Chapter 37: Catching a Thief

Chapter 37: Catching a Thief

Theo and Jeras arrived at the 75th floor of the tower, the commercial area.

"Where are you going now, Sir Theo?"

"I’m going to apply for a promotion to a mid-level traveling merchant, nya."

"Already becoming a mid-level traveling merchant? I’m envious."

Jeras was inwardly surprised. To become a mid-level traveling merchant, one needed to have sales of 1,000 Tower Coins. Given Theo’s period of activity, it would be almost impossible without special support.

"Um... What kind of goods do you sell, Sir Theo?"

Jeras asked cautiously. Some traveling merchants kept their goods a secret.

"I sell cherry tomatoes, nya."

"Huh? Cherry tomatoes?"

It didn’t seem like a lie.

"That’s right, nya. I’ll show you if I get the chance, nya."

While they were talking, Theo arrived at the branch of the Traveling Merchant Association and requested a promotion to a mid-level traveling merchant.

"Sir Theo, you are now a mid-level traveling merchant."

Since the only requirement for a mid-level traveling merchant was sales, the promotion was processed immediately.

"Here is your mid-level traveling merchant certification."

The staff member at the branch gave Theo a rectangular certification made of blue metal. Thus, Theo was promoted to a mid-level traveling merchant.

"Puhuhu. I’m a mid-level traveling merchant now, nya!"

With this, Theo’s steps became even lighter, as he no longer had to bow to Sejun over the cultivator issue.

"Congratulations, Sir Theo."

"Thank you, nya."

Jeras congratulated Theo as he left the branch.

"Where is your next destination?"

"I need to go to the general store, nya."

At the general store, Theo bought two iron pots, a saw, and a needle and thread.

"Iron pot: 1 Tower Coin, saw: 0.9 Tower Coins, needle and thread: 0.5 Tower Coins, total: 2.4 Tower Coins."

Jeras’s eyes lit up at the price the store owner called out.

‘If I negotiate, I can get it down to 2 Tower Coins.’

Jeras thought about helping Theo and gaining more trust.

Then,

"Can you lower the price, nya?"

Theo started to negotiate.

"Hmm... Then I’ll give it to you for 2.2 Tower Coins."

At first, Theo seemed like an easy target, but he wasn’t being taken advantage of.

However,

"Can you lower it more, nya?"

"Sir, we need to make a living too. That’s difficult."

When Theo used his second negotiation,

‘Hohoho, just because you ask to lower the price doesn’t mean it will...’

Jeras chuckled and shook his head.

Then,

"Alright, nya. Jeras, let’s go, nya."

Theo answered and started to turn and leave.

"Ah! Sir, what’s the rush? I give in. 2 Tower Coins, nya."

"...?!"

Jeras was greatly surprised by the store owner’s words.

Without the five logical arguments and smooth talk that Jeras had quickly identified, Theo had achieved the result he had thought of in just two sentences.

But that wasn’t the end.

"1.8 Tower Coins. Otherwise, I’ll just leave, nya."

When Theo used his final negotiation to slash the price,

‘Can it go even lower from there?!’

Jeras was astonished by Theo’s relentless negotiation. It’s impossible!

But,

"Sigh. Alright."

The deal was made, mocking Jeras’s thoughts.

‘How can this be...’

Jeras completely lost confidence in his negotiation skills. Despite being trained in his family, he felt a significant gap compared to Theo.

Just by saying "lower the price" three times, Jeras felt a sense of awe at Theo’s negotiation skills.

‘With negotiation skills like that, he could have made a fortune without any illegal activities.’

Jeras completely dispelled his suspicions about Theo.

"Sir Theo, I’ll be going now. Be careful when you meet the wolves again."

"Got it, nya! Take care, nya."

Theo said goodbye to Jeras and went to the blacksmith to draw equipment.

But,

"There’s nothing I want today, nya."

No equipment caught Theo’s interest.

"I’ll just go, nya."

Theo moved to the 99th floor.

Jeras parted ways with Theo and returned to the Secret Inspector Bureau.

He submitted his report to the director.

[Reason for the sudden increase in traveling merchant Theo’s sales: Theo is a negotiation genius.]

Jeras had completely misunderstood Theo.

***

Sejun confirmed that the queen honeybee, whose belly was swollen, was sucking honey and sleeping in the hole, then went down to the cave to sleep.

The next morning.

Sejun woke up a little early and went up to check on the queen honeybee, but she was gone again.

Instead, there was a small beehive on the top of the rock where the rope was tied. The queen honeybee had finally settled and was preparing to lay eggs.

Then,

Roar.

Buzz!

The mother Crimson Giant Bear and her cub arrived together.

Roll, roll.

The cub rolled down the mother Crimson Giant Bear’s shoulder like a slide.

Squish, squish.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear licked the cub a few times as if washing it.

Buzz! Buzz!

The strong cub wobbled on the mother Crimson Giant Bear’s tongue, a fascinating sight.

While Sejun was watching them,

Roar.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear, after washing the cub, looked at Sejun and said something before going on patrol. Without Eileen’s translation, Sejun still understood what she meant.

"I need to catch a lot of crayfish today."

For some reason, it seemed the mother Crimson Giant Bear would appear at lunchtime again.

"Buzz, this is where you make the honey you eat. You can’t eat this."

