wouldn’t give you that much….”
“Even so, one thousand gold was too much, mister. Do you have no conscience? You’re a total highwayman.”
“A-a highwayman?!”
Leaving the red-faced shopkeeper behind, the woman spoke to Ceres again.
“It’s better to go directly to the Magic Tower to sell something like this.”
“The Magic Tower?”
“Yes. At the very least, they’ll give you a much better price than here.”
The Magic Tower….
Letting out a short sigh, Ceres packed the Magic Stone, thinking that selling it here was definitely not the way to go.
“Um, excuse me. If it’s not too much trouble, could I take a recording of that with a video storage tool?”
As Ceres was about to put the Magic Stone away, the woman beside her stopped her, clasping her hands together as if in prayer.
“I want to show it to my master. It’s my first time seeing a Magic Stone with such a special attribute…. Could you please allow it?”
“…Do as you wish.”
Recording it wouldn’t wear the stone down, so Ceres set the Magic Stone back down at the woman’s request.
“Wow, the quality of the Magic Stone is really good. I haven’t been active as a magician for long, so I don’t know exactly, but the mana density seems higher than any Magic Stone I’ve ever seen.”
The woman turned her video storage tool this way and that, constantly exclaiming in admiration.
After filming the Magic Stone from all angles for a while, the woman nodded with a satisfied smile, as if she were finished.
At that, Ceres tucked the Magic Stone into her tunic and prepared to leave.
“Wait! Just a moment! I’ll give you a better price!”
Lons, the shopkeeper who had been hovering nearby and reading the room, hurriedly tried to haggle.
But Ceres simply left the place quickly without looking back, as if she had no more business there.
“Ah….”
Lons let out a regretful groan and rubbed his face.
Should he have called out a higher price from the start?
She looked like someone who didn’t know the ways of the world, so he had tried to lowball her.
Though he had been doing business here for a long time, it was his first time seeing a Magic Stone with such high purity and quality.
If the deal had gone well, he could have made a fortune….
“Mister, please find the items on this list for me.”
“…….”
The woman spoke to him with a bright smile, as if nothing had happened.
Lons glared resentfully at the woman who had just ruined his deal.
“Hey, you really not drinking?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, why?”
“You punk! I’m not drinking with you.”
“I’m asking why!”
“Because you turn into a dog whenever you drink.”
“What?”
The spiritual sanctuary of mercenaries, Where Your Steps Linger.
As usual, the shop was packed with customers, leaving not a single empty seat.
However, there was one difference from before: the number of people ordering alcohol had significantly decreased.
“Don’t you see that?”
“That?”
A mercenary pointed to a sheet of paper posted on a corner wall.
<Shop Rules>
If you get drunk and act like a total… nuisance, entry to the shop will be restricted for 3 days. The companions who were with you will also be banned for failing to stop you.
Fighting inside the shop is strictly prohibited. If caught, entry to the shop will be barred for one week.
If entry is restricted more than 3 times, all members of the mercenary guild that person belongs to will be barred from entry for one week.
“…What is that?”
“What do you mean, what is it? You saw it, so why ask? If you want to drink yourself stupid, do it alone when I’m not around.”
“When was that put up? T-then I can’t drink here anymore?”
…You punk, you can’t even swear you won’t cause a scene after drinking, can you?
Looking at his comrade with an incredulous gaze, the mercenary pointed to the paper on the wall again.
“See that? If you get caught more than 3 times, people from the same mercenary group can’t come in for a week.”
“Yeah.”
“You know our Guild Master will die if he can’t eat the stew here for even one day, right? He told me if I’m going to cause trouble here, I should quit the mercenary group first.”
“Ugh….”
Ever since the warning sign appeared in the shop, the mercenaries had begun to walk on eggshells around the new owner, Ceres.
‘It’s amazing.’
The one most surprised by the change in the shop was none other than Mark, the chef and employee who had watched over this place for a long time.
When Ceres first wrote that out and tried to post it in the shop, he had wondered if such a thing would even be effective.
He couldn’t believe that the rough-and-tumble mercenaries would follow something written on a mere piece of paper.
‘But what do you know?’
Surprisingly, the mercenaries seemed to feel a great sense of obligation toward the contents written on that small piece of paper. As if something terrible would happen if they didn’t follow it.
‘Is it because of that line?’
The line written at the very bottom of the warning.
「If these are not followed, I will close the shop.」
‘What? Close the shop?’
‘Gasp! You’re joking, right?’
‘If this place disappears… where am I supposed to eat breakfast? My lunch? My dinner?’
‘…Hey, were you solving all three meals here? You’re a total madman.’
‘Look who’s talking!’
‘At least I only eat two meals!’
‘Gasp! My hangover stew will disappear?’
‘Hey, hey! That guy’s trying to drink! Stop him!’
…It actually worked?
Mark couldn’t believe his eyes even as he watched the atmosphere of the shop change.
He had vaguely guessed that the mercenaries liked this space, but he hadn’t realized it was to this extent.
‘The previous owner did say that before.’
That all the customers who came here were good people.
That they were people who cherished and valued this shop more than anyone else.
However, seeing them smash the place up every time, he could never agree with the statement that they cherished it, even if they liked it.
‘But now….’
Seeing the mercenaries sitting quietly in their respective seats and eating their meals just because of that one line made his eyes grow moist.
To think that such peace would actually be granted to him. How pleased the late owner would have been to see this.
Of course….
“Hey, you son of a bitch! I ordered that!”
“What kind of bullshit is that? Finders keepers!”
“Fine, you picked the right one today. Let’s settle this!”
“Fuck off! Die!”
The rough language of the customers filling the shop remained the same.
However, just the fact that weapons weren’t flying around kept a happy smile on Mark’s face.
“Fuck, today I’m really going to send this bastard to God’s side…!”
Slide.
Moreover, there was a moment when even that rough language disappeared.
Peek.
A small figure gently opened the door and poked her head in.
“……!”
The shop, which had been filled with non-stop swearing, fell silent in an instant.
“Ah! Yulia-nim!”
The hair neatly braided into pigtails was exceptionally adorable.
Mark, discovering Yulia scanning the shop with round eyes, immediately approached the child.
“Where’s unnie?”
“She went out for a moment. Did you perhaps come alone?”
Shake, shake.
Behind the child gently shaking her head, the figure of the maid Jay cautiously entering the shop could finally be seen.
