Chương 31: Income

The sensation of stepping through the portal was like being shoved through a giant, magical straw, and when I popped out the other side, the endless, moody grasslands were a distant memory. In their place stood the city of Inizio, a medieval fantasy fever dream that looked like it had been pulled straight from the cover of a dusty paperback. Even with the sun having clocked out for the day, the place was glowing with a life of its own.

Stone buildings lined the streets, their windows spilling warm, amber light onto the cobblestones while the local inhabitants went about their business, making the whole city feel like it was vibrating with energy. Dimitri stood beside me, his massive chest heaving as he took in the urban landscape with the kind of wide eyed wonder you usually see in a kid at a candy store.

"Does your heart not leap to see such a vibrant tapestry of life even beneath the cloak of night, my brother Arthur?" Dimitri boomed, his thick accent sounding even more cheerful against the backdrop of the city's hum.

"Here, the pulse of the world beats strong, and every flickering lamp is a testament to the warmth of the human spirit!"

"It is definitely lively," I admitted, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sudden upgrade in brightness.

"And significantly less likely to try and stomp me into a pancake than the last place we visited. I could get used to this." I tucked my hands into my pockets and followed the Russian mountain as he navigated the winding streets with a sense of purpose. We eventually came to a halt in front of a building that made the surrounding shops look like cardboard cutouts. It was a massive, imposing structure that screamed "we have a lot of money and very strict filing systems."

Unlike the cozy taverns nearby, this place was all business. Heavy wooden double doors stood wide open, acting as a gateway for a steady stream of players who were coming and going with looks of focused determination on their faces. We stepped through the entrance and I found myself staring up into a cavernous, domed ceiling that made me feel about two inches tall. The interior of the Merchant Guild was a chaotic symphony of commerce.

Long, polished counters stretched across the hall, and lines of players were snaking back from each one, waiting their turn to talk to the overworked clerks. It was like watching a high stakes version of a grocery store checkout. From where I stood, I could see players reaching into thin air, their hands disappearing into pocket dimensions before pulling out a grotesque assortment of monster bits.

One guy was casually lugging a giant, dripping stinger while another was dumping a pile of shimmering scales onto a counter like he was unloading a bag of laundry. It was a buffet of biological nightmares, and apparently, every single piece of it had a price tag. Dimitri and I shuffled into one of the lines, which was moving with the agonizingly slow pace of a snail on a lunch break.

He loomed behind me like a giant, friendly bodyguard, his presence providing a comfortable buffer against the other players who were currently smelling like they'd spent the day wrestling wet dogs. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I tried to stand tall, despite the fact that I was still probably fifty percent dirt and fifty percent dried blood, waiting for my chance to finally turn my traumatic memories into cold, hard cash.

After a few minutes of watching the players in front of me trade in various bits of monster anatomy for small bags of jingling gold, it was finally my turn to step up to the plate. I walked up to the wide stone counter, which was polished to such a high shine that I could almost see my own disheveled reflection staring back at me in judgment. On the other side of the counter sat a woman who looked like she had been plucked straight out of a high end corporate office and dropped into this fantasy world.

She had sharp, jet black hair and eyes the color of a clear summer sky, framed by a pair of reading glasses that sat perfectly on the bridge of her nose. Her skin was porcelain pale, and she was dressed in a crisp black blazer with a white long sleeved shirt tucked underneath, finished off with a professional black skirt. I caught a glimpse of the gold name tag pinned to her chest, which identified her as Alice.

Alice looked up from her paperwork and offered me a smile that was perfectly polite, practiced, and just the right amount of formal. It was the kind of look that said she had seen everything from dragon livers to goblin toenails today and wasn't easily impressed.

"Good evening, sir," Alice said, her voice sounding like smooth silk.

"What treasures have you brought for the Guild to evaluate today?" I didn't want to keep her waiting, mostly because the players behind me were starting to grumble and I didn't want to get tackled in a house of commerce. I focused my mind and made a quick gesture to summon my inventory window, watching as the translucent blue interface flickered into existence right between us. My digital backpack laid itself bare, showing off shimmering prizes I had nearly died to obtain.

••••• INVENTORY: 1: T1 (Common): Chitinous Rib-Plate x11 2: T1 (Elite): Monarch's Rib-Plate x1 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: ••••• I reached into my pocket dimension and started hauling out the goods, stacking the biological loot onto the polished stone counter like I was unloading the world's weirdest grocery delivery. First came the eleven common Chitinous Rib-Plates I'd got from those overgrown cow-crabs earlier in the day.

They hit the stone with a series of heavy, dull thuds, smelling faintly of damp earth and musk, which I'm sure Alice really appreciated. Finally, I placed the crown jewel of the collection right in the center: the Monarch's Rib-Plate. It looked significantly more intimidating up close, with its mountain-range ridges catching the light of the Guild's chandeliers. Alice didn't even flinch at the pile of monster parts. She simply extended a graceful hand, hovering her palm over the assortment of stone and chitin.

I watched as a soft, magical ripple shimmered through the air, her appraisal skill washing over the items like a silent scanner. It was a neat trick, and a second later, the entire pile dissolved into a flurry of sapphire-colored particles. They swirled briefly in the air before vanishing into the Guild's own storage system, leaving the counter sparkling clean and smelling significantly less like a barnyard. Alice reached into the air and pulled a small, sturdy leather sack from her own inventory.

She didn't just hand it over; she began to count out the payment with a rhythmic, clinking sound that was absolute music to my ears. One by one, gleaming gold coins were placed onto the stone, their surfaces reflecting the warm amber light of the dome.

"There we are, sir," Alice said, her voice remaining perfectly steady and professional as she finished the count.

"A total of one hundred and eleven gold coins for the lot. We appreciate you choosing the Merchant Guild for your business today." I stared at the little mountain of gold, feeling a sudden and very intense urge to dive into it like a cartoon duck. One hundred and eleven gold. That was a lot of zeroes for someone who, just a few hours ago, was being used as a stress ball by a sentient hill. The whole process had gone way smoother than I'd anticipated.

There was no haggling, no suspicious questioning about how I got the items, and no hidden fees for "blood removal." It was just a clean, fast, and incredibly satisfying transaction.