Chapter 52 – Acting (End)
The town of Ricca had experienced bouts of rains for the last two days. Currently, it was now completely a scene of spring time.
The gra.s.s on either side of the roads, after a hibernation of winter, and under the radiance of the warm sunshine, had started to sprout. Timidly growing out, inquisitively pouring into the small town that was both familiar and strange.
The few delicate flowers of tender bodies, no longer feared the bitter cold. The moisture in the atmosphere, allowed them to continue on with growing. Struggling to wait for the valor and force of the flower bud to blossom.
Because of the acc.u.mulation of snow that had fall on all the various leaves of the trees, after the changing of snow to water, they had drank it in earnest. Afterwards, the bestowment of the snow spirits were c.u.mulatively turned into power for the start of another year.
On the roads, kids were constantly throwing off their winter clothings. They heeheehaha’d as they played in the peaceful little town; a showing of humanity’s purest and sincerest of games.
While the adults no longer had any kind of excuse for leisure time, within this town, a large majority of people were diligent yet impoverished. Apart from the frigid time during winter, the only possible free time was a few hard to come by holidays each year. As for the rest of the time, they would start working at sunrise and resting at sunset; not a day of laziness.
To have rested a whole winter, nearly every family seems to require a sum of money to provide their dinner tables with enough bread. And as for spring time, it was also the beginning of another year. This seasonal period, was also the time when farmers shed their sweat, it was similarly the same time they sowed their hopes out. Once autumn arrived, what then awaited them, would then be reaped for a heavy harvest.
Not only the farmers, even the store owners and their minds would also be reinvigorated, opening up their stores earlier and closing them later at night, in hopes of getting even more business in.
At this time, there was one store owner that wasn’t like this. While others were exerting busily within the store, he did not all put his own thoughts into operating the store, instead he ran to the Briar forest first thing each morning.
“Rumont, let’s go again!” in an open area of the forest, Fafnir flourished with one arm his double-edged sword, loudly roaring.
To his direct opposite, Rumont nodded his head while already dripping with sweat, neither speaking, he grasped his sword in advancing right away.
Two people, holding two swords. In a flash they crossed their swords together.
The clashing strikes made ringing sounds. Nimble movements. Strikes adhered momentarily before parting. Crossing swords for only a flash. The outcome of the battle was now apparent. Rumont’s sword was already overpowered by Fafnir’s momentum, in the moment their swords met.
Even though he continued to battle for a while, it was too difficult to overturn the signs of defeat.
“Alright, I give.” Rumont withdrew his sword, saying gloomily.
“Haha! You’ve lasted another 5 moves compared to last time. Your improvement is pretty big eh.” Fafnir haha laughed, more than pleased with himself, yet also quite astonished at Rumont’s advancement.
Different to how he was engrossed into swordsmanship, Rumont also simultaneously needed to cultivate as a Druid. What’s more, no one better understood Rumont’s original physique as he did.
Fafnir’s physique was innately robust, and was also born into a family of soldiers. After having money, it was possible to be engrossed in the study of martial arts, which naturally lead to his incredible pace of development.
Rumont was still only a effeminate youth a few months prior. Any matters still required the help of Nick and himself, to protect and a.s.sist him. And within these few months, not only did his temperament happen to change, he also successfully promoted to a Rank 2 Druid. Even his physical combat prowess had also rapidly advanced.
Fafnir had reason to believe, that if the other didn’t need to take into consideration of a large amount of affairs, and only concentrated on practicing his martial skills, his performance would be absolutely higher than his current proficiency.
However, even if it was the current Rumont, it was already more than enough for Fafnir to admire.
Only, there was one point that Fafnir didn’t quite understand. He himself had already gone to the city and completed the examination, successfully obtaining a registration of a Rank 2 Warrior. Currently, Rumont had also attained a certain professional level in combat skills . Yet why for whatever reason has he not gone to register as well?
Every time this question was asked, Rumont would only smile and not respond.
“Rumont, honestly, with your current extent, it’s already possible for you to go and register. Why haven’t you gone yet? Are you afraid of failure?” Fafnir retracted his sword and again asked the question.
