After the three walked up to the VIP resting room, they each sat on a chair around a wooden table.
“I will go straight to the point.” The elder began talking. “In the hidden remains there will be multiple sects contesting for its riches, and only young disciples are allowed to enter. The elders will meanwhile remain outside to protect the entrance. Now, this is the main problem: while most sects brought several disciples, only Seji alone could come for this time… and I fear he may not survive by himself.”
Why is he alone? Is their sect in a bad shape? Himo raised an eyebrow, but didn’t voice his doubt.
The elder continued, “There might be countless treasures hidden in the remains, so it’s almost certain that a bloodbath between the disciples will happen. With your strength, I believe that if you two team up his survival chance will increase.”
Seji averted his eyes as he scratched his cheek with a finger.
“If you find any treasure, you can keep it yourself; if you find it together with Seji one of the two can keep it and give to the other half of the treasure’s monetary value.” Made his offer, the elder added just a few words. “What do you think of this deal? Are you interested?”
“Sure!” Without even thinking about it, Himo accepted immediately, but then added, “But I need a moment, I originally fought in the arena because I need a storage ring. Can we go there after I buy it and inform my family?”
“It’s fine, it was planned to go tomorrow anyway. Let’s meet at the north gate at eight in the morning.”
“Okay, thank you. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” Said his goodbye, Himo walked toward the manager’s room with a grin on his face.
-----
“Here is your prize.“ The manager handed a bag full of gold coins to Himo. Cold sweat covered his back as he barely managed to maintain his self-control. Thanks to Ru Seji, my arena is safe!
However, that wasn’t the moment worry about that, so he just showed a friendly smile. “There are eighty-two gold coins in the bag, feel free to count them.”
“Eighty-two?” Himo blinked. “Shouldn’t they be just eighty?”
“After seeing your magnificent performance, I decided to add two gold coins as thanks for entertaining our audience.” The manager smiled and gave a high-five to himself in his mind. With this, his family shouldn’t hold thoughts of taking revenge!
“Thank you then!” Taking the bag of coins, Himo walked out of the room with a smile on his face.
“Yes! He walked away without tearing down the place!” Holding up his fists high, the manager began to dance in success.
-----
Walking out of the arena, Himo found his little sister waiting at the side of the entrance.
“Aria, how was it?” He walked up to her with a smile on his face. But suddenly, his sister jumped toward him and hugged him, seemingly upset. “What happened?” Himo got worried for a moment, but calmed down after seeing that she wasn’t hurt.
“Big brother Himo! Those guys from the audience kept insulting you at the start, I’m angry!”
Himo blinked frenetically for a moment, but then burst into a laugh. “Aria, hear me right now.” Seeing that she got so upset for a few insignificant spectators, he decided to teach her something he considered extremely important. “You shouldn’t look just at the appearances. The fact that they were insulting me gave me a great chance!”
“Chance? Getting insulted?” Aria panicked. “Brother, are you a masochist?”
Himo almost spurted blood. Raising a finger, he corrected her hurriedly. “It’s not masochism! It’s the chance of exhibiting the art of faceslapping!”
Hearing the unknown term, Aria’s eyes sparkled in curiosity. “Art of faceslapping? What is that?”
“Hehe, the art of faceslapping is simple yet wonderful. It happens when someone believes that you’re weak and a nullity, but a moment later”—he chuckled before he continued—”you will show them that you’re in truth a monster-like genius, sending everything they said right back at them in the form of shame. Did you notice that after the head of the first guy started rolling no one dared to talk anymore?”
“Oooh! Big brother Himo, that was amazing! Can we do it again?”
“Sure, if we’ll have a chance to do so.”
-----
An hour later, the two stood in front of the storage ring shop’s entrance.
“We are finally here! I didn’t visit the market area from years!” Aria exclaimed.
Himo grinned. “We first need to find a good storage ring, we can visit the stalls afterward.”
“Sure!”
The two walked through a purple door, entering the shop.
“Welcome to the Storage Ring shop!”
