Acquiring a token

As soon as I went down the staircases, I took out my pouch and counted the remaining coins that I have.

"Ah, I should've gave them some."

Pausing in place, I got tapped by someone behind.

"Getting lost, kid?"

Slightly turning back my head, I saw a guy which had a medium built frame, and his hair was almost bald. He had glasses on his eyes and he wore casual clothing along with a pair of wooden slippers. From his look, it seemed that he lived here.

His smile gave this feeling that one can easily trust him.

"Not really. I'm instead looking for a place where I could sell these."

I took two red fly swatters from my leather bag and showed it to him.

His glasses looked like it sparkled as soon as he saw the items on my hand, yet I knew it was only the orange lamps that gave him a sheen. It was a bit dramatic, but he really did looked like he was curious about the flyswatter.

He crouched a bit and looked closely.

"Aren't these magical constructs? How long can they last?"

He knew that from a single glance? This person might just be a potential buyer.

"I'm not sure how long they last, but I have one that already lasted for four years."

"May I try how durable they are?"

"Sure."

I handed him the single flyswatter I've been saving for four years to see how long an Origin construct could last.

His hands slightly trembled upon holding the azure flyswatter, and tried to bend it.

"How peculiar. What's this for?"

"You use it to kill flies and other pests. Just slam, and poof!" With me imitating the gesture using my own fly swatter, he almost chuckled yet he tried it too.

"I almost thought it was something used to cook..."

After looking at it more closely, he held his hand on his chin and waved it here and there.

"That's the oldest one I have. You can have these red ones that are more durable and new."

"What's the best one you have right now?"

"It costs more than the rest, do you plan to buy one?"

"Sure. If you have three of them, then that's good."

"I only have two of them right now, and making one will take me a few minutes but are you willing to wait?"

"Few minutes? How exactly?"

"Maybe three minutes or so?"

The guy's eyes widened in shock as if he saw a ghost so I looked behind me, only to find out nothing was there.

"Okay. I'll wait you make another one..."

"I can't show you how it's done, it's a trade secret."

"Tsk."

Since we were still by the large staircase and people were starting to gather around, I beckoned toward him as I found a place where I can hide and make another purplish white fly swatter.

Seriously, this has already become a hobby of mine.

"Wait me here. No peeking!"

I'll sense him with my Soul Control anyway but I still warned him.

"You go, I'll wait."

People might find it strange that we're here at the fountain near the town hall, but it's the best place to actually hide since there are only few people here. There's also probably the town mayor or president which was giving a speech as people gathered over him so I slowly dived inside the fountain as I created a fly swatter.

The white orb rose once more from my body as I started to craft a fly swatter. Underwater, I could only last within a few seconds but I made a vacuum of air within an Origin barrier from above and wore it on my head as I submerged.

I could hear voices from above but I didn't paid attention as I made the fly swatter.

Feeling something within my gut, I rushed this one compared to my usual speed and finished within a minute.

After that I cancelled the barrier and finalized the construct so it wouldn't disperse out of my control. Rising up from the fountain, I found the guy on the ground, getting kicked by a few other guys who were bigger than him.

"Too slow grandad!"

"Quickly! Before the chairman sees us!"

"Don't leave his balls intact!"

That last sentence brought shivers to my own jewels as I saw one of them about to really kick him on his dragon eggs. I couldn't help but rush out there and try to protect him just for a bit.

With my current speed, it wasn't hard to easily intercept a simple kick to the balls, so I grabbed the incoming foot with two of my hands and threw the guy towards the town entrance.

He flew for a few meters before he finally rolled on the ground and kissed the ground. The scene looked familiar.

"Wick!"

One of the guys that tried to beat up my buyer mentioned the name of the guy that just flew. With that I continued my spree and sent each of them flying towards the town entrance. Two of them hit each other and the rest ended up in different places as they rolled and kissed the ground.

"You alright?"

"Brother, behind you....."

I felt an invisible force behind me and immediately blocked it using the fly swatter I just made. The sound it produced was similar to a hard metal hitting a hard plastic, and it somewhat trembled that it made my hand shiver for a bit.

"How is a kid blocking me?"

"Why are you beating up my buyer?"

In front of me was a large man that had a leather armor. He was also using something unusual, a brown bo stick that was longer than my body. What was strange is that it didn't get destroyed as I blocked it with my highest level compressed fly swatter.

Of course I only applied force that I felt was able to block the attack that was incoming, so it wasn't that strong but from the force of two objects colliding against each other, it wouldn't be strange if the stick he used already broke in half.

"This isn't ordinary wood is it?"

