Swords, magic, and martial arts

"May I ask your name?" Rod turned to ask the grocery store owner.

"Hans," the grocer replied, "a very common name."

"Isn't that 'Dalton's Grocery Store' hanging outside?" Rod asked curiously.

"The boss isn't here today. Are you looking for him?" Hans asked.

"No, no, no, I'm here to buy books," Rod replied.

"What kind of books do you want?" Hans asked again.

"Something related to magic." Rhodes looked around; he didn't see any bookshelves in the room.

"Books related to magic are rarely sold here, so we only have two right now." Hans took two thick books out from under the counter. "Take a look if you can understand them."

Rod opened one of the books and found that he had never seen the words on it before.

"What kind of script is this?" Rhodes asked.

Misel looked over from the side and said, "This must be the language of the elves, the elves who live in the Giant Tree Forest."

"No, it's ancient Nordic." Hans shook his head. "Although I can't understand it either, the boss knows it."

Upon hearing Hans's words, Misel blushed with embarrassment.

Speaking of the ancient Nords, Rhodes recalled a leather scroll he found in the tomb where he obtained the "Bane of the Wise" during his first adventure. It contained a powerful combat technique.

Rhodes scanned the scroll with the system and even obtained the Divine Illumination Technique. However, the scroll was lost when his spatial ring was stolen, which made Rhodes very regretful. Otherwise, he could have asked the shop owner to translate it.

"You can take a look at another book, which is written in modern language, although I can't understand it either," Hans added.

Rhodes opened another book and skimmed through it. He felt that it was about the basics of magical theory, but the book was missing several pages.

"How much do you plan to sell this book for?" Rod asked, picking up the book in his hand.

"At least three gold coins and fifty silver coins," Hans replied.

I had a feeling this book wouldn't be cheap, but I didn't expect it to be this expensive. I remember that I once sold a pretty good sword for only a few gold coins.

"Forget it, don't buy it. This book is so incomplete, it's useless. Buying it would be a waste of money," Messil said from the side.

"Missell is probably haggling. I should play along with her," Rhodes thought to himself.

"How about a discount?" Rhodes asked. "I only have one gold coin on me right now, and I can't give it all to you."

"One gold coin is too little. I spent more than that when I bought this book." Hans looked a little impatient.

"Then let's go check out a few other stores nearby. They're sure to have books that are cheaper and more complete than yours." Rod turned and walked out.

"Don't you want to buy it anymore? Actually, I think this book is pretty good. What I said just now was to try and bargain." Misell pulled Rod back.

Rhodes sighed helplessly. He shouldn't have brought her along. How could someone like her, who grew up in the Knights and was favored by the god they worshipped, have any experience doing business with commoners?

It's really impressive that she came up with that kind of bargaining idea, but why couldn't she come up with it afterwards?

Hans stood behind the counter, suppressing a laugh. This wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this, and he had just been prepared to ask for a price reduction.

"Since your companion knows his stuff, three gold coins should suffice?" Hans said.

Rhodes sighed. "I already told you, I only have one gold coin. Let's go, Messiah."

"If you don't have enough money, I can help you pay for it." Misell took out her wallet.

Rod quickly pressed down on her hand that was holding her purse and pulled her out.

"Aren't you going to buy it?" Messil looked at Rhodes strangely.

Just now, Rod secretly scanned the book with the system. The system did not directly reward him with a martial arts skill, which means that the book does not contain any magic. The book is full of magical theoretical knowledge.

Previously, learning math, physics, and chemistry gave Rhodes a terrible headache. If he were to learn magic, which he had never encountered before, he would probably become depressed. For the sake of his hair, he shouldn't buy it, lest he end up bald like Baron.

"Forget it, I don't think it's necessary. I won't read the book anyway, and I won't understand it even if I wanted to. It's better to buy some food, drinks, and clothes." Rhodes said helplessly, looking at Messil's innocent expression. He didn't know what to say, in case he made her angry.

Let's wait for another opportunity to teach her this kind of thing.

Forget it, let someone else teach her. Anyway, once we send her back, she'll most likely never run into him again.

In this vast sea of ​​people, and being from two different countries, with such inconvenient transportation in this world, I will eventually have to return to Nord. I will transmigrate and become a Nord, where it will be easier to become a nobleman than in other countries, obtain a fiefdom, and live a comfortable life farming and retiring.

"So, is there something you'd like to eat?" Messil asked curiously.

"Not yet, but maybe we'll find it if we walk a few more steps," Rod said.

The commercial district of Stromgarde is probably smaller than a pedestrian street in a modern city. It mainly consists of shops selling furniture and daily necessities. The general store that Rhodes just visited is located near the entrance.

"Can you smell anything?" Messil suddenly asked as they entered the main street of the commercial district.

"Nothing's wrong?" Seeing her like this made Rod a little nervous. He sniffed carefully. "Is there a fire?"

"No, let's go a little further ahead." Misell led Rhodes forward while sniffing the aroma.

Rod followed curiously, and soon he seemed to smell something too, something like toast?

"This is it," Misell said, pointing to a bakery.

The bakery was open, so they went straight in.

The bakery owner, a plump middle-aged woman, spoke as soon as she saw Rod and his group enter.

"What would you like to order? We have all kinds of bread here."

Misell pointed excitedly at something in the shop window that looked a bit like a cake and exclaimed, "That's it!"

"This is the latest delicacy from the Kingdom of Fish. They call it cake. It's made with very fine flour and eggs, and it's carefully baked. It's very delicious," the female owner explained.

"How much is one?" Messil asked hurriedly, and from her voice, Rhodes could tell that she was practically drooling.

"Because it's very complicated to make and the raw materials are quite valuable, the price is relatively high, fifty silver coins each," the female shopkeeper said.

This is indeed very expensive. A cake only the size of a palm costs fifty silver coins. In the Kingdom of Nord, a roasted meat steak costs only about one silver coin, so this is much more expensive than roasted meat.

"Give me two first," Messil said hastily. She quickly took a gold coin out of her wallet and placed it on the counter. Rhodes was originally going to pay for it.

The female boss simply took two out with her hands.

Why not use clamps? Why not wear gloves? Rod wondered to himself.

After receiving the food, Misell handed one to Rhodes, then took a bite herself, revealing a happy smile, her bright eyes narrowing into two crescent moons.

"Why aren't you eating?" Messil asked curiously when she saw Rhodes staring blankly at the cake in his hand. "This is really delicious, you should try it."

Rod reluctantly took a bite.

Hmm, this cake isn't sweet or fragrant enough, it's a bit burnt, and it has a fishy egg smell on it.

"It's delicious! Give me two more!" Before Rhodes had even finished his bite, Misell had already finished hers.

Rod looked at her with a hint of pity...