Magic Merchant Racial Anecdote

In the old residential area in summer, the morning light is twilight, and several elderly people are dragging their grocery shopping carts through the street.

There is a long queue outside a small shop with no sign on the corner.Above the high steamer at the entrance of the store, white smoke floats in the sun, and the scent of lard mixed with spicy peppers hits in bursts, making the teenagers who are queuing feel even hungrier.

He was wearing a dark hoodie with a wide brim covering his eyes, his fair cheeks were a little flushed by the sun, and he was standing listlessly in the crowd, moving with the team.

"Boss, please bring 20 cages of fresh meat soup bags, and pack them together." The young man said to the owner of the soup bag shop in front of him, his voice sounded dizzy, and there was still a sense of procrastination from sleep.

"I'm sorry, young man, our store can only buy 10 baskets per person at most." The boss who was busy moving the steamer said apologetically, and pointed to the notice board next to him.

'Purchase limit of 10 cages per person', neatly written on the sign.The boy was obviously taken aback for a moment, he looked at the notice board, sighed lightly, and then became even more listless.

"Then come 10 cages." He said immediately.

"Okay, do you want chili and vinegar?" The boss asked again.

"Yes, add more spice and pack it separately from the vinegar."

"A total of 210 yuan plus package, cash or scan code?"

"Scan the QR code." The boy answered, and took out a rather strange-looking 'old mobile phone' from his pocket. It was small and oval in shape, and the case was engraved with complicated patterns.

After paying the payment smoothly, A Lai sighed again with some pity as he watched the soup dumplings just out of the cage being put into boxes one by one.In fact, this fresh meat soup dumpling, the soup is made of skin jelly and meat filling, and it tastes best when it is just out of the oven.

But if he doesn't go back, the family will probably be turned upside down by the hungry 'someone'.

Thinking of this, Alai casually put the 'phone' back into his pocket, carefully picked up the packed soup bag, and walked to a remote door in the residential area.

On weekend mornings, most of the people in the building were still asleep.

He carried the soup bag and walked into the door building. Although he wanted to go back quickly, his footsteps were still slow, and he almost climbed the first floor to the top floor with three rests.

After taking a while to catch his breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the inconspicuous iron door in front of him.

The door swung open.A Lai stepped in, the door closed automatically behind him, and the building was quiet again.

***

Behind the old iron gate is a vast courtyard that would never appear in a residential building.

Unlike the bright sky outside the door, the world inside the door looked like it was almost midnight, with two crescent moons hanging high in the sky, one red and one basket.In the center of the courtyard, a tall tree full of luminous fruits is planted. The huge tree crown covers the corner of the eaves in the distance, illuminating the courtyard brightly.

Next to the tree was a small round wooden table with a few precious stones scattered on it, a pot of steaming milk tea, and a bone china cup at the corner of the table filled with half a cup of water.

There are two white garden chairs next to the table, and a tall young man is sitting on one of the chairs. He is wearing black overalls, a black jacket, and black shoes...even his hair is black. Yes, only a pair of golden eyes, almost glowing in the night.

He stared motionlessly at the direction of the 'door' in the yard, as if waiting for something.

As soon as Ah Lai stepped out of the door, Ned smelled the aroma of the soup dumpling on his body.He retracted his foot, straightened up abruptly from the chair, and followed the bag in Alai's hand without blinking.

The scorching sight made Alai have the illusion that there was a big dog in front of him, and it was still sticking out its tongue and wagging its tail, like when it would pounce on someone to wash its face with saliva.

Surprised by his own imagination, Alai hurriedly put the soup dumpling in his hand on the table.

As the soup dumplings were put on the table, Ned looked away as expected.He couldn't wait to open the box, and the soup dumpling that had just come out of the steamer filled his face with a fresh fragrance, and through the crystal clear coat, he could still vaguely see the rippling soup inside.

Ned picked up the chopsticks on the side and picked one up unskillfully.The soup dumpling was dangling in the air, and the soup was heavy in the thin coat.He carefully dipped in the seasoned vinegar with spicy peppers, swallowed it in one gulp without fear of being hot, the tip of his tongue broke the thin skin of the soup dumpling, and the soup poured down with a splash, full of fragrance in his mouth.

