To avoid drawing attention, the two of them specifically went to a general store in a corner of the town first, spending dozens of copper coins to buy two cheap coarse cloth cloaks that could cover their entire bodies.
Kent Town's pawnshop was located in a remote and dark alley.
A pair of scales symbolizing "fairness" was painted on the sign, but not only were these scales severely tilted, they were also covered in a thick layer of bird droppings.
"Creak—"
Leo pulled his hood lower, concealing most of his face, and pushed open the wooden door that looked like it might fall apart at any second.
The inside of the shop was dimly lit, and the shelves were piled with various items of dubious origin, ranging from rusted armor to chipped porcelain.
Behind the counter, a fox demi-human owner with two furry pointed ears and a handlebar mustache was wiping a monocle with a dirty piece of velvet.
"Two guests, looking to pawn something?"
Hearing the movement, the fox demi-human owner looked up.
Those darting, small brown eyes quickly swept over the two figures who were deliberately concealing themselves, looking through the reflection of the monocle.
His gaze was incredibly sharp.
Despite the concealment of the cloaks, the two of them had physiques that clearly weren't accustomed to manual labor, a deliberate sense of distance between them, and Lucrezia's stature, which was far too petite even under the cloak...
Every detail told him: these were two fat sheep.
Heh, looks like another pair of greenhorn fallen nobles fleeing from the west.
The fox demi-human owner's mental abacus clicked rapidly, but his face was instantly covered in a warm smile, his handlebar mustache curling up smugly.
"Please, please, come in! This shop offers fair prices for everyone. What treasures do you have for me to look at?"
Leo didn't waste words.
He fished the mithril earring out of his robes, wrapped in a handkerchief and inlaid with a mana shard, and placed it gently on the counter.
"Ting."
A crisp, pleasant sound.
The smile on the fox demi-human owner's face froze slightly.
He hurriedly put on his monocle, cautiously pinched the earring, and brought it close to the oil lamp for a careful examination.
Under the dim yellow light, the mithril shimmered with a water-like silver glow, and the small but pure mana shard reflected a charming color.
His furry pointed ears even twitched twice from excited nervousness.
A mithril base, a mana shard inlay... this craftsmanship was definitely the work of a royal workshop!
The fox demi-human owner's heart pounded wildly.
But in the next second, the expression on his face collapsed instantly, as if he had seen something extremely disappointing; his acting was of Academy Award-winning caliber.
"Sigh..."
He let out a heavy sigh and tossed the earring back onto the counter with a look of regret, letting it land with a soft 'thud'.
"I thought it was some rare item; you gave me a scare. It turns out... it's just a high-quality imitation."
"You—!!"
Lucrezia's fur stood on end the moment she heard that.
Just as she was about to step forward to argue, Leo grabbed her wrist.
This subconscious movement was fully noted by the fox demi-human owner.
Yo, she really is an impatient little girl. Definitely a greenhorn.
A flash of greed vanished in the depths of the fox demi-human owner's eyes, and the look of regret on his face deepened:
"What a shame. This workmanship is almost good enough to pass for the real thing. It's only because you ran into an expert like me; if it were anyone else, they might have actually been fooled."
"Oh?"
Leo's voice came from under his hood, calm and without a ripple, as if he didn't care at all about whether it was real or fake:
"Then how much is it worth?"
"Oh! My dear fellow, you know, as an imitation..."
The fox demi-human owner stroked his pointed chin as if making a difficult, loss-making decision, and tentatively held up seven fingers:
"Maybe... seven silver coins? Oh no, seeing as you've come from afar, I'll make a friend—nine silver coins! I really can't give any more!"
As he spoke, he used the corner of his eye to stare intently at the shadows under Leo's hood, trying to glean more information from any trace of the other's reaction.
Nine silver coins.
That wasn't even enough for the material cost of the mithril itself.
This wasn't just lowballing; it was blatant robbery.
Ho! You really have some nerve!
Leo sneered in his heart.
This old geezer was betting on the fact that this was the only shop in town, and seeing them hiding their identities, he dared to manipulate them so brazenly.
It seemed he needed to use some methods...
