[37]. Trading for Senzu Beans

Two small figures streaked through the sky, kicking up waves of powerful wind. The fur on Korin's whiskers was plastered to his cheeks from the gust, and his eyes were squeezed shut under the pressure.

"What are those two up to now?!"

They weren't continuing their training in the Heavenly Realm—why had they suddenly flown back here? Korin truly couldn't figure it out.

As the twin white auras drew closer and were about to reach Korin Tower, Kaso and Ausbi'er suddenly withdrew their energy.

The sky quickly returned to calm.

?

Korin opened his eyes wide, as if he'd just been struck by lightning.

Their ki… vanished? Instantly?!

They had really mastered the use of ki?

Korin rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to remember that ki couldn't be seen in the first place.

"Hellooo!"

Kaso landed lightly on the tower and waved in greeting.

Seeing Korin's shocked expression, Kaso touched his own face.

"There's nothing on my face, right? Why's he looking at me like that?"

Korin was completely stunned—and with good reason. In the anime, even Goku had to spend three years training in the Lookout after defeating King Piccolo before truly mastering ki.

Of course, Korin only knew that Goku had gone up to train in "ki"—he had no idea what came after.

Now, he was seeing two bratty little kids who had, in less than a month, not only mastered ki, but could control and suppress it with ease.

Korin shakily raised a paw, pointing at Kaso. His fluffy little paw trembled.

"You… you've learned to use ki?"

"Yeah, why?" Kaso tilted his head in confusion.

Why's the cat acting like he's seen a ghost? I didn't even do anything bad.

Ausbi'er stared at the fat white cat with wide eyes.

"Kaso-nii, is this cat… broken?" she whispered softly.

Or at least, she thought it was soft.

Korin: "..."

Kaso chuckled to himself. This little girl was still too cute.

But Kaso had also picked up on why Korin might be so surprised. When they'd landed just now, Kaso had intentionally suppressed his ki. That alone was probably enough to shock Korin.

After all, in the entire Dragon Ball anime, no one had ever learned to suppress ki this quickly.

Back when he first learned Instant Transmission on Yardrat, he already suspected that he had unusually strong comprehension. And now on Earth, he'd picked up ki control at astonishing speed.

"Maybe it's because our souls merged…" Kaso mused to himself.

"Kaso-nii, whatcha thinking about?" Ausbi'er blinked up at him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He smiled and rubbed her head.

Honestly, this girl had great talent too. She'd learned Instant Transmission in about the same amount of time as Goku had, and under his guidance, she'd mastered ki control just as quickly.

"You two came here for something?" Korin finally came back to his senses.

The way he looked at the two of them was… odd. Almost like he was staring at monsters.

"I heard you have a special kind of bean. If you eat one, you won't get hungry for ten days?" Kaso asked.

"You mean the Senzu Beans?"

"Mhm."

"I've got them, sure. But what do you want them for? They're meant for martial artists who climb up the tower. They won't do much for you two," Korin muttered while scratching his head.

"Useless?"

Kaso nearly laughed aloud.

These miracle beans became so rare in the later parts of the story that Goku and the others would split one in half just to conserve them.

And here Korin was saying they weren't useful?

He had no idea how precious these things were.

Kaso smirked.

Great! That makes this so much easier.

"Could you give me a few Senzu Beans? Or maybe I can trade you something for them?"

"Trade?"

Korin perked up. "What would you trade?"

Korin didn't fully understand the value of Senzu Beans. He'd grown them over centuries, sure, but they seemed pretty useless to someone like Kaso. Giving them away for free didn't appeal to him, but a trade? That might work.

Seeing his reaction, Kaso smiled.

Gotcha.

He'd deliberately mentioned the idea of receiving them as a gift first, then offered a trade. That way, Korin had the illusion of choice, even though Kaso had no intention of taking them for free. He knew full well that even "useless" items shouldn't be given away lightly.

"I'll trade you some fish," Kaso said casually.

"Fish?"

Korin blinked, then his eyes sparkled.

"Deal! Deal!!"

Wait—he realized he was acting a little too excited.

"Ahem… I mean, uh… how about 20 fish for one Senzu Bean?" he said, trying to act cool.

Kaso didn't react.

Had he been too greedy?

Korin cleared his throat again.

"If that's too much, I suppose I could do 10 fish per bean. You know, Senzu Beans are really amazing. Eat one, and you won't be hungry for ten days!"

Kaso kept a straight face.

"No, 20 fish for one Senzu Bean sounds fair."

But inside, he was absolutely thrilled.

Forget 20 fish for one bean—he'd happily give 20,000 fish for just one Senzu Bean!

"Ausbi'er, wait here. I'll be right back."

Kaso disappeared in a blink.

Less than ten minutes later, he reappeared on the tower.

Ausbi'er blinked in surprise.

"So fast!"

"I want you to check out this fish."

Kaso pressed a Capsule Corp. button. Boom! A giant storage box appeared out of thin air.

"I have dozens more boxes like this one," he said calmly, gesturing at the container.

He tugged open the box's lid, and a tidal wave of fish spilled out.

"Fish! So many fish!"

Korin was stunned. He hadn't seen this much fish in a century. His breathing quickened.

So many fish… this could last him years!

His heart pounding, Korin shouted,

"Take all the Senzu Beans! They're yours!"

He estimated that this box alone contained at least 50,000 fish—and Kaso still had dozens more boxes?

What a great person!

Kaso: "..."

Wait… since when was he a good person?

Still, he grinned. Seeing Korin dive into the pile of fish, happily wriggling around, Kaso walked over to where he had pointed earlier.

Three large wooden jars sat on the ground, each covered with a wooden lid.

Lifting one, Kaso saw it was full of Senzu Beans. His breath caught in his throat.

"So many…!"

He felt just like Korin had moments ago. All three jars filled to the brim?

Tens of thousands of beans?!

Kaso pulled out a Capsule Corp. container he had just "borrowed" from a capsule store.

He was about to take them all when he paused.

After thinking for a moment, he left one-third of the last jar behind.

There were still thousands of Senzu Beans in there.

------------------

Visit my p@treon for Early Access to Advanced chapters.

patreon.com/YonkoSlayer