Shopping

The door opened and a party of four adventurers came in. They looked down at the shorter one, George, who stopped in front of them since they temporarily blocked the saloon door.

The group's high class adventuring gear instantly caught the attention of everyone in the hall. Most of the people in this town are E-rank, and yet this group that consisted of a magical swordsman, a tank, a mage, and a healer had arrived.

The good-looking one was the magical swordsman who walked at the front like a leader, a full-head taller than George. The tank was also good-looking but with a large build and a shield. The mage and the healer were two good-looking women. The mage had blonde hair and the healer had black hair.

"Yo, get out of our way weakling!" Seeing how weak and poor-looking George was, the magical swordsman looked down upon him with disdain.

"Can you move?" George casually looked up at him and asked him to move.

"You wanna fight?" The swordsman released his aura irritated, hoping to make the commoner pee his pants. However, to his surprise, George looked unaffected. The tank snorted with indifference while the two girls hesitantly wanted to calm their partner down.

The adventurers looked at the commotion and started whispering to each other.

"Hey, who's that?"

"Never seen him around before."

"I think that's a new party that has come to town. Judging from their gear, they must either be from a well-off family or have a decent ranking."

"Why would they be here? This area only has E-rank dungeons."

"I think they are passing by."

"I said move. Did you not hear me?" George frowned and stared at the dude.

Instantly, all four party members felt a chill down their spine upon gazing into George's eyes. The one who felt it the most was the swordsman. His face turned pale from fear, causing him to subconsciously take a step back. It was as if he had saw his own death in George's eyes.

"S-Sorry. Our leader can be quite arrogant." The lady on the left apologized and the two pulled back the tank and the swordsman, allowing him to finally pass.

George glanced at the two girls and nodded in thanks before walking ahead, leaving the guild.

The swordsman collapsed to the ground and peed himself, much to the surprise of many in the room, especially the party members within his own group. Some, however, only sneered as if they had expected the result.

"Who was that?" The tank pulled up his leader and looked at George's back with confusion. He had never seen his leader get scared by a weak-looking person.

"I'll warn you since you're not around from here. I wouldn't mess with that guy if I were you." One of the adventurers with a beer and relaxing in a chair glanced at the party. He has a large build and wore heavy armor. He seemed abnormally calm.

"What do you mean?" The tanker frowned and scanned the dude, before realizing his is only a rank lower.

"I wouldn't judge him based on his rank and clothing. The eyes of the E-Ranked Janitor can scare anyone who annoys him. That's why nobody messes with him. The son of the guildmaster, a D-ranked swordsman who had just arrived from the capital, tried to mess with the guy by making fun of his family. The D-ranker pissed his pants and retired from being an adventurer shortly after."

"The guildmaster went into a rage upon finding out shortly after. He tried to kill George but instead pissed his pants upon seeing his eyes. He apologized and even tried to compensate but George refused all of it. The story made him famous throughout Roastberry."

The party members looked at each other in surprise and shock.

The blonde-haired mage looked at George's back with confusion and suspicion.

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It was very late in the evening and the sun had set below the metal walls.

Yet, the black smoke from the factory chimneys continued to rise without care in the direction of the wind. Pedestrians walked down the street below the neon lights hanging from the multi-story buildings. Gas-powered cars drove down the roads as usual.

The atmosphere was as lively as always.

George Foster, upon leaving the guild, spent ten minutes walking down the street before arriving at a local grocery store.

The place was filled with both commoners and adventurers looking at food items and heading to checkout. It was a lively atmosphere.

George as usual grabbed a few basic food items for dinner consumption and headed for checkout. These would be able to maintain his calories and supply all the necessary nutrition.

After waiting in line for a few minutes, he arrived at the cashier.

"How you doin' today George?" The cashier greeted him with a smile.

"The same as usual." He nodded as usual before handing over his basic food items.

"You order the same thing as always. Some variety in your life would make things better."

"I don't have the money to afford that." George shrugged off his comment.

"Well, not like I can blame you for that." The cashier sighed and said, "That'll be ten Aeter dollars."

George already had his wallet out and handed the ten dollar bills over.

"Be safe out there."

As George walked out onto the street to return home, he counted his remaining money.

"Let's see... just enough to pay my monthly rental bill coming up."

George barely makes enough money per month to get by. In fact, the surplus of money minus all the bills, food costs, weapons maintenance, laundromat, and transportation fees is a single Aeter dollar.

That is why he has to do eight E-ranked quests every day, or else he will have to draw upon the pathetic amount in his savings.

'Hard work gives me purpose at least.'

As George thought of this, he carried his dinner home.