Rumont this time did not again choose to dodge it, instead, answered truthfully: “because I want to treat my current combat power as a means of life insurance. Therefore, at the present time, I still can’t let even more people know of my true powers.”
“What’s that suppose to mean? I don’t understand.” Fafnir shook his head straight after listening.
Rumont haha laughed, and patted the other’s head: “Don’t understand? It’s fine if you don’t understand! I’ll call it as catching someone off guard&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;”
“Look Rumont, at the store entrance, how come there’s so many people?”
Like usual, after completing their practice, the two good friends talked and laughed as they went back. Except when they were at the short distance away from the drugstore, they were both startled.
They saw a ring of people outside, unable to refrain from curiosity, constantly looking into the store. Both male and females. Drama must be staging out inside, which was attracting everyone.
“Haha, oh no, looks like it’s your angelic Miss has come again huh?” Fafnir elbowed Rumont, with a giggling expression.
Rumont shook his head: “doesn’t look like she came, let’s hurry.” the angelic Miss that Fafnir mentioned was naturally the second Miss Eleni.
In the recent few days, Eleni had no longer visited. When that happened, Rumont had a bit of disappointment. However, after a long while, he only started to think that it was an inevitable.
Even if she was so amiable and approachable, she was still in the end, the young miss of an n.o.ble and a Rank 2 Priest. How would it be possible for her to come to an commoner’s area daily?
The pair quickly hurried over to Rumont’s drugstore. There they saw in the main lobby of the store, a young maiden, who had her arms crossed in front of her, constantly saying something.
Rumont wrinkled his brows once he saw this. He recognized the people that came. This young maiden was precisely the beloved disciple of Druid Jeff, Willow. The man that had always treated him indifferently, had more than doted over the young maiden. Even if he did something even better, it was still inferior to the young maiden’s mischievous practical jokes.
“Rumont, you’re finally back. She keeps wanting to find and ask you for something.” once he saw Rumont again, Nick who had not been able to resist since early on, had promptly ran over; an expression of as if releasing a heavy burden.
Looking over his good friend, whose face was throughly red and stifled, Rumont surprisingly, under this sort of circ.u.mstance, wanted to laugh out impetuously.
Yet it was no wonder he was like this. The originally clever and eloquent Nick, would once he encountered a pretty female, be nervous and struggle to talk. It was quite difficult for him to have persisted until he came back, to be facing such a young maiden, whose exterior was cute yet displaying such a barbarous manner.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Rumont busily left Fafnir and Nick by the side, himself going to stand in front of the maiden Willow. “Good to see you, Miss Willow.”
Once Willow saw the other’s lively and leisurely manner, she was full of anger. She coldly said: “who says it’s good to see you, Rumont, you’re really too despicable ah. Putting the price of the medicines so slow. How am I supposed to sell medicines?”
Rumont sounded out an oh. So the other actually came here for this matter.
Originally, because of the warm reception during the launch of the strengthened version of the Mending vulnerary, Rumont had therefore accordingly in the following month, quickly released another common medicine in a similar style. The results were the same as before. However, the pricing, compared to the previous ones, was reduced by 10 percent.
Because of the release of these two medicines, these days, the Adventurers of the town of Ricca, had practically only attended Rumont’s store; very few people would go to Jeff’s store.
Willow, who was originally discontent with Rumont, who had bustled about after a night, and had no longer seen anyone to try out her achievements, could no longer bear it and had exploded out.
As for the result of exploding out, she had ran to Rumont’s opposing drugstore to pick a fight. Unfortunately at the time, Rumont had gone to the forest to practice his martial skills.
Not being able to find him, she had increasingly felt that the other was evading her. She decided to stay firmly put at the store and not leave. Because it was ingrained to be a sticky beak, and knowing that the two stores were finally going to duke it out, the people of the town had successively halted their work, and snooping by the store entrance.
Which had resulted in the lively crowd that Rumont and Fafnir had saw when they got here.
Being able to roughly guess the intentions of the other, Rumont laughed. This laugh that seemed to be graceful and charming to others, had seemed, in Willow’s eyes, to be taunting her. She then heard Rumont say: “Miss Willow, I’m not too sure of your meaning. Originally, business compet.i.tions is to seek a profit&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;don’t tell me you forgot that a few months prior, your store had also suddenly reduce its prices ah? Because of price reduction at your store, was it then possible that my store had suffered gravely.”
