I think my eyes are not working since I'm seeing someone wearing a coat in the middle of the desert.
But as the person got closer I saw that it wasn't alone, instead it was followed by two animals.
What I saw in front of me was a wandering trader, one of the most hated villagers in the game besides the ones without a job.
The villager saw us, and started to pick up its pace until it got closer.
Soon it was right in front of us and I could see more features about her.
She was tall, with a blue jacket beautifully decorated.
Her face was covered by a red scarf letting us see only her blue eyes.
Behind her were two lamas, one white and one brown, each decorated in their own way.
It was an unexpected sight to see.
"Hello there fellow travelers, are you perhaps looking for a trade? I have some good weres if you don't like my trading Tab."
Suddenly a trading Tab appeared in front of us, and something was different about it, all the trades were unlocked.
"Are all the trades unlocked for you as well Merry?"
"Yes, I never experienced this but the trades...."
"Are trash."
The wondering trader flinched ready to speak but stopped herself.
I could only sigh. Like in the game, there wasn't anything valuable to trade for, flowers, seeds, sea cucumbers, and packed ice.
Those could be a novelty for nobels, but I don't know if she got the chance to meet one until now.
The fact that she sell so few doesn't help.
"Sorry if I seem rude, but why do you wear your fur coat? Isn't it too hot for you?"
Merry politely asked.
"N-no, how could you say that, aren't you cold yourself I'm that blue armor?"
She crossed her arms trying to protect her coat.
Something was suspicious, but I didn't know if I should bother with it or leave it alone.
"Sorry, we don't want to trade."
"Wait! If you don't like what you see, you could buy something from my personal collection. I have some rare items such as jungle wood and-and-and Slime balls, you won't get a better deal anywhere else!"
Jungle wood is truly rare around these parts, I haven't seen one since I came to this world.
As for Slime, it's truly valuable but I don't have any use for it.
"Sorry, we're not interested."
With that, me and Merry passed the trader to continue our journey, when suddenly our hands were grabbed.
"Wait, wait! I'm going to give you a special discount, 10 jungle wood blocks for 2 emeralds, there's no better deal!"
She was surprisingly strong, and when I turned towards her I could see tears forming in her eyes.
"Trader, I'm not comfortable with seeing a woman cry, maybe we should buy something from her."
I didn't want to make her cry either, so I decided to buy some jungle wood from her and paid 4 emeralds.
Once I did that a smile appeared on her face as she profusely thanked us.
"Don't worry, but I'm curious why are you in the desert in the first place. Isn't better to trade in the Coral Kingdome."
"I, uh, may be on the run."
Her voice was getting more quieter as she spoke.
"Why are you on the run, what did you do?"
Merry was next to question.
The trader was speaking something to herself but I could only hear something related to emeralds and surviving the night.
Suddenly she lifted her head and looked at both of us.
"I-if you want to know more about me it would cost you an emerald."
Silence.
Then Merry started to laugh out loud while holding her belly.
I was amused by this situation as well.
And while I was curious about her job since it's my alias, I don't think we have enough time to listen to stories.
The wondering trader was now sulking almost crying once again, which made Merry stop laughing.
"I'm sorry, I haven't laughed so good in a long time. Unfortunately, we're pressed for time and we can't stay to hear your story."
Merry waved her hand before stopping and smiled at the trader.
"Unless you want to travel with us."
Good, she not getting distracted with side quests.
I think she's better in that regard than me.
We said goodbye and continued on our journey.
This time, Merry was the guide since only she had the soul compass.
"Wait! I-il come with you."
That took me by surprise, was she not scared of us?
I'm surprised she still wants to talk with us with my armor on, was she like Siren?
"Sure then, you can follow us, but no funny business or you'll be dead."
Didn't expect Merry to be so assertive, but I guess it makes sense since she's on the run for a reason.
We walked at a slow pace as Miss Green told us about her predicament, and I could only feel pity for her.
She's someone who grew up and survived alone in the forest.
She thought she was the only human in the world, not knowing how to speak or even how to craft.
When she turned 14 a light surrounded her and the blue coat suddenly appeared.
It was the first time she felt so good in her clothes, and on top of that, she wasn't cold anymore.
Not too far from her, two lamas appeared and she felt an instant connection with them.
Green continued her life like this until suddenly the coat disappeared, and instinctively she knew that if she wanted it back, she needed to trade.