Ned couldn't wait to swallow the soup dumpling in his mouth, but he was gasping for breath from the hot soup, and in Alai's eyes he looked more like a big dog.However, exhaling obviously had no effect. Ned stuck out his tongue and hurriedly picked up the teacup on the table.

"and many more……"

Alai hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop it, but it was too late. As Ned drank the clear water in the teacup, the gate in the garden through which Alai walked out also changed. The old iron gate disappeared and replaced it. It was a dark red wooden door engraved with complicated magic circles.

Ah took a look at the changing gate, and frowned with a headache.

Alai is a registered professional space magician, who can use his own space magic - "door" to go to the plane he wants to go at any time.But casting a spell requires a medium, and just now, his 'magic medium', that is, the glass of water, was swallowed by Ned in one gulp.

……

"The space coordinates of that plane just now haven't had time to save, and I can't find it after the door is closed." Alai complained with a helpless forehead.

"It's okay, I basically memorized the coordinates, you can just open the door when the time comes." Ned said without regret.He knocked on the teacup that had just been emptied, and took out a large bucket of still-chilling vanilla ice cream from the small cup, and ate it with soup dumplings.

I almost forgot that this guy is a dragon with extraordinary memory.Alai sighed again, and pulled off the hat on his head, revealing a pair of cat eyes that didn't match him at all. His eyelids drooped in a state of inactivity, letting his curly black hair hang wildly on his head.

He relaxed back on the chair and looked at Ned who was eating happily opposite him under the moonlight with mixed emotions. Soup buns and ice cream... I don't know what kind of strange combination this is.

Then Alai moved his gaze to Ned's feet, where there were still all kinds of food packages packed from different worlds that hadn't had time to be processed.

——This is Ned's sixth meal today.

Life must be a little too difficult, Alai lazily squinted his eyes and thought.I was already unemployed, and now I still have a dragon that can only eat. If this continues, it will be a matter of bankruptcy sooner or later, right?

As mentioned just now, Alai is a space magician. He has been doing space transportation safely and steadily for the past few years, but last week he was fired by a "black-hearted enterprise" due to various reasons.

Although the rapid development of the ultra-technical plane in the third district has seriously affected the traditional space magic transportation industry in the fourth district, most of his work has already been replaced by the plane trading system, but there are still some people who are forced to eliminate and suddenly lose their jobs. It's a big difference.

Originally, as a high-level space magician, he had his own space. He didn't need to buy a house or repay the loan. His savings should be enough to live on.But now, he was forced into an unprecedented 'financial crisis'!

The reason is all caused by the 'a certain dragon' sitting in front of him eating and drinking.

A Lai watched helplessly as Ned drank five soup dumplings one after another in the blink of an eye, plus a whole bucket of ice cream.Then, as if he wasn't full, he began to take out all kinds of non-nutritious compressed food and nutrient solution from the space.

Here it is again, if you are not full for the dinner, you will eat those unnutritious things casually, and eat ice cream and soup dumplings together.It's terrible, the dragon clan who eats and drinks like this every meal, and needs to eat every 4 hours.

But if he is allowed to eat well every meal... Who can afford this amount of food?He could already foresee the miserable life after the deposit was eaten up by someone.

Otherwise, let's find a way to throw this guy out, right?This was the 101st time that Alai had such an idea. A Lai looked up at Ned, who was eating unconsciously without raising his head. He calmly poured a cup of milk tea into the teacup in front of him, and quietly activated the space magic.

A wooden door appeared silently on the grass under Ned's feet. Alai tapped the cup, and the door suddenly opened towards the ground, and Ned fell in along with the chair and others.

Ah Lai quickly knocked on the cup again and closed the door.He clasped his hands together and bowed towards the place where the door disappeared,—'Please don't come back again'!

However, Alai's wish was destined to be impossible to realize. After a while, the wooden door reappeared, and Ned was vomited out as if he had indigestion.

Sure enough, the magic failed, again.

Ned was roughly spat on the lawn by the 'door', and his black clothes were instantly covered with white magic dust and grass clippings on the ground.

