As the sun shone greatly high up in the sky, Shiro continued to walk around the city without any clue where he might end up at. He was interested in the things he might accidentally find and so he didn"t mind his lack of knowledge of the city and just decided to continue his endless walk on the road. After a while, he stumbled upon a street where a lot of people seemed to have gathered. The street was crowded and just by looking at it, one would be afraid to go inside.
Shiro took a closer look at the crowded and noisy street and noticed that there were a lot of stalls and shops lined up inside.
( This must be the market, right? )
Shiro jerked his chin - and after a while of thinking, he decided to go inside the busy street.
( I need to find out if my in-game money can be used in this world. )
His in-game money -
There were many forms of currency used inside the game "SOUL ADVENTURES", but the most common and easily used out of all of them was the "Coins", specifically, "Gold Coins". Shiro has Millions of these Gold coins, which he gained and collected from his intense, endless grindings, and the many missions and side quests he has completed; additionally, once the player reached the top level of both his character and all his equipment, these coins will only then be useless and will get stockpiled; thus the reason why Shiro has so many of these coins.
Putting a hand inside his robe, he secretly took out a hundred pieces of gold coins inside his inventory. The coins were stored up inside a small pouch which was also an item in Shiro"s inventory.
Shiro then looked around the large area to see if there were any empty stalls he can try to trade his coins into. And while rotating his head from left to right, he immediately saw one. The stall was selling old-looking furniture carved and made from wooden materials; there were also some small statues, chairs, and even kitchen tools and utensils. He walked towards it and tried to ask the old man inside.
The old man inside the stall was looking weak and has his eyes half-closed. But still, Shiro didn"t mind his appearance and still tried to ask him:
[ Umm, Gramps... how much of the stuff you"re selling do you think I might be able to buy with this coin? ] taking out a single coin from the pouch he was holding, he put it on top of the desk and asked the old man.
The old man then picked the coin in the desk up with his shaking finger. And just a moment later, after looking and a.n.a.lyzing the coin, he replied to Shiro"s question with a quiet, shaky voice:
[ ohh... I"m sorry young man... But I have never seen anything like this coin ever before... ]
[ Is that so...? ] Shiro has dropped his shoulders down, disappointed by the old man"s answer.
[ But I think... this coin will worth a lot if you trade it with a proper merchant... ]
( oho~? )
Hearing those words, Shiro"s mood instantly lit up.
[ There"s one famous merchant here that you might be able to trade these coins with. ]
[ The-then can you please tell me where I can find him? ]
With excitement in his voice, Shiro asked.
[ I"ll tell you if you buy some of my stuff with this coin... I"ll let you pick anything you like, if you want, you can even take them all. ]
[ Huh? I can"t take them all for my self...! But... I think that"s a good trade... ]
Since Shiro has millions of these gold coins inside his inventory, he didn"t mind losing one. He also chose to just get along with the old man"s request rather than to try and ask another person again.
Having decided that he will do what the old man had asked him, Shiro started to look around the old man"s products.
...
...
The truth was, none of them had caught the eyes of Shiro. Every single piece of furniture and other stuff on the desk were simply too "Plain" for Shiro -
But then after a while of browsing the items, Shiro has unexpectedly found something and picked it up with his hand.
[ I"ll take this one. ]
[ Are you sure!? ]
[ Un. ]
With that nod, Shiro looked at the item he"s holding with his hand. It was a small keychain-sized wood-carved cat-eared girl doing a Victory pose.
Shiro didn"t expect to see something like that in this world. He thought it was MOE. The moment he saw it, it immediately reminded him of j.a.pan.
[ Are you really sure? You won"t take anything else...? ]
[ Ahh, I think this one is enough. ]
[ I-Is that so? ]
[ Then, can you tell me where this merchant is at? ]
***
( This must be it... )
From the old man"s description of the place: "Just walk straight and you"ll see a large building with a large sign hanging on top of its doors. That"s the merchant Carlo"s place.".
And so, Shiro is now standing in front of a large - elegant building with a large sign that he can"t read on top of its doors. The place around Shiro was like a park; full of flowers and other decorations. The structure in front of him was very different from all the structures he has seen in the city so far. If Shiro were to describe the structure in front of him, he would say the words "Very Cla.s.sy".
As he stood in front of the large structure, Shiro decided to finally move his feet and take a step towards the door.
Knocking the two large doors in front of him, he waited for an answer from the other side.
...
...
...
A few minutes had pa.s.sed and no one was still answering, and so Shiro has decided to try and knock again.
