Close call

"You…!"

The man's eyes bulged out as he recognized the sucker… that is, the client he sold the trash necklace that no one could possibly use the way they imagined as it was only meant to be a lesson in humility.

As the gold-haired girl and her maid entered, the third member of their group stayed outside as if to stand guard, which gave the shopkeeper a really bad feeling about the reason behind the visit...

"No refunds! You said it yourself, Miss! No refunds! Now, get out!"

The man began backing off even faster while somehow getting pale and red in the face at the same time.

"...hey…! Mister, you are misunderstanding the reason for our visit! It's not like that! I'm not here for the money! I want…"

"No! No! No deal! It was a legal transaction! It's your fault for not listening to my explanation properly and…!"

Melinda took a quick breath and pouted at the aggressive shopkeeper, trying to tell him she wanted to inquire about another item, but she was interrupted by his rather rude tone.

"You! Don't touch that!"

"..."

Funnily enough, the shopkeeper then interrupted himself, shouting at Adrianna, who was leaning down to pick up the marble sphere that rolled up to her and bumped against her foot.

"You give that back! With all crystals in the city being destroyed, that one will be worth a fortune for the adventurer guild before another cargo ship or caravan pass through!"

The man raised his voice, dropping everything he was holding on to, and charged right up to Adrianna while continuing to shout.

"Haaa...? First of all, you're far too rude! Watch your mouth in my lady's presence, you mongrel!"

"...ghh…!"

Completely unbothered by the hostility, Adrianna straightened her back while holding on to the marble sphere and scoffed, glaring down at the shopkeeper, making him flinch with her index finger pointer right at his face.

"Second of all, I find you assuming I would try to do something with this item without purchasing it first extremely disrespectful to me and, by extension, to my… eh…?"

Adrianna continued scolding while reaching out her hand with the sphere, clearly intending to return it to the shopkeeper. Then, all of a sudden, the item began to glow, causing her to let out a shocked voice as it seemed she had used it without purchasing it...

"FGHGFGGHH…!"

The next moment, number 56 appeared on the surface of the glowing orb, causing the shopkeeper to let out a panicked squeal that sounded as if he was choking and back off, barely regaining his balance after tripping on his own feet.

"P-p-please forgive my rudeness. The destruction, as well as the absence of my son and my employer to help me out, made me display an unbecoming behavior! Noble guests, please forgive me!"

The man cried out while bowing down as low as his ample stomach allowed him to, about to fall to his knees.

"Th-that's more like it…? But… umm… still. How much do you charge to check one's level?

Adrianna gulped down her saliva sending Melinda an apologetic gaze, before clearing her throat and asking the servile shopkeeper.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all! It would be disrespectful of me to charge you for such a rudimentary service?!"

The man instantly shook his head without even straightening his back and called out.

"Oh! That's very nice of you, mister. Maybe I was too rash to call you rude. My lady. Here."

Adrianna breathed out in relief and turned towards Melinda, offering her the orb.

"...haa..."

Melinda clenched and unclenched her fists a few times before reaching out to receive the item.

"Thanks."

She took a deep breath before nodding.

After changing hands, the previous number stayed on the surface of the glowing orb for a few more seconds until it faded away to be replaced by another one.

"49?!"

"...!"

"...!"

The shopkeeper peeking at the results was the one to raise his voice in fearful shock while both girl's looked at each other with worried expressions.

"That's cutting it close, my lady."

"That's cutting it way too close."

Adrianna pointed out, and Melinda confirmed, gulping down her saliva.

"A-anyway…! Mister, you wouldn't happen to have… eh…?"

Melinda breathed out and tried to play it cool, turning to the shopkeeper only to find him on his hands and knees, basically kowtowing to her.

"Wh-what it is, noble guest?! I'll do anything in my power to aid you!"

Noticing the sudden silence, the shopkeeper called out, desperately trying to take the subject away from the trashy item he sold the gold-haired girl for an exorbitant sum of money.

He would never try something like that if he knew that she was THAT strong! It was ridiculous! Only the top adventurers in their city were around that level.

Normal people had no reason to be over level 20! Far from it, the shopkeeper himself was barely level 9, and there was never a need for him to get stronger than that, thanks to the safety of the city and the power of the guards!

Who were around level 30, by the way!

But that girl and her maids had higher levels than those guards! The guild master of the adventurer's guild, who was known to be Chainlink's strongest, with only two others barely coming close to that, was at level 60! It was pure insanity!

The shopkeeper didn't dare raise his head, trembling on the glass-sprinkled floor, praying to the goddess Perseverance for mercy and not to be killed on the spot or dragged out of the city and fed to monsters.

"Mister, it's okay. I was just interested to learn whether you have something along the lines of a wearable artifact that would stop someone from leveling up."

Still holding on to the glowing orb, Melinda walked over to the prostrating man and crouched in front of him to say her request with an encouraging expression.

"I… I do! I actually do have something like that, noble guest! Please, wait just a second!"

"...!"

At first hesitant, the shopkeeper jumped right back on his feet, called out almost desperately, and rushed to the back of his store, leaving the baffled Melinda exchanging confused glances with Adrianna.