Chapter 175: Fine, I’ll Buy It

In the afternoon, Lu Wei went to the inn where Mirana was staying.

But he couldn’t find her.

So, he left a message and returned to the cabin.

As he pushed open the creaking courtyard gate, the hands of his pocket watch had just passed three o’clock.

The clothes on the line were dry but still hanging, which meant Bai Ya hadn’t returned yet.

Hess, however, was there.

It was lying on its back on its bed, fast asleep and snoring.

‘Eat, sleep, sleep, eat.’

‘It’s just a pet, so why is its life more comfortable than mine?’

‘This is so unfair!’

Lu Wei frowned. He couldn’t stand seeing his employees slacking off… and pets were no exception.

So he immediately picked it up and forced it to provide him with some emotional value.

“Here, look closely. This is a ball of fire.”

As he spoke, Lu Wei opened his left hand, and a small flame immediately shot up from his palm.

“PURURU!”

Hess’s eyes widened at the sight, showing complete astonishment.

“What do you think? Very realistic, isn’t it?”

“Come on, take a closer look.”

Lu Wei smiled, unhurriedly bringing the flame closer to Hess’s face.

Then, catching it off guard, he suddenly flipped his wrist and pressed the entire flame onto its fluffy head!

“PURURUUU—!!!”

The Fur Ball’s innate Fear of Flame made Hess’s fur stand on end in an instant. Its two short legs flailed wildly in the air, trying to escape his clutches.

But Lu Wei held on tight, rendering all its struggles futile.

Then its body stiffened, its eyes rolled back, and it fainted from fright.

?

‘It fainted just like that?’

The corner of Lu Wei’s mouth twitched. ‘Its mental fortitude is way too weak,’ he thought, casually tossing it onto the floor.

But the next second, as soon as it touched the ground, Hess sprang up as if it were on a spring and darted under the bed in the blink of an eye.

“…”

‘Good!’

‘If it’s that scared, it must be realistic enough!’

Lu Wei was stunned for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction.

Next, he casually extinguished the “flame” and rubbed his fingertips together.

Before long, the faint, foul stench of a goblin began to fill the air.

“…”

No reaction.

‘Huh? It’s not scared?’

Curious, Lu Wei ended the Casting and switched to the scent of a Kobold.

Still no reaction.

‘Bear goblin?’

Still nothing.

‘Mushroom soup?’

“…”

“Pururu…”

…

…

The “fur-tormenting” session lasted for about an hour.

After Lu Wei’s repeated experiments, he confirmed that the effects created by[Magic Tricks]could fool Hess without any problem.

However, perhaps because it had been tricked too many times, the little creature didn’t seem very scared anymore.

Even when held over the “fire” to be “roasted,” it just wore an expression of utter despair, not even bothering to struggle.

“Not bad at all.”

With a casual “Cleaning Magic” to clear the fuzz from the bedsheet, Lu Wei finally let Hess go. He walked out of the room, intending to test[Long Stride].

Just then, Bai Ya returned, humming a little tune and carrying a large cloth bundle.

The melody was cheerful and bouncy, tinged with a hint of smugness.

“A diligent girl, up early and back late, doing chores~”

“A beautiful future, waving at me from up ahead~”

“Troubles and hardships, all left far behind~”

“Oh, today’s me, I’m just so capable I don’t even know where to start…”

?

‘What the hell are these lyrics?’

Standing at the cabin’s entrance, Lu Wei was completely baffled. He strongly suspected this was Bai Ya’s original composition.

At that moment, Bai Ya spotted him and jogged over, asking in pleasant surprise:

“How are you back so early?”

“I came back as soon as I was done.”

Lu Wei glanced at the bundle in her arms. “New clothes?”

“Mhm! Two blouses, a full-length dress, and an overskirt!”

Bai Ya was apparently very eager to show off her new clothes, as she ran into her small bedroom while speaking.

“Wait a moment, I’ll put them on for you!”

“…”

‘If you’re just changing, why close the door?’

‘Clearly, she still doesn’t trust my character.’

‘Minus 1 point!’

Glancing at the closed door, Lu Wei curled his lip in disdain and turned to go test[Long Stride].

But just then, Bai Ya’s confused voice came from behind the door.

“Huh? Hess, what are you doing in here?”

“What’s that you say?”

“The captain… used fire… to roast you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re perfectly fine.”

“No more lying from now on, you hear me?”

“I don’t like liars… and that goes for Fur Balls too.”

“…”

‘Our values are incompatible!’

‘Another minus 1 point!’

…

…

“So? Don’t I look great!”

Ten minutes later, Bai Ya, now dressed in her new clothes from head to toe, spun around in front of Lu Wei, looking very confident.

But to be honest, Lu Wei couldn’t see any difference between this outfit and her previous ones.

Even the color was similar. They were all just the most Ordinary “commoner-ready-to-wear” clothes.

But seeing the “praise me now” look all over Bai Ya’s face, he couldn’t bring himself to give an honest opinion and just mumbled—

“Yeah, it’s nice.”

“Right? I spent a long time picking it out!”

“It was a little expensive, but the fabric is very sturdy, so it’ll last a long time!”

“Look here, it even has a pattern…”

Having received his approval, Bai Ya became even happier. She started pointing out the design details of the outfit while holding her skirt, making Lu Wei feel like he was playing a game of “spot the difference.”

At the same time, he gained a true understanding of how women say one thing and mean another.

‘It’s obvious that if I had told the truth just now, Bai Ya definitely wouldn’t be reacting like this.’

‘She probably would have cursed me for having no taste or something.’

‘So much for “not liking liars.”‘

“So, uh, what about Aryan?”

Not wanting to hear about “the difference between a ring buckle and a bowl buckle,” Lu Wei found an opportunity to interrupt:

“Did she buy any clothes?”

