Chapter 21: The Smiling Merchant

Akae also stopped practicing and walked over to the other two.

The three of them quickly left the yard and went outside to play.

It had been a long time since they played freely.

Although they didn’t have to go hungry like before, it still felt a bit strange.

“Where are we going?”

Akae put his hands behind his head and strode across the street.

“I want to look at paper and pens first.”

Mel Carlo walked slowly behind them.

“Mel wants to buy paper and pens. Could it be that you’ve been studying writing lately?”

Lily instantly perked up, looking at Mel with an extremely serious gaze.

“Mm, Uncle Anke teaches me a bit, but his writing isn’t that good either…”

“Mel, you’re so sneaky! Studying writing and not inviting me—I want to learn too!”

Lily flapped her hands like wings, looking a bit cute.

Akae, standing nearby, didn’t say anything.

He just stared at the street in a daze.

“Recently, it seems like there are more beggars? They’re probably not from the Gang, right?”

“Did something happen?”

Mel Carlo looked at the beggars scattered all over the street.

Indeed, there were more of them.

The heads of the various gangs in the imperial city each had their own territories.

Others shouldn’t just wander into another boss’s area.

“The Demon King’s Army invaded again. Maybe there’s another war on the border.”

Lily’s tone grew heavy, her head drooping.

“Demon King’s Army?”

Mel Carlo looked puzzled.

This was the first time he’d heard of this.

In the past three months, no one had mentioned it.

In the game, there were demons and the Demon King’s Army, but they were just monsters for leveling up.

Except for the boss, who was written into the story, the rest were just background.

Wasn’t a slime also considered a demon?

“Mel, do you really not know? Lily and I are both from the Outer Lands. That place is occupied by the Demon King’s Army.”

“Explain it to me carefully. I was sick before, so I might’ve forgotten that part of my memory.”

Mel Carlo stopped.

Something related to life and death like this definitely had to be clarified.

The three sat down on a step, and the other two began to explain the Demon King’s Army to Mel.

A race naturally hostile to humans, waging war and killing many.

The Outer Lands used to be under the control of the Garde Empire, but now it’s purely a land of war.

Mel had seen it on the map before.

To the west of the Garde Empire, there was an area called the Outer Lands, almost as big as a duchy.

Within their words, Mel sensed something else.

Humans were at a disadvantage.

That region seemed to have been abandoned by the Empire.

Because the Garde Empire had enough strategic depth, the defensive line had retreated to the mountains.

These weren’t things children would usually think about.

In Akae and Lily’s eyes, demons were evil.

They’d never considered the Empire’s side.

But thinking like this was fine.

Mel didn’t understand this world well enough.

He had too little information to judge.

Knowing that demons killed humans was enough.

“Someday, I’ll drive out all the demons!”

Akae suddenly stood up, looking firmly at the sky.

His family died in the Demon King’s Army’s attack.

He wandered all the way to the imperial city just to survive.

“Mel, where are you from?”

Lily looked at Mel, her emotions returning to normal.

She shouldn’t push her pain onto others, especially since Mel had done nothing wrong.

“I don’t know. I forgot.”

Mel Carlo shook his head.

He couldn’t say, and wouldn’t say.

Otherwise, the Church would burn him at the stake as a demon.

His soul didn’t belong to this world.

This world was a lot like the game, but not exactly.

Mel had lost count of how many times he’d thought that.

“Alright, let’s go buy paper and pens first. When we get back, we can study writing together.”

Mel Carlo changed the topic.

These kids weren’t born orphans.

They’d had families once.

They just died.

The three found a shop selling books and went in.

When the shopkeeper saw three poorly dressed children enter, his face soured.

In his mind, such brats were always dirt poor, couldn’t afford books or anything else, and only wasted his time.

“If you’re here to beg, get out! Don’t dirty my books—you can’t pay for them!”

A curly-haired man shouted at the three with a sharp voice.

Mel raised his eyebrow, but didn’t leave.

He put on a polite expression.

“Hello, sir, I’m here to buy paper and pens.”

“Do you know how expensive paper and pens are?”

“Name your price. I’ll see if I can afford it.”

If he emptied the money from the stolen wallet, he could definitely buy it.

He had 83 Oren left for himself.

But the risk of buying in a fixed shop was a bit high.

“A Feather Pen and this Notebook, two silver coins total. I can throw in some paper for free, if you can afford it.”

The curly-haired man’s attitude softened a bit, but he still eyed them warily.

“Two silver coins! Why not just rob us?”

Akae was shocked.

Most days he couldn’t even get a few copper coins, and often got whipped when he returned.

That was 200 copper coins!

“Mel…”

Lily tugged Mel’s sleeve, eyes downcast, lost in thought.

“Too expensive.”

Mel said lightly and led the other two out.

He didn’t know the exact price of paper, pen, and the notebook, but the shopkeeper was clearly trying to rip off kids.

“I knew you couldn’t afford it!”

The curly-haired man spat and slammed the Bookstore door shut.

Mel Carlo glanced back.

It wasn’t like this was the only place to buy things in the city.

Truly, dog eyes looked down on people.

The three hadn’t walked far when a Carriage Merchant called out to them.

The merchant was smiling brightly, with a child about their age sitting beside him—probably his kid.

“Are you looking to buy paper and pens? I’ve got some for sale.”

“Hmm?”

Mel turned to see a carriage pulled by an Earth Dragon, stacked with goods inside.

“The price is definitely fair, though the quality might be a bit lower. Want to take a look?”

The man smiled, pulling out a stitched paper booklet—probably a Notebook.

He also took out a row of Feather Pens from a cloth bag.

“If you buy more, I’ll only charge you 35 Oren per book. For three, I can let you have them for one silver coin. Same price for the Feather Pens.”

Mel Carlo was about to say he only had 83 Oren, but looking at the merchant’s face, he wanted to ask about other cities first.

“Excuse me, are you a traveling merchant?”

Mel Carlo looked seriously at the smiling man.

If he wasn’t a local, buying from him would be much safer.

He could also think about how to leave the city and get to Oak City.

Oak City was far from the imperial capital—walking was impossible.

“Yes, I also sell other goods. It’s absolutely safe to buy from me. But at your age, you probably don’t need those kinds of products.”

The man smiled with narrowed eyes.