Chapter 461: Chapter 354: The Changes After Spring

"Hammerhead Shark New Tooth Powder, juice from Undersea Giant Algae..."

In Torch City, at the counter of the "Giant Dragon’s Horn" Magic Item Shop—a long-standing member of the Magic Items Trade Association—the manager was carefully examining a list.

"So, do you have everything?" Uncle Musa, standing before him, asked with a smile.

Uncle Musa was wearing a Magic Necklace that could alter his appearance, so the shopkeepers couldn’t see his real face.

However, many customers who came to the shop deliberately concealed their appearances, so the manager and attendants were long used to it.

"Sir, we do have all these items, but our stock is low on a few of them, and the quantity you’re requesting is quite large." The manager looked troubled. An attendant had initially been helping Uncle Musa, but upon seeing the list, he had immediately called for the manager. "If you don’t need them right away, we can transfer the goods for you."

"What about the price?" Uncle Musa pretended to think. "These items are indeed very important. I need to make a trip to Plantagenet City soon."

Hearing this, the manager pursed his lips slightly. "You can rest assured about that. We will certainly offer you a fair price. If you confirm the order, I can issue the transfer request for you right now. It should be completed in seven days at the fastest... no, five days."

"Five days?" Uncle Musa glanced at the list in the manager’s hand, feigned a thoughtful frown, and then sighed. "Alright. Please be as quick as possible."

"Of course, of course," the manager immediately nodded, then called an attendant over to prepare the contract. "We will be as fast as we can. We certainly won’t delay you."

Everyone in Torch City knew that the Second Prince’s and Third Prince’s subordinates were locked in a fierce, evenly matched struggle. This old gentleman in front of him said he was going to Plantagenet City, which likely meant he was going to meet one of the two princes.

"By the way, do you have any mithril here?" Uncle Musa asked casually.

"Mithril? Yes, but we don’t have much left." The manager shook his head, speaking apologetically.

"A Magic Merchants Association shop, and not much mithril?" Uncle Musa found this odd. ’Logically, mithril is a bonding agent for all sorts of Magic Items, something of an "Adhesive," so a Magic Item Shop should have plenty in stock.’

"There’s nothing we can do," the manager said with a wry smile, turning to pull a tray out from under the counter. On it sat a lump of silver with sky-blue veins. "Ever since this winter, all kinds of Magic Beast Materials have become scarce. We haven’t been able to stock much mithril."

"Magic Beast Materials have become scarcer?" Uncle Musa raised an eyebrow. He then immediately recalled something. Shire had mentioned when he contacted him before that the entire southern region of the Nightmare Forest was now temporarily under control. This meant that Shire had cleared out most of the Magical Beasts.

"But it’s not a huge problem," the manager said with a smile. "We’re planning to restock soon anyway."

Uncle Musa said, "Oh?" and waited for the man’s explanation.

"You must be from the Saruo Islands," the manager said, glancing at Uncle Musa’s wheat-colored skin. "Magic Beast Materials become scarce in the winter. For one, the temperature is low, so many animals go into hiding. For another, a large number of Adventurers have moved to Torch City to make a living."

"A lot of them?"

"Quite a few, yes. I heard that Count Valentine led a force to clear out the dangers in the forest, which resulted in the goblins being almost completely wiped out. The Adventurers have been complaining they can’t even find many goblins at the forest’s edge anymore. Meanwhile, we were dealing with the Undead Pirates here, so many of them came straight to Torch City." The manager pushed the tray of mithril toward Uncle Musa, doing his best to explain.

"Then why are you planning to restock now?"

"Oh, that’s because..." The manager smiled and waved his hand, about to explain the reason.

But just then, several angry shouts came from outside the shop. "Get him!" "Someone, call the city guard!" "There are three of them!" The clamor and curses cut the manager off mid-sentence. Everyone else in the shop turned to look outside. Soon, three casually dressed individuals carrying weapons on their backs rushed past on the road, clutching several items. A moment later, a shouting crowd followed in pursuit.

"What’s going on?" Uncle Musa frowned. He noticed the shop’s attendants weren’t panicking at all. Instead, they went directly to the left side of the main hall and put away a Magic Staff that was nearly two meters long.

"It’s those Adventurers," the manager sighed. "The Undead Sailors have been more or less wiped out, and the underwater Summoning Array has been destroyed. They can’t find enough commissions for now, so some of them have started targeting shops."

"This... isn’t this just blatant robbery?" Uncle Musa was stunned.

"The Torch City guard is basically useless these days anyway. When the Holy Oak Cathedral was blown up by fanatics, they just issued a wanted poster and left it at that," the manager said, shaking his head irritably. "For small cases like this, shops have to fend for themselves."

Uncle Musa glanced at the attendants nearby. They were wrapping the Magic Staff in a long cloth. He had previously glimpsed the staff’s materials: a translucent, massive Magic Crystal Stone, and a hollow body carved with Runes, which was clearly made from very fine wood. The overall craftsmanship was exquisite.

"I really miss the days when Baron Merlot was still around," the manager sighed, his gaze also fixed on the Magic Staff being carried away. "At least we didn’t have all this damned trouble back then."

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