"It's said that your magic is useless to me, how many times do you have to do it again?" He stood up as usual, patted the dust on his body, and said to Ah Lai.

"Until the day you succeed in the test, do you really know how much you can eat?" A Lai muttered as if breaking down, and simply threw himself on the table.

"That's why I said that I can just eat nutrient solution, compressed food, etc. It's cheap and full. You insisted on saying that there is no nutrition, so you went to buy these." Ned shrugged and replied.It seems that he is completely used to the mental state of Alai, who happily feeds him one second, and then suddenly regrets and wants to throw him out of the space the next second.

"Then you can't let you eat those every day, can you? And if I only buy my own portion... are you sure you won't grab it and eat it?" Alai said with a tangled expression.

To be honest, Ah Lai was extremely confused by his recent inexplicable behavior.He obviously wants to drive Ned away, but when using magic, it will subconsciously fail. He obviously dislikes him for being too good to eat, but when buying food for himself, he will obediently buy Ned's portion.

fall!What exactly is he going to do? !

"If you only buy one portion, I'll probably eat half of it. Hahaha, don't worry about it." Ned sat back in his original position and patted Alai's thin body comfortingly.

"But if we continue to eat like this, we will go bankrupt..." Alai complained feebly.6 meals a day, 100 yuan per meal, 600 yuan a day, 18000 yuan a month, so the savings will be eaten up within a year!

"That's why I said, let you sell my collection." Ned waved his hand aggressively.

On the third day after signing the contract with Alai, he had forcibly handed over all his belongings to Alai.In the concept of the Dragon Clan, the 'partners' have always been responsible for the brains, and they are responsible for the hands, and the division of labor is reasonable and natural.

Alai raised his eyes and glanced at Ned, recalling the "collections" that Ned showed him back then, the legendary dragon treasures, gold coins, gems, magic minerals...

None of these!

As a dragon, Ned doesn't like to collect shiny things. To him, 'sparkling' is far less attractive than 'scenty'.

"Are you talking about the pile of magic food that no one wants that you piled up in the space? Canned cats that make you fat, chocolate that makes you lose love, and cherry-flavored cola that is about to expire... Except for you, there is no one at all. Creatures will want these things." Alai propped up his forehead and said, looking at Ned with blank eyes.

"That's because we haven't found any creatures that appreciate them as much as I do. We should go to other districts and sell them." Ned retorted solemnly, his eyes wandering.

"..."

"I seriously suspect that you actually want me to take you to other interfaces so that you can feast on local specialties." Alai looked at Ned with his chin for a while, and finally came to a conclusion.

"Of course there are reasons for this." Ned used his magic to wipe out the mountain of takeaway boxes on the ground, and simply admitted Alai's guess generously.

"You're unemployed anyway, so why don't we go to another restaurant... No, take a walk! Maybe someone will be interested in these things?" Ned said, widening his dazzling golden eyes. eyes, trying to impress Alai with 'sincerity'.

At this moment, Alai, who didn't know much about Ned, looked at those golden eyes and couldn't help thinking seriously.As much as I hate to admit it, it's actually a pretty good idea.

His space magic is 'gate', which can reach any plane, so the cost to sell something is basically '0'.And the most difficult safety problem to solve when doing transportation work in the past...

Alai raised his head and glanced at Ned in front of him - there is no need to worry now.

From this point of view, this dragon is not useless, at least it is possible to be a 'tool dragon'.

"How about it? If you think it's feasible, we will set off immediately tomorrow! I heard that there is a 'monster market' in the fifth district. The grilled fish in it is super delicious. If you miss it, you will have to wait another whole year." Ned said excitedly For Ah Lai, it feels like this has been premeditated.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but in Alai's eyes, Ned's eyes on the opposite side began to glow.

After thinking about it for a while, he finally nodded to Ned: "Okay, then we will set off after breakfast at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning."——If he doesn't make money, he really can't afford to support this dragon.

"No problem, then I'll call you at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning." Ned happily agreed, and the invisible tail swayed behind him.

"Don't rush to be happy. Before we go, we need to prepare some products." Alai picked up his soup bag that was almost cold, and said slowly while opening the box.

