Penny Pinching Miser

While browsing the different types of merchandise at sale, Null's head was about to explode.

Swathes of creatures forced their way through the compact stalls and booths, some struggling peddlers with mats sat hawking their wares.

The amount of traffic was too stimulating for Null, making it difficult to maneuver around and try to understand what the item he was interested in was used for.

He had finally found a nice item which he went to purchase immediately; it was a woven blanket of all the colors of the rainbow and more.

The material it was made out of was soft to the touch even when tightly intertwined in a durable hold. The seller told him it would cost just a couple hundred pearl coins to take it off his hands.

It was made from an animal from his home planet, the Rainbow Mane, an equine beast; their beautiful manes never dirty under any circumstances, making their manes somewhat valuable in the fashion industry.

In addition to its ability to remain spotless, the fiber was fairly tough, providing light defense against sharp objects.

He had come to find out that the amount of currency— called trade coins or simply TC— he had been given was considerably higher than he thought.

When he opened up the coin pouch, he was astonished by the abundance of higher valued coins.

It totaled to a hefty hundred thousand and ten thousand TC; the coins were separated into colors of pearl white, shiny gold, obsidian purple, and luminescent platinum. They multiplied in value tenfold with each tier—ten pearls for a gold, a hundred for an obsidian, and a thousand for a platinum.

Put in perspective, he had a hundred gold coins, ten purple coins.

Cha-ching! His eyes lit up with greed.

He wrapped himself up, covering his naked body, and proceeded to continue roaming the market. There was nothing of note among any of the places he had visited.

Just a bunch of low-grade junk in the eyes of Null.

He ventured out past the open-air market while feeling the coins as he drifted along to an area where he found with a sign that his translator read as the 'Wanderer's Market' after he scanned it.

'I wonder who built these things," Null thought while holding the advanced technological device. He then proceeded in the direction of the separate market.

Before he made it through the entrance however, he was approached by a guard.

"Um... Pardon me esteemed sir, but to pass through I must first verify that you are a registered wanderer before you can enter."

The guard almost shat his pants when he saw what he assumed was an immortal infant.

'Why did I have to be on duty when a fucking immortal dropped by,' Benji, the guard, couldn't stop shivering as he waited for a response.

There was an old tale of the last immortal that dropped by; the immortal was said to have been annoyed by the guard's halting, so he killed him mercilessly and kept on walking.

Who could predict the mind of an immortal, especially those that chose not to openly display their status.

After all, if they simply stayed grounded and withdrew their spiritual pressure, no one would be the wiser.

Unless another immortal, such as the ruler of Planet Barter, were present, they would be passed off as a regular old nobody.

"I don't have any identification with me as I'm not a part of the Wanderer's Guild."

Null spoke in a pained voice as he figured the things within this part of the market were the real deal.

That pain, however, was registered as frustration in Benji's view, so he immediately began to apologize in fear of what might happen to him if this 'immortal baby' threw a tantrum.

"Please forgive me for-," he started.

But just as he went to grovel on the floor, someone's shout entered his ears.

"Hey Null, over here!" Taz shouted from afar.

"Hmm? Oh, hey guys," Null spun around before seeing the Castello Crew walking towards him from a store they had just exited.

"What are you doing at the entrance? I thought you came here before us," Taz asked.

"I was making my way through the open market before I got here. I didn't even know about this place until a few moments ago."

He pointed to Benji who still stood mid crouch, "He stopped me here."

Taz and the rest looked past Null to see Benji sweating profusely with his eyes closed and his hands on his head.

'O higher beings beyond the reaches of space, if you can hear me, please allow this worthless worm to live just one more day before I meet my end," Benji prayed for his life.

"Is that the new guard, Benji? Why is he squatting like that?" Ava questioned his weird pose.

"I think that's probably just an exercise guys. So that you know he means business and he's not just a scarecrow," Cronir made an educated guess.

"I don't know, he kinda just did that after I told him I wasn't a Wanderer."

"Benji? Are you okay?" 

Ava went to touch him in the shoulder, but he flinched and screamed, "Please don't kill me Mr. Immortal!!!"

At that moment they knew the cause exactly.

They turned to Null.

'Since when was I gonna kill the guy?' He shrugged to show his innocence.

"Benji it's fine," Ava consoled, "That little baby isn't an immortal, it's just a power of his."

"B-but there's no trace of energy coming from his presence at all!" Benji still cowered, insistent on staying down.

Before he could be claimed as delusional, his words jumpstarted the gears in their minds, causing them to slowly realize the truth.

"He's... right," Taz's heartbeat slowed, "Additionally, he's been using the so-called power ever since we met without any signs of fatigue."

"Are we going to keep ignoring the fact that he's a literal baby or is this not a good time?" Cronir spoke, but nobody listened. 

Poor guy.

"What do you mean no trace of energy? How else would he be able to... Unless...," Kamil shut his mouth at the realization.

"Can you guys stop being mysterious bit and fill me in for once," the resident dope of the group, Cronir begged.

"Yeah, why exactly are you guys looking at me like that," Null was even more clueless by the suspenseful mood.

He thought he was nothing more than a simple human gifted with powers beyond his means.

Why did they keep classifying him as the previous immortal and whatever else Taz were about to bring up next.