Chapter 401 - The Gift Can Wait
Sometime after leaving Fragrant Tea Abode, Leon arrived at the big market within the Darkmoon Tribe.
Various items were being sold in this location, and everything could be found, from low-tier Soul Weapons to high-quality demonic beast meat.
Apart from those, the market also had people selling low-quality Enchant Equipment, accessories, clothing, demonic beast materials, rare minerals, healing potions, and strange oddities.
The highest quality of items can only be found in the stores owned by the Venerable Shamans of their respective professions.
Leon found a tailor shop selling women's garments and made his way over to it through the bustling crowd of tribesmen.
"Brother Leonhardt is here! The Divine Doctor has come to visit our big market!" A tribesman noticed Leon and hollered to the crowd.
What?!
The crowd immediately exploded with fervor and excitement. They pushed and shoved each other in a competitive manner as they rushed to be the first person to greet Leon.
Leon was taken aback by the fervor everyone was feeling but soon understood the reason for their enthusiasm.
"Divine Doctor, thank you for curing my husband's leg! It is all thanks to you that he can continue to join the hunting team to scavenge for demonic beasts!"
"…thank you for curing my father's arm… he can continue to…"
"…thank you…"
…
Leon received countless gratitude from the surrounding tribesmen, so much that his ears buzzed and made him feel dizzy.
He smiled wryly in response and said, "Please make way, everyone. I am just here to buy some stuff. There's no need to shower me with your gratitude. I just did what anyone would have done."
"Even so, we would like to thank you! Please, whatever you need to buy here, we will gift it to you for free!" A store owner said.
Once those words were spoken, the other store owners also chimed in.
"Yes, yes, yes! What do you need to buy, Brother Leonhardt? We would like to gift them to you!"
"I have some low-tier Soul Weapons here. Does Brother Leonhardt fancy any of them?" Asked a middle-aged store owner in charge of a weapon store before getting whacked by his wife.
"Nonsense! Brother Leonhardt has a Tier 4 Bone Spear. Would he care about our Tier 1 Soul Weapons?"
"How about some demonic beast meat, Brother Leonhardt? We have some quality pheasants and bear meat cuts here? The fatty cuts are good too. They are very juicy." A butcher offered.
"I appreciate the goodwill, everyone, but I am just here to buy some clothes for my woman," Leon said to the crowd with a wry smile.
After he saw that, the crowd immediately quiet down before a few tailor store owners step forward to invite Leon to their stores.
"How about taking a look at my store, Divine Doctor? My store mainly sells womenswear. There might be a few things that you would like to buy for your woman."
"My store doesn't specialize in womenswear only, but there might be something that catches your interest, Brother Leonhardt. How about you take a look there?"
Leon smiled helplessly.
"Alright, there's no need to fight with each other. I will take a look at both your stores." Leon shortly turned to the crowd and said, "Sorry, everyone. Maybe next time."
Shortly after, Leon followed the store owners to their tailor store, and the crowd slowly dispersed back to their usual business with disappointment.
Two burning incense of time later, Leon walked out of the second tailor store with an extra six sets of clothing; two sets for himself and four sets for Darlene. Everything was stored inside the interspatial pouch with 19-thousand Dark Crystals.
He had sneakily slipped 500 Dark Crystals behind each of the tailor store's counter. It would only be sometime later before the store owners realize the extra Dark Crystals behind their counter when they calculate their total earnings for the day.
Leon could have accepted their gifts for free, but he was not the kind of person who liked to owe people favors.
After leaving the big market, Leon made his way to Old Tailor's store.
As the Dark Continent was dark all year round due to the black clouds that blot out the sky, the Darkmoon Tribe had no concept of night and day. They only have the fire tower to keep track of time.
Market trades, work, and sleeping hours were totally dependent on the tribesmen's mood. While some are working, others could be sleeping. While others are working, some could be sleeping.
Unless the tribe was hosting events or they were being threatened by outside threats, very rarely were every tribesman awake at the same time.
Leon frowned slightly when he sensed a trace of hostile intent targeting him. However, the person was very sharp and managed to mask their intent before he could track their location.
That person was very cautious.
Nevertheless, there were not many people in the Darkmoon Tribe that would try to harm him. As such, he could only guess that it was the spies from the Great Ironhawk Tribe going after him again.
