"What? Are you out of your mind? Ten silver coins for this shoddy boot?!" Robin angrily challenged the clothing - store owner.
Just look at what the man was selling. The craftsmanship was shoddy, and the leather was of poor quality. About the only thing it had going for it was that it could provide a bit of warmth.
"You little punk, either buy it or scram. These are leather boots, not cloth or straw! If you can't afford them, get lost!" The store owner, a portly middle - aged man, had a short fuse.
One look at Robin's get - up, a ragged - clad pauper with nothing on his feet, and the owner thought he had some nerve complaining in his store. He doubted the boy could even afford the boots.
Robin was seething with rage, his hand instinctively rising. But then he remembered his current pitiful state and forced himself to hold back. Under the fat man's glare, he raised his hand and casually smoothed his hair.
"Fine, I'll buy it!" Robin gritted his teeth, dug into his pocket for the silver coins, and counted them out one by one. "Here, give me the boots."
The shopkeeper was all business. His bad temper vanished in an instant, replaced by a wide smile. He handed the boots to Robin. "Take 'em. The boots in my shop are top - notch. Even folks from the City Lord's Mansion come here to buy."
He wasn't about to turn down money, no matter how much he disliked the customer.
Robin wasn't as polite as the shopkeeper. He snorted, walked out of the clothing store, rubbed his feet in the roadside snow to wipe off the mud, and then put on the boots.
Instantly, a wave of warmth washed over him. The boots were stuffed with cotton wool. The disappointment of seeing his wallet half - emptied was quickly replaced by relief. The money hadn't been wasted.
That was Robin's nature. His anger flared up quickly and subsided just as fast. He wasn't one to dwell on such petty things.
Warmth in the cold was something worth paying any price for. Robin promptly turned around and re - entered the clothing store, taking out the remaining ten silver coins.
"I need a set of clothes. Doesn't have to be fancy, just thick."
The shopkeeper's face split into a grin, a rather sly one at that. He loved customers like this, easy pickings for overcharging. Just like the boots earlier, the material might have been decent, but the workmanship was poor and the appearance unappealing. Wealthier customers wouldn't even give them a second look, and they only cost him three silver coins. He'd been thrilled to sell them for ten.
"Sure thing! I, Kent, will make sure you're satisfied. Just you wait." With that, he scurried upstairs to fetch the clothes.
Robin watched the fat man's surprisingly agile figure disappear and sneered to himself.
He knew he was likely being fleeced. A merchant's friendly smile was always aimed at the customer's money. The way Kent was beaming so brightly and attentively made it obvious how much profit he'd made from the previous sale.
But Robin didn't really care. These were minor concerns. Soon enough, Kent came huffing and puffing down the stairs, a fur coat in his hands.
"What do you think? This lizard - skin coat is a real steal. Lizard skin is hard to come by, and it'll keep you toasty warm. It's the kind of thing only nobles can afford. Look at this material, this craftsmanship... Hiss." Kent rambled on, trying his best to showcase the coat's virtues, spittle flying from his mouth.
Robin was a bit taken aback. This fur coat was indeed something special. Just as Kent had said, the material and workmanship were far beyond what an ordinary person could afford. Ten silver coins might not even cover the cost of one sleeve.
When did merchants start willingly selling at a loss? There had to be something fishy.
Robin's eyes flickered over Kent's face, and he keenly detected a hint of nervousness lurking there.
"I'll give you five silver coins for it." Robin immediately made a counter - offer.
"Hey~" Kent, in the middle of his enthusiastic pitch, was caught off - guard by Robin's words and was left speechless for a moment.
Robin continued, "Five silver coins, that's my offer for this stolen item in your hands." He'd spotted a few faint oval - shaped brown stains on an unnoticeable corner of the leather coat. They looked very much like bloodstains.
So Robin took a bold guess and decided to bluff him.
Sure enough, Kent's face paled, fear written all over it. His hands started to tremble slightly.
He quickly turned his head to glance at the street outside the store. The heavy snow had thinned the foot traffic to almost nothing. When he turned back, he'd managed to hide most of his fear, replaced by a menacing look.
