The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 18 Shouting it off as good
"So, you're just going to let them go like that?"

In the open space, they watched as the robed kobold 'Kuru' directed them to move various miscellaneous items from the alcove, including the eggs of the cubs.

"Now they are heading deeper into the cave, as if they are relocating," Tang Qi said hesitantly.

"A full set of plate armor, that's a rare sight."

If you put it in Dragon Gold City, even if you sell it at half price, you can still get at least a hundred gold coins.

This trip was already worthwhile.

"The kobolds' scales are much tougher than human skin; it's not worth risking their lives to wear down my 'snake's snout.'"

The jackals were mercenaries, so it wasn't a significant loss.

Orchard care is a leisurely job for retirement, and people will come one after another to show their loyalty to Lord Mel.

Black Snake kicked open the lid of the wooden crates again, and after confirming that there were twenty standard-sized crates inside, and that Xingmei was intact, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Most importantly, Xingmei has been found."

"all?"

"One box wasn't full, so we guessed that some of it had been eaten. We can use the excuse of a poor harvest to cover it up."

Tang Qi frowned, and the shouts of the robed kobold in his ear grew increasingly impatient, sounding as if he was being urged.

With suspicions arising in his mind, he couldn't help but step forward to check.

Only twenty open boxes of star plum were found, shimmering faintly in the dim cave.

The aroma of fruit is strong and permeates the air, much like the plum wine I drank last night.

It is indeed a perfectly intact star plum.

Considering Tang Qi's remarkably keen insight throughout the entire incident, he asked with unease:

Is there something wrong with these star plum blossoms?

"No, they have absolutely no problems."

"That's good."

"But the shelf life of star plums is only three days."

To be precise, it will definitely rot in more than three days.

Tang Qi hesitated before reaching his hands into the plum.

The sensation transmitted through the fingertips is first the smooth, cool fruit peel stored in the cellar.

As you go deeper, you start to feel your palms getting sticky.

Until the very bottom, the hard, rough texture of the stone comes into view.

The moment he realized that Xingmei was rotten inside, a slight stench of decay invaded Tang Qi's nasal cavity.

He directly peeled off the outermost layer of the plum—

It was discovered that what appeared to be a full box of fruit pulp was only spread out in a shallow layer.

The middle layer of star plums began to rot, the sugar frosting on the surface turned dirty yellow, and mold grew.

The very bottom layer was even filled with stones to add weight!

"how come?"

The gravel was terrified and hadn't quite grasped what was happening yet.
"It smelled fine just now! But now it smells like boots that haven't been washed for a month after someone vomited in them while drunk!?"

"Magic, there's a spellcaster among these kobolds—"

The moment Tang Qi made his decision, Black Serpent's scimitar was already drawn.

The robed dog-headed man on the other side, who had clearly been keeping a close eye on their situation, let out a strange cry when he saw his trick had been exposed:
"Rua!"

A string of words, with its intonation and rhythm, then burst forth from his throat.

Tang Qi realized: "It's casting a spell!"

A bluish-white halo flickered at the tip of the kobold's staff as it chanted.

At the same moment, several kobolds also hurriedly drew their inferior shortbows.

The bone arrow was too rough to reflect the firelight off the stone wall, thus leaving a faint trail in the dim cave.

The "whoosh" sound was faint and the force was not strong, but it blocked the black snake halfway!
The black snake discerned the direction, bent its back to cut through the resistance, and nimbly dodged the arrows.

His figure was ghostly, almost disappearing into the darkness.

"Rua!"

The arrows bought Kuru a moment to finish his chanting.

Its guttural growl, and as it hissed, the tip of its staff shot straight at a snow-white icicle—

Trailing a line of eerie blue light, it pierced straight towards the black snake's forehead!
The black snake made no attempt to dodge; its pitch-black scimitar seemed invisible in the dim light, its sharp edge slicing through the invisible air, tearing apart a piercing gust of wind.

Only when it got close to the light did a small part of its outline become visible.

"Snapped!"

The ice crystal was cut cleanly, and the rays split in two before the kobold's eyes.

"Kuru!" The kobold was terrified and quickly rolled over to try and escape.

The scimitar was already scraping against its throat!
"The difference in strength is just too great..."

