Chapter 53. Troublemaker (1)

At Yurie's small murmur, the woman who called herself the snack shop owner blinked her eyes.

"Did you come here on purpose? Do you know what kind of place this is?"

"Didn't you say I could buy good things here?"

"……!"

The woman's expression turned to surprise.

Meanwhile, Yurie approached the display case.

The numerous items filling the large display case.

Yurie examined a few of them.

- Advanced Bone Healing Potion of the Golem Clan: 300,000P

- Lower Mana Enhancement Elixir: 2,500,000P

- Gold Dragon Token: 5,000,000P

- White Dragon Token: 15,000,000P

Yurie's eyes darkened as she saw the items and their prices.

'This isn't a special discount sale.'

Judging by the prices and items, it was clear that this was just a special sale, not a special discount sale.

Yurie turned her head.

"Snack shop auntie."

"Coco."

"……?"

"My name is Coco."

"Okay, Auntie Coco."

"……."

"Auntie?"

"……."

"…Ms. Coco?"

"Did you call me?"

Only then did Coco smile and respond, and Yurie let out a faint sigh.

"Ha… So, are these all the items here? Where are the special discount sale items?"

"You really… came here knowing what you were looking for?"

A glint appeared in Coco's eyes.

'This kid… how did she know?'

It was certainly the time when the Dragon Token Exchange was in full swing.

Yet, a new recruit who should have been in the Forest of Beginnings was far away on the mainland, and even knew about the existence of the special discount sale and came here?

It was a strange and incredible thing.

Swish-.

Coco, with a half-smoked cigarette in her mouth, extended her hand.

Seeing Yurie's puzzled head, she smiled and waved her hand.

"Dragon Token."

"……?"

"I want to see your Dragon Token. I need to confirm if you're really a first-year before I decide whether to sell you anything."

"Oh!"

At that, Yurie fumbled and took out her Dragon Token.

The moment she saw the Dragon Token that emerged from Yurie's possession, Coco's eyes widened again.

"…Black Dragon Token?"

A Black Dragon Token with the number 50 engraved on it.

Seeing it, Coco realized who the boy in front of her was.

"It's you…"

The disciple of that eccentric old man.

Coco swallowed her words.

"Is this enough? Identity confirmed."

"Right, definitely."

Nodding, she took out a watch from her pocket.

Tick-.

"23:55… It's a bit early, but it's fine."

Having checked the time, she smiled again.

"Normally, the special discount sale starts exactly at midnight and ends in 10 minutes, but how about we start a bit early today?"

Actually, there was no need to say 'today.'

As far as she knew, this was the first time a customer had come to the first-year special discount sale.

Winking at Yurie, she pulled the golden rope again.

Clunk-.

A loud noise was heard as the special sale display case moved backward.

Rumble-.

A new display case then appeared in its place.

While the previous display case was made of wood, this one was made of metal.

Shiny, lustrous metal!

Seeing this, Yurie's eyes widened in surprise.

"Is that… all gold?"

"Good things should come with expensive and beautiful packaging, right?"

Coco expressed it this way, looking at the splendid golden display case.

"Now, you have exactly 15 minutes. Come and choose!"

At her words, Yurie's movements quickened.

She had worked so hard for this moment.

She had no intention of wasting even a second.

Quickly approaching the display case, she examined the items.

'There aren't that many items.'

While the special sale display case was filled with items, the special discount sale display case had far fewer.

Only about ten items were placed.

Moreover, their grades varied widely.

'While the average grade of items in the special sale was intermediate and advanced… the items in the special discount sale are lower and supreme.'

The items in the special discount sale had a wider range of grades compared to those in the special sale.

And the biggest difference between the special sale and the special discount sale was the price.

- Lower Bone Healing Potion of the Golem Clan: 300P

- Supreme Bone Healing Potion of the Golem Clan: 5,000P

- Supreme Bone Fracture Healing Potion of the Golem Clan: 5,000P

- Lower Mana Enhancement Elixir: 30,000P

- Gold Dragon Token: 49,999P

- White Dragon Token: 99,999P

Recalling the prices of the same items in the special sale, Yurie whistled.

'So that's why everyone talks about the special discount sale.'

The discount rate was beyond imagination.

At this rate, it was practically giving things away for free.

'If I could buy such things every year…'

As if reading her thoughts, Coco smiled and said,

"By the way, you can only buy these items at this price in the first-year special discount sale. You won't even be able to see them at this price in the future."

Yurie nodded, saying, "That's right."

While scanning the items, her gaze was caught by something.

- Secret of the Golem Clan: 300,000P

An item with one more zero compared to the other special discount sale items.

It was a pendant.

A silver metal chain.

A transparent, square crystal the size of a thumb.

And a shimmering emerald liquid inside the crystal.

Seeing this, Yurie asked,

"What is that?"

"Who knows? What could it be?"

Coco shrugged at Yurie's question.

But Yurie noticed.

The slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Intuiting that there was something, Yurie subtly pressed again.

"Can you explain what kind of item it is?"

"I'm just the seller. I don't do explanations."

"…Don't sellers usually explain things enthusiastically?"

"That's for things they're sorry to sell. I'm fine even if I don't sell this."

She had a point.

The initiates wanted the items from the special discount sale.

Frankly, even if the cradle decided not to hold the special discount sale in the future, the initiates wouldn't be able to protest.

Knowing this, Coco was running the business with such confidence.

Finishing her cigarette and flicking it into the ashtray, she took out a new one and lit it.

Suck-.

Sizzle-.

"If you're curious about what it is, buy it and find out. As an initiate of the cradle, you should do that."

Puff-.

"Now, you have 10 minutes left."

Exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, she glanced at her watch and urged.

Ignoring this, Yurie fell into thought.

"Hmm…"

Whether it was the special sale or the special discount sale, all the items had intuitive names.

What kind of injury they were good for.

How effective they were for wound recovery.

How much they increased mana, etc.

The grades and names were all intuitive.

As if to prevent confusion about their uses.

However, the item worth 300,000 points had only the name 'Secret' attached to it.

'Secret…'

A secret, something passed down in secret.

Yurie stroked her chin.

'Golem… the secret of the Golem Clan, is it?'

The Golems, descendants of the ancient dwarves.

Compared to the descendants of other ancient races, they were relatively well-known to the general public.

Or rather, it was their skills that made them famous.

The four skills that spread the name of the Golems.

Metallurgy and alchemy.

Poison-making and medicine-making.

Recalling these, Yurie's eyes brightened.

'So, is the pendant itself the secret?'

Is this crystal pendant a secret made by the Golems' metallurgy and alchemy?

'Or…'

Yurie's gaze shifted to the liquid inside the pendant.

'The liquid?'

Yurie's intuition told her.

Perhaps the liquid itself was the secret of the Golems.

But what was troubling was what this green liquid, called a secret, actually was.

'Poison? Or medicine?'

The legendary poison of the dwarves, said to have killed dragons.

The Golems inherited this poison, and through repeated research, developed it into medicine.

'Even if the legend isn't true, the poison of the Golems is definitely a valuable item. And if this is medicine…'

Whatever its effects, if it was medicine made by the Golems, and especially if it was called a 'secret,' it must have astronomical value.

'So, no need to hesitate.'

Yurie extended her finger.

"I'll take that."

At this, Coco snorted.

"Did you read it right? This is 300,000 points, or do you even know what points are?"

300,000 points.

That wasn't the kind of points a mere new recruit would have.

Ignoring her laughter, Yurie silently placed a wooden box on the