Evil Avalon - Volume 1 - Chapter SS

Bonus Short Story

My Sister, the Slime Ring, and a Flea Market

“Bro! Come on!” shouted Kano impatiently from the landing.

Today, a flea market would occur in the square outside the Adventurers’ Guild. Participants were usually required to have permission to open a stall and sell goods there. But everyone was allowed to do so this time and advertise adventurers’ goods, unwanted items, or whatever they fancied. Kano and I would head down for bargain hunting.

I descended the creaking stairs and found my sister by the doorway, dressed for maneuverability with an aqua blue blouse and white short pants. She was swinging a large rucksack around and stomping.

“If we don’t get a move on, there’ll be nothing good left!” she complained.

Kano had shown more interest in adventuring equipment since we’d begun raiding the dungeon. I often caught her browsing through adventuring magazines she’d bought herself. Although... When I asked her what she wanted, she said she just wanted a cute outfit and didn’t care about functionality.

“Don’t buy something just because you like it,” I told her. “It’s got to be practical.”

“I know that. You’ve got nothing to worry about!” she replied.

I was about to reiterate myself to guarantee she got it until she pushed me through the doorway, eager to get going. Something told me she planned to ignore my advice... Anyway, off to the market!

***

We arrived a few minutes after the market’s opening time of 10 a.m. and looked around. A large crowd of people bustled through the square. It was easy to spot adventurers inspecting the goods and talking seriously with vendors. Besides adventuring goods, stalls with food, secondhand electrical appliances, old books, and many other things were present. I was sure I’d enjoy checking out the stalls.

“What should we look at first?” I asked.

“Let’s start here and go around in a circle,” suggested Kano. She didn’t intend to let even a single stall escape her notice. The space for the flea market wasn’t too large, so we’d be able to take our time and see everything.

Various items were on sale, and I’d even found a creepy vase that would sometimes duplicate coins placed inside. Another stall had a knife whose blade occasionally became sharper inside the dungeon. Then, there was a potion that might restore your HP. The vendors claimed these were magic items, but I had my doubts. Adventurers on the hunt for great weapons and magic items were most likely in for a letdown. Yet walking around the stalls just to look at the items was a nice change of pace.

While we were walking around looking at the dodgy items, I overheard someone speaking.

“There’s a pawnshop over there,” said the person. “Apparently, they’ll appraise your items for free and give good money for what you’ve got.”

I found it interesting that somebody would run a pawnshop stall at a flea market, though we had nothing to sell. So there was no point checking it out... Or so I thought. Kano had brought along the slime ring I’d given her, and she wanted to know its worth.

“The ring’s a magic item, right?” asked Kano. “And you said before that you don’t know its value.”

“All it does is increase your vitality by two, and there’s a high drop rate. It’s not rare at all,” I said.

Merged slimes dropped these slime rings as loot on the first floor of the dungeon. Anyone could go out and get one if they wanted, but the price lists at the Adventurers’ Guild didn’t include them, so I didn’t know their value.

“But if it is worth a lot, do you mind if I sell one?”

“I don’t. As long as you split the money with me,” I responded. The appraisal was free, and I was interested in seeing what happened.

We stood in line at the pawnshop for a little over ten minutes.

“Next customer, please,” a voice called out.

We went through the entrance curtain and the cardboard structure, finding a desk and chairs inside. A skinny middle-aged man with a short mustache sat on the far side of the desk. Atop it was a crystal ball that reminded me of fortune tellers.

“Are you here for an appraisal or to sell something?” the man asked.

Kano pulled into a chair beside the desk and whipped out a handkerchief with a red ring inside from her pocket, then said, “Could you appraise this ring for us?!”

The man briefly displayed annoyance when he saw the plain, cheap copper ring but quickly masked it with a smile.

“It’s a magic item,” explained Kano. “Look, it changes size when I put it on my finger. See?”

“A magic item?” repeated the man. “Hmm, so it is. You can find our pricing on the guild’s price list.”

“It’s not there for some reason. That’s why I wanted to check how much you’d pay for it.”

“Not on there?” muttered the man, looking at the ring through the crystal ball.

Was the crystal ball a magic item? We were inside a magic field, so such things were usable here.

“Its effects are unimpressive,” he said after gazing at the faint light emitted by the crystal ball for a few seconds. “You won’t get much for it. But since you’ve come all the way here, I’ll take it off your hands for three hundred yen.”

