บท 36: Naughty Puppy
In the cobblestoned streets of the South Ward, people from various races could be seen mingling with one another.
The majority of the Moon City population consisted of humans, at around forty percent. About thirty percent were elves, dwarves were twenty percent, and finally, gnomes were about ten percent.
Although people came from various backgrounds and ethnicities, they got along pretty well with each other. Such was the cohesiveness of the Jewel of the South.
It was rumored that the Magus who had founded Moon City modeled it after the famous ancient elven city of Feypore. It was said that at the peak of its prosperity, Feypore housed people from all races and not just the four major races of the world.
However, like all things in existence, nothing's ever meant to last. And the ancient elven city of Feypore was forever lost to the ravages of time.
In the crowded market area by the docks, a tall and lean youth could be seen strutting along the sidewalk while carrying a small wooden box.
The youth was wearing the student's uniform—an olive cloak—of Clover Academy. However, people would give him strange looks when he passed them by.
That's because his face was painted like that of a clown.
Now, street performers such as bards and clowns were pretty common in Moon City, but the residents of the city had never seen a student of a prestigious institution, such as Clover Academy, dress up like a clown.
Adam ignored the people giving him strange looks as he constantly cursed under his breath. That fat pig! Just where the hell did he get the face paint from? I just can't seem to wash it off of my face!
After repeatedly failing to clean his face, Adam simply gave up. There was no point bothering over something he didn't have control over. That was his life philosophy.
He finally reached Herbs & More and entered the store. Surprisingly, there were a few people who were browsing through the items inside the store.
When he entered the store, everyone's gaze landed on him. And they all looked at him strangely, to say the least.
Adam's lips twitched as he noticed people staring at him. Suddenly…
"Woof!"
Blackie appeared from behind the wooden counter and dashed toward Adam.
"Blackie!" Adam, for some reason, was very happy to see this strange little puppy again. He crouched down and wanted to pat the puppy, but Blackie dodged his advances and continued running circles around him.
"Haha, you sure are energetic today." Adam's mood was instantly lifted seeing Blackie play with him.
All of a sudden, Blackie's eyes flashed with a mischievous light. He stopped running, lifted his hind leg, and peed on Adam's foot at lightning speed. And before Adam knew it, Blackie had already run behind the counter, hiding behind Berger.
Adam was stunned, still having difficulty comprehending just what the hell happened. When he saw his worn-out bamboo shoe stained with a pungent yellow liquid, his face distorted.
"Son of a…"
He glared at Blackie and chased after him. "Bad dog! I'll fight you today!"
"Woof!" Blackie had a taunting expression on his face as he dodged the angry Adam. And just like that, the two began running around inside the shop. One was fuming with anger, and the other seemingly having a lot of fun making the former angry.
When the people inside the store saw a clown chasing after the store owner's dog, their backs were drenched in cold sweat. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. All of them had the same thought.
Just who is this kid!? Chasing after Lord Berger's familiar… is he courting death?!
Berger who had been sitting behind the wooden counter and smoking from his pipe as usual, looked at Adam and Blackie playing around and couldn't help but silently chuckle to himself.
He then looked at the Magi who had come to his store to buy certain items and muttered, "You all. Get lost."
"Yes, sir!" The group of Magi replied in unison, with their backs straight as an arrow. They cast one last glance at Adam and then hurriedly left the store. They didn't dare defy the order of a powerful Magus!
After the Magi left, Berger looked at Adam who was still trying to catch Blackie, and stated, "Give up, boy. You'll never be able to catch him."
Adam finally gave up on chasing the naughty puppy. He glared at him and spoke with narrowed eyes. "One day I'll pee on you, Blackie. Let's see how that makes you feel."
Hearing this, Blackie scoffed. He then strutted toward Berger with a smug expression on his face. He jumped on Berger's lap and then closed his eyes as the old gnome started stroking his furry little head.
Berger looked at Adam and asked, "What are you here for this time?"
Adam walked up to the counter and placed his wooden box in front of Berger. "Sir, look at this. What do you think?"
POW!
Berger smacked Adam on the forehead with his pipe. He roared, "Do you expect the box to open by itself?!"
"S-Sorry," Adam replied with a wronged expression, thinking to himself, This grumpy old fart! Getting angry for no damn reason.
As Adam opened the box and the crystal vials containing the healing potions inside came into view, Berger mumbled with slight dissatisfaction, "Oh, it's just a healing potion—"
But his eyes soon narrowed and the words got stuck in his mouth.
He grabbed a crystal vial and intently stared at the red liquid inside. Seeing some green tints within the liquid, he asked, "This isn't your usual healing potion, is it?"
After removing the cork and taking a whiff of the potion, the gnome's eyes lit up. "A new recipe!"
He looked at Adam and asked, "How much for the recipe?"
However, much to his surprise, Adam shook his head and smirked. "Not for sale."
Berger was momentarily taken aback. He couldn't remember the last time someone said no to him. Then, he heard Adam speak with a hint of gloating. "Of course, I can also give it to you for free…"
This little shit. Berger's eyebrow twitched as he thought to himself, What goes around comes around, is it?
Thinking this, he couldn't help but smirk. "Heh! Fine, boy. Tell me what do you want in return?"
Adam grinned. And with his face resembling a clown, his smile looked humorously fierce.
"I want…"
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