POV: Daniel
It's been a few days since we left Trader House, and the reason we left is still unknown to me.
When I woke up the next day, he was already gone, and Merry told me that he had something urgent to do, and left.
I thought that would be the best moment to explore his base and look for hidden chests, but Merry was very persistent on us leaving as soon as possible.
I think those two have some kind of relationship and they don't trust me enough to let me in their little group.
But that wasn't a problem, since I knew the location of the base and I could come back anytime I wanted.
We traveled for a day and arrived at a village that was 'managed' by Trader, and was a lot bigger than I expected.
It was closer to a town than a village and it even had an iron golem as a guard.
The villagers were very welcoming and gave us a house without any questions.
Trader was lucky to meet such nice villagers, first thing he came to this world.
Speaking of trading, I've done my part of the mission even If I died. Do I still get the special trade?
Just as I was thinking that, a tab appeared in front of my eyes, making me raise an eyebrow.
On the tab, there was only a single trade, and it required me to pay 10 blocks of diamond, gold, and iron for an unknown item.
But I could guess what the item was from the shape of the Shadow and because I made a deal with the System.
Nevertheless, the price was too much for me at the moment, so I'll have to put this for later.
Just as I was about to start trading with the Viligers to get my armor back, a group of rough-looking Viligers came looking for us.
"Oh! Hero Merry, did sir Trader come as well?"
"Unfortunately no, he had some work to do and couldn't come. But if you have a message for him, I could pass it next time we meet."
"Ahh, there's no need to worry miss, we only wanted to give our mine taxes, since they started to gather. But I guess we could put a few more chests besides."
So Trader was taxing the villagers in here.
It was an ingenious plan if you think about it.
Since you can't make iron farms with them, this would be the second-best thing.
But if they need to put extra storage, that means they have a lot of ores just sitting in a chest.
And didn't I die because Trader did something stupid?
Shouldn't I be compensated for all the items that I lost in that fight?
I mean he is such a rude person not giving his juniors some iron armor to get here safely, he just abandoned us in the middle of the night.
"Hey Merry, this place looks very fun, I think I'll explore around for a while."
"Hmm? Ok, just don't accidentally hurt anyone since the Iron Golem would punish you."
Ohh, I know that already, I'm not a beginner to make such mistake.
So for the next half an hour, I asked around the village where the mine was and what other facilities Trader had in this village.
From what I was told, he didn't have a house in here, the only place that was remotely his, was a hole underground that was usually left alone under the orders of the village chief.
And the mine was a little further away from it.
How lucky of me.
Since Traders hole was in a remote part of the village, I was able to sneak inside without anyone seeing me.
And once I was inside, I was a little disappointed at what I saw.
Sure, the place had a few chests here and there with some valuable items, but everything was made with stone and dirt, which was a vast difference from his main base.
I explored some more and found a Nether portal, which looked much different than what I saw in the game.
Once I tried to pass the obsidian frame, I was hit by a wave of heat like I was in a sauna.
Not expecting that, I quickly went back to the Overworld and looked at the portal with different eyes.
"I need to make some preparations next time I'll visit the Nether."
After exploring the hole some more and not finding anything new, I decided to take what was valuable and went to visit the mines.
From what the Villagers told me, the mine wasn't guarded by anyone since the ones who used it were the miners.
And when I arrived at the beautifully decorated mineshaft I was proven right.
It took a lot longer to find the common room in the mine than it was to explore Traders tunnels, but when I found it, I didn't regret spending that time looking for it.
There, I saw a double chest filled with iron, copper, gold, and diamonds!
I can't believe they payed him so well.
I wonder how long has this been staying here to get this full?
But now I had a problem.
The villagers knew the chest was filled with those ores, so if I took a few stacks, they would notice it.
Then an idea comes to mind.
I looked around to get some wood and made a few chests.
Then I placed them next to each other.
Once that was done, I took all the ores from the previous chest and split everything into their categories.
From the iron chest to the diamond chest.
Of course, since everything was split now, I could take a few stacks and nobody would even know unless they memorized the exact number of ores.
And even if they did, it's not like they would suspect me.
I just got here, and I don't plan to stay for long.
Now I was richer than ever before, but had a new problem.
"Why can't I make the diamond blocks!"
Who would've thought that I had to be level 7 in the crafting skill for me to make a diamond blocks?
With my level not even gold is an option.
