After hearing everything Luna described about Aqua's behavior, even with Ren Kuroda's extensive experience, he had to admit that he had never encountered someone so utterly shameless.
At the same time, the incident made him feel profoundly relieved. Now more than ever, he realized just how wise his decision had been yesterday—not agreeing to let Aqua follow him.
It could only be said that the title "Goddess of Wisdom" Aqua truly lived up to its reputation—so much so that it even exceeded Ren's prior expectations.
Thinking about it carefully, losing a single fortune yesterday to fully understand just how much trouble Aqua and her companion could cause… maybe it wasn't such a bad deal after all.
After all, they had become adventurers for less than a single day, yet had already managed to rack up a bill so terrifying that ordinary adventurers wouldn't even dare to look at it.
Traveling together with people like that was basically asking for disaster.
"Luna, you don't need to blame yourself too much," Ren said calmly."You were acting out of kindness. No one could've imagined those two would be so outrageously wasteful.Besides, I did say yesterday that their expenses would be charged to my account—that part was my own mistake. You really didn't need to take out your personal savings to cover it.Even though the amount on this IOU is… admittedly ridiculous, for me it just means working a few extra days.As for the commission I mentioned earlier, could you help me publish it first? I'll make up the cost as soon as possible."
This whole situation was entirely Ren's own fault—he'd picked up a rock and smashed his own foot with it. Naturally, there was no way he'd let Luna take responsibility for the loss.
All he could say was that he had severely underestimated just how shameless the useless duo truly was.
He briefly considered tracking them down to settle accounts, but quickly discovered that those two hadn't even shown up at the Adventurers' Guild that day.
With no other choice, Ren gave up on that idea for now. He selected several more high-difficulty, high-reward quests and left the guild once again.
No one knew when the Mobile Fortress would attack Axel, so he needed to locate a Demon King Army general as quickly as possible.
Judging by Axel's geographic location, it was far too distant from the frontlines. Logically speaking, the Demon King Army shouldn't appear here at all.
However, Kazuma Satou, the so-called child of destiny, was currently in Axel. Following the usual anime and game tropes, it wasn't entirely impossible that an enemy might proactively show up just to deliver themselves on a silver platter.
After picking up several extremely difficult and highly lucrative quests, Ren didn't immediately leave town.
Instead, he headed toward a particularly inconspicuous magic item shop in Axel.
As for how he came to know about this shop, that was entirely thanks to Chris and Dust, those two incurable perverts, who had dragged him there.
Don't get the wrong idea—this was a legitimate magic item shop in every sense of the word.
The reason it attracted so many lecherous adventurers in Axel was simple:The shop's owner was a young woman with a pure, gentle face—and a body that was nothing short of explosive.
There was an old saying: clothes make you look thinner. No matter how incredible a female mage's figure might be, once wrapped in a mage's robe, all of that capital usually vanished from sight.
But Wiz, the owner of this magic item shop, was a complete exception.
Her impossibly full chest strained against even the loose, oversized mage robe, pushing the fabric up every single time.
Combined with her soft-spoken, timid, and unusually innocent personality, she attracted no shortage of "customers" who came purely to admire the view.
Of course, Ren was nothing like Chris, Dust, and the rest of those hopeless perverts.
Though he was also a regular at Wiz's shop, his reasons for coming were entirely different.
It wasn't that Wiz wasn't beautiful—she was stunning. Her figure was undeniably alluring. If circumstances allowed, the male adventurers of Axel would gladly use shopping as an excuse to get closer to her.
But reality was cruel.
Though they wanted to support this kind-hearted yet dangerously attractive shop owner, the moment they saw the functions and prices of the items on the shelves, they instantly felt their wallets cry out in despair.
That's right—Wiz's shop did sell magic items.
But the items she sold were either ones with absurdly severe side effects, or ultra-high-level equipment that adventurers in Axel simply had no use for.
And the worst part was that Wiz herself never realized this.
She genuinely believed her products were good. Customers came in all the time. So why had her business been operating at a loss for years on end?
When Ren stepped into the shop that day, Wiz had been slumped over the counter, staring lifelessly at this month's deficit—which had grown even redder than before—lamenting that she probably wouldn't even be able to afford bean sprouts this month.
The moment she saw him, her eyes instantly lit up.
That was because although most of the items in Wiz's shop were either impractical junk or outrageously overpriced, there were exceptions.
For example—ultra-high-grade mana crystals and other top-tier magic items.
These didn't have the crippling side effects of the junk items, but due to their intrinsic value, their prices were so astronomical that they scared people away.
Selling such items in a beginner town like Axel was practically a death sentence for business. Even if adventurers recognized their quality, they simply didn't have the means to buy them.
But exceptions always existed.
Just because most adventurers couldn't afford them didn't mean everyone couldn't.
At first, Ren had only come to this obscure shop because he'd been tricked by Chris and Dust.
But very quickly, the items here captured his attention.
And the moment he laid eyes on Wiz for the first time, Ren felt it instinctively—
This magic item shop owner, whom Axel's adventurers saw as gentle, timid, even mascot-like…
…was the strongest being Ren had encountered since arriving in this world.
Wiz concealed her aura flawlessly with magic. But Ren wasn't an ordinary human.
As a half-yokai, his senses were far sharper.
From the very first meeting—unlike Chris and Dust, who were busy staring at her chest—Ren had felt something dangerous radiating from her.
Something that even made him feel threatened.
And more than that, the aura surrounding Wiz felt less like a human's… and more like that of a monster.
Of course, after later learning from Dust and the others that Wiz had been running her shop in Axel for many years with an impeccable reputation, Ren chose not to interfere.
Everyone had their secrets.
After all, wasn't he himself not entirely human either?
And so, through continued interactions, Ren and Wiz gradually became good friends.
More than that—Ren became Wiz's biggest client.
Yes. A big client.
Unlike the adventurers who only looked and never bought, Ren purchased quite a few items every time he visited her shop.
Because while the items in Wiz's store were either useless junk or outrageously high-end luxuries…
Those high-level items were useless to Axel's adventurers—
—but for Ren Kuroda, they were perfect.