Following Rhett's steps, Shen and the others ascended to the second floor, where a catchy door came into their sight. The owner of the shop pushed the door open. Two men who seem to be guarding the inside of the room took all of Rhett's clothes, Natasha and Lily covered their eyes. The two men changed the clothes into what nobles wear.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself," said Rhett, gently bowing. "I am Rhett Von Loir, of the Loir lineage. Don't ask my age." He sat down in his fluffy chair and pleasingly offered the empty seats.
Shen did the three kid's introduction. "This cute cheek puff girl here is Lily." Rhett notices her physical features that resemble that of a dwarf. He didn't confirm his hunch and stays silent. "This one tough-looking boy here is Newt." Rhett was looking, not at Newt's face but at something hanging on his waist, the sword of the hero, Aegeus. "Last but not the least, a weird kid who acts maturely, Fritz it is!"
'That kinda pisses me off.' Fritz thought.
Scanning the kid, finding something to remark, Rhett sharpened his senses. 'He is...'
The old man didn't really want to voice out his thoughts but, seeing Fritz, he eventually decided to do so.
"A dwarf girl with a puffy cheek, an aspiring young hero, and a weird kid who acts maturely. Where did you even find them, Shen?" The owner offered a smoke to Shen in which the latter rejected.
"I quit a long time ago."
"Oh, I remember." Rhett chuckles.
"Them? I found these kids at the heart of a forest when Natasha and I went out to take some breather." Shen explained.
'A breather, you say, eh? By the way, where are those two men who changed the old man's clothes?!'
Baffled at what Shen said, Rhett pressed into the conversation even more. "The forest? What are they doing at the heart of a forest? Playing house?" He laughed sarcastically.
Even if they don't find it funny, Shen and Natasha had to force a laugh, or they must be thinking how foolish of him to joke like that.
"They said they came out of a dungeon. That dungeon was actually the dwarves' home. Orcs invaded their place and slaughtered all of the dwarfs. Lily's all that's left."
Rhett sympathizes with her and apologizes for pressing into the matter. Lily accepted his apology and, says that it was fine.
"Moving on to the main topic," Rhett changed the topic. That much information given to him was fine. "Actually, it's my first time buying a rainbow horn though I've seen it several times in the past." He cleared his throat and continued. "Severing the rainbow horn from the skull, it will cost about," Rhett sums it up inside his head. "About a hundred Plata." (Plata is not a common use Filipino word for silver. We use PILAK instead of PLATA, which is more known. Plata basically means silver. I just wanted to apply Filipino words and culture into my novel for my readers to learn some things about us Filipinos.)
"How much is a hundred Plata?" Fritz asked Shen since the latter's been accustomed to the other world and knowledgeable.
"Hmm, I think, 1 Plata equivalents to 1 dollar." The kid nodded.
"He really acts and talks maturely! Is he an Outsider too?"
"Yep," Shen confirmed.
"Oh, cruel world! Casting a kid to another world where horrible things happen! Have mercy on him! Going back to our main topic."
'Seriously, what is wrong with this old man?!'
Placed atop a small table, the rainbow horn was scanned once again by Rhett. "Beautiful," he said as he gently let his fingers ran from the skull all the way to the pointy tip of the horn. "I'd give the kids ten grand for the rainbow horn. Fifty for the skull and one hundred for the eyeballs and brain. A total of 10,150 Plata. That's a lot of money."
"T-ten thousand and hundred and fifty?! Old man Rhett is the rainbow horn that expensive. I've heard about it but, I didn't know that it would fetch that much!"
Dumbfounded at how much the horn costs, Shen and Natasha found it unbelievable. "What actually is the use of this rainbow horn?"
"What's this for, you asked? Alchemists use them as an ingredient for increasing oneself's mana core. It is for cultivation." Unlike Fritz, whose mana core improves just by leveling up and doing Rebirths, people from this world need to cultivate their inner core and expand their source of energy. "Also, this rainbow horn can be used as an alternative for metal. This means this horn can also be smelted and turned into a sword or knife."
In the past, a nameless merchant accidentally encountered a minotaur that has a rainbow horn. Escorted by several adventurers, guarding him to prevent thieves and bandits from taking away all of his goods, the merchant's escort was successful in killing the minotaur. Enthralled by the colorful horn, the merchant finds out that the horn has metal substances to it. He eventually had a blacksmith turn the horn into a weapon which was passed on as an heirloom.
Fritz closes the deal with the said amount. Rhett ordered his men to get the Plata and, after that, he paid the exact said amount, no more, no less.
'Even with money, he's tight. He didn't even compensate the couple.'
The three kids were given the luxury of taking a look around Rhett's greatest collections.
"Let your eyes feast upon my oh-so-called greatest collections!"
Behind the red curtains lies Rhett's countless different collections from swords, spears, armors, potions, art pieces, craftily made decorations, and many more.
It was truly astounding and dazzling every time Shen and Natasha see it. However, it wasn't the same for Newt and Fritz, who saw Demiurgus' otherworldly collections. Much more fun and amazing to discover.
"Demiurgus' collections are much more fascinating," Newt said honestly.
"Hah?! What did you say, kid?! Wait, where have I heard that name again?" Rhett was lost in his thoughts. "Hmph, can't remember. Anyway, if you're not interested then bye. Our conversation ends here." He escorted them back to the gloomy shop of his. "It was nice having business with all of you." They see him off his shop, waving his hands, especially to Natasha.
"It's almost lunchtime. Why don't we find something delicious to eat?"
"I know a place that serves the best food."
***
After eating lunch, Fritz and Shen decided to part ways.
"Where are the three of you going now?"
At first, Fritz doesn't have a particular place he wanted to go before meeting Shen. But now, "I will be going to this body's hometown, the place where I first got into this body."
Newt and Lily were a few meters away from them, for Natasha has been keeping them accompanied.
"Then, I guess this is goodbye for now. We will be seeing each other again."
"Yeah, we will, in five years."
Shen didn't expect the last two words of Fritz. "Five years? I thought the messenger didn't know when will 'it' happen."
"I have a different source."
[2,627,998 hours left before you've been damned to hell.]
"Well then, see you in five years."
"Yeah."
Shen waved at Natasha, motioning to her that it was time to go. Fritz, holding a pouch with Plata inside it, grabbed Shen's hand and gave the pouch.
"I don't think if a hundred and fifty is enough."
"We don't really use that much money. We have what we need in our garden."
"Fritz," Lily called. "Let's go. e still have a long way to go."
"Okay!" He shouted. "Bye!" He waved his hand as his back slowly fades away from the couple's eyes.
~