“You&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;” Willow at once choked on her words. What the other had said was right. Only&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;only, she did not do it intentionally though. This rascally Rumont, it’s clear he wanted to meet her head-on! How much could he show off?
Thinking back to the things the Tax Officer told her, the young maiden’s temper had flared up again. She said pouting with rage: “less on that, you’re still pretending? Cheat! You’re a big swindler! Using a predecessor’s formulation to acquire reputation, you’re a swindler! Cheat&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;”
“Oh?” his nose being poked at like a thunderbolt by a cute young maiden, while loudly shouting swindler, Rumont truly did not know whether to laugh or cry.
His eyes seeing that the surrounding beholders were showing an expression of gossiping, so much that even his best friends, Nick and Fafnir, had also a pondering expression, Rumont’s head was starting to feel an ache. He dragged the young maiden inside.
“You&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;what are you trying to do?” being dragged out by another, the young maiden who was stupefied en route, had at this time reacted. She hastily jumped away from Rumont, to the furthest point, raising her guard up while fixing her attention on Rumont, asking sternly.
Rumont rubbed his own nose, forcing a smile and said: “I just want to understand clearly, the meaning of the words you just said.”
“Knowing that your crime was exposed, only now do know of fear?” the young maiden coldly harrumphed, an expression of disdaining Rumont. “If it wasn’t for someone telling me, I really wouldn’t have thought that you were unexpectedly such a swindler!”
Rumont had keenly caught the meaning behind the young maiden’s words, only with a thought, did he roughly guess out who the person was. However, he still deliberately probed it out, saying: “this matter was told to you by the Tax Officer, right? How can you still believe in what he says?”
“Hmph! His words, why wouldn’t I believe them?” without even knowing, the young maiden had already sold the Tax Officer out, saying disdainfully: “there’s no grudges between you two, if it really wasn’t what you did, why would he come and tell me?”
It was him as expected. Rumont inwardly bit his lower lip.
“What are you planning?” similarly a Druid, although she was currently only Rank 1, it was enough for the young maiden to respond to the momentary coldness. She sounded out a cry of fear, wanting to retreat. Yet she then found that a table was behind her. She had already reached the end of the road, there was no further retreat.
Rumont promptly collected back his killing intent, and laughed: “for you, I certainly wouldn’t think of anything, merely&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;”
Seeing the other watching himself nervously, Rumont had recovered his normal appearance, saying in deadly earnest: “alright, I’ll explain everything to you. In honestly, you’ve been deceived by the Tax Officer.”
Rumont immediately then weaved a set of excuses. Placing himself having obtained a few law-breaking crimes that the Tax Officer committed, without having the other being aware of the matter. Telling it all for the young maiden to listen.
What kind of person was Rumont, back on Earth, he had seen and been accustomed to all types of people. Fooling a naive a small girlie was but a small appetizer. Even more so, his words contained truths and lies, not just fabrication.
Hearing his explanation, the young maiden was shortly expressionless. She didn’t believe at first, asking for what reason didn’t Rumont give the evidence to the Judicial Officer to manage, while willingly allowing the opponent to frequently retaliate.
“Giving it to the Judicial Officer didn’t seemed like a good deal! They’re still relatives!” Rumont casually took out one of the evidences. Using exquisite acting, he gave the feel of a youth who had somehow come by the evidence, while also giving off a feel of it being scalding; performing profoundly.1
After the young maiden heard, while simultaneously despising Rumont’s conduct, she was even more than just resenting the Tax Officer, who had incited her to come over and stir trouble.
Right away, the young maiden was pouting with rage as she departed from Rumont’s drugstore, dashing towards the opposing store.
Seeing her leave, Rumont’s face showed an expression of not knowing whether to laugh or cry. The young maiden was just too naive. Following on, he again laughed: “Barcas, your death approaches.”
As of now, with the prestige among Adventurers and the townsfolk, along with Eleni’s relationship, it had already reached a level capable of killing Barcas.
Tonight will be the day to catch a fish!