Chapter 168: Blood On The Apron
Hanging on to a bad buy will not redeem the purchase.
The shopkeeper revealed the good and the bad of the discarded weapons Zane picked.
After the man was finished, Xavier felt glad that the shopkeeper kept no secrets.
And after hearing everything, no one in their right mind would go ahead with the purchase.
Still, Xavier wasn’t sure with Zane so he looked at him with shivering hope.
Zane returned the look and smiled.
Xavier finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Zane’s smile told him that the man agreed.
"I was afraid for one second that you will seriously buy th—"
"I am buying them."
"Motherfuc—"
Xavier slammed his head on the counter.
Zane focused on the shopkeeper.
"I am buying them. Keep them separate. And give me something to protect the Vellum Razor from not cracking on the way and also some kind of protection to not cut my fingers by touching it."
Xavier gave up.
He left the counter and went to someone who could help.
Jammy.
"Stop him." Xavier said.
Jammy waved his hand.
"Let him be. He knows what he is doing. If not, then wrong decisions will teach him more than I ever could. You focus on yourself."
Jammy outright refused to say anything and examined a walking stick.
Xavier inhaled deeply.
In the end, he let Zane make the wrong purchase and focused on finding his own weapon.
Hena and Draxus also heard Jammy and they agreed with the janitor.
They stopped bothering with Zane.
"You are going to buy them? Are you sure?" The shopkeeper asked.
Zane nodded. "Yes. But tell me this, one can simply store a weapon inside their ring and walk out of your shop without paying. How do you deal with this?"
The shopkeeper smiled.
"You were planning on doing something like that too, right, sir?"
"Yes. I thought about it. But then I also thought you wouldn’t be so stupid to not arrange a counter method for such thievery."
"You are right about that. I am not stupid. Also, not many people have such rings. They are expensive. One can only get them by the church or from a high end shop."
"But how do you stop stealing?"
The shopkeeper shook his head. "I am afraid I can’t tell you that. I simply get to know it."
TING!
The bell on the door rang.
Someone was leaving.
The shopkeeper moved his hand and held a knife.
Zane frowned and before he knew it, the shopkeeper yanked the knife towards the leaving person.
"Anghhh!" The customer screamed as the knife pierced the back of his thigh.
Zane watched the shopkeeper with widened eyes.
"What the hell? You just injured a random customer."
Zane looked around and was again shocked as no one else bat an eye.
Though they heard Zane’s shocking words and snickered.
If he knew about this he wouldn’t be buying discarded weapons.
Zane looked at the shopkeeper again and the man was glaring at the injured customer.
"You are a lucky man, sir." He said to Zane.
"How?"
"You were just talking about thieves and I caught one right now."
Zane raised his brows.
"He is a thief?"
He darted his eyes at the customer and now that he saw him, he realized the man had no weapons on him.
He brought nothing.
Zane understood the process now.
"So someone who walks out of her empty hand is a thief?"
"What? No." The shopkeeper laughed. "That’d be stupid. Many people walk empty handed from here. I simply showed you that I get to know who stole and who didn’t."
"How?"
"That’s the secret. Paulo!" The shopkeeper called.
A man came out from a room.
He had an apron on him that read Fang Carts.
"Another one?" Paulo cried.
He shook his head and went to the stealing customer.
He carried him in his arms and went inside the room again.
Zane found out nothing with all that.
Let’s just finish the work.
"Do what I said. I am buying these. Tell me the price. And they better be low. If not, then they are not supposed to stay in the discarded section."
"Don’t worry. Wait for a while. I will prepare your items."
Zane nodded and left the counter.
The shopkeeper called Paulo again and this time the man came out with blood on his apron.
Zane saw it and inwardly nodded.
Thieves aren’t treated well. Naturally.
He looked around once more but this time, he wasn’t looking for weapons.
He saw what he was looking for and went there.
"Hey."
"Eiiiek-it’s you." Hena flinched and then instantly calmed down.
"Don’t sneak from behind!" Draxus scolded.
Zane narrowed his eyes.
"You are her bodyguard. You should tell her who is coming."
"I was busy badmouthing you."
"That’s fine then."
"Huh?"
"I’ll be more worried if you were praising me."
Draxus was left with confusion and Zane focused on Hena..
"Buy weapons for the people too. I have no idea about good and bad for others when it comes to weapons. Use your knowledge and pick a weapon for them. Just for the time being. In the future, they can buy one of their own choice."
Hena sighed and then nodded.
"That’s too much work. But I will do it."
"Thank you."
Zane went to the counter again.
The Piston and the Razor weren’t near the counter anymore but Zane wasn’t worried as the shopkeeper came from the backside of the shop with boxes.
Two boxes.
Both of them were red, medium sized and made of feathers.
Zane frowned.
"I can understand the Razor but how did the Piston fit inside that box?"
The shopkeeper smiled.
He and Paulo placed the boxes on the counter.
Paulo went back and the bald man asked Zane to open the boxes.
Zane did just that and opened both the boxes.
His eyes bulged.
The bald man laughed.
"Yes. Your weapons are completely safe here. These boxes are not simple crates. They are made of Phoenix feathers that can only be found at night near the Shattered Sea. And these boxes have a property."
Zane nodded and proceeded to take out the piston that had completely fit inside the box.
But before Zane could take it out...
"Don’t touch it!"
The shopkeeper yanked Zane’s hand away.
