Chapter 13: No Peace for the Weary
Cleo stepped forward until she stood right beside Dion, looking down at the glass display case in front of them. Dion turned to face her.
"Last time we saw each other was in Minatheras two years ago, right?" Dion asked.
"That’s right. Are you here by yourself? Not with your party?" Cleo asked, turning her head toward Dion.
"Um... no... I’m not an adventurer anymore. Got fired, hahaha," Dion answered with a laugh, scratching the back of his head.
Cleo wasn’t surprised in the slightest. She simply stared at Dion with a sharp gaze and a faint smirk playing on her lips.
"Good! That means you’re unemployed right now, doesn’t it? How about you join the royal mages with me?" Cleo offered, smiling.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... no... no way... I can’t even use magic," Dion said, holding both hands up defensively.
This time, Cleo narrowed her eyes. She stared at Dion with a dead serious look, her intense gaze practically drilling straight through Dion, who was sweating nervously right in front of her.
"Can’t use magic? You?! The guy who defeated an eight-headed hydra by dropping a literal meteor on its head, carving out a crater, and leveling a whole mountain range?!" Cleo asked, her face completely unamused.
"That... that was... pure coincidence, hahaha," Dion babbled. "Damn it, why does she still remember that?! Back then I was using the Ancient One persona," Dion thought in his head.
Before Cleo could retort, the shopkeeper emerged from the backroom carrying three large boxes and five small ones stacked together. He set them down on the counter and immediately opened every single one. Each large box contained ten raw, multi-colored large crystals, and each small box held ten medium-sized multi-colored ones. Every crystal Dion had requested was right there in front of him. Feeling saved by the bell, Dion instantly spun around to inspect the crystals on the counter, completely ignoring Cleo.
Cleo shifted her attention to the boxes as well, since Dion had redirected his focus to the magic crystals sitting on the display glass.
"Luckily, we still had those in stock! Your total comes to 400 gold and 25 silver," the shopkeeper said with a wide smile, delighted to have fulfilled the customer’s request.
Hearing the price, Dion knitted his brows slightly. He stole a quick glance at Cleo, who was still examining the boxes on the counter. After that, he pulled his coin purse out from his dimensional pouch and opened it, looking up at the shopkeeper.
"Guh... that’s pricey," Dion muttered, breaking into a light sweat as he realized he was short on cash.
However, the shopkeeper caught sight of a card sitting inside the open purse resting on the counter, which Dion was gripping with both hands.
"Pardon me, sir, but may I take a look at that card for a moment?" the shopkeeper asked politely.
"Oh... sure, here you go," Dion replied, handing over the card.
The shopkeeper examined the shiny black card, and his expression instantly shifted. He looked up at Dion, who stood there looking thoroughly confused, and then back down at the black card in his hands before offering it back to Dion.
"It appears you’re an acquaintance of Mr. Edgar, the owner of our trading company. I can process your purchase directly through this card, if that is acceptable to you?" the shopkeeper offered.
"Huh... you mean I can pay using this?" Dion asked, bewildered as he stared down at the card.
"Yes, precisely! Please wait a moment while I fetch the magic reader," the shopkeeper replied.
As the shopkeeper stepped into the backroom once more, Dion scrutinized the card in his hand, flipping over the smooth sheet that appeared to be crafted from flattened crystal.
"Hmm... is this like a credit card from my previous world? But if it’s credit, does that mean I’m running up a debt with Edgar, considering this card obviously isn’t issued by a bank? Or is it some kind of discount card?" Dion thought to himself.
"Oh, you have one of those too? Only personal acquaintances of Mr. Edgar can hold a card like that," Cleo chimed in.
Dion turned to see Cleo holding a similar card in her hand, bringing it up in front of her lips with a teasing smile.
"What is this card, anyway? Mr. Edgar just gave it to me," Dion asked.