“Three hundred yen...?” echoed Kano, tilting her head.

I had expected little, but that was lower than I’d hoped. It made sense that they’d be worth next to nothing in DEC because adventurers had farmed merged slimes, allowing for the abundance of slime rings in the market. This world, though, lacked references to slime rings, making three hundred yen suspiciously low, even if the only buff was a plus two increase to vitality.

“Three hundred yen is very generous, you understand?” declared the man confidently. “You won’t find a better price elsewhere. A regular pawnshop wouldn’t even give you ten yen for it. I’d go out of business doing this for everyone!”

Selling the ring for three hundred yen wouldn’t inconvenience us. We could always go find another one if we wanted.

I glanced over at Kano. She was pinching her chin with her hand, deep in thought.

“Say, mister...” she started. “You’re registered with the Adventurers’ Guild as an appraiser, right?”

“Sorry?” said the man, caught off guard. “Oh. Yes, I am.”

Kano continued, “My mom told me the Adventurers’ Guild rewards people who deliver magic items that aren’t on their price lists.”

The Adventurers’ Guild gathered plenty of information about the dungeon and would pay for newly discovered magic items or skill effects. Although the exact amount depended on the rarity of the information, our mother had told us that tens of thousands of yen was the minimum. Her part-time job at the guild clued her into these sorts of things.

“So, I want to understand how exactly that is worth just three-hundred yen,” pressed on Kano.

“The thing is...” said the man.

Kano had a menacing grin and pointed at the wearable terminal on her arm I’d bought for her the other day. “Everything you’re saying is getting recorded, so don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

That was the first time I knew Kano had been recording the conversation. Had she known it would turn out like this? Her instincts were justified, though. From the nervous flickering of the man’s eyes, he’d wanted to swindle a pair of clueless kids out of their money.

“I can offer fifty thousand—” the man started.

“Mister!” interrupted Kano, slamming her fists on the desk and thrusting her body toward the man. She then switched her tone to a gentle one, smiling sweetly and somehow being more intimidating. “If the Society of Appraisers finds out about this, they might revoke your license... Is that what you want?”

If a person registered with the Society of Appraisers had conned a customer into selling their items for less than their worth, they would be fined and potentially expelled from the organization.

The man winced and stuttered, “F-Five hundred thousand yen... Will that do...?”

“Hmm, let me think,” said Kano, humming indecisively. “Well, I suppose that’ll work.”

I was freaking out. Half a million yen?! She’d practically blackmailed him, but I couldn’t believe we were getting such a fortune for a measly slime ring. Kano always seemed like the type of person who bumbled through life without thinking but clearly had a sharp mind. Recording everything on her terminal was devious. Despite staring at her in terror and awe, I looked excitedly at the cash in front of me. I reached out my hand toward the money, but—

“Think of how much we can buy with this!” chirped Kano happily, quickly pocketing the money.

***

When we arrived home, our mother greeted us while she wore the apron with the official logo of Narumi’s General Goods. She gasped with surprise at the sight of me carrying a tall stack of boxes and bags, then said, “You’ve...had quite the shopping spree.”

“Mom, can you find space on the store’s shelves for this and— One second. This? I want us to sell them,” said Kano.

“What are they? Magic items?” asked our mother.

Kano handed our mother some of the dodgy “magic items” she’d bought at the flea market. Basic Appraisal had shown that they didn’t have any special effects, yet Kano was sure she could sell them at a higher price. Half of the proceeds from selling the slime ring had gone to regular equipment, and Kano had “invested” the other half in these items.

“Ooh, what should I buy next when these have sold?” mused Kano. She wanted to reinvest her profits, grow the shop, and eventually become the owner of a giant megastore. She counted her chickens before they’d hatched but seemed to be having a great time.

Hopefully I’ll bring something back to sell in the store. I could contribute to the family finances soon, I thought.

I needed lots of money for my tuition and more if Kano got into Adventurers’ High next year. Helping with this affair could do as I thought. I had a plan, but my level wasn’t yet high enough to enact it. Supposing I continued leveling up at this pace and did not rush, then...

At that point, I realized I was hungry and decided to grab some food.

Kano and my mother giggled when they heard my stomach rumbling. It was just another quiet day in the Narumi household.