Sejun warned the cub, worried it might touch the queen honeybee’s newly established beehive.

Buzz! Buzz!

The cub nodded strongly. I understand! I’ll protect it!

Sejun went down to the cave, had breakfast with the rabbits, and started his work.

His agility had increased, and farming was second nature to him. The other crops had been harvested, leaving only the cherry tomatoes.

Sejun finished all his work in two hours and went to the pond.

"Black Rabbit, are you ready?"

Splash!

In response to Sejun’s question, the Black Rabbit dived into the pond and started dealing with the piranhas that blocked the view.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each time the Black Rabbit’s hammer swung, piranhas were flung out of the pond.

Sejun quickly strung the piranhas with a rope to make two bundles for the cub.

When the Black Rabbit came out of the pond, Sejun started hunting crayfish.

There were about 40 crayfish in the pond. Once they entered, they didn’t try to leave for some reason.

Sejun entered the water and caught the crayfish one by one. Yesterday, he had stabbed them without thinking, but this way, he could catch them without attracting other piranhas or crayfish.

"The pond water can’t be polluted."

Yesterday, the pond water had been contaminated by the crayfish slaughtering the piranhas, preventing Sejun from drinking or washing his face in the morning. He needed a way to purify the water.

While thinking about how to purify the water, Sejun collected the crayfish from the pond.

During this time,

Splash!

The Black Rabbit used Sejun’s dagger to cut open the crayfish and drain the blood.

Then,

Poke.

When the Black Rabbit stabbed the crayfish, a black light emanated from its body and hammer. Usually, leveling up produced a bright light, but this time it was different.

The Black Rabbit’s body didn’t change, but its hammer grew slightly larger, and the handle’s end became sharp like a spike.

It looked different from a normal level-up.

Splash!

The Black Rabbit entered the pond with its hammer held proudly.

"Why suddenly?"

Splash!

The Black Rabbit gave Sejun a thumbs-up. I’ll handle it!

Bang!

When the Black Rabbit struck the crayfish’s head strongly, the crayfish stopped moving. The Black Rabbit’s hammer, strengthened by the level-up, had knocked the crayfish unconscious.

Bang! Bang!

The Black Rabbit dragged the unconscious crayfish out of the pond.

Then,

Poke.

It used the sharp end of the hammer to pierce the crayfish’s chest.

Splash?

After draining the blood, the Black Rabbit looked at Sejun arrogantly. See?

"Alright. I’ll leave the crayfish to you."

With the Black Rabbit’s growth, Sejun’s workload decreased, and he focused on roasting the crayfish.

Then,

Roar.

As expected, the mother Crimson Giant Bear returned to Sejun’s cave as lunchtime approached.

Chomp, chomp.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear ate 20 roasted crayfish in one bite.

This time, she had set aside some for her family, so there was no need to go back to the cave.

After enjoying a delicious lunch,

"Can you ask her to dig some land for me?"

Sejun asked Eileen to translate for the mother Crimson Giant Bear.

Since he had a good reason to ask for a favor after treating her to a delicious lunch, Sejun felt no hesitation.

He had originally planned to ask when he treated her to the boiled corn, but Eileen was sleeping then.

[The tower manager asks where to dig, according to the Crimson Giant Bear.]

Great!

"Here."

Sejun pointed to a spot about 500 meters from the cave, choosing a distant location to avoid any damage to the cave.

Thud. Thud.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear walked quickly to the spot Sejun pointed to.

Then,

Boom! Boom!

With just a few swipes of her front paws, the earth was overturned, and the black soil beneath was exposed. A task that would take a bulldozer hours was completed in an instant.

Thanks to the mother Crimson Giant Bear, Sejun overturned about 1,000 square meters of land in one go.

Roar.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear went back on patrol, and Sejun spent the afternoon planting 3,000 corn seeds and 1,000 cherry tomato plants with the rabbits on the 1,000 square meters of land.

Then,

Swoosh.

Just as the water rabbits were almost done watering the planted seeds,

Click.

The water from the watering can stopped.

"Huh? What’s wrong? Why isn’t the water coming out?"

Sejun, who thought the water would be infinite, asked.

Squeak.

The white rabbit shook its head. We used up all the water for today.

Until now, he hadn’t known about the daily water limit of the white rabbit’s watering can item. He would have to be more careful with water usage in the future.

Sejun covered the watered fields with leftover leek leaves and went to sleep.

But that night, the thief returned.

***

"Meow, meow, meow."

As he got closer to Sejun’s cave, Theo, feeling happy, hummed a tune and walked quickly.

Then,

Chomp, chomp.

He heard something being chewed somewhere.

"What, nya?"

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a Minotaur eating grass.

"Huh? Isn’t that the leek leaves Sejun grows, nya?"

Theo recognized the leek leaves immediately. He had cut them himself and knew them well.

"Where did you get those, nya?"

Theo approached the Minotaur and asked.

Moo?

The Minotaur, recognizing Theo as a traveling merchant, answered. I found them on the ground.

"That’s not possible, nya! Those are Sejun’s precious leaves, nya! Sejun uses them for bowls, ropes, and even to clean himself, nya! You’ve stolen Sejun’s leaves, nya!"

Theo caught the grass thief, Woo Cheonsam.