"It’s a store card with a loaded balance. Since your card is black, just like mine, you start with an initial balance of 100,000 gold. If I recall correctly, this trading company issues several tiers of cards, such as silver, gold, and platinum. Silver holds a balance between 1,000 and 5,000 gold; gold cards carry 5,000 to 7,500 gold; and platinum holds 10,000 gold and up. But the black card is personally issued by Mr. Edgar himself and comes loaded with up to 100,000 gold. At least, that’s how I understand it," Cleo explained.
"Wow... you sure know a lot about this," Dion said, impressed.
"Of course! This shop is my go-to spot," Cleo replied, resting her staff against the counter.
Looking at Cleo’s staff resting against the table, Dion finally noticed that the glowing blue jewel atop it was slightly cracked. He was certain Cleo had come here to get her weapon repaired.
Just then, the shopkeeper returned holding a device that looked like a stone carved into an EDC card machine, featuring a small magic circle and embedded runes that served as a keypad. The shopkeeper requested Dion’s card once more and placed it directly over the magic circle, aligning the QR section with the array.
A glowing yellow light materialized in the air, spelling out a message confirming that a payment of 400 gold and 25 silver had been successfully processed. Below it, a line read: Remaining Balance: 99,599.75 Gold.
After that, the shopkeeper handed the card back to Dion with a broad grin. Dion stood there, completely dumbfounded as he stared down at the black card in his palm.
"Hold on a second... does this mean I’m filthy rich?!" Dion thought in his head.
"Could you take a look at this for me?" Cleo asked the shopkeeper.
"Right away, ma’am," the shopkeeper replied.
Dion turned back to see the shopkeeper head back inside, carrying Cleo’s staff with him. Suddenly,
"Wait... Cleo?!"
Dion turned around to see Luna—holding several folded outfits—and Mei—carrying a shopping bag packed with bottled spices—approaching them. Luna stared at Cleo standing before them.
"You said you got fired?" Cleo asked Dion after taking a look at Luna.
"Yeah... he got fired, so I quit my job and came along with him," Luna answered, staring Cleo down as she took her place right beside Dion.
"Pretty much," Dion added, not even getting a chance to explain himself.
Cleo then glanced over at Mei, who was casually carrying her shopping basket, before looking back and forth between Dion and Luna.
"And who is she? Your new party member?" Cleo asked, pointing toward Mei.
"She’s a friend of ours from the academy," Dion answered.
"My name is Mei. Nice to meet you," Mei said tersely, stepping right up to stand on Dion’s other side.
"Hmm... I notice you’re all SS-rank... well, except for Dion, of course," Cleo observed, sizing the three of them up.
"Hahaha... hit the nail on the head!" Dion replied proudly.
"Alright, that makes things easy then! The reason I’m getting my staff repaired is because right after this, I have to go reseal the evil black dragon named Gemmeth up in the mountain range. It seems its seal is breaking apart. Can you guys lend me a hand?" Cleo asked.
"No," Dion said loudly, before Cleo could even finish her thought.
"Sure!" Luna and Mei answered simultaneously.
Dion whipped his head around to look at Luna and Mei, who turned to look right back at him. Luna then turned her attention back to Cleo.
"Alright, we can help," Luna said.
"Awesome! As soon as my staff is fixed, we’ll head out. It usually takes two days to repair a staff like this, so you guys just sit back and relax in the city for now," Cleo said with a wide smile, throwing Dion a meaningful glance.
"Grrr... why do you get to make decisions for us?!" Dion complained.
"Did you forget? It was taught at the academy: whenever a threat to the world appears, it’s our duty to handle it," Mei explained.
"Oh, right! Well then, I’ll be waiting for you guys back at my territory," Dion said with a sigh of relief, turning around to pack away the boxes he had just bought off the counter.
"In your dreams! You’re coming with us!" Luna and Mei shouted in unison, both grabbing onto Dion’s arms at the same time.
"Whyyyyy?! I’m weak! I don’t even have a hero class!" Dion yelled in frustration, while Cleo simply giggled in front of him, clearly wanting Dion to tag along as well.