" Oh shit! Could you stop foreseeing my death for 7 days sis (system)? I never asked for anything, "I grumbled at the system.
[Unfortunately I do not have control over the missions that appear. I'm so sorry. (¯ ヮ ¯) ┌.]
"... Thanks for the part that touches me." I replied to the system. "Seriously if one day the person who gave me this system appears in front of me I do not answer for my actions."
I passed through the gates without minor problems. I decided not to wear the ring that the young men had left with me, after all it could cause more problems than necessary. After checking with the guards (they had a kind of magic stone that allowed me to know if the person had a criminal record) and pay for 25 copper coins (10 mine, 10 Yue and 5 Yue domestication necklace), which I had obtained selling some of the herbs and skins I had in inventory in a nearby village, I finally went into Extalia. My first impression of the city was .... Well ..... An unexpected expected. The street that I was walking, undoubtly the main street, was super busy. People and carriages walked the streets (paved roads), merchants called customers, children ran and played, the city itself gave a clean look where the sun beat, even if the place was not exclusive and rich people. But where there is sun there will always be shadows and it was these shadows that worried me. Ever since I stepped foot on the main pavement I could feel millions of hidden eyes watching me. It was an unpleasant sensation and, ignoring the situation as well as possible, I hurried to the two buildings that interested me: The great guild and the pharmacy.
The great guild was where people got jobs and could sell some quick cash materials. Basically it was like an adventure guild, people registered, could choose quests to complete, were separated by ranks, could exchange the materials they collected and received rewards. My main point was to get the guild ID card, after all with him I would not have to pay to enter the cities and Yue would be registered as my animal. The process was swift and the attendant was kind to me explaining how the guild worked and even giving me directions of where to sleep and where the pharmacy I was planning to go to was. When I finished I changed some medicinal plants and some monsters that Yue and I had found and defeated in the way of coming. As they were in good condition and some plants were of reasonable rank (D-C), I got a 3 quarters of gold in return.
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Monetary explanation.
In the world of novel money is basically coins or spiritual stones. Of coins we have coins of copper, silver, 1 quarter of gold and gold. Spiritual stones we have orange, red and purple.
1 bronze coin is $2.50.
1 silver coin equals $25.
1 1-quarter gold coin equals $250.
1 gold coin equals $1000.
1 orange spiritual stone equals 10 thousand dolars
1 red spiritual stone equals 100 thousand dolars
1 purple spiritual stone equals 1 million dolars.
Taking out the ¼ gold all coins follow the pattern of 10 cheaper coins to form 1 more expensive. Example 10 Copper coins form 1 silver and so goes.
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From the guild I headed to the Sun & Moon inn and rented a room for 1 week, the facilities were clean and the price was adequate, one week left for 4 silver coins including coffee and dinner. After I rented a room, I went to the store that sells pills and medicinal potions. On the way I passed a street that had a fair selling clothes and decorations. I stopped in a tent and bought 1 pair of new clothes, the clothes were simple but of a comfortable material. Taking advantage of the goodness of the owner of the tent I changed my clothes that were already worn and torn in some parts (after all living in a forest for 1 year with 1 pair of full clothes tends to cause this to the tissues). Following my way I did not take long to find the store I was looking for, really the guild attendant (ling lin) was right about this store being easy to find. It was giant, on a large wooden-decorated plaque that was above the main doors one read "Fen Yan company." It did not take long for an attendant, who seemed to have 17-18 years to come and see me after I entered.
"Hello! What can I do for you? "The girl said with a friendly smile.
"Hello, do you buy medicine pills?" I asked
"Of course, but the transactions are carried out in private rooms, and the price of the pills vary according to the quality" the girl replied, a slight surprise passing her eyes.
"I'd like to sell some pills."
"No problem sir ... " She paused, waiting for me to give her name.
-"Xu-ze, " I said with the guild's card name. Because I did not want to use the original name of this body and... well... my name was different for this world, I decided to borrow one from the protagonist of a manga that I liked.
"Of course, sir Xu, excuse me, but I'll need to see your ID before proceeding as a security measure" she said, and I handed her my guild card. She looked through it then replied "All right, follow me, please."
I was directed to a room where there was a gentleman sitting in a chair with strange gadgets on a table. It was this person who would evaluate the quality of my pills. Without further delay I removed 3 bottles of jade (courtesy of the system) that contained 20 pills in each. A bottle contained skeletonblood pills (strengthening properties and blood with Ki), another contained riverfilling pills (owned by refilling the spiritual pool ki) and the last had firelygiseng pills (properties of keeping the person's youth, though for being rank 10 they only took effect for a maximum of 2 years, but I needed money and beauty was something that brought money). I explained the contents of the bottles to you and after you tested their ranking and purity (which caused some surprise in you) they bought the 3 bottles for 12 gold coins. I suspected the price, after all they were a lot of money for pills of rank 10, but I ended up accepting along with the indication to do business again with them. Putting my money in my inventory I leaft the store not knowing the avalanche I had caused. After all, the man who was testing the pills did not reveal during the transaction but of the 3 pills, 2 of them were unknown in the market of this city, but by the effects and the high level of purity of all they would cause a tumult when they were announced for sale, especially that of rejuvenation. But that I would only know months later.
