Raiden followed the attendant inside the other shop and was blown away by its ambience. Unlike the other shop, which looked rundown, this one gave the onlooker a feeling of extravagance.
From the exterior to the interior, everything was covered in gold with a white marble-like texture between them. With a countertop made of sapphire glass, to attendants who wore pristine white dresses with gold coloured trim, everything screamed high class.
Looking at the decoration, Raiden really wanted to ask if it was made up of real gold, but he held himself back, not trying to give off the feeling of someone who was poor.
As soon as the girl entered the shop, a few other attendants quickly came forward and bowed to her. It seemed like the girl was a bigshot, as she quickly gave some orders to them before turning back.
"Mr Raiden, everything is already being prepared for you, rest assured we will find the best quality Terrans for you in our shop."
Raiden felt overwhelmed by the hospitality. He wasn't used to this kind of VIP treatment and wasn't sure if they would still give him the same treatment if they found out he wasn't really related to Tobias.
"Excuse me, Miss..."
"Maple, you can call me Maple, sir."
"Miss Maple, I think you have some kind of misunderstanding about me. I am not that close to your Master Tobias, you know. You don't need to take care of me so much."
He confessed honestly, not wanting to incur the wrath of a business mogul like him.
Maple chuckled in amusement after hearing his words.
"Rest assured, sir. We are simply treating you like how Master Tobias instructed us to treat you if you ever come to visit next time."
"He asked for this??" Now it was Raiden's turn to be confused.
Did that old man overestimate his connection with his granddaughter? Or did he have some kind of hidden grandpa he didn't know about?
He still felt uneasy about getting benefits like this. Nothing in this world is free. Everything has a price, with free things being the most expensive of them all.
"Of course he did. He said if you ever come to visit our shop again, we'll need to treat you like our VIP guest. He also asked us to give you a Platinum Membership Card."
"Platinum Membership Card??" Raiden picked out the keyword.
"Yes. With it, you'll be treated as a VIP customer in all the branches of our Stromwind family business all across the world. In addition to that, there is an additional discount 30% on all purchases in the future."
The last line swept away all the reluctance Raiden was feeling.
"You have quite a good eye, Miss Maple. I actually know Old Man Tobias quite well. I was just testing to see if that old man made proper arrangements for me or not. Lead the way." He accepted the membership with a calm mind.
What hidden costs? At most, he'll sell a kidney later to pay it all back. But this discount can save him money, crucial money that can be spent elsewhere.
Maple was amused by the behaviour of the guest in front of her. She actually knew the exact relationship between him and Tobias. But she didn't expose him, instead leading the way to a door in the back, with a Green Hill sign on top of it.
With a nod, one of the staff members put his key inside before opening it, revealing a wide expanse of open hilly plains with grass and trees everywhere.
Raiden felt stunned. Where did this hill come from in the middle of the city?? What kind of alien technology was this?
As if sensing his confusion, Maple explained.
"We have brought a 100 sq. km area behind our shop to terraform it into habitats suitable for various Terra Beasts like Ice Mountains, Lakes, Volcanoes, etc."
"Of course, we can't compare to the space-folding technology that is in Alliance's hands, but this is much better than anyone else on the market." She spoke with quite a bit of pride in her voice.
Just as Maple was stretching the limits of the imagination of Raiden's poverty-stricken mindset, Woolie was feeling thrilled. It had never seen such a big place to run and so many beasts to fight.
(ㆁωㆁ)
It set a small goal for itself first, becoming King of all the Terra Beasts on this hill, before jumping out of Raiden's arms and running into the distance, far faster than Raiden can ever hope to stop.
"Wait, Woolie, stop!! This is not your playground!!" Raiden ran after him to stop him, but the little one had already decided on a goal for itself, not listening to Raiden and disappearing behind the hill.
"Your Terra Beast is so cute! Don't worry about it. We have top-notch safety precautions here. No harm will come to him."
Raiden just laughed hollowly at her words before replying in the same tone.
"It's not him whom I'm worried about."
Maple thought he was joking and ignored his words before leading him to a new destination.
Soon, they came to a stop in front of a patch of grass where hundreds of Woolies were relaxing. Some were basking in the sun, while others were eating some grass, creating a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
'This is what a Woolie should be like.' Raiden nodded his head in satisfaction. 'Not like one at home who wants to train and fight all the time.'
"Here are our best-quality Terrans, gathered just for you, Mr Raiden. And this one is particularly special, able to produce Bespoke Quality of Wool." Maple pointed to a particular Sheep in the forefront, who seemed like the leader of the bunch.
It had really curved horns and shiny fur, making it glint in sunlight. It seemed to have an air of royalty and arrogance about it, which made other sheep stay away from it.
"It looks good. How much is it?" Raiden asked casually.
"Our Bespoke producing Woolie is about 10 Million-"
"I don't want it." Raiden refused directly. What a joke. If he had 10 million to buy a single Terra Beast, why would he be farming?
"But, sir? the best we have..." A girl on the side spoke out.
"Don't get me wrong, all of these Woolies are wonderful. But they don't have a sense of challenge." With a serious face, he started lying and bullshitting once again.
"A challenge, you say?" Maple asked, confused.
Raiden gave her a look of approval for asking the correct question before continuing.
"Correct. You see, I run my own farm, and I'm training to be a Breeder. I want to care for a Woolie from the ground up and make them a star. So show me the cheapest ones. The cheaper the better."
Hearing this, Maple had a feeling that something was wrong with the situation, but couldn't exactly tell what, as others praised him for being so diligent while being young.
But nonetheless, the customer was king, so she led him further away towards a different set of sheep that weren't part of the first group due to their bad quality.
All the Woolies here looked like they had seen better days, with dull fur and dirty bodies, and a listless look in their eyes.
The more Raiden looked at them, the more appealing they looked, making him feel increasingly satisfied.
"Perfect. I want them all. Pack them up for me!!"
Just then, a staff girl came running, before coming to a stop in front of Maple, panting badly.
"Miss Maple, it's an emergency!!! Half of the beasts inside the zone have rioted!!! And now they are declaring war on the other half!!"
A bad feeling started creeping up Raiden's spine as he heard the words. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong.
"And leading the charge in the forefront is a...Woolie, covered in lightning!!!"
Hearing this, Raiden's blood pressure spiked as he fainted.