"Why would I use such a weak material? Your strange weapon there also isn't some kind of metal either."

Who is this guy?

I bet he's also thinking the same thing so I pushed him off and grabbed my buyer's collar before running away.

"Sorry, I'll just try to heal your scratches later!" I exclaimed to my buyer as I dragged him on the ground as I escaped the scene, entering the massive crowd of people on the left side of the town hall.

After getting ourselves blended into the crowd, I quickly poured a wisp of Origin and stopped as soon as the white orb was about to form to avoid getting seen.

I'm pretty sure those guys won't chase us over a quarter of an hour, so we went back towards the fountain after I partially healed this guy that his bruised lessened.

"Why were they beating you up anyway?"

"I don't know! They've been like that since the first time I've met them."

"Can't you think up of any reason?"

"Nope... stop asking!"

Hey, hey, why is he getting mad?

"Why are you getting agitated?"

"You're probably just another person who wants to bully me! Why did you have to dive on the fountain to make one of those things? Because of that they thought I didn't have company!"

"So they do that when you're only alone? They're simply bullying then."

"Doesn't matter. I lost the mood... see you around...hopefully not."

"Wait, wait!"

I tugged his shirt and he stopped, then I started.

"Didn't you see earlier? I could block the guy's staff with this thing. Don't you really want it?"

"Sure. You said it's used for flies-----not a weapon."

"I didn't said it can't be used as a weapon, but it's enough evidence for its durability!"

Good thing that his glasses had no damage from all the beating up, and it sparkled once more like earlier.

"Okay. I'll buy one. Here."

He handed a small pouch containing a few coins inside, and looking inside I saw three golden coins.

"GOL-----"

"SHHH!"

These are rare stuff!

I didn't realize when he took off his mouth from my hand, but I returned to my usual calm but the excitement from my heart can't be hidden.

"I didn't even tell you the price yet, but you already gave golden coins...!" I beckoned towards him and whispered to his ear as much as I can.

"Tch. How much are they then? Do you want ten gold coins?"

"NO!" People around heard as my voice rose and tended to their business as fast as they glanced over.

"I mean, I'm only selling them for two hundred coins each...!"

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" He took the pouch from me and returned it with a single gold coin instead.

Why is he intent on giving me golden coins?

"Fine. I won't be able to give you change, so I... will owe you a favor instead, is that fine?"

"No. The extra money is for you to shush your mouth, and also to leave me alone. Got it?"

"But... Ugh."

I threw him his pouch of golden coin as he turned his back, and made him yelp out in pain.

"What do you want!?" He was getting angry at the moment and he'll probably not pay me instead but I firmly want to insist.

"I... only want... a fair price!"

With that, his furrowed brows settled down, his almost scrunched up face smoothed down and finally he let out a deep sigh.

"That's weird. People always usually go away when I give them that amount of money."

"Not me." I crossed my arms in front of me and he slowly picked up the pouch that I threw.

"What do you need anyway? If you're selling something so earnestly, then it means that you need something, but not urgent enough to make me even..."

"Actually, I just want to buy one of those tokens that look like a red tree branch."

"Huh? You exited from the Red Tree, right?"

"Yep. But the keeper there told me that her master needs to be informed before a new one could be made, so now I'm only trying to find other people that may help me acquire one."

"Doesn't explain why though."

"I have only two and I gave them to my companions instead."

With that he quieted down, jumped up and sat on the edge of the fountain. He dripped his right hand towards the fountain and after a minute, he came down and held his hand over to me.

"Take it."

"Don't tell me..."

As soon as he opened his hand, I saw a token that was identical to the one I had ago.

"Yeah, don't tell me. Don't tell other people too."

I could only stand as he walked further away from the fountain, disappearing into the housing area ahead.

"Why does he get bullied though?"

I can assume that he's the master of the keeper of the 'Red Tree' since he made this token just now. Only an idiot would assume that you get one of those luckily by submerging your hand in the fountain water, right?

With that I also left the place and finally returned to the Red Tree.

"Dry yourself before going to bed." The keeper threw me a towel as soon as I entered the wall.

"Sign here, then your name will appear when you pick a door."

She took out a book which had a few names listed on it, and I saw a few more names after Aunt and Three's names.

Writing my name on the book, she pulled it instantly and closed it, then once more resumed her pose that had her chin on hand as she looked lazy while watching the entrance.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you."

I walked towards the hallway and after a few doors, finally found a door which listed the names "Arc Eric and Dorother Flairfly" that flickered in red.

"This world has a lot of mysteries still."

I pushed on the door and saw the two of them on one bed, munching on various snacks.