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The next day I went to the guild to take a mission to get to know the outskirts of the city. As I was a beginner (F) rank I needed to complete 2-3 missions per week to ensure my card activity. I chosed a mission to collect a medicinal herb that I also needed for one of my refinements, with my ability to apraise togheter with Yue it would be easy to get a good amount of that plant. Miss Ling gave me a map of the area and showed me where that plant was in the forest of the south of the city. Following the directions I did not take long to arrive in the forest and we passed (I and Yue) the morning and a part of the afternoon collecting plants. Upon returning to the guild to submit my mission to Miss Ling, I was struck by how much I collected from herbs and my reward turned out to be 1 silver coin. I then decided to walk through the city along with Yue. I bought some more pairs of clothes and shoes and objects needed for the day to day. I was upset when I did not find soap to sell on the street and decided to buy the materials to make the soap myself, after all I could not held to take a shower and not feel clean.
I was walking through a region with reasonable movement while eating a skewer of meat that I had bought, when I came upon a somewhat disturbing scene. It was near a square that had a certain amount of people, curious to know what was happening since I had not seen a crowd I approached this region and wished it I had not. Apparently there was an auction in the square, thats why there were so many people in the place, but what was being auctioned was .... Well ..... Kids. What made me even more angry was that it was the children's own relatives who were auctioning them simply to pay off a debt or because they were "unnecessary." Girls and boys aged between 5-10 years were all lined up, some were crying, some were afraid, others were lifeless. At that moment I realized how impotent I was. Since I could not do anything in this situation, if I got a mess and released the children, it would not do any difference at all, after all, that did not end the root of the problem and I could not take care of the children that could end with them living in the street as thieves and struggling to live every day.
Taking a deep breath I turned and started walking away from the square when a conversation caught my ears. Apparently while I was lost in my thoughts a new auction had begun, the difference for the others was that when the children appeared parallel talks began.
"Oh it's them again ..."
"... it's been a month since they come and go ..."
".... probably they will end up in brothels or in the mines at best ...."
"... one of your former buyers got bald ..."
".... another the house caught fire ...."
".... another caught a terminal illness ..."
".... After all they are cursed ...."
So the whispers continued, the more I listened more confused i was and my pit for the two children began to grow. When the person auctioning said the first bid I was surprised by the price and the system contact me.
"Let's start with the boy, the starting price is 1 silver coin."
[Secret Activated Mission. Objective: Obtain and heal both siblings. Completion time: underthed. Note: if the host does not complete the mission there are high chances of a disaster occurring involving the children. If the host completes the mission unexpected rewards may appear].
When I heard the system I was stuck. I did not know if I could take care of the two children when I did not even have a place to call home. While I thought the person was auctioning I was still looking for someone to offer the first bid, but no one had offered any offer because the title of damned followed the children. Giving up the boy he passed it to the girl, although both were beautiful with fair skin, brown hair and blue eyes no one offered again. When the speaker would give up and move on to the next auction the brothers looked into my eyes and I could see that their eyes had an expression different from the others. Sighing, I raised my hand and said loud and clear.
"2 golden coins." When they heard my voice, they all turned to me with a surprised expression. After all not only one person had accepted the offer for the twins, but also the value had been higher than expected. Under the eyes of everyone and with Yue on the shoulders I walked towards the stage and paid the speaker of the auction the amount said. He then proceeded to give me the chain that held the two brothers and with a look of disgust I told him to release them. Being free I bent down to meet their eye level and spoke quietly.
"Hello, my name is Xu ze. What are your names?" but as an answer I received two silent, speculative glances, sighing I stretched out my hands and said "I know you do not know me and do not trust me, but if you allow me I will take you to a safe place so you can eat and rest." the boy looked at me suspiciously but the girl looked around me with a thoughtful expression and then turned to her brother and nodded slightly, then she approached me and put her hand on mine, with certain reluctance the brother did the same. Smiling slightly, I got up and walked with the two children away from that spot while everyone stared at us in amazement.
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The trip back to the inn was interesting, as the two children appeared to be hungry I bought skewers and juices for them. In a minute they both finished their food and my expression went dark.
When I arrived at the inn with the two dirty kids I asked the owner's wife (who was taking care of the property at the time) if she could get me a bathtub with water and something to clean the kids. She looked at me with a mixture of surprise and mistrust and after I briefly explained what had happened her expression softened and she promised me to prepare a bath for both to bathe and warm food for the children. After a little fight in the bath I put clothes on the children and after they dine they slept quickly. I proceeded to take a quick bath with a cloth and a bowl of water and after dinner I lay in bed together with the children and also fell asleep. In the middle of the night I felt two warm objects hug me, I opened my eyes and saw that the two little ones had approached me in their sleep, smiling lightly covered them again with the cover, I hugged them to my side and I went back to sleep.