Chapter 405: Taxidermy Shop

"Magic Consultant?"

Karlist had only recently broken through to the seventh tier, and elfkind naturally accumulates magic or spirituality slowly.

Thirty years ago, she was probably just high fifth tier at best.

Go sweep cosmic creatures with the Magic Control League's cleanup team?

Probably not qualified, right?

"What's that look for? Doubt? Human, you don't actually think those with high rank and powerful spells know everything, do you?"

Karlist's expression turned sour.

The innate pride of elves made them deeply resent such skeptical glances.

Luo De smiled:

"No, I'm just surprised—I didn't realize you were already so powerful thirty years ago. I wasn't even born then."

Tally, who had been sleeping, suddenly poked half her head out of the shadows:

"Aha, I get it! Master, you're mocking this elf for being old, right! Hahaha—Old Elf Granny—"

As she laughed, she saw Karlist raise a pale, jade-like hand, face cold.

Tally jumped back in fright and instantly retreated into the shadows.

Boom.

A magic missile exploded on the ground where her head had been, leaving a shallow, dirt-colored crater, scattering grass clippings.

"Master! Look, she hit me~~"

Tally leaped out of the shadows again, hiding behind Luo De and wailing, though her face toward Karlist wore a wicked, grinning smirk.

Nearby, Pan Ni, who had been staring enviously at Bernhard's face, suddenly seemed activated by a keyword.

"What? Who's hitting someone? Right in front of the Forest's First Line of Defense—the Ghoul Pan Ni!? Master, don't fear! Pan Ni will protect you!"

She leapt forward—then saw the icy-cold elf Karlist.

Instantly she shrank her neck, looked up at the sky, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Elf Bernhard stepped back a few paces.

Watching the forest folk's antics, he felt an odd pang of envy.

That afternoon, Luo De went to the Magic Control League again.

His free internal employee teleportation quota had been used up.

He paid 230 Jin Along as teleportation fee.

Exorbitantly expensive.

Though Luo De now had the friend fee submitted by Bernhard and was technically wealthy, he still felt the sting.

The dragon-slaying bounty wasn't cheap.

Lately, chaos had erupted across the continent; prices soared, and adventure bounties rose in tandem.

With inflation everywhere, at least four or five hundred thousand Jin Along would be needed before anyone would take the job.

Of course.

If you could pay someone else to handle it, that was always a good thing.

Luo De knew facing the dragon was inevitable, but he didn't want to see the girls in the forest hurt.

Soon.

He arrived at the market district.

Following Karlist's recollection of the door number, he stopped at the end of a nearly deserted street.

Before him stood an old door made of thick oak, its surface coated with a faint patina of copper green, the lintel carved with entwined vines.

He looked up.

A weathered, dark wooden sign hung above, its edges worn, yet the faded lettering "Stephanie~Taxidermy Shop~" remained clearly legible.

"At least a thirty-year-old shop."

You couldn't really call it old, though—thirty years meant nothing to some long-lived races.

Still, it was strange.

He'd visited the market district many times, yet had no memory of this shop.

Luo De placed his hand on the cold iron door handle and turned it gently.

"Jing jing jing—"

A brass bell inside the door chimed clearly, soft and not jarring.

He stepped inside.

A distinct odor of age and mustiness, mingled with the scent of ancient wood, washed over him.

Then came the counter piled high with books and manuscripts, various colored amber paperweights scattered haphazardly on the table.

To the left and center of the shop was an open display area filled with various biological specimens; to the right, a latticed wall held large specimens.

Luo De recognized few of them.

He only knew the horned demon and the juvenile plesiosaur.

Compared to other shops run by magical puppets, this one clearly had a more down-to-earth, street-side feel.

"Welcome!"

A crisp girl's voice rose from behind the towering stack of books.

A familiar face came into view; the owner raised her eyebrows in delight:

"Mr. Luo De!"

"Oh! You're… Pa what?"

"Pafra!"

The human girl mage Pafra, flustered, quickly corrected him.

Pafra, Vernon, and Leon—the unlucky trio of the Magic Control League—along with the dog-girl Sharon, had once been dragged into the Dread Field by a sudden emergence of the Dread Beast during the grafting ceremony.

They were later rescued by Luo De, and their aptitudes seemed to have improved as a result.

"I remember you worked at that magic jewelry shop last time."

That jewelry shop belonged to the renowned magic jewelry designer—Master Danel.

The treasure 【Molar Earrings】 was found there.

Luo De personally liked the shop's jewelry style and bought a huge pile at once—he still hadn't used them all.

Pafra sighed:

"When you're poor, you have to take multiple jobs. Besides Master Danel's and this one, I also work in the back kitchen of a snack stall in the market district—Carlvin the Bear's internal tapeworm skewers! Come try them!"

"."

Luo De's gaze drifted sideways and he swiftly skipped the topic.

"Never mind that, Pafra—I heard this shop has a specimen called the 'Starborne Ambusher.' Is it still here?"

"The Starborne Ambusher? Wait, let me check the inventory."

The girl returned to the counter.

She pulled out a thick, dark-brown leather-bound book and slammed it onto the table—dust flew up.

Pafra was clearly a chatterbox.

As she flipped through the pages, she kept talking:

"How rare—Mr. Luo De, you're not bringing any girls today."

"If there's no one here, fine. But when there's a beautiful girl nearby, don't say that—it messes with my focus."

Luo De laughed.

Pafra giggled too, then asked:

"Mr. Luo De, aren't you the hero from the Half-Deer prophecy?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not."

"Huh? Not you? When I first heard the Half-Deer prophecy, the first person I thought of was you—those stupid Half-Deers really can't see straight."

"Hahaha—thanks for the reassurance. By the way, how are your two little boyfriends?"

"They're not boyfriends at all! Vernon and Leon are just background characters, cannon fodder in my life. Even you weren't chosen, yet those two got labeled as 【Hero Candidates】 by the same Half-Deer—how weird is that? Hmph! Those two jerks! Over a month gone and not even a visit!"

Oh?

Two people labeled 【Hero Candidates】 by the same Half-Deer.

As everyone knows, a Half-Deer 【Hero Giver】 can only correspond to one 【Hero】.

Meaning Vernon and Leon would compete for the title of 【Hero】?

That did sound like something out of a Rexue story.

"Ah! Found it! The 'Starborne Ambusher'—still unsold! It's been here seventy years!"

Pafra exclaimed.

Luo De breathed a sigh of relief.

Though no one might care about a specimen model—after all, Karlist had seen it thirty years ago—

anything could've happened. It was lucky it was still here.

"Good. How much?"

"Wait, let me count—one, two, three, four—"

Counting

What are you counting?

Luo De's heart skipped a beat.

"Total: 380, 00 Jin Along!"

(End of chapter)