The First Customer?

Reiss was stunned, his eyes widening as he gazed at a middle-aged man with long white hair.

'Is he really a human?!'

Reiss wondered to himself, both incredulous and bewildered as to why anyone would set up a shop in Death Valley.

"Hey, why are you just standing there? Is there something you want to buy?" The white-haired man's voice snapped Reiss out of his reverie. He scrutinized the man from head to toe once more, certain now that the man was indeed human.

"Y-you're human?" Reiss stammered.

Cien, the man with white hair, scowled irritably. "Of course I'm human. What did you think I was? A ghost?"

"No… hahaha..." Reiss let out a nervous laugh, feeling awkward.

Although the man was undoubtedly human, his presence in Death Valley with his shop was still the most absurd thing Reiss had ever encountered.

Reiss had so many questions, but he knew better to shut his mouth than to risk offending the man. Someone who had the courage to set up shop in such a dangerous place must be no ordinary person, and Reiss was afraid his questions might lead to his own demise.

Cien walked over to the display case containing two pairs of Fire Gloves and sat down on a wooden chair behind it. He leaned back with one hand on the case and the other supporting his chin.

"This is a shop. If you come in, you're a customer. Is there something you want to buy? Sorry, but the goods are a bit empty right now, so don't expect too much."

"..."

Reiss's eyebrows twitched at Cien's words. He didn't know what to do. In front of him, he saw the white-haired man sitting calmly with a bored expression, as if urging him to quickly finish his business there.

However...

'But, I don't know what to buy?!' Reiss muttered, feeling increasingly awkward.

He looked around the shop, trying to find something else to purchase, but besides the gloves and the three kinds of potions, there didn't seem to be anything else for sale.

Scratching his cheek nervously, Reiss reached for the cloth pouch hanging from his waist, feeling the coins inside.

"Um," he began, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, are you interested in buying something?" Cien asked, showing a warm smile.

"Th-that gloves… how much is it?" Reiss pointed to the Fire Bear gloves in the display case.

"You mean this one?" Cien smiled, lifting the gloves out of the case.

Reiss nodded in approval. He grabbed the cloth bag hanging from his waist. In his current mind, Reiss was already planning to buy one item at the Kirana Shop, after that, their relationship would grow a bit, and he would later ask about the way out of Death Valley.

Reiss only hoped that the man in front of him would know about a way out of this godforsaken place.

But plans don't always go as planned. With a big smile, the Shop Owner mentioned the price he had to pay.

"It's 30,000 Tia."

Clank!

Reiss's hand faltered, and the pouch of coins slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground. "Um, do you mean 300 Tia, right?" he asked, hoping he was not misheard.

"Huh? Are you deaf? I said thirty thousand, not three hundred," Cien replied, his smile turning cold.

Reiss's face fell, realizing that the man was maybe trying to scam him.

'This guy's a scam!' he thought angrily.

"Hahaha, you must think I'm a fraud. That look on your face is very predictable."

Reiss frowned, he didn't want to give himself a bad look at the Shop Owner. But, thirty thousand Tia was an exorbitant amount of money. Even if he had that much, he wouldn't spend it on a pair of gloves.

A family of four could live comfortably for a year with six thousand Tia. And if it was just for just basic necessities like food, it would only take two to three thousand Tia a year.

Reiss's salary as a deputy captain was only 4500 Tia a year. The price of those gloves was enough to sustain five families for a year!

As Reiss felt a sudden dizziness, he stumbled slightly. He then looked down and saw his coin purse lying on the floor. He picked it up slowly, then asked hesitantly.

"Um, not to criticize, but I think thirty thousand for a pair of gloves is too expensive."

"Hmm?" Cien heard that and tilted his head, as if he didn't understand something, "Ah! It seems I wasn't specific enough. Thirty thousand is not for a pair, but for one glove. If you want a pair, hmm... how about I give you a discount and make it fifty thousand? You can save ten thousand. Are you interested?"

Reiss felt his heart almost stop. He held his chest, struggling to breathe from the shock.

'So thirty thousand is not for a pair?! Damn it!'

Trying to calm himself down, Reiss didn't know what to do next. He looked carefully at the Shop Owner.

The Shop Owner was a human being, and if he lived in Death Valley, he must be strong. However, if he had to buy something as expensive as that just to get out of this cursed forest, damn it! Reiss was not willing!

Reiss was getting annoyed, he just wanted to get out of this godforsaken place! He doesn't want to shop for useless things!

Swallowing his saliva, Reiss strengthened himself to confront the Shop Owner directly. He no longer cared about finding a way to curry his favor anymore.

"Excuse me, Shop Owner. But I came here by accident. And if possible, I would like to know if you know the way out of Death Valley. I have no intention of shopping here, let alone buying something at an unreasonable price!"

Reiss spoke bluntly. There was a plan in his mind to take shelter in this place for the night, but he abandoned that plan. He was afraid that the Shop Owner would ask him to pay a high price for a room. He was not willing!

"By accident?" Cien grinned upon hearing this, "How could it be such a coincidence? I'm sure you came here after seeing the light from the shop from far away. And before entering, you should have seen the sign in front of the shop. You deliberately walked in here, it's not a coincidence. Your despair in Death Valley brought you here, young man."

"..."

Reiss couldn't respond to the Shop Owner's words. What he said was true, he was indeed desperate. He had even thought it would be better to die by eating poison than to live in Death Valley.

Reiss couldn't deny that he came here because he felt a glimmer of hope for his life.

Cien's smile widened after seeing his guest silent. He then took out a Fire Glove from the display case and placed it on top of the case.

"This is a Fire Glove. A magical item."

"!!"

"You know how rare magical items are, right?"

"Gulp..." Reiss swallowed, nodding in agreement, "Is it really a magical item?"

"Let me show you."

Cien took off the Fire Glove in his hand. The Fire Glove he uses was different from the other two pairs of Fire Gloves in the shop. Its quality was one level higher. The quality is one level above. This was due to his skill and patience in making the Fire Gloves honed even more after making the previous two pairs.

Unlike the previous two Fire Gloves, the Fire Glove in his hand could unleash a Rank 2 level attack with just one mana core. Therefore, Cien had no intention of selling it, at least for now.

Cien took off his gloves and put them in his pants pocket. He then put on a pair of gloves he took from the display case.

He invited his guest to leave the shop and test his magical creation. Not far from the cabin, Cien explained his invention while demonstrating the magic imbued in the gloves.

He fired a [Tongue of Fire] spell at a tree trunk, showcasing the power that could be unleashed by the Fire Gloves.

After the demonstration was over, Cien turned to his guest, who was gaping in disbelief.

"Well, how was it? Thirty thousand is cheap, right?"

"Wo-woah! If you use all five cores at once, you can unleash a Rank 5-level attack. If you have a pair of gloves, does that mean you can unleash a Rank 10-class attack?!"

Cien nodded. "Yup, that's right. So, are you interested now?"

"..."

Reiss fell silent with a stiff smile on his face.

"What's wrong?"

Reiss scratched the back of his head, feeling embarrassed. "Umm... I don't have that much money."

"...Tch! Then why did I bother explaining all this? You poor bastard!"

"..."