"Huh? Didn't you agree to sell my collection?" Ned asked suspiciously, tilting his head in Alai's direction.

"All, say, yes, no one will buy your collection." Alai's tone gradually became irritable.Also, the 1.8-meter strong man should not tilt his head to be cute!A Lai complained tiredly.

"Oh." Facing Alai who suddenly became irritable, Ned only blinked his eyes in bewilderment, the invisible tail behind him gradually stopped shaking, and sat silently.

It took a while to cheer up, and Alai began to rethink the products that could be sold.With one hand resting on his chin, he tapped unconsciously on the table with the other.

"I remember... I have been to the annual 'Monster Market' in District [-] a few times before. The most popular products should be all kinds of rare creatures, such as the super delicious grilled fish you just mentioned. A kind of monster called 'Henggong fish'. There are also salamander skins, unicorn manes, etc., which can be sold at very high prices. So I want to trade there, the best products They are the body parts of higher creatures." Alai explained to Ned.

"Hmm, that's it. Then what parts of higher creatures are you going to prepare? Do you need my help?" Ned raised his hand and asked, his tail wagging slightly.

"Of course you need to, because you are what I call a higher creature." Alai said, appraising Ned up and down, and gave him a 'good-hearted' smile.

"—!"

"Wait! Are you planning to cut me up and sell me? No, I don't agree!" Ned, who finally realized what Alai was saying, shouted in panic, and the whole dragon exploded.

"Who said you were going to be cut into pieces? I just need some of your scales. Of course, it would be even better if you were willing to add a few drops of blood." Alai rubbed his chin, obviously displeased kindness.

"The scales... But pulling them out is very painful." Ned said hesitantly.

But Ah Lai looked very troubled, and if there were no products, he would not be able to go to the market, um...if it was just one or two pieces...he looked at the scales on his arm because of the fright, and frowned. Got a pimple.

"You don't need to pull it out, the old scales you shed will do. Does your clan have any rules? Like keeping the replaced scales properly?" Alai asked cautiously.Ned, who was already seriously considering whether to pull out his scales, completely lost his temper.

"That's not true, but is anyone really willing to buy it?" Ned asked suspiciously, he took his eyes off his arm and turned to look at Alai.

"What do you mean? As far as I know, dragon scales are very valuable!" Now it was Alai's turn to be puzzled.

"Well, how should I put it. You know that the reason why our dragons shed their scales is because of the aging of the scales, so the scales that fall have no magical properties, and their hardness will gradually disappear..." Ned explained. road.

In order to prove his point, he stretched out his hand while talking, drew a circle on the top of the teacup, turned the cup upside down, and poured out a lot of his own scales from it.

Black scales as big as two palms instantly filled a corner of the courtyard. As Ned said, each piece seemed to be oxidized, turning white from the edge.

"Anyway, it's useless to buy it." Ned said confidently.

A Lai looked at the tarnished scales piled up under his feet, and became even more puzzled. "Who said it was used? Haven't you heard of it? The scales of your dragon clan are known as one of the top ten gourmet specialties in the fourth district." Alai raised his head and said to Ned.

"—Huh?! Are dragon scales edible?" Ned questioned from his soul.

"En." Alai nodded affirmatively against Ned's shocked eyes.

"Although I haven't eaten it myself, I heard from the monsters in the fifth district that the dried dragon scales are very delicious! The taste is a bit like fried fish bones, crisp and fresh, and it is very popular when ground into powder. Welcome condiments." Alai introduced in an advertisement-like tone.

"Is it really so delicious?" Ned asked in a low voice.He looked at his own scales all over the yard, and swallowed.

"I think……"

"No, you don't want to!" Alai patted the table.

"This is our precious commodity, and I will absolutely, absolutely not let you eat part of your own body! Put them away, and we will set off tomorrow." Alai turned his head and ignored Ned's eyes, and simply confirmed the itinerary .

"Well, you are a 'partner' and you have the final say." Ned said regretfully.He took a pityful look at the scales on the ground, knocked obediently on the rim of the cup, and took them back into the space.

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Guidance→The first world of travel starts from Chapter 16~