But as soon as he raised his fist, an old man with a long mustache wearing a suit had opened the door.
[ oho? It seems we have a visitor? What are you here for, Sir? ]
[ Is the merchant Carlo"s here...? ]
[ oh? Are you perhaps here to meet the master? We did not receive any letters that a n.o.ble was visiting... ] stroking his chin while looking at Shiro from his feet to the top of his head as if a.n.a.lyzing him, he asked.
[ Oh, I"m not a n.o.ble... ]
[ Whwhat...!? Are you really? ]
[ Yea... In fact, I just arrived here in this city and I"m here to trade something with the merchant Carlo. ]
[ This... this was the first time my eyes had betrayed me... ] putting a palm into his head, he turned his face down as if he got defeated in a fight.
[ huh...? ] seeing the odd action of the old man, Shiro can only voice his bewilderment.
[ Aa... Sorry about that... But from your appearance... You must be rich, right? ]
[ Ah... yea... You can say that... ]
( Is being rich a requirement or something...? )
[ Then, I guess I will allow you to meet with my master. ] with a bow, he said with a gentle yet manly voice.
[ In normal terms, you would not be allowed to meet with my master, but since he"s currently on a break, he allows new clients to stop by. ]
[ Really? Then I guess I"m lucky. ]
[ You are, sir. Hmm... one more thing, may I check your clothes? Weapons are not allowed inside the mansion. ]
( That would be logical... Since this Carlo merchant seems to be really famous... ) with that thought, Shiro nodded:
[ Of course. ] as he did, the butler immediately caress her clothes from his shoulders to the bottom of his ankles.
[ Un, it seems you"re good. I will allow you to meet with my master... He"s currently busy with some papers, but his priority are new clients. ]
With those words, the old man stood up and opened both the doors behind him completely opened wide. He then bowed and introduced himself.
[ My name is Gerald. I"m a butler of master Carlo. Please to meet your acquaintance. ]
[ Is that so? I"m ple-pleased to meet you too. ] not being used in using such vocabulary, he stuttered his words in an awkward way.
[ Then, please go and sit inside while I get master Carlo. ]
[ Yes. Please excuse me... ]
After getting permission to enter, Shiro went inside. Gerald then went to the stairs inside the room at a fast pace.
Now that he was inside the house, Shiro took a look around.
The inside of the house was as luxurious as the outside. It was filled with many expensive-looking furniture, and the walls were also decorated with lots of paintings. This was the most decorated place Shiro has ever seen in his life. There were no electrical and electronic devices inside, unlike the all the houses in his previous world, yet in his mind, Shiro thinks that the interior of this house was more beautiful than any of the houses he has visited in his country.
Shiro then walked towards the middle of the room, looking for a sit. There, he saw a large white sofa and he immediately sat on it.
~~~
After waiting for a while, Shiro has finally able to hear the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs. He immediately saw Gerald, and then he saw a slender and tall figure of a man walking behind him.
The slender and tall person then looked at Shiro with a piercing gaze.
( ... )
Shiro was stunned as it was the first time someone had looked at him with not awe or amazement - but with malice and hostility.
And before Shiro had noticed it, Carlo was already sitting in front of him. Maybe because of the amazement and surprise he had received, he was not able to properly comprehend what had happened.
[ Hmm... ] crossing his fingers against each other, Carlo leaned over and looked at Shiro straight in the eyes.
Shiro felt a shock ran through his spine. But he tried to calm himself up and also look at Carlo straight.
He immediately thought that Carlo was a very scary and intimidating man. His first reaction of Carlo was that he was like a CEO of a company who always acts serious and composed.
But -
As Shiro looked at the face of Carlo, he thought that...
( Why does it feel like something"s wrong here...? )
As he looked at Carlo"s face properly, he noticed that it was very well proportioned. It was the kind of face that girls in his world will die for.
Yet -
Shiro focused his stare at Carlo"s eyelashes, lips, and eyes.
And his keen nose also picked something different from Carlo; something very - alluring. The scent of female. The appeal of a woman - Shiro picks up as he looks at Carlo.
...
...
[ So... Gerald had said that you"re here to trade? or something? ]
Snap*
Losing himself to the mystery that he was picking up from Carlo, he snapped back to reality when he suddenly heard Carlo"s intimidating voice.
[ Aaa... Yes...! Please wait a minute. ]
Pushing aside the thoughts he was having, Shiro placed the pouch at the table in between him and Carlo.
[ I want to trade these coins. ]