Chapter 299: Chapter 74 Choices

In the end, the elderly shopkeeper decided against trying to fleece Anvis and instead chose to deal with him as one would with a real pro.

The deal included Fiona’s six shards, the little kitty’s stone, and Anvis’s two crystals. Among them, each shard was ten Gold Coins, the Moon Stone was sixty Gold Coins, and each Relic Crystal was eighty Gold Coins.

After a discount of 12 percent, everything was eventually sold for a total of 246 Gold Coins.

Considering the price to be fair, Anvis promptly paid up and then left Old Jimmy’s shop with his warm send-off.

By this time, it was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon, and the sky outside was approaching evening, though there was still some time before sunset.

Having purchased the necessary ore, Anvis continued to browse around the Grey Crow Market with Fiona.

The market in the evening was even busier than during the day, and as the sky began to glow with pink and purple hues of the sunset, a colorful crowd bustled back and forth. The overlapping sounds of hawking, arguing, and noise created a buzzing background din.

The air was filled with the pungent aroma of exotic spices; members of caravans from afar displayed their exotic goods, hoping for a good price.

Gentlemen dressed in formal attire and gold-rimmed spectacles were seen arguing with the merchant-dressed stall owners in front of a mobile booth, occasionally waving their canes in agitation.

Groups of rugged mercenaries clad in leather armor strode through the market on their way to the dancing girl tavern.

Mysterious Spellcasters in Magic Robes entered the area selling Magic Materials, followed by two Dark Night Elf Guards in busty bikini Armor…

At this point, along the busy path, there were many small traders and vendors sitting directly on the ground, with a large piece of cloth spread in front of them, covered with goods. Among them, one could vaguely see Player booths with miscellaneous items.

If one was looking to experience the joy of finding a bargain, these scattered booths were a good choice, especially after the Players started to show up.

Players always managed to get some strange and unusual things, and since the majority of Players had little understanding of the items in the game, it was common to see good items being sold cheap or trash marked at exorbitant prices.

As he wandered, Anvis casually glanced at the items on the booths by the road.

Broken arrows, empty bottles, a bone, garlic, old wooden chairs, empty barrels…

Of course, you had to pick out the useful items from amidst even more trash — that’s another characteristic of Player booths.

“You thief! You dared to take my goods and have the nerve to openly sell them here?!”

A deafening roar suddenly came from a distance, the voice rough, apparently that of a middle-aged man.

Upon hearing the shout, the five or six Players in front quickly rolled up their booths and packed them back into their backpacks, then scurried away swiftly.

The chasing shopkeeper behind them was startled for a moment before continuing the pursuit of one of them.

Never knowing when to run, another characteristic of Player booths.

During this time, a little boy named Pace had been following them around the market, occasionally pointing out shortcuts to the two.

Eventually, the sky fully transitioned into evening.

By now, the three of them had made their way to a small square in the center of the Grey Crow Market.

In the center of the square stood a stone fountain carved with a young maiden holding a silver pitcher, and the clear water sparkled with golden glimmers under the dusky sky.

An Elf Minstrel strummed his Lute by the side of the fountain, playing a beautiful country ballad from the Empire, with passersby occasionally tossing silver and copper coins into his instrument case.

“Your name is Pace, right? That’s enough; we’re going to head back now.”

Anvis stopped in the square and turned to the red-haired boy, offering a polite smile.

“Um, sir, about my tip…”

The little boy immediately looked up at Anvis with hope at his words.

“Ah! Bro, did we forget about getting silver coins?”

Seeing this scene, Fiona, who was eating a cup of rose honey frost ice cream, seemed to suddenly remember this matter, and hastily used her spiritual power to send a message to him.

“Is that so, Fei?”

Anvis looked at her amusedly. Would a professional of the Third Rank forget so quickly?

“There’s a stall selling roasted Luo Luo Beast ribs on the roadside now. If we buy a skewer, we’ll have enough silver coins.”

Upon hearing Anvis’s telepathic message, Fiona’s cheeks turned slightly red.

“Um… sorry, brother. I just felt that he has been guiding us for the whole afternoon, he must be tired too. Should we just give him a Gold Coin instead?

Plus, I saw that he seemed to really want some of the Magic Ice Cream we bought earlier.”

As she spoke, the girl added another sentence.

“You can follow your heart and do what you think is right, Fei.”

Hearing the girl’s true thoughts, Anvis revealed a gentle smile and nodded to her encouragingly.

“Okay, brother! I understand!”

With Anvis’s affirmation, the girl cheerfully took out her cute light pink purse with a bow on it, fetched a Gold Coin from inside, and handed it to the little boy.

“Here you go, little brother. This is your tip.”

“Thank you! Thank you, big sister!”

Seeing the shiny golden luster of the Gold Coin, the little boy swallowed hard, quickly reached out to take it, and thanked the girl.

Meanwhile, his gaze shot like lightning at Fiona’s bulging purse and then quickly at Anvis.

Based on the bulge’s size, there must be hundreds of Gold Coins inside!

Having spent the afternoon with the two, he could tell that Fiona’s nature was actually very innocent.

However, getting past Anvis was probably not going to be so easy.

“Um, I’m sorry, big sister…”

After an intense internal struggle, his greed and the temptation of the Gold Coin finally gave him the courage to speak up.

“Actually, my mom is sick, bedridden at home. Dad always goes out gambling and pawns everything from the house after losing all the money.

My two younger siblings are too small to work, and it’s been many days since they’ve had a full meal. So I can only come out to guide people to earn a bit of money to support my brother and sister…”

As he spoke, Pace’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red, tears welling up in them.

“Eh? Is that so?”

Fiona listened to his story with some surprise and couldn’t help but feel very sympathetic towards him.

“So, I’m really sorry, big sister, but can you give me a bit more money? I want to treat my mom’s illness…”

He wiped his eyes forcefully with his hand and then looked at Anvis before turning his pleading gaze back to the girl.

After hearing Pace’s words, Fiona felt somewhat at a loss and didn’t know what to do, again turning her eyes towards Anvis for help.

But this time, the boy did not respond, just quietly gazing at the girl with his deep blue eyes.

That look seemed to say: make your own decision.