"Tsk! You old geezer who doesn't know what's good for him! Keep talking nonsense and I'll tear your shack down!"
Leo seemed to have completely lost his patience, suddenly taking a step forward with a violent posture as if ready to flip the table at any moment.
"I'm in a hurry, I don't have time to play house with you here!"
Before his voice had even faded, he had already raised his hand, fingers curved like a claw.
"Zzzt..."
Violent, pale blue Arcane electrical arcs gathered and danced frantically at his fingertips, emitting a tooth-aching 'crackling' sound. The piercing blue light looked particularly menacing in the dim shop.
"A mage?!"
The fox demi-human owner was startled by that pure and dangerous fluctuation of magic, instinctively backing up half a step, the fake smile on his face instantly becoming stiff.
But he didn't seem to take it too seriously; there was just an extra hint of caution and calculation in his eyes.
Threatening me? Heh, even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake.
These two are hiding their faces; they're clearly people who can't see the light of day. They definitely wouldn't dare to actually make a move in the town.
However...
His gaze swept over Leo's young hands.
He didn't look old. If he really was a hotheaded brat, it would be quite unlucky if he blew up the shop here.
Better to change tactics...
"Oh my! Alright, alright! Respected mage, don't be like that! There's no need for such a temper!"
The fox demi-human owner raised his hands exaggeratedly in a gesture of surrender, but his tone carried a hint of a fearless threat:
"There's no need for us to make a scene. If the city guard is drawn here... it won't be good for anyone, wouldn't you say? After all... inspections have been very strict lately."
He wasn't so much begging for mercy as he was reminding Leo—this is Kent Town, my territory, and you are a rat who can't see the light.
The fox demi-human owner put on that philistine smile again, his small eyes narrowing into slits, glinting with shrewdness:
"How about this? I'll take a loss to make a friend. Three gold coins, how does that sound?"
Seeing Leo remain silent while the electrical arcs still danced on his fingertips, he immediately added:
"Hey, you know the west hasn't been peaceful lately. This 'imitation' of yours... its origin is probably a bit too hot to handle, isn't it? In this town, only my shop dares to take such goods, and only I can give you this price."
He was poking at their sore spots, both overtly and covertly: You're refugees, you have no other sales channels, you need to sell quickly, and you're carrying trouble.
"We aren't afraid of trouble, but we have to eat too, don't we? Three gold coins is enough for a commoner family's expenses for a whole year!"
Before coming, Lucrezia had confidently estimated that this earring would be worth at least ten gold coins in a legitimate trade house.
The electrical arcs on Leo's fingertips slowly died out.
He remained silent under his hood for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.
"Six."
Leo stated a number.
"Deal!"
As soon as the word left his mouth, the fox demi-human owner slapped the counter without the slightest hesitation. His promptness was as if he was terrified Leo would change his mind.
He nimbly pulled a pre-prepared, heavy coin pouch from under the counter and tossed it accurately to Leo.
"Six gold coins, not one more, not one less. Check it yourself!"
This suspiciously quick agreement made Leo instantly realize that he had still been severely fleeced.
This price probably hadn't even touched the other's psychological floor.
Tsk, I'm still a bit green.
Leo mocked himself in his heart.
But on second thought, the situation was stronger than the person. To be able to get six gold coins was already enough for them to handle their current predicament.
The longer they lingered in this hellhole, the greater the risk.
Think of it as paying a 'toll'.
Leo opened the pouch, glanced at it by the light of the oil lamp to confirm everything was correct, and then said no more, pulling Lucrezia along as he turned to leave.
"Safe travels, you two! You're welcome back any time!"
The smile on the fox demi-human owner's face was brilliant to the extreme. He cheerily and extremely subserviently saw them to the door, as if the unscrupulous merchant who had just tried to lowball them wasn't him at all.
"Creak—"
The wooden door closed, cutting off the light from the alley.
In that instant, the smile on the fox demi-human owner's face vanished like a mask being swapped.
In those small brown eyes, only cold greed and calculation remained.
He turned around and made a subtle gesture toward the deepest shadow in the back of the shop, his voice cold:
"Go, tell the First Young Master. We have fat sheep."
Rate on N.U.
