Chapter 17: Chapter 16 Black-Bellied Shield Hero, Make A Fortune
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Jason, who had already had breakfast, quickly found a shop to buy materials with the help of passersby.
"Welcome!"
The owner of this shop was a man who looked a bit overweight. When he saw Jason approaching, he immediately displayed a smile reminiscent of a profiteer.
"Excuse me, do you buy this kind of thing here?"
Jason took out a few pieces of materials dropped by the Balloon Monster from the purse at his waist and placed them on the counter in front of the owner.
"Please wait a moment, let me take a look… These are the fragments of the Balloon Monster. How about 10 pieces for 1 copper coin?"
After the owner said this, he let out a "hehehe" laughter that sounded very uncomfortable.
"Oh? But I asked others, and two of this kind of material can be exchanged for one copper coin. Why is it that here, the price is five times higher?"
Jason looked like a novice and asked with a somewhat uncertain tone.
"Then you must have heard wrong; not only here, but the whole country has the same price."
The owner seemed to feel that he had found a fat sheep to fleece, rubbing his hands together involuntarily.
Looking at Jason again, he appeared quite young. Although he was very clean, he carried a big bag on his shoulder, seemingly filled with travel luggage.
This must be a young man just starting his journey, without any social experience.
As the owner thought this, the smirk on his face became even more unscrupulous.
"So that's the case. I must have heard incorrectly. Exchanging 10 pieces for 1 copper coin is no problem at all! However, I'm in a hurry right now and will come back later!"
After Jason finished speaking, he walked away without looking back.
"Wait… this young man, please hold on a moment!"
The owner did not want to let go of the 'fat sheep' in front of him; if he left now, he might not return, so he hurriedly called out.
"What's the matter? Sorry, I'm really in a rush; please make it quick."
Jason finally stopped, turned around, and asked with a puzzled expression.
"Can I ask you how many materials you have on your person?"
"There are some, but the specifics are unclear."
"Is there some quantity?"
Holding his chin, the owner repeated Jason's words, continuously eyeing him.
"The bag on your shoulder contains your luggage, so there shouldn't be much space left for materials on you. But the waist bag looks quite bulging. Did you take those materials from there? Yes... you did just take them out from the bag at your waist. As for the material, the shape of the bag is not very large, meaning there can't be too many of them."
Thinking along these lines, the owner shouted to Jason again: "Young man… I want all the materials on your body, and I promise not to waste your time. Just give me one minute to count!"
"Really? But what if there's no way to finish the count within one minute? I really have something to do!"
Jason pretended to be anxious and said.
"That's fine; if I can't finish counting within one minute, I will compensate you twice the price!"
The owner raised three fingers confidently, thinking to himself: How can there be more than 30 pieces? It can be done in half a minute, so why would it take a whole minute?
"Two times is too little—at least 10 times. After all, time is always the most precious thing."
Hearing Jason's words, the owner felt an unusual sensation in his heart, but he didn't have time to think deeply and replied: "10 times is fine."
"Okay, deal!"
Jason nodded and placed the heavy bag from his shoulder onto the counter.
With a thud, the bag shook the entire counter.
Accompanied by the sound, the owner felt a jolt in his heart.
"Brother… this is?"
The owner hadn't realized that sweat was already forming on his forehead.
"All of them are materials from Balloon Monsters. Please hurry and count them. I'll kindly remind you that 5 seconds have passed. If you can't count them all within one minute, you'll have to pay me 10 times the price!"
A smile crept onto the corner of Jason's mouth, and to the owner, it appeared as a devil's smile, making his head swim.
Jason, who had read the original story, naturally knew that the owner was a profiteer. So, he deliberately put only a few Balloon Monster materials into his purse to mislead him into thinking the bulging bag was filled with them.
Of course… this was just a precaution, but he never expected that this owner would be so easy to bait.
To be precise: greed blinds people, and this principle holds true in any world.
"It's been 20 seconds now! Hurry up!"
Jason reminded him again.
The owner, snapping back to reality, had no choice but to start counting.
With only 40 seconds left, it was clearly impossible to count such a large bag of materials in that time frame.
By the time he actually completed the inventory, more than 10 minutes had passed.
"A total of 831 pieces. Calculated at the price of 10 copper coins, that amounts to a total of 83 copper coins."
The owner, feeling the soreness in his hands, said weakly.
"No, you promised me that if you can't finish counting within one minute, you would pay me 10 times the price. As a businessman, you should have basic integrity, right? And you don't want to see me shouting everywhere that this store has no credit, do you?"
As Jason said this, he pressed his right hand against the wooden counter, and with a sharp crack, a fissure appeared on the surface.
"When... of course... I'm not the type to break my word."
In this nearly threatening atmosphere, the owner nodded in fright and hurriedly turned around, pulling out a bag of coins from beneath the counter. "In addition to copper coins, there are also silver coins in here. The total value should be more than 800 copper coins."
"The owner is really trustworthy. I would like to remind you one last thing: if you weren't the only material merchant in the city, your head would be in trouble right now. Next time I come over, don't try such dirty tricks. There's no guarantee you'll still be alive to eat by then."
Jason took the purse happily, stating he wouldn't linger any longer. He then turned around and left.
As he walked away, the owner slumped to the ground, shaken and relieved.
At least he had made it through unscathed.
The owner could only console himself in this way.
Meanwhile, Jason had not gone far when a person suddenly appeared in front of him.
Although short and chubby, he wore a top hat, a tuxedo, and held a cane; he also sported a pair of glasses and had two mustaches.
By his attire, he appeared to be a gentleman.
Yet Jason could swear he had never seen such an unattractive gentleman in his life.
"The scene just now was truly thrilling, Lord Shield Hero!"
The gentleman took off his top hat as he spoke and bowed slightly in a manner reminiscent of medieval etiquette.
"You saw that?"
Jason smiled slightly, knowing that the person he had been waiting for had finally shown up.
"Of course... Master Shield Hero's resourcefulness is truly remarkable. With such intelligence, I imagine you'd be willing to engage with my business. By the way… I haven't introduced myself yet; I am a slave trader!"
The gentleman waved his cane flamboyantly and said with a smile.
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