Hearing the welcome from the same lady as the last time, Himo walked up to her with a smile. Unlike last time, he had money—he wouldn’t be defeated by those prices!
“Hello. I’m searching for a storage ring, do you have a good one?”
He had eighty-two gold coins, he wasn't someone who would accept anything less than the best!
“How is this one?” Even if slightly annoyed by the question, she took out a white ring embedded with a diamond. “This is the best storage ring in my shop, holding a hundred cube meters of space in it.”
She paused for a moment before she continued.
“The price is five hundred gold coins, what do you think about it?”
The smile on Himo’s face froze. So pricey! He had thought to repay last time's humiliation by buying the best ring, but he found instead the belief of being wealthy crumble in front of his eyes.
There was no way he could afford such a price. But just at that moment, his eyes darted to his little sister. As if a lightning hit him, a realization covered his back in cold sweat. I can't show how poor I am in front of my sister, it would ruin my image as an awesome older brother!
He had to find a solution quickly, or he would be doomed!
A plan formed in his mind as his eyes resumed looking at the storage ring. He stared at it for a few seconds, but then shook his head slightly. “I apologize, but white isn’t too much of my liking for a ring. Do you have a black one with no head?”
Having a different taste, this is the best excuse!
[The system will give the User a two out of ten rating, just for the effort.]
Give me a better excuse then!
The shopkeeper stared a few seconds at Himo, then smiled lightly. “You mean a black banded ring?” She took back the storage ring and walked to a shelf. “The reason these rings are able to create a space to place objects is thanks to a magic circle arrayed in the gem.”
After grabbing another ring, she walked back to the counter and resumed speaking. “This ring has a small gem hidden within, so it’s not visible from the outside. It has about thirty cube meters of space; I can sell this for a hundred gold coins, are you interested?”
“Too much.” Himo shook his head slightly once again. “Sixty.”
[Didn't the User just say that it would be better to hide the User's current penniless status?]
Penniless? System, now you're exaggerating! Besides, this is negotiating, it doesn't show any lack of money!
[The User’s train of thought is surprising as always.]
Before Himo could reply to the system’s words, the shopkeeper spoke up.
“Sixty gold coins?” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “That’s barely over half the price, way too low. I can lower it to ninety gold, however.”
Hearing her offer, Himo fell in thought. Few seconds had passed when he spoke up once again. “What about… seventy gold coins?” He showed a slightly pained expression, as if he were proposing a sum far above his budget.
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, but her lips soon curved into an amused smile. She had never thought before that she would negotiate with a child. Letting out a light sigh, she then said, “Fine, you’ve won. Just eighty gold coins and it’s yours, but no less than that.”
Giving her the money and taking the storage ring, Himo grinned. “Thank you!”
“Thank you too!” The shopkeeper waved at the two as they walked outside. Just as their figures left her sight, she smiled to herself. “I smell an amusing prospect for the near days. Don’t waste my investment of twenty gold coins, dear costumer~”
Meanwhile, Himo and Aria stood in front of stall close to the storage ring shop.
“Big brother Himo, that was amazing! I didn’t know you could negotiate so well!”
Seeing her expression, Himo sighed in relief—he had retained his image as the awesome brother! Not wasting a moment, he began his explanation. ”In this kingdom, even a few gold coins are an amount possessed only by nobles. I’m sure it is hard for her to sell merchandise at that price, so I decided to attempt lowering it.”
Just as he was about to continue, a familiar smell pervaded his nostrils. He grinned.
“Aria, would you like to try out fried food?”
-----
After spending the rest of the day wandering amidst the stalls in the market, Himo and Aria walked back to their manor. They first ate dinner with the rest of the family, and then each went to their own room.
At that moment, Himo stood on his bed, his legs crossed.
“System, I’ll buy the next fragment of the Myriad of ways cultivation technique.”
[Detracting 25 BS points…]
[Thanks for your patronage!]
[You now have 1 BS point.]
He cultivated up to Meridian Strengthening phase, then went to sleep.
Soon, the night became morning.