Tang Qi blinked, then slowly walked over with the rubble, which seemed to have foreseen the outcome.

For him, all of this was just a matter of a few breaths.

The black snake had already crossed a distance of over a hundred feet and was about to cut off the dog-headed man's head.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the jet-black scimitar was covered with a spiderweb-like layer of frost, extending to the hilt and freezing the black snake's fingertips blue-purple.

【Freezing Ray】, like Tang Qi’s Friendship Technique, is a 0-ring trick that does not occupy a ring slot. After it hits, the cold air will freeze the opponent’s limbs, making them slow down.

Even at its slowest, the black snake's speed was still too much for the kobolds to handle.

He is clearly not on the same level as the jackals.

Why would adventurers of their caliber choose to hide in a corner like Starplum Town?
Suppressing his doubts, he heard the black snake coldly question:
Where are the remaining star plum blossoms?

The kobold let out a howl, and this time not only knelt down, but also kowtowed more than a dozen times:
"The fruit is rotten, so we can only eat it!"
Fear, killing, only, deception!
Surrender! Spare my life!

Black Snake finally realized that nothing could be undone.

Frustrated, he spat coldly, raised his knife, and was about to slit the kobold's throat—

"and many more!"

Tang Qi quickly grabbed his wrist; the cold air made him shiver.

"Killing it would leave us with no way to explain ourselves to the lord."

"How else can we explain it? Tomorrow is the harvest festival, and the caravan will definitely arrive in town. If the amount handed over is insufficient, keeping it will allow you to make up for the shortfall."

"of course can."

Tang Qi wanted to record what he had seen and heard that day in his log.

If the kobold dies, I will lose the possibility of understanding the whole story.

Moreover, he had accepted a military order—

If he doesn't find all the Xingmei, he'll be taken away to confess.

From any perspective, he couldn't let the kobolds die here:
"It's a spellcaster, isn't it? Since it can deceive our eyes, why can't it use magic to deceive the caravan?"

Black Snake sneered:
"That fat pig Mel—the employer—will arrange for professionals to accompany the caravan to the town, where they will inspect the quality of the star plums one by one."

Even you can't fool its tricks; do you think you're more professional than them?

"Of course not. The reason why the problem with this batch of star plums was discovered is because some of them had already rotted. Once you see through the illusion, the smell can't be masked no matter what."

But I can substitute inferior goods, can't I?

Tang Qi quickly explained,

"When you hand over Xingmei, you should have signed documents to prove that the goods were intact, right?"

"Of course. To prevent any trouble during transport and the loss of Xingmei, the caravan shifted the responsibility onto us."

"The only difference between regular Star Plum and 'Shining Star' is their color, aside from a slight difference in taste."

By placing them at the very bottom and concealing their original color with magic, it would be difficult to detect the illusion unless one knew from the beginning that they were 'defective'.

As long as they are kept in the dark and the documents are signed, even if the goods don't match the description upon arrival in Longjincheng, they will have to find a way to bear the profits and losses themselves.

"But they still know that the problem lies with me."

"It's as if they wouldn't know something went wrong if I didn't lie to them."

The mess has already happened; the important thing now is how to shift the blame.

It's better to shift some of the risk to them, even if the caravan complains, than to take all the responsibility yourself.

The kobolds closed their eyes tightly, ready to offer their necks for slaughter.

Who would have thought that things would take such a dramatic turn, with a human pleading on his behalf?

It had a rudimentary understanding of Tang Qi's plan, nodding repeatedly and gesturing while kneeling on the ground:

"Kuru, use, silent, phantom!"

[Silent Illusion].

First-circle spell. Creates a movable image within a circular area of ​​no more than 15 feet, which cannot be perceived by hearing, smell, or any other sense.

Any act of physically interacting with the image will expose its fantastical nature.

Tang Qi guessed that Kuru used the Silent Illusion to cover up the theft of Xingmei.

Then, using the magic trick, they transformed the rotten smell into a fruity fragrance, thus deceiving their eyes.

They could, of course, use the same trick again to deceive tomorrow's caravan.

After hearing Tang Qi's plan, Black Snake fell silent in contemplation.

He was weighing the pros and cons.

(End of this chapter)