Chapter 74
"What is this?" Ghost Duke squatted down curiously, looking at the large spider placed in the bottle.
It was a spider about the size of a palm, curled up in a ball, looking like it was sleeping.
“A glowing spider,” Denos said, sitting down beside him. “I remember you mentioned in casual conversation that you were afraid of spiders.”
"I'm scared, but it's the first time I've ever seen something so beautiful." Ghost Duke paused, picked up the spider from the glass bottle, and held it in his hand, lost in thought.
When did I stop being afraid of these things?
Before I was reincarnated into this world, I was terrified of it and wished I would never see it in this lifetime.
But now, he can also look at the spider and start to think that it is indeed a very beautiful thing.
“It doesn’t need to eat; it can last for years just by being kept in a bottle. It’s a kind of light source,” Denos explained. “And the little spider can communicate with insects, so it’s a good light source when reading.”
Ghost Duke imagined the guy crawling on the pages of the book while he was reading, and it was indeed strangely cute.
There was a basket full of similar things in front of them, and there were many interesting things inside.
It seems that Ark said that since a little girl had joined the group, they should make the carriage a little cozier.
The carriage was no different from home to it, so no matter what, the first thing it would do upon getting a new carriage was always to decorate it simply. Even though it would be a pity if these things were lost in the end, it would still be carefully tidied up. When Lady woke up, she could still see that the entire room was decorated with animal hides.
This carriage was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It would be incredibly convenient without horses, and extremely inexpensive. The savings on horses meant that despite the large budget allocated by Ark, it was far from being used up.
"Oh, by the way, let me ask you something." Denos put down the notebook he was holding, looked down at Ghost Duke and said, "Do you prefer sleeping bags or beds? I need to buy some bedding for sleeping now. I usually ask the members about these things."
Is there a difference?
"For example, Deedris told me very seriously that she liked the kind of straw mats."
"Ha, then prepare a sleeping bag for me. That'll be more convenient." Ghost Duke continued rummaging through the things inside. "By the way, Denos, can I learn sorcery?"
Denos paused, then looked at Ghost Duke and said, "Why not?"
"Is there anything that even a beginner can use?" Ghost Duke continued to ask.
“There are some scrolls that you can use as soon as you open them. You can try them.” Denos rummaged through his bag and handed over a scroll: “Opening it will summon a black cat that can help catch mice.”
"Ha, are there still rats here?" Ghost Duke unfurled the scroll, but there was silence.
Nothing happened.
"Is it broken?" Denos was stunned. He took it himself, but the scroll was triggered the moment his hand touched it. A black shadow condensed into a strangely shaped cat and darted into a dark corner.
"What's going on?" Denos found it a bit strange. He took the scroll back and looked at it carefully.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s been like this for a long time,” Ghost Duke said softly. “Because this thing should be triggered by something in this world. But I don’t belong here, so I can’t trigger this kind of supernatural thing. Similarly, I can’t learn spells.”
Denos looked at Ghost Duke, hesitated for a long time, and then patted him on the back.
If what this guy is saying is true, how lonely he must be.
"But do you sell bows and arrows?" Ghost Duke suddenly asked. "I'm quite accurate at archery. Could you buy me some equipment? It just needs to be usable; I don't care about the quality. Sometimes I'd like to help out."
"Bow and arrow?" Denos hesitated and said softly, pinching his chin.
A bow is indeed a good choice, because when dealing with monsters, a bow with piercing capabilities is clearly superior to a gun with higher damage. Because injuring a monster isn't the real problem; only damaging its core is.
"Aren't you immortal? What are you afraid of? Go and slash me with your knife." Suddenly, Deedri's voice came from behind. Ghost Duke turned around and saw that the guy threw a sword at him. He caught it subconsciously.
"Weapons made from the fangs of a giant snake are of reliable quality; I've seen them for decades without them breaking. The maintenance method is to wipe them with oil and polish them frequently. These things will grow back, so there's no need to worry about them wearing out completely. If they break, just piece them back together and wrap them with bandages. They'll grow back together in about two days." Deedri sat down next to Ghost Duke, tucked her hair behind her ear, and turned to look at Ghost Duke, who was smiling at her.
"Uh, what's with that expression?" Dedeline realized she had chosen the wrong seat, but it wasn't a good idea to change it.
"Just being infatuated," Ghost Duke said without any attempt to hide it.
I definitely should swoon; she's a girl with a beautiful face and a great figure. She has a very well-proportioned bust, and her clothes are loosely draped, revealing only a layer of bandages underneath through the tear. If you're in a hurry, there are still some areas not covered by the bandages, revealing her fair skin.
"You better behave yourself." Dedeline had no temper with this guy. She pinched his face with her hand, pulled him up, and then let go, causing him to bounce back.
"It hurts," Ghost Duke said, covering his face.
"Say something to thank me, I gave you a weapon I've used for a long time," Dedeline said. "If you encounter danger, charge in and make sure you're safe."
"If you've used it for so long, shouldn't you have some memories attached to it? Is it really okay to give it to me?" Ghost Duke suddenly asked somewhat uneasily. Because he knew very well that he might not be able to properly safeguard this weapon.
After all, if the weapon is severely damaged, it may not be possible to repair it completely.
"The only memory it holds is of me being ripped off by that unscrupulous merchant, and now that I'm back working for him again, there's no need for me to keep it. You can keep it; I still have a Dragon Tooth." She patted Ghost Duke hard on the back, making him cough loudly, and then laughed as she spoke.
"How's the armor?" Denos remembered that she had come here for this matter.
“It’s terrible, these armors don’t fit me at all,” Deedri said. “My body generates a lot of high-temperature steam when I start fighting. This physiology gives me better physical performance, but when I use these fully enclosed armors, my own steam blocks my senses. But I found a good blacksmith, and I had him repair my old armor. It was specially made with vents.”
