With this newly gained wealth, Kai went to meet up with Fred and discuss his next steps. Doing missions like this was fine to gain a bit of money, however, it was not nearly enough to help Kai 'officially' purchase all the spells he needed, and especially not enough for Kai to purchase the potions he required.
For a moment, Kai had even been tempted into just selling the Santok Meditation Technique which Yu had created and used with the help of the system, or simply beginning to practice it himself. Unfortunately, there was this fear he felt whenever he thought of introducing the meditation method either into his body or into the sect; that he would be caught by the higher-ups and would have to reveal the secrets he possessed.
Kai chatted with Fred while they ate lunch and finally came up with a plan. He would borrow money from Fred, who was willing to give him half of what he had as a loan. Of course, he would have to pay an interest, and Kai did not mind doing that, since his plan might just work out to be rather successful if it worked out.
Of course, he would only do this later on. For now, he would accept more missions. This one too, was an investigation mission, and Kai set out immediately. He himself currently owned 250 mana crystals, and Fred was willing to give him around 100 mana crystals. This however still meant that he was lacking another 150 mana crystals. For this, his second mission would suffice, as it would allow him to gain another 200 mana crystals, enough for him to make the purchase.
With this money, he would be able to get the Merman Scale Potion recipe for 500 mana crystals. With this recipe, and his remaining funds to purchase raw materials, Kai would be able to produce at least 25 Merman Scale Potions or higher depending on the prices of the raw materials. However, with this, he would definitely be able to earn back his money by selling them.
If nothing else, he would be able to consume them all himself, until he reached the amount of Spiritual Energy required for the spells he wanted to learn.
Therefore, this path was one of the only benefits to him. Instead of wasting any time lingering around, Kai immediately set out to investigate the strange occurrence in a village, much smaller than the town he had previously investigated.
However, unlike before, this time Kai was to investigate the disappearance of the villagers' young children, which had been occurring for quite some time now. Normally, this might be overlooked by the Bluestone Sect as children run away from home. However, this same thing repeating once every 2 months on the same day, one child disappearing without a single trace, and over 20 children having gone missing by now was something they definitely could not overlook.
Therefore, a mission was set up, and considering that it was within the 'safe' territory of the Bluestone sect itself, the mission was set up for disciples who had not learned a spell as of yet, whether the reason for that being bullying within the sect or just simply lack of resources. The Sect, after all, did not care much for such things. All they wanted was that the strongest disciples to reach higher Ranks as a mage, and thus be able to support the Bluestone Sect itself.
…
Kai took another carriage and had already set off. This time, unlike the previous time, his journey was long and arduous as the seasons changed and brought in the wet monsoon. The seasons in this world were slightly different compared to the ones he had read in the books on Earth. Here, there was a warm summer at the beginning of the year; which led to a pleasant spring. However, the weather turned considerably hotter right after for a week or two.
That had been the weather back when Kai had just left the Bluestone sect, an unbearable heat had permeated the entire Sect.
Just two weeks into the journey and the weather took a 360-degree turn and became a tropical monsoon, despite the area of the Bluestone Sect not bordering any large body of water. And based on his predictions of taking around a week to solve the missing children mystery, Kai assumed he would be able to return to the Sect just before the first snow of the year.
…
"Mother! Looks, it's the blood devil! Will he come to-" Before the child could say anything about the hooded figure with a small stature, his mother closed his mouth with her hand, and scurried away rapidly, dragging the poor child along with her.
Kai, who had just entered the village, was baffled since this was the very first thing he was subjected to the moment he entered.
However, he did not let it show on his face as he indifferently walked into the village and straight for the hunter's cabin, which he assumed was the only place in the entire village where weapons and someone with actual combat… or at least some other combat-related skills would live.
Unlike the town before which had guards and walls, and a sophisticated system of economy, this village had almost nothing. Just houses made from wood they themselves had cut down, and food produced by each other. To get these items, one would generally use a barter system, exchanging one item you might not need at the moment for something you do, wishing someone who needs the aforementioned item.
Therefore, finding something like a bar here was unlikely.
"And how might I help you, little fellow?" A coarse voice entered Kai's ears from inside the wooden cabin, even before he could knock on the door.
"I have some questions to ask you," Kai answered truthfully.
"Regarding what?"
"Disappearing children."
"…Go and ask the Chief. Why are you bothering me?" Of course, he was not wrong. Kai could have easily gone to the chief to begin his investigation since a village chief was of a much lower standing than the chief of a town, and more easily accessible to Kai.
"I don't want to. For all I know, he might be the very reason for the disappearances."
"Ha! And what if I am the reason for the disappearances? What are you going to do about it?"