Chapter 87: Entering the Forest Alone

"Uncle Mike, from now on, the daily management of Border Town will be in your hands."

"Understood."

"Anna, since you enjoy sword training, I won't assign you any other tasks. Just keep the peace in Border Town every day."

"That's for the best."

"Aphra, you—" Zhouten pointed at Aphra for a while. Thinking of her personality, he realized that no matter what task he gave her, he’d still worry. After hesitating for a moment, he could only say, "Forget it, you’ll just stay by my side."

"Ah~ Why don’t I get a task?"

"Ask yourself!" Zhouten shot Aphra a glare, but then turned to Vivian. "Vivian, you like shopping, don’t you!"

"W-what are you talking about, how could I possibly—"

Stare~

"Fine! I admit I do like buying clothes, but is that really wrong?" She had been determined never to confess her fondness, but with so many people in the know present and all their eyes on her, Vivian finally nodded in embarrassment and admitted it.

"I suppose buying clothes is rather expensive, isn’t it!"

Thinking Zhouten was about to scold her for her previous reckless spending, Vivian felt a bit ashamed, but still nodded.

To Vivian’s relief, Zhouten didn’t seem intent on blaming her. When she admitted how costly her shopping could be, he simply said, "We’re not in the Holy City anymore. If you want to shop so freely again, it’ll be a challenge. So, how about this: I’ll give you a chance to make some money. Are you interested?"

Vivian eyed Zhouten suspiciously, clutching her clothes tighter before asking, "What kind of opportunity? You’re not planning another one of your schemes, are you?"

Zhouten nearly spat blood.

He decided not to prolong the conversation with Vivian. After glaring at her, he continued, "You all know I need a great number of magic cores to craft alchemical goods. We’re near the Monster Forest, and every day the mercenaries bring out large quantities of magic cores. I want you to buy up as many as possible in my name here in Border Town. For every core you purchase at market price, I’ll reward you with one percent of its value in gold. How does that sound?"

Stare~

"Alright! And if anyone else is interested, you can help Vivian. Whoever helps buy magic cores will get the same reward." Upon hearing this, Vivian was overjoyed, but Aphra and Anna felt a bit slighted. They all glared at Zhouten until he relented, turning what was originally a solo task into a regular assignment for anyone interested.

While Vivian felt a bit miffed at how easily Zhouten gave in to pressure, the others were quite pleased with his decision. After a brief discussion, everyone went off to make preparations as arranged.

"Uncle Mike, why aren’t you going out with them?" After the others had left, Zhouten noticed Mike was still there and asked, curious as to why he remained.

"Captain, your arrangements might not be ideal," Mike said cautiously. Seeing Zhouten wasn’t angry, he continued, "Though we just acquired a sum of money, we don’t have a stable source of income. Buying magic cores will cost a lot of gold, and with our current finances, I’m afraid we can’t keep it up for long."

Zhouten nodded. "That’s true. If we keep spending without earning, our money won’t last very long."

"So—"

"So I hope you can take on one more task, Uncle Mike."

"What is it?"

"What do you think of my alchemical products?"

Mike looked at Zhouten in confusion but answered honestly, "Your alchemical goods are the best I’ve ever seen."

"If I were to arrange an auction specifically to sell my alchemical creations, how do you think business would be?"

"It would be excellent." At this point, Mike understood Zhouten’s plan and nodded. "Then I’ll take care of organizing the auction as well."

"I’ll leave it to you, Uncle Mike."

"It’s my pleasure." With that, Mike nodded to Zhouten and took his leave.

"Exchanging goods from the system shop for a large sum of money, then using that money to buy magic cores to convert into spiritual energy—for profit, it’s that simple. Why didn’t I think of this before as a way to collect spiritual energy?" Shaking his head, Zhouten gathered up the coins on the ground and strode away in a jaunty gait.

----------------

With everyone assigned their tasks, almost all matters, big and small, in Border Town had been delegated by Zhouten. Yet no one, or perhaps no one cared to mention, noticed that as both bishop and lord, Zhouten had not given himself any duties at all.

Of course, Zhouten wasn’t shirking work out of laziness. Not only was that out of character for him, but even if he were inclined to slack off, Vivian and the others would never let him stand idly by.

In truth, the reason Zhouten left himself without a task was simple: he wanted to level up.

The system he possessed gave him two golden opportunities: leveling up by defeating 'monsters,' and shopping with spiritual energy. Since it was both easier and faster to use spiritual energy to buy items and boost his strength, after becoming familiar with both functions, Zhouten naturally chose to strengthen himself with items.

He might have continued this way indefinitely, but the recent encounter with that assassin and Anna’s words jolted him awake. Because he hadn’t had time to use an item, he’d nearly been killed by an assassin who wasn’t even particularly strong. Anna’s comment made him realize that, though he thought of himself as the main force of the team, in the eyes of the others, he was merely a summoner.

External tools are just that—external. True strength lies within. Zhouten had heard that before, but it’s easier said than done. Improving one’s personal abilities is always a challenge. Previously, he thought he could rely on system items to handle any foe and had grown lax about leveling up. It wasn’t until he nearly lost his life to an assassin that he truly understood the importance of his own power. Determined to never face such danger again, Zhouten resolved to work hard on leveling up.

"Time to go hunting!" he muttered to himself. After bidding the gate guards farewell, Zhouten strode alone into the Monster Forest.

(Thanks to Vulcan Flame for the 588 tip, and to Little Book Friend No. 3 for the 100 Starting Point Coins. My deepest gratitude!)