She couldn't give up on the coat, since it was an amazing item to have in the forest.
Not only did it keep her warm in the night, but it also had the ability to keep you cool when it was hot outside.
But the best feature of the coat was that it made her almost invisible to monsters at night, making her sleep much more comfortable.
That's why she left her little hut and wandered around until she found a small village.
There she learned how to be a proper human, how to use the Crafting table, how to farm, and even how to speak.
The people there were kind and accepted her even though she was from the forest, but it all ended in one day when a businessman came to the village.
He heard from travelers that she was there, and was curious about her job.
At first, he was excited, but after realizing that it takes 2 days to reset the trade and even lose it in the process he gave up.
He was interested in the lamas since they were very obedient and beautiful, but Green was not willing to part with them.
The man got angry that he wasted his time and money and threatened to destroy this village unless they gave him the lamas.
The villagers got scared but didn't want to turn in Green to him, so they gave her some provisions and sent her on the road.
For the next 2 years, she traveled from village to village trying to earn emeralds with no luck.
On top of that, the businessman found her location and sent people to get her, making it impossible for her to stay in one place for too long.
That's why she decided to leave the kingdom, where the man's influence was not that powerful.
But there was a problem, she wasn't used to the lifestyle in the desert, making it harder for her to gain the trust of the other villagers because of her weird attire.
Slowly she was losing emeralds and her coat was going to be taken away.
That's why when she first saw us with weird armor she thought she had a better chance at trading some of her items.
And she assumed right as she got 12 emeralds by the end of her story.
"So that means you'll keep the coat for 6 more months?"
"No, I should have it for 8 since you bought some jungle wood. Thank you once again for your help."
We overpaid her a little for her stories but I wasn't sorry for this, especially after we got such a big houl from the fortress.
Alexa was still Invisible since we traveled through the Nether.
But I don't know If I should waste so many potions in the Overworld since we don't have the same problem here.
Sure, the Allay would catch some curious eyes, but it can always fly away In case of danger.
Whispering I told Alexa that we would use invisibility potions only in case of emergency.
It acknowledged the command and soon it appeared right before our eyes.
"What's that blue thing?"
"That's my pet you could say. Have you ever met another Wondering Trader before?"
"That's a cute pet you have, and no I haven't unfortunately. In all the villages I visited only the old people seem to know people like me. We're not that common after all."
Good, let's spread some misinformation then.
"I'm also a Wondering Teader and that's the animal I got as well. Her name is Alexa, and she's very curious by nature so I hope you don't mind if she gets too close. It's such a shame she CAN'T SPEEK."
I hope Alexa got the message from my tone.
"Ahh, how could I get angry at such a cute little thing? And you're also a Wandering Trader? But you have armor and so much emeralds, how did you get them?"
Good, she is not concentrated on Alexa anymore.
But now Merry was looking at me with an expression that screamed 'What are you doing?'.
"I've been a wondering trader for a while and managed to blend with the people in the big cities, there I strated to sell my coat to people, wait until it would expire and sell it to someone else."
Both of them looked at me with shock.
And I think Merry believed me there for a second.
"Th-that's so evil and genius. Can I use the same method as you?"
"Of course you can, once you have enough emeralds that way, I had to expand so I didn't have to trick people anymore."
"Wow, what else did you do?"
Then I told her a few more honest methods of making emeralds, such as renting her lamas for children to play with, selling slime balls to the Coral Kingdom or even cave exploration since monsters don't attck her at first sigh.
The more I spoke, the bigger the light was in her eyes.
"Thank you for sharing such wise methods with me fellow traveler!"
Merry then got closer to me.
"What are you doing Trader, I thought you didn't have a trading Tab. What gives?"
"I don't, I only want spread the name of the Wandering Traders some more so I can use that."
"What, How would this help?"
It seems that the coat of the wondering trader is an overpowered item, but it seems to lose its effect If its disected.
But If I manage to gather a few dozen of them I can just barrow them and give then to Alexa to analyze them.
Then, if I'm lucky I can either recreate the coat, or even bater, creat an enchantment that would work as the coat.
If I make this, it would be a revolutionary item since monster would no longer be a problem for this world.
If they would work in the Overworld, there's a high chance it would work in the Nether.
And if they work there, I could give them to my workers and they would no be in danger anymore when building the base.
At this rate the base would be finished in no time.