"We sincerely apologize that due to everyone's enthusiastic support, all items in our shop have just sold out. To express our apologies, we will be offering a discount coupon to all customers who did not manage to purchase their desired items. You can use it on your next shopping trip. We hope you will continue to support our shop's future products, and we wish you all a happy life and all the best..."
After waiting for about ten minutes, a familiar voice announced something in the distance. After another half hour, the group of women, reluctant to leave, gradually dispersed, turning back every few steps.
The extremely strong fragrance that lingered in the air hadn't dissipated yet, probably because the alley was too narrow and not much wind could get in, causing me to sneeze more than a dozen times on my way there.
Then, Rod, that brat, changed like a card player. One second he had a kind, good-natured, fawning smile, and the next second he immediately had a look of utter horror, shrinking back into the house and trying to lock the door.
"I advise you to think it through before you act."
I spoke slowly and deliberately, though my voice had a slightly nasal quality, perhaps because I was pinching my nose: "You'd better consider whether your technique is more robust or the one I'll strike with next is more powerful."
"..."
The familiar figure stood frozen for a long time before turning around and revealing a fawning smile: "Oh my, isn't this my best brother Yumi! What wind blew you here? It feels like the bright sun in the sky suddenly fell before my eyes, I almost wanted to cry. Come on, what are you standing there for? Come in and sit down!"
He really has a silver tongue; he can lie to anyone. No wonder when he was down on his luck, even if he grabbed a girl on the street to have her palm read, no one would slap him.
Well, perhaps it's also partly due to her slightly thin and delicate physique that evokes a protective instinct, and her naturally youthful and androgynous face.
However, it was somewhat of a pity, as I was holding the incantation in my hand, waiting to call him over for a cold shower, but now I can't use it.
I rolled my eyes and, without any ceremony, pushed him aside and went inside, pulling up a comfortable chair to sit down.
Hikari quickly followed, carrying a half-eaten bag of rice candy, and curiously scanned the room before pulling up a chair and sitting obediently to the side... Wait a minute, wasn't that the last chair in the store? I was hoping to at least leave Rod a place to sit, but now he'll have to stand for a while.
The young man peeked out of the shop and looked around. After smiling and waving to the last few women, he took out a "[Rest]" sign from inside the shop and hung it at the entrance. Then he pulled the curtain closed. As the outdoor light decreased, the magic stone shards overhead lit up with a soft glow that illuminated the entire room, thanks to the automatically injected magic power.
The empty bottles and decorative crystal fragments on the shelves reflected the light from above, not bright, but as if lighting up countless tiny stars all around, nurturing countless beautiful dreams.
In a corner of the shadowy wall, hidden by the shipping containers, half of a guard tower icon, encircled by a circle, was visible. This emblem, symbolizing the [Arcane Research Center], though not conspicuous, silently revealed the owner's background and identity to everyone who stepped into the store, intimidating any restless thoughts.
Regardless, the identity of a mage who is highly likely to be able to cast spells and has an organized group behind him will always be more intimidating than a simple magic user, even if that mage did not join voluntarily and has a very low level of identification with the group he belongs to.
I watched him squint as he calmly pulled out a small stool from behind the counter and sat down. I didn't intend to waste any more time. After a few simple words, I got straight to the point: "Rhodes, judging by the time, we've known each other for almost half a year now. You should know what I want to say, right?"
Rhodes, who had just sat down on the stool, was clearly stunned for a few seconds, his gaze shifting back and forth between me and Hikari. Before I could continue, he suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I get it! Wait for me, bro!"
With that, he leaped into the back room of the shop.
I was completely confused by him. I was thinking of arguing with him for a bit before continuing the discussion about collecting copyright fees, but his "I understand, wait a minute" completely threw me off.
Then I saw this kid run over carrying a bunch of beautifully packaged bottles and jars, and without saying a word, he stuffed them into our arms: "This is for fragrance, this is sweet honey, this is delicious mead, and this one, I highly recommend this one! This is the best-selling lily extract in our shop recently, almost every beautiful lady who has used it raves about how effective it is, it can make anyone fall in love with it..."
"No, wait a minute!" I interrupted hurriedly, "What are you doing?"
Rod looked equally puzzled: "Brother, didn't you want to use our connection to buy a few more bottles from me? Hey, it's no big deal. Let me tell you, I secretly kept these for myself. I absolutely couldn't let those women outside know, otherwise they would have all been snatched up by now! How could I possibly..."
"What do I need these for?" I asked, my eyes wide.
"Uh..." Rhodes glanced around. I noticed he mainly wanted to look at Hikari, but was afraid his gaze would fall directly on her, so he kept circling around her. "Giving your girlfriend a ride?"
"..."
I continued to glare at him, but the little idiot leaned close to my ear with a puzzled look and asked me in a low voice what a girlfriend was, which almost made me lose my composure.
No, shouldn't this be common sense? Does your sister Yao really not teach you anything? Does she just take you traveling and having fun all the time?
I need to have a serious talk with her later. We can't let our child's education go to waste like this! It's detrimental to their mental health and development!
"...Anyway, this is a travel companion of mine." I coughed, ignoring the other person's "I understand" expression for the time being, and explained, "Secondly, I'm not here to ask you for special treatment."
"So, what are you here for, brother?" Rod quickly picked up the perfume bottle that had been handed to us and put it back in his arms, casually piling it on the counter, making a series of clinking sounds.
I glanced at him sideways: "You haven't forgotten where the original formula for your perfume came from, have you?"
"...What, what original recipe? Haha, I just made this on a whim, where would I get an original recipe from... Brother, are you joking?"
"Back then, I came to your shop with my mentor to buy some urgently needed odds and ends. At that time, I was doing research on pure water extraction and mixing, and I think you even asked me for the relevant formulas..."
Then I heard a thud from the other side, they almost knelt down on the spot, raising their hands above their heads: "First of all, I want to say that I have no money..."
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