'It doesn't seem like they will make a move while there are other people around me on the streets. This means they wish to make a move against me, but they do not wish to expose themselves while doing so. In that case, I do not need to worry about them too much...'
Leon analyzed the situation while continuing to stroll along the busy street with a casual expression. Even so, he decided not to fully drop his guard as that would be unwise of him.
Sometime later, he made it to Old Tailor's store without the secret stalker making a move once. Leon shrugged and entered the store.
"Big Brother Leonhardt! Are you here to buy something today?" Little Bone ran over to greet Leon. He was excited to see his father's savior.
Leon rubbed the little boy's head and said, "Working hard at the store counter aye, Little Bone? Aren't you the diligent one? Where's your father and grandfather?"
"Grandpa is teaching papa how to craft Enchanted Equipment in the backyard. Is Big Brother Leonhardt here to see them? Should I go tell them about big brother's visit?"
"Nah, no need to bother them. Big brother was just curious. Does the store have any interspatial leather pouches for sale?" Asked Leon after giving the store a quick glance over the goods on display.
Little Bone nodded rigorously and explained, "Grandpa said that in-interspatial leather pouches are special due to the di-difficulty in making them, so we should keep them behind the drawers and only take them out if people spe-specifically ask for them."
The little boy struggled to pronounce big words. Leon could not help but laugh and rub the little boy's head again. He was quite an adorable little thing. He wondered if his own kids will be like this when he has them.
"I'll go take it out to show big brother." The little boy said with a bit of embarrassment and ran back to the counter before pulling out a sliding and detachable wooden tray.
The counter was a bit too high for the little boy to place the wooden tray on top. However, there was a small wooden platform behind the counter that seemed to have been prepared for exactly these kinds of situations.
After Little Bones stepped onto the platform and placed the tray onto the counter, Leon had glanced at the seven objects shown.
All had similar designs and ranged between Tier 1-4 in quality. However, there was only one Tier 4 Interspatial Pouch while the other 3 came in pairs. A wooden tag was placed beside each item, listing the price of the goods.
A Tier 1 Interspatial Pouch had a storage capacity of 10 cubic meters, a Tier 2 had 40 cubic meters, Tier 3 had 160 cubic meters, and Tier 4 have 640 cubic meters.
Looking at the price of each item, Leon almost had a heart attack. The lowest quality interspatial pouch went for a whopping 4000 Dark Crystals, while each consecutive higher tier item cost double the previous price.
Leon checked his interspatial pouch's storage capacity, which had 160 cubic meters, and scratched his cheek wryly. It was a Tier 3 Interspatial Pouch with a value of 16000 Dark Crystals.
'Never mind, Darlene does need a big interspatial pouch. It is enough as long as it can contain everything she needs.'
He decided.
In the end, he bought the lowest Tier 1 Interspatial Pouch in addition to a few Tier 3 Enchanted Equipment; a leather breast armor, leather boots, leather shin guard, leather wrist guard, and a fox-headed cloak.
The total came to a discounted price of 17600 Dark Crystals, and Leon shortly left the store with 1400 Dark Crystals left in his pockets.
He was broke after a single big purchase.
"Haiz, I'm too poor," Leon said to himself with a shake of his head as he left the store. "Hm—?!"
His mind suddenly became alerted to the sense of danger. He immediately utilized all his abilities to duck from an incoming projectile that narrowly missed his head before gazing into the direction of the attack.
The attacker did not continue to attack and fled after the sneak attack had failed. Seeing a few shadows quickly moving in pursuit, Leon decided not to give chase. He might not necessarily be able to beat the attacker anyway.
Nevertheless, Leon found it strange that the spies had not been cleaned up. Have they not found out what the spies were trying to accomplish in the tribe?
Leon shook his head. Sometime later, he returned to Barrenrock Courtyard and entered his room.
Darlene was quick to greet him, "Welcome back, hubby."
"Un, I'm back." Leon nodded and said, "I got something to give you…"
His voice slurred towards the end as he gazed upon Darlene's voluptuous figure, enticing him in a vulnerable and alluring position on the bed. Blood immediately shot to his head.
'Well, the gift can wait til later.'