"Kid, don't go looking for trouble. I know who you are, that little helper at the Old Hoy Tavern. If you breathe a word of this, you won't live to see tomorrow." Kent threatened menacingly. He thought a few harsh words would be enough to intimidate this young lad.
This fur coat was, in fact, stolen goods. Kent had bought it from a mercenary for one gold coin during one of his out - of - town buying trips.
One gold coin was no small sum.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a huge problem. He could wait for the heat to die down and then sell it later. Given the coat's material and craftsmanship, he was bound to make a profit.
But this coat was strange. The night he brought it back, he saw a ghost.
In the dead of night, he heard a continuous stream of screams in his ears. The screams were high - pitched and unending, neither clearly male nor female, jolting him awake from his sleep.
When he opened his eyes, he saw more than a dozen hazy figures wandering aimlessly around his room. Each figure had a pale face with blood - red eyes. The screams, which seemed to come straight from hell, were coming from their mouths.
Kent had nearly died of fright on the spot. Thankfully, these ghostly apparitions didn't harm him. They disappeared back into the fur coat just before dawn.
Kent had immediately thrown the fur coat as far away as he could. But when he returned to his store in Wildfire City from his delivery location, this cursed fur coat was already there, waiting for him.
He was both anxious and terrified. He grilled his shop assistants, but all they could tell him was that a stranger had dropped it off the night before. They hadn't seen the face clearly, just remembered that it was deathly pale.
When Kent heard this, his heart nearly stopped. He immediately regarded the fur coat as a curse and wanted to get rid of it at all costs.
Kent had tried numerous ways to destroy the fur coat. He'd tried burning it, but the flames wouldn't catch. He'd tried cutting it with scissors, but it wouldn't tear. And the next day, any cut marks would miraculously disappear. He'd thrown it away several times, but each time, a mysterious person with a pale, unidentifiable face would return it.
Even now, this fur coat haunted him like a ghost, and he couldn't seem to be rid of it.
He didn't dare to sell the fur coat to just anyone. Those who could afford it usually had some standing in Wildfire City. If something went wrong, he'd be in deep trouble.
Kent also suspected that the fur coat was cursed, but because it was stolen, he didn't dare to take it to a mage or priest to get the curse lifted. Besides, the cost of having a mage or priest remove a curse was exorbitant, paid in gold coins. That would be like cutting into his own flesh.
Robin was unfazed by Kent's threat and calmly repeated, "Five silver coins, I'll take it."
Kent was all talk. He didn't have the guts to actually do anything, and there was no real need to. He had a family and a business to think about. There was no point in getting into a fight with a penniless boy. Seeing that Robin wasn't backing down, his bravado waned, and he started to wonder if the boy had some dirt on him. His tone softened involuntarily.
"Alright, you said it. I'll sell you the robe. But if anything happens later, don't come crying to me."
Kent was desperate to be rid of the coat. He couldn't stand the thought of seeing ghosts in the middle of the night anymore. He'd been looking haggard these days and had lost over ten pounds of weight.
Robin took the fur coat, gave it a shake, and put it on. Instantly, warmth enveloped him. Strangely, the warmth wasn't just limited to his body. Even his head and hands, which were exposed, felt warm. The fur coat seemed to repel all the cold air, not letting a single bit through.
"Great find! This is a real treasure!" Robin thought to himself, but his face remained expressionless. He looked at himself in the bronze mirror in the clothing store and feigned a frown. "It's too flashy. You need to make it look more ordinary."
The fur coat hadn't seemed like anything special when Kent had it in his hands. But on Robin, it immediately enhanced his elegant and luxurious aura. Coupled with Robin's natural air of nonchalance, he was quite the sight.
Kent couldn't help but be impressed. He started to regret selling such a fine fur coat for just five silver coins. But then he remembered the coat's eerie nature, and a chill ran down his spine, erasing any second - thoughts.
It wasn't until Robin walked out wearing the now - ordinary - looking fur coat that Kent felt a slight sense of relief. Whether he could finally be free of this nightmare fur coat depended on what happened tonight.