Read Online The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 by Aneko Yusagi - Free Book Online
Authors: Aneko Yusagi
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skins.
So, only one piece of bronze for two of them…
“Please.”
“Thank you very much.”
The customer left, leaving me alone in the shop.
“Hey, I brought you some of my battle loot. I hope you’ll buy it from me. Heh, heh.”
“Welcome! Welcome!”
Did he think I couldn’t hear the giggling that followed all of his sentences?
“So you’ve got some balloon skins, huh? How about one bronze piece for ten of ‘em?”
A fifth the price?! He was looking at his feet the whole time!
“Didn’t you just offer that customer one piece for two skins?”
“Did I? I can’t seem to remember…”
He went on for a few minutes, making various excuses about his stock.
“Fine then,” I said, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him close.
“What are you doing?!”
“Buy this stuff off me too. He’s still alive, and a real kicker.”
I had an orange balloon hidden under my cape, where it was fruitlessly biting my shoulder. I removed him and put him right in the shop owner’s face, where he promptly bit down on the man’s nose.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
He started screaming, and rolling around on the floor. I pulled the balloon off of him, and pulled him up by the collar.
“Should I take these little things back to the fields where I got them, or do you want to buy them off of me?”
I pulled back my cape to reveal five additional orange balloons. I’d realized that their attacks didn’t hurt me, so I was able to carry them around, and use them against others, if I chose to do so.
It was an ingenious strategy, if I do say so myself. It would help with my negotiations. Besides, I had no attack power, so I wasn’t able to threaten anyone without them.
Surely, the man would understand. Surely, he knew that if I left the balloons there, they’d eat the guy down to his bones.
“I’m not asking for much, just a fair price. Our talks start with the market price.”
“But the country will…”
“Look, what do you think will happen to a merchant who tries to cheat a hero out of his fair share?”
Exactly. Merchants had to rely on the trust they’d gained. If he had tried to pull something like this on any other adventurer, he’d have gotten a swift kick in the teeth for sure. And hey, there was always the chance that his customers would stop showing up altogether.
“Ugh…”
“But, it doesn’t have to go that way. If you’ll buy from me consistently, I’ll sell to you for just under the market price.”
“Honestly, I’d like to refuse, but there’s no sin in business.”
So the guy just never gave up, but in the end I was able to convince him to buy my loot at just under market price.
“Feel free to tell others about me. Tell them I’ll punish other sneaky merchants with my balloons.”
“Sure, whatever. You’re quite the customer, aren’t you?”
I took the money for my loot, went back to the weapon shop, paid the owner for his clothes, and finally went to a restaurant to get some dinner.
The food, however, tasted like nothing.
It was like eating unflavored gum. At first I thought someone was pulling a trick on me, but soon enough I realized the problem lay with me.
Where would I stay? I had no money, so I slept in the fields. The balloons weren’t capable of hurting me, so there was no real problem.
When I woke in the morning, I was covered in balloons. It was something like a Tibetan Sky Burial. It didn’t hurt though, and I used them to burn off some stress, popping them one by one.
I was already filling my pockets, and I’d just woken up!
Just then, I came up with an idea. I could make money without having to kill these things all day.
The first thing to do was to find some loot, besides the balloon skins, that I could sell for a profit. There were grasses in the field that had medicinal value, and I’d seen an apothecary in town, and I am pretty sure I could sell off the grasses if I picked them.
I walked around the fields, picking grasses as I found them.
So, only one piece of bronze for two of them…
“Please.”
“Thank you very much.”
The customer left, leaving me alone in the shop.
“Hey, I brought you some of my battle loot. I hope you’ll buy it from me. Heh, heh.”
“Welcome! Welcome!”
Did he think I couldn’t hear the giggling that followed all of his sentences?
“So you’ve got some balloon skins, huh? How about one bronze piece for ten of ‘em?”
A fifth the price?! He was looking at his feet the whole time!
“Didn’t you just offer that customer one piece for two skins?”
“Did I? I can’t seem to remember…”
He went on for a few minutes, making various excuses about his stock.
“Fine then,” I said, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him close.
“What are you doing?!”
“Buy this stuff off me too. He’s still alive, and a real kicker.”
I had an orange balloon hidden under my cape, where it was fruitlessly biting my shoulder. I removed him and put him right in the shop owner’s face, where he promptly bit down on the man’s nose.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
He started screaming, and rolling around on the floor. I pulled the balloon off of him, and pulled him up by the collar.
“Should I take these little things back to the fields where I got them, or do you want to buy them off of me?”
I pulled back my cape to reveal five additional orange balloons. I’d realized that their attacks didn’t hurt me, so I was able to carry them around, and use them against others, if I chose to do so.
It was an ingenious strategy, if I do say so myself. It would help with my negotiations. Besides, I had no attack power, so I wasn’t able to threaten anyone without them.
Surely, the man would understand. Surely, he knew that if I left the balloons there, they’d eat the guy down to his bones.
“I’m not asking for much, just a fair price. Our talks start with the market price.”
“But the country will…”
“Look, what do you think will happen to a merchant who tries to cheat a hero out of his fair share?”
Exactly. Merchants had to rely on the trust they’d gained. If he had tried to pull something like this on any other adventurer, he’d have gotten a swift kick in the teeth for sure. And hey, there was always the chance that his customers would stop showing up altogether.
“Ugh…”
“But, it doesn’t have to go that way. If you’ll buy from me consistently, I’ll sell to you for just under the market price.”
“Honestly, I’d like to refuse, but there’s no sin in business.”
So the guy just never gave up, but in the end I was able to convince him to buy my loot at just under market price.
“Feel free to tell others about me. Tell them I’ll punish other sneaky merchants with my balloons.”
“Sure, whatever. You’re quite the customer, aren’t you?”
I took the money for my loot, went back to the weapon shop, paid the owner for his clothes, and finally went to a restaurant to get some dinner.
The food, however, tasted like nothing.
It was like eating unflavored gum. At first I thought someone was pulling a trick on me, but soon enough I realized the problem lay with me.
Where would I stay? I had no money, so I slept in the fields. The balloons weren’t capable of hurting me, so there was no real problem.
When I woke in the morning, I was covered in balloons. It was something like a Tibetan Sky Burial. It didn’t hurt though, and I used them to burn off some stress, popping them one by one.
I was already filling my pockets, and I’d just woken up!
Just then, I came up with an idea. I could make money without having to kill these things all day.
The first thing to do was to find some loot, besides the balloon skins, that I could sell for a profit. There were grasses in the field that had medicinal value, and I’d seen an apothecary in town, and I am pretty sure I could sell off the grasses if I picked them.
I walked around the fields, picking grasses as I found them.
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