It was Smart who broke the awkward silence at the dinner table.
"I'm hungry! I'm hungry!"
Seeing Luck's mother taking a piece of cucumber and attaching it to the wires of the bird's cage, Black lay on his back and started to whine by showing his stomach.
"These two animals are very smart... Unlike some people..."
Luck: (¬_¬)
I won't die like this, Mum! Throw a missile!
His mother, who was busy feeding Black on the floor, suddenly asked.
"Are you coming to work today?"
Thinking about what he had to do in Gliese, Luck said, "I can come in the evening... I have other things to do in the morning."
Although his mother grumbled and said nothing, Luck was aware that his mother was not pleased.
"Mummy, with you and Alfred in charge, I'm sure I have nothing to worry about!"
His mother squinted her eyes and turned to Luck "Alfred?"
Luck froze for a moment, not realizing what he had done wrong.
"Yes, Alfred? You know, the bloke who was my manager..."
His mother's eyes were like fire. "You don't even know the names of your employees! What kind of a boss are you going to be? Albert, not Alfred! Albert Mavric!"
...
"Does it make a difference mum...Alfred or Albert...very similar..."
His mother was about to take the slipper off her foot and get up from the table when Luck, foreseeing what his mother would do, quickly got up from the breakfast table, grabbed the bag he had prepared, and left the door of the house.
"See you tonight mum! Say hi to Alfred for me!"
"LUCK! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" His mother stomped her foot in anger as she watched Luck run out of the house.
...
When Luck arrived in Gliese, he was very careful this time as he walked out of his room.
He didn't want to scare someone again and knock them unconscious with his fist!
"Mr Luck, welcome."
As soon as Luck stepped out of his room he was greeted by a servant waiting by the door.
"The guild shame has been expecting you this way..." The servant started walking without waiting for Luck's reply.
"You were waiting for me here..."
The maid continued walking without even answering
"... anyway..."
Nikolai was discussing something over a map with a few subordinates when a servant knocked on a door and entered.
"We need to strengthen the fortifications, guildmaster... Our current fortifications cannot withstand the star beast attacks..."
"Yes, Guildmaster, perhaps we should dig a moat outside the walls.
...
Listening to the suggestions of his subordinates, Nikolay nodded his head "Start collecting star beast bones to strengthen the walls... As for the moat issue, I don't want to spoil the surroundings of the settlement, we can start digging a moat after 2 months."
Realizing that Luck had entered, Nikolay picked up the map in front of him and started walking toward Luck with open arms.
"Luck! Welcome, I've been waiting for you!"
Luck hadn't expected Nikolai to welcome him so well... but such fawning expressions were all too familiar to him...
Luck squinted his eyes and asked suspiciously.
"You must want something to treat me like this... tell me what do you want from me?"
Throwing his arm around Luck's shoulder, Nikolai smiled and said, "I'm just happy to have such a valuable guest as you! Hahahah!"
Luck's feathers shivered at the compliment!
Just like I fawned over my mum! I'm sure she wants something from me!
Meanwhile, Nikolai came to the marketplace of the compound and bought all kinds of fruits and vegetables for Luck and kept complimenting him.
Overwhelmed by the compliments, Luck was convinced that Nikolay was just like him!
Someone who knows how to suck up to people to get what he wants!
But damn it! You're a starfighter with 5-star power! Have some backbone, man!
Realizing that Luck was getting bored despite all his compliments, Nikolai decided to play his last trump card.
"Look, there's an artifact shop here! Would you like to have a look?"
This time there was curiosity in Luck's eyes.
Artifacts... he had never seen artifacts before... he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious.
Nikolai, noticing the curiosity in Luck's eyes, smiled
Now I've got you!
Pulling Luck into the artifact shop, Nikolai said, "Come on, let's go in the shop! Let me know if you like anything!"
When they entered the shop, various artifacts behind the glass shelves caught Luck's eyes.
The shopkeeper smiled broadly as he noticed the person entering his shop.
"Welcome!"
Nikolai patted Luck on the back and said, "Welcome, Tete, this is our friend Luck! He is curious about historical artifacts! How about showing him some artifacts?"
Tete didn't dare to be slow when he realized that one of the two people entering the shop was the settlement master.
"I'll bring the artifacts right away, settlement master!"
While Luck and Nikolai were looking at the artifacts inside the shop, Tete came back with a chest.
"I've brought some rare artifacts! I hope you'll be interested!"
Luck began to examine the artifacts with curious eyes as the shopkeeper took them out one by one and began to explain them.
The first artifact Tete took out of the chest was a ring.
"It's called a Guardian Angel! It can protect you from an attack by a star monster with 6-star power! And it's only 2000 gold pieces for you!"
Tete looked hopefully at Nikolai and Luck.
Luck: (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)
2000 gold! And it's special for us? How much gold is it normally? 2500?
When Nikolai saw the reluctant look on Luck's face, he said, "Let's look at the other artifacts, and if there's anything that interests us, we'll let you know."
Tete started to take out the other artifacts from the chest.
"All right..."
"This artifact is called the Flame Devil's knife! It can easily cut through the shell of the rhinoceros beetle, known for the hardness of its shell!"
NIkolay : ( ͝סּ ʖ͡סּ)
Rhinoceros beetle... Luck killed him yesterday! Why does he need this knife?
"This necklace can store star power..."
"These shoes increase running speed...."
"This earring...."
...
Although Tete had finished introducing all the artifacts he had taken out of the chest, he had received no reaction from either Luck or Nikolai.
"Luck...is there anything that interests you?"
Turning to Nikolay, Luck seemed numb.
So what if I like it? The cheapest thing among those artifacts is 2000 gold pieces! How dare I buy one of them!
"They're all beautiful things... But..."
Nikolay asked, raising his eyebrows.
"But what?"
"These are very expensive... Isn't there anything cheaper?"
Tete: ヽ༼⊙_⊙༽ﾉ
Tete locked eyes with Nikolai for a moment.
When I heard you asked me to show that man some artifacts, I thought he was rich! If he had no money, why didn't you warn me, man? Look at the cheap stuff in the window!
No matter what Tete thought in his heart, Tete did not dare to say what he was thinking to Nikolai's face.
"Then how about I introduce you to the artifacts in the window?"
Luck nodded, "Yes, please."
Tete began to introduce the goods in the showcase one by one.
"This whistle is called a wild scream. It disturbs and scares away star monsters with 3 stars or less power."
"This ring is called the Spark. It can create fire with 1-star power... adventurers without flame power use it when camping."
"This is called the jester's mask... It changes the shape of the face.
"This is called the pervert's cloak...it can make you invisible....and I think you can see why it's called the pervert's cloak..."
...
Waiting for Tete to introduce this and other "useless" artifacts, Nikolai sighed in distress.
It looks like I'll have to give away some of my own 'artifacts' just to curry Luck's favor...
"Luck never mind the artifacts here...let's go and see the artifacts in my warehouse..."
Hello, this is the author! What do you think about the story? Waiting for your comments...
By the way, I have to say that I'm thinking of writing another book...maybe I should write about something more popular, like a system or a game, so the publication interval of this book might be a bit longer, like 3 chapters per week.