Chapter 22: Squeezing Wiz Dry
The next day, Kobayashi went to see Wiz.
The cabbage harvest day didn't just let the adventurers fill their pots and bowls; with Kobayashi's help, Wiz's Magic Item Shop also gained a wave of popularity. Although it wasn't enough to reverse everyone's prejudice against the shop, he believed that with his continued vigorous promotion, it would surely become more and more popular... provided Wiz didn't stock any more bizarre, ridiculous magic items.
"So, the turnover for that day was pretty good, right?"
"Yes! 5,500,000 Eris! A single day's sales were more than an entire month's! Thank you so much for your promotion, Kobayashi!"
Wiz was overjoyed.
Except for a brief highlight period when she first opened the shop, her monthly turnover had always been in the red. It had gotten so bad that the great Archwizard and Lich, Wiz, had to resort to picking up discarded vegetable leaves from the market to eat, which was a truly sad sight.
Although, he couldn't understand why a Lich needed to eat in the first place.
Kobayashi was also happy for her.
"Congratulations. With a little more effort, you'll escape poverty and get rich."
"Thank you! I will definitely work hard and seize the opportunity to improve the shop's deficit!"
Wiz's excitement couldn't be contained. She even jumped a little to cheer herself on.
This caused her ample, belt-bound chest to move up and down with the influence of gravity, tracing a breathtakingly perfect arc in the air.
Now the question of why she needs to eat has been answered.
What's with this Lich? Why is she so... bouncy?
Kobayashi quickly looked up.
"What's wrong, Kobayashi?"
"It's nothing, my nose just feels itchy. It feels like something is about to come out."
I'm sorry, but the weak-willed lich shopkeeper seems to be even more alluring than the succubus Lorena. Is it because a Lich's rank is higher than a succubus's, giving her more influence, or is it that I just prefer Wiz's type?
Wiz hurriedly helped Kobayashi sit down, asking with concern, "Are you alright? Do you need to see an Archpriest?"
"It's fine, it's fine. I've just been a bit 'heated' lately. Drinking more hot water should do the trick," Kobayashi said, waving his hand to show he was okay.
Hearing this, Wiz quickly prepared some tea for him.
After a moment of bustling.
Kobayashi raised his teacup and said, "Wiz, this month's turnover shouldn't be in the red anymore, right?"
It was impossible not to be a little proud of making a constantly-in-the-red shop profitable. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to claim credit so quickly.
However—
"Well, about that..." Wiz looked slightly embarrassed. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Under normal circumstances, that would be the case. But I used that money to purchase new magic items, so we're still in the red now."
"Pffft—"
The tea in his mouth instantly sprayed out, arcing through the air like the Merlion fountain, reflecting the bright light, before falling due to gravity and soaking the floor.
"Ah! Are you alright? Was the tea too hot?"
Wiz took out a towel to wipe Kobayashi off.
Being served by a beautiful girl was great, but Kobayashi was in no mood to enjoy it right now. He grabbed Wiz's hand and said urgently, "You spent all the money? All of it? 5,500,000 Eris?!"
"Yes, I bought all new magic items. They're right over there."
Following Wiz's finger, Kobayashi saw a pile of bizarrely shaped junk in the corner. He called it junk because it was all dark and unremarkable. Kobayashi had seen it when he first came in, but he had mistaken it for trash that Wiz had swept up while cleaning the room and was preparing to throw out.
You're telling me those are magic items?!
Wiz excitedly ran over, picked up a magic item, and introduced it. "Look, look! This is a Crystal Bomb! When you input mana, it will explode within one second! Its power is equal to the highest-level Explosion magic, and its blast radius can reach 100 meters! What do you think? Isn't it a powerful magic item?!"
To have the power of the highest-level human Explosion magic and a blast radius of 100 meters was, it had to be said, very ridiculous.
But exploding within one second was an absolutely terrible design!
Among the novice adventurers of Axel, how many could claim to be able to throw a bomb 100 meters in one second? And how many could claim to be able to withstand the damage of Explosion magic?
In the end, this magic item had extremely harsh limitations and use cases. Under normal circumstances, absolutely no one would buy it.
"They're all from the Crystal Bomb series, and their production costs are also very ridiculous. To be able to buy them for just 5,500,000 Eris, wasn't that a great deal?!" Wiz had a happy smile on her face, as if she had made a huge profit.
Her magical eye for business and her powerful talent for squandering money are as amazing as ever. I really want to tell her to just close the shop. If she can't survive, I'll support her.
But he knew that was impossible.
The reason Wiz opened the shop was to wait for her former adventurer companions, to whom she had said, "If you get tired, you can always come back and visit." It was also because of a contract she had made with Vanir to earn money to help him build a dungeon in return for him turning her into a Lich.
Whether it was the promise to her companions or the contract with the devil, Wiz would never give up the shop.
Oh well. I'll just have to help her out more.
Wiz's problems would improve after Vanir arrived. At that time, he could just hand Wiz over to that archdevil who loved to play with people's hearts and let him have the headache.
You want to build your own dungeon? Then you'll have to make Wiz's shop profitable first.
A wicked smile, identical to a certain archdevil's, appeared on Kobayashi's lips.
After finishing his tea, Kobayashi brought up the second reason for his visit.
"Wiz, the number of zombies in the cemetery has increased recently. Do you know what's going on?"
"I'm sorry, they seem to be reacting to my magic, so..."
"No, no, I don't mean to get angry. I was just confirming if another Lich has infiltrated Axel."
Although Wiz was a Lich, she was kind by nature. She had once set up a magic circle in the cemetery to help ghosts who couldn't ascend—because their families had no money to hire a priest—to pass on peacefully. But because of the influence of her own powerful magic, she often unintentionally caused the corpses in the cemetery to react to her magic and turn into zombies. This had caused some minor disturbances in the past, but they were within a controllable range.
It's just that the number had increased a bit recently, and he felt something was off, so he had come to ask.
After thinking for a moment.
"Oh, right, Wiz!"
"Hmm?"
"You're a Lich. I remember that Lich skills are very strong. How about you teach me some practical Lich-type skills?"
"But you're an Adventurer, Kobayashi."
As everyone knew, the "Adventurer" class was barely worthy of the name, mainly because they only got a pitiful single skill point per level. And Lich was a high-level, rare class, so its skills generally cost a lot of points.
"Don't worry about that. Although I'm an Adventurer, I still have some skill points saved up."
Kobayashi took out his adventurer card. He had already reached level 20, and he had over 60 skill points, more than enough to learn most Lich-type skills.
"Wiz, I helped you out so much. You should use your body (skills) to compensate me. Hehehehe~~~"
Kobayashi approached Wiz with great anticipation.
But his strange smile was misunderstood by the weak-willed Lich. With tears in her eyes, she looked helplessly at Kobayashi as he gradually approached her.
And so, Wiz was squeezed completely dry.
(End of Chapter)