How am I supposed to buy the mystery Totem, if I can't make the blocks?
Ugh, I have to look for someone with level 7 in Crafting now, and who knows how much I have to pay for it as well.
What a pain.
Maybe Merry is high-level enough to do this?
I should ask her next time we meet.
Worst case scenario I'll visit a few cities so I won't get any suspicious people on my back.
With the perfect crime done, I left the mines and tried to appear in front of many villagers so I would have an alibi in case things go bad.
I talked with them, traded, and even told stories from my adventures.
We stayed in this village for 2 days, and nobody seemed to realize the missing items.
After we rested and got some good equipment, we continued our journey to the capital.
There, I got the chance to get my special Totem.
----
"Wow, the capital looks amazing."
"I know right? And this is not even the palace, they live in a separate area but are very connected. Do you want to visit the castle first or visit the city and explore it? Either way is fine since nobody expects us."
The walls of the city looked impressive, and it was hard to believe that it was made by mere villagers, truly a fascinating sight to behold.
But I wanted to get the totem as fast as possible, and Merry told me that there's someone who can help me at the castle, so that's why we'll go there first.
"I think we'll visit the castle first. I'm sure you want to visit your friends in there."
She seemed to be saddened by my choice, did I make a mistake?
We arrived at the castle, and as promised it was an amazing sight.
The walls were tall, the guards were looking seriously from all over the place and the garden was blooming with its beautiful flowers.
That was until a man came screaming towards us with a few panicked guards behind.
"My love, you're finally back! I haven't seen you in months, I thought you abandoned me for the dry deserts."
The well-dressed villager came running towards Merry with open arms ready to hug her, only to be stopped by a shield in his face, making his huge noise even bigger.
"Second Prince, I told you to leave me alone, otherwise I would truly leave this Kindome because of you!"
What an amusing sight to see, they must have a story behind it and I couldn't stop smiling with how funny the situation looked.
The guards arrived and dragged the depressed Prince while apologizing to us.
I could guess why her expression was so sad when I chose to come here.
We walked further into the castle until we arrived at a huge room where a dozen well-equipped guards were surrounding us, and in the middle stood a throne with the king on top.
"Hero Merry, I'm happy to see you back, did Sir Trader come as well?"
Trader was more respected than I anticipated, I wonder what he did to get this popular?
"No, Your Majesty, Trader couldn't come with us today. But he promised he'll participate at the wedding next month."
Suddenly everyone let out a sigh of relief, like they just heard that their abusive parent won't be coming home today.
What did Trader do to get this kind of reputation?!
"Hey Merry, why are they acting like this?"
I whispered.
"Well...Trader may have threatened the royal family to control their army and may had blown up a bomb in they're back yard to save his friend."
Man, Trader is another level of the bad guy, why isn't he hunted by the kingdom then?
"Is that why he doesn't like to show his face and hides behind the armor?"
"Yes and no. While he is reckless he usually solves most of the problems and gives something back and more, making people confused if they should hate him or love him. That's why most of them end up being afraid of him since whenever he comes, a disaster follows."
That man managed to traumatize the whole Kindome in two years.
That's an amazing achievement, to say the least.
As I was thinking about this, Merry told the king my story, how I was another hero sent by the System and how the Zombie Lord was killed while the Shadow Lords warehouse was unknown.
The king was happy to hear such good news and was ready to throw a party to celebrate the end of one calamity that terorized the kingdom for so long.
Seeing the man in such a good mood, I decided to take this opportunity and ask for someone who can craft with diamonds.
Merry was surprised by the sudden request, but the king was happy to let me borrow their craftsmen.
With a smile on my face, I met the villager in question and gave him the smelted ores I had.
He was impressed by my riches, but didn't question where I got them from.
Soon I had all the necessary blocks to purchase the totem, and when I made the trade a huge light apered in my hand that took the form of the totem.
Once the light went off, I could finally see the awaited item, but it was a little difrent then what I expected.
"Why is it purple?"
It had the same shape as in the game, with the exption of the colour.
Suddenly a note appeared in the air, and on it where written some instructions.
When I read it, I was impressed by what I had in my hand.
If this totem is broken, it would telport me to a set location, and if I want to repair it I had to pay the same price as I did to summon it.
And if I wanted to get a new totem, it would have another unknown effect that could be better or worse.
But I could never have more then one special totem at a time.
"As I expected, whenever the System gives something, it's always amazing."