Chapter 101: After all the driving around, you’re still here.

In the afternoon, Jace went to the docks and asked if anyone was storing Jah Scales, and came out with some bits and pieces of small scales for 7 silver coins at a couple of gnomes working for a dwarf blacksmith.

He’d asked several people, and these two gnomes had been considered a more appropriate price.

Holding these few silver coins in his hand when he went home, he happened to pass by an everyday department store, thinking about that Naga’s bead string, should ask about the price, as well as the broken pocket watch he picked up from the wild west might still be able to be repaired in use.

“Everyday merchants for your needs.”

The chubby shopkeeper had a book in his hand and wore glasses, and his welcome when Jace walked in was spoken without emotion.

He glanced at his guest and asked again, “Can I help you?”

“I just wanted to ask.” Jace took the string of beads off his wrist and laid it on the table and said, “How much can I get for this?”

“We don’t take jewelry here, sir.” The shopkeeper held up his glasses, and despite saying so, he took the beaded string.

“Colored pearls, beautiful things you can only get from the deep sea, except this strand is not very big and a little cloudy, like it’s been contaminated by something. Where did you get this string of pearls? This chain itself …… doesn’t look like something made in the Stormwind Kingdom.”

The shopkeeper flipped the string of beads back and forth, looking at Jace every now and then, before saying after a moment, “About forty silver coins will sell it, sir, but you’ll have to ask in the jewelry store, turn left to meet the canal, follow it all the way, and you’ll see a jewelry store.”

Forty silver coins.

Jace kinda wants to sell it, selling it would get him money for the paper and ink …… He’s facing an orcish exam right now, and it’s kinda important for him to have Saeuno translate as much of the demonic content of that intertranslation book as he can, so he can figure out what the corresponding orcish runes mean a little faster.

He wouldn’t have hesitated at all if he had let it go in the past.

But this string of beads was a trophy, especially when one thought of the fight to the death that night, and the string of nightmares that followed, one felt that forty silver coins and could not be exchanged for the experience one had to prove oneself.

“So, sir, is there any chance of getting this pocket watch fixed?” Jess asked as he placed the watch on the counter.

The shopkeeper picked up the pocket watch and looked at it, and said, “I can’t say about that; you’ll have to ask at that clock store on the street outside the church square.”

Jess replied with thanks and took the pocket watch back, and the shopkeeper said, “Welcome to the next one.”

He always felt that this shopkeeper was weird, he hadn’t bought anything or spent any money on counseling or anything, so why did he have such a good attitude?

He didn’t continue to think much about it, though, and followed the path the shopkeeper pointed out, heading for the church square in search of the clock store.

As he walked, he always felt that there was someone following him behind, and after turning back a few times it was just some unusual passersby and guards, and he didn’t notice any sneaky guys.

Could it be that Shadow is slowly becoming paranoid from using it so much?

Just as Jace turned into an alleyway and began to self-reflect on whether or not he had been abusing his Shadow spells too much lately, he suddenly heard a rush of footsteps behind him.

Jace, unarmed, jerked his head back and yelled, “Who?!”

Oncoming a soldier in lockjaw and helmet pounced on him violently on the ground, Jace could not just give in, he struggled frantically for a while surprisingly pushed the armored soldier aside, roared and was about to run out of the alley, but did not want to get out of a few steps and was yanked by another person to hold the bag.

That bag …… he must not lose.

Jace turned around and punched the soldier in the face, but he didn’t want the punch to land right on the overlaying helmet all of a sudden his knuckles hurt so much that he had tears in his eyes.

Looking again to the end of the alley, there was already a guard with a baguette standing blocking himself.

“What the hell?!”

“Behave yourself, little thief!”

“Who’s a thief?!”

“We received a report ……”

Listening to the words of the soldiers Jace understood at once why that shopkeeper had such a good attitude, that guy suspected that he was a thief preparing to sell stolen goods.

The point is that what kind of thief is that stupid to walk up to a store on Main Street and sell stolen goods with a straight face? Why not ask the local thieves union in some sewer first?

“I was wrongfully accused! I own all these things!”

“Yes, of course it’s your own, of course you’ve been wronged, first come with us to the sheriff and explain!”

Jace knew there was no point in struggling now, the soldiers had decided he was a thief.

“I really ……”

“Shut up!”

Suddenly a jab to the jaw and Jace is dazed.

Something slapped his face, and he opened his eyes in panic and shouted, “…… I’m really not a thief, and you’re arresting people on the basis of one word?!”

He felt that he hadn’t finished what he had just said, so he made an effort to spit out all the words in his head, but only after he had finished did he realize that he seemed to have fainted for quite a while, and, moreover, that this was no longer the alleyway.

Just after the words were said, Jace looked at his surroundings, it was a jail cell like place with darkness all around, was it Storm City Prison?

Right now he was being secured to a wooden chair with ropes, so he was caught here after all.

“He’s awake, call the vendor in and ask him.”

Jace looked over at the source of the voice and was seeing a fat man walk in.

“Are we sure it’s him now?”

A bearded man in a soldier’s blue shirt looked over at the fat man who had just come in, and Jace could see that the fat man, was the shopkeeper!

“That’s him!” The store owner said, pointing to Jace, “He’s the one who sold the stolen goods at my place.”

“Stealing?” Jace stared at him and asked, “You saw me steal? Who did I steal it from? Who came to you to report it? Who lost something?”

“Look at his attitude, he is simply poor and vicious.” The shopkeeper said viciously, “Lord Morse, look at this guy’s poor appearance, skinny and dark, dressed in such rags, how could he be carrying such precious jewelry, that string of colored beads in his hand could sell for quite a lot of money na! Not to mention a broken pocket watch. He might not even be a thief, but a robber! It’s robbing people of everything they have on them after beating them up!”

“Rags? Why don’t you just go write a novel.” Jace growled, “Or do you understand it so well because you’ve done it yourself?!”

The shirtless man named Morse didn’t respond to the shopkeeper right away, he just held a ring and examined it back and forth, and that’s when Jace noticed that the ring was the apprentice emblem he had just gotten!

“That ring is mine!” Jace shouted, “Give it back to me ……”

“Do you know what this thing is for?” Morse asked.

Jace was just about to say it when the shopkeeper immediately snatched the words, “I didn’t realize he stole a ring? This guy must have been afraid that I would suspect him of stealing something, so he didn’t take it all out and ask me for the price, I didn’t expect him to be quite mindful, luckily I’m skillful.”

“Noisy.” Morse looked to Jace and asked, “You tell.”