"Isn't this gas a perfect match for this kind of machinery?"
“But no one has ever designed this before, and it would take a long time to manufacture and prepare. We can’t stay that long.” Deedri sighed. “However, I’ve managed to contact a friend in the Mercenary Guild to have a new suit of armor made for me. I still have some scales from hunting dragons, so making a new one shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If someone were to design it for you, the performance of mechanical armor would be far superior to that of normal armor,” Connie’s voice came from behind. He had been following behind the whole time. “But it’s complicated. First, I don’t know the specific capabilities of the Fire Goat race, and second, I don’t know your fighting style at all.”
“It’s not easy to explain in a short time.” Dedeline hesitated for a moment before saying, “Because I’m not very clear about the specifics of my power, I just know how to use it. I really can’t explain the underlying principles.”
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about that.” Connie sat down next to Denos. “What about you? Have you bought your things yet?”
"Thank you for your help, everything is basically complete."
Is this the only box?
"The rest are all custom-made, it'll probably take three or four days to finish... Oh, by the way, you know how to fix mechanics, right?" Denos handed over a lighter from his pocket: "These things break often, could you take a look?"
“It’s a very old model. Why not get a newer one? There are many more stable versions of this mechanism available now.” Connie paused and said, “Is there any special meaning behind it?”
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that after I finished shopping at the market outside, there was a girl I liked who runs a shop. We had a really good chat, and she gave me this as a gift when she left." Denoston paused and said, "But I don't know when I'll see her again, so if it's hard to repair, I'll probably just get a new one."
"Where is your wife?" Connie asked, looking at Denos.
Denos nearly coughed up blood: "What did you say?"
"Your wife, uh, I'm sorry, I..."
"I don't even have a girlfriend, let alone a wife," Denos said with a hint of helplessness. "I'm still single."
How old are you?
"Thirty-something, don't look at me like that, it's making me depressed." Denos looked at him with a ghostly expression: "Is it rare?"
In reality, people in this world usually get married before the age of twenty. Because of the dangers and the short lifespan on average, it's better to settle down early.
It's truly rare to see someone like Denos, still single at this age when he should be settling down and starting a family.
“It’s very rare.” Connie stated his doubt directly: “With your skills, is it difficult?”
“It’s not difficult, but think about it, what do I do?” Denos hesitated for a moment and said, “I might die any day now. Doing business is very dangerous. We often have to cross extremely dangerous places. We’ve always been making money by selling our lives. Strictly speaking, we’ve always been paying off our lives in advance, and death is the creditor, who could take me away at any time. If I had a family at this time, they would be heartbroken for me.”
"Oh, you actually considered this?" Dedeline glanced at him and shrugged. "That's quite a responsible guy."
"You have no right to talk to me like that. You're single too, aren't you?" Denos said, looking at Deedris. "You shouldn't be like that. Don't important people these days like this style?"
“I’m only seventy years old. In the Fire Goat community, I’m not at the age where I’m being forced into marriage yet.” Dedeline made a face at Denos. “Besides, most of us monsters are looking for other monsters. Do you think there are many good-looking monsters?”
"That's true, there aren't many." Denos roughly understood the reason. After all, the monsters in this world were all extremely ugly creatures, though there were many exceptions. However, in terms of proportion, there weren't many that were actually quite good-looking.
"Listening to you all talk about age, I don't know if I should chime in," Ghost Duke said weakly. "I've been around a thousand years old, I guess, I can't remember exactly. But it must have been several hundred years."
"single?"
"Yeah, still single... How about we change the subject?" Ghost Duke propped his head up to make himself look less dejected.
I really don't know how I managed to do this. I've lived for so long and I still don't have a girlfriend.
Perhaps those I had even a slight liking for before are all dead.
Being single for a thousand years or so can really leave a psychological scar. If you don't talk about it, fine, but if you do, you just want to find a place to hug yourself and cry for a while.
The other two, seeing Ghost Duke's dejection, felt a real sense of empathy and almost simultaneously sighed and lowered their heads.
Connie looked at the three guys next to him who seemed a bit down because of the topic, and realized he shouldn't have started it.
“Speaking of which, you’re a clergyman, aren’t you?” Denos turned to look at Connie and asked, “Is your wife a nun?”
“She’s not really a wife, just a girlfriend,” Connie said after a moment’s hesitation. “And she’s not a nun either.”
"Oh?" Denos sensed a story brewing and looked at him expectantly: "What's that for?"
“She’s a witch,” Connie sighed helplessly. “She’s probably still in her room tinkering with potions, living in the commoners’ quarter. She’s a resident of this area.”
"A witch?" Dedeline's gossipy nature also stirred, and she pinched her chin thoughtfully. "An old witch? I didn't expect you to have this kind of taste."
“Don’t overthink it, she’s still very young.” Connie’s expression twitched. “But I haven’t seen her for a few months. It seems she’s been doing experiments during this time. Otherwise, I would have taken her out for a walk.”
"Can we go find her now?" Denos put his arm around his shoulder and said with a smile, "I just couldn't find a place to buy potions, and I was wondering if this place could exist without witches. It's one thing to not have priests, but if there are no witches, it's hard to imagine that this city is entirely relying on doctors to handle its health."
"Didn't you bring a priest with you? Do you need potions?"
“You can never be too well-prepared, after all, you need to know what kind of environment we'll be working in.” Denos thought for a moment, then said, “Is that alright?”
"That's alright, but I can't get you a discount. She's always been very firm on prices when it comes to selling medicine."
"You don't need to worry about that. The carriages I got from you have saved me a lot of money."
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