“She didn’t…”

Speaking of Aryan, Bai Ya asked with some confusion, “So, apprentices don’t get a salary?”

“Not for the first year after becoming an apprentice.”

Lu Wei answered truthfully, “But she’s been with Elder for over two years now. She should have some savings.”

“That’s strange, then.”

Bai Ya blinked. “I asked her to go clothes shopping with me because I saw last night that her clothes were also very old. I thought if we bought them together, we could get a discount.”

“But she didn’t buy anything today, even though there was a dress she seemed to really like.”

“Do you think maybe Uncle Elder hasn’t been paying her?”

‘It’s possible.’

‘After all, that man is a complete Crafty Merchant.’

Recalling his last discussion with Elder about how “bosses are the real victims,” Lu Wei thought it was perfectly normal that the old man wouldn’t pay Aryan.

But that had nothing to do with him.

“Alright, let’s drop it. I need your help with something.”

Waving his hand to end the topic of Aryan, Lu Wei spoke as he untied his coin pouch, pouring all nine Gold Coins inside into his hand and presenting them to Bai Ya.

“Here, take these Gold Coins for now.”

“…Huh? Huh??”

Bai Ya’s eyes went wide in an instant, and she froze.

She was already slow to react, and Lu Wei’s behavior was genuinely bizarre. She thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out what he was up to.

‘Is this… a bride price for me?’

‘No, that’s not right. For a marriage, I should be the one giving the captain a dowry…’

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Bai Ya seemed to realize something, and her eyes filled with terror.

“Are you firing me! Is this severance pay!”

?

‘Can you not be so melodramatic?’

‘Are you worth 9 Gold Coins?’

“No.”

Lu Wei gave her a sideways glance and stuffed the money directly into her hand.

Then he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket—

It was actually just a square piece of cotton cloth with a simple hem.

Come to think of it, Bai Ya had been the one who’d sewn it.

But that didn’t matter. Since she had given it to him, the ownership was his.

“Now, I plan to sell you this handkerchief for a price of 9 Gold Coins.”

“Are you buying it or not?”

“…”

Suddenly, the room fell silent.

Honestly, if Bai Ya had said “I’m not buying it” at that moment, it would have been a checkmate.

Fortunately, she was slow enough to react that, under Lu Wei’s repeated urging, she finally just nodded blankly.

And so, the nine Gold Coins she had just received were taken back by Lu Wei.

In her hand, she now held a handkerchief.

Staring at the handkerchief, Bai Ya opened her mouth blankly, as if wanting to ask something.

But Lu Wei had no time for her. He immediately opened his panel and looked at the progress bar with immense anticipation.

However…

[1. Earn one hundred Gold Coins through genuine, mutually acknowledged transactions. (54.82/100)]

There was no change.

‘Damn it!’

Frowning deeply, Lu Wei felt unwilling to give up. After thinking it over for a long time, he figured maybe it wasn’t realistic enough.

So, he handed the Gold Coins to Bai Ya again, this time making sure to emphasize:

“These Gold Coins are a gift to you! A gift!”

“And I have a handkerchief here… give the handkerchief back!”

“Alright, now I intend to sell it to you for a price of 9 gold. Are you buying or not!”

“…”

Perhaps because he was getting impatient, Lu Wei’s voice was indeed a little loud.

Bai Ya flinched in fear, then quickly nodded her head, her voice tinged with tears:

“I’ll buy it, I’ll buy it, alright…?”

…

…

「Ten minutes later.」

[1. Earn one hundred Gold Coins through genuine, mutually acknowledged transactions. (54.82/100)]

As it turned out, wash trading was not allowed.

No matter how Lu Wei tried, the progress bar didn’t budge.

The root of the problem likely lay in the two words “genuine transaction.”

Lu Wei had no idea what the specific criteria were.

But considering that a Professional’s Extraordinary Power comes from a Divine Spirit, it was possible that a “God of Crafty Merchants” was watching his every move from the heavens.

After all, he was the only[Crafty Merchant]in the world.

That Divine Spirit must have plenty of time on its hands.

“Sigh, alright, give them here.”

Lu Wei sighed and took back both the Gold Coins and the handkerchief.

Now empty-handed, Bai Ya finally had a chance to ask:

“So what on earth were you doing…”

“Nothing, just testing your loyalty.”

Lu Wei spouted nonsense, “To see if you would be tempted by money.”

“…”

‘Huh? He was testing me?’

‘But isn’t this a little too half-assed?’

‘Could anyone really fail a test like this?’

Her mouth hanging open dumbly, Bai Ya felt that Lu Wei was underestimating her intelligence.

But on second thought, she figured she might not have grasped the true meaning of the test.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, she actually asked cautiously for confirmation:

“So… did I pass the test?”

“Oh, you passed.”

As Bai Ya’s eyes lit up in surprise, Lu Wei casually mumbled, “I’ll add one point for you.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“It’s my rating of you.”

“Rating… Ah! I get it! It’s my score as a teammate, right!”

Bai Ya had an epiphany and eagerly asked, “So what’s my total score now?”

“6 points.”

“Then what’s Furen’s score? Is it higher than mine?”

“Er…”

‘Hang on, let me calculate.’

‘Is a guy, -5 points.’

‘Is rich, +10 points.’

‘Too kind, -1 point.’

“4 points.”

A moment later, Lu Wei gave an answer that made Bai Ya very happy.

“Yay, I knew my score would be higher!”

“What about Mirana? What’s her score?”

“Oh, she’s at 20 points.”

“…”

The joyous expression on Bai Ya’s face instantly froze. Her eyes widened in a stunned gaze, and she took half a step back in disbelief.

So…

‘It’s out of a hundred points?!?!’