Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 344 Debt-Free and Carefree
When Xia Nan entered the "Grass Crucible," Edwina was standing alone behind the counter, holding a soft cloth in her hand, gently wiping her frameless glasses.

This gentle lady with long curly hair has been running a herbal medicine shop in town for many years. Because of the good quality of her goods and the much more favorable prices compared to the guild's alchemy shops, many adventurers often choose her shop when buying ointments and prescriptions that are not so specialized.

Over time, he gained a large number of regular customers, and his good reputation gradually spread throughout the town.

I remember when I first came to town, Xia Nan gave him a bottle of "Lava Sigh" because of the task of collecting Firefly Garlic Vine.

It is quite surprising to learn that this gentle and intellectual lady is actually quite fond of truly "strong liquor".

He then catered to the other party's preferences and gradually built a good relationship with him.

The doorbell rang softly, echoing among the exquisite yet uncrowded shelves of "Green Grass Crucible".

Edwina put on her glasses, looked at the familiar figure in front of her, and couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome, Xia Nan."

"How was your trip? Was it going smoothly?"

Responding with a greeting, Xia Nan took off her bulging backpack and placed it on the front desk.

As he carefully took out the collected fog lamp grass and placed it on the table, he casually replied:
"Overall it's okay, but there were some slight delays in the middle."

"The heavy rain a few days ago caused a mudslide that blocked the entrance to the canyon. I went in from the other end to collect the fog lamp grass."

Upon hearing this, Edwina was taken aback.

"The other end?"

"That place must be hard to find; you have to go deep into the depression."

"I heard adventurers mention that there seems to be a small village nearby, which doesn't seem very friendly to travelers."

“The route is indeed quite complicated.” Xia Nan placed the last fog lamp grass on the front desk and nodded slightly. “Without a local to guide you, it would be difficult to find the path to the village.”

It was just a casual remark, but for Edwina, who has a fixed demand for fog lamp grass every year, it's a topic worth paying attention to.

He frowned and asked Xia Nan:
"What is the situation regarding the mudslide blockage? Is there any room for improvement?"

As if realizing something, Xia Nan's mind raced, and he didn't answer the other person immediately.

The task of collecting fog lamp grass is held every year, which means that every once in a while, a fixed group of adventurers will go to the vicinity of the canyon.

If they find that the canyon entrance is completely blocked by a mudslide, then their only option to complete their mission is to enter the canyon through the other end.

Is this good news for Foglight Village?
Xia Nan didn't think so.

With the village chief dead and Aspen taking over as acting leader, the canyon is no longer a forbidden area for Foglight Village, and passersby can travel through it without restriction.

To some extent, it's certainly good that the generous adventurers can boost the village's economy and bring more opportunities to the impoverished villagers.

On the other hand, Xia Nan has gained a relatively clear understanding of the quality of adventurers around the world through his experiences over the past year.

Ms. Edwina's quest is posted on the second floor of the guild, and only experienced adventurers who have already obtained their professional ranks can accept it.

This means a higher task completion rate, and also signifies an overwhelming power that ordinary people have no chance of resisting.

For many years to come, among all these adventurers who accept these quests, there will be one who leans towards evil, one who views ordinary people as pigs and livestock...

Given the pitiful size of Fog Lantern Village, which has been ravaged by sacrificial rituals for many years, it could not possibly withstand such a blow.

Located in a remote area with no one to supervise it, whether or not the village is massacred depends entirely on the conscience and mood of the adventurers who come and go.

After considering all the above, Xia Nan gave his answer:
"Overall it was fine. I just didn't want to take the risk because of the heavy rain and complicated road conditions, so I chose the other side."

"The entrance is not completely blocked. Under normal weather conditions, these terrains are perfectly traversable for professionals, and there is no need for extra detours."

He did not lie, nor did he exaggerate or cover up the situation at the canyon entrance.

Edwina's slightly hesitant response to her question made this meticulous and thoughtful woman realize the adventurer's attitude.

Since it wouldn't affect the harvesting of fog lamp grass next year, and since the other party didn't want to discuss the situation on the other side of the canyon any further, she stopped asking questions and got straight to the point.

Her frameless glasses reflected the dim light as her gaze swept over the geraniums on the counter, occasionally picking one up to examine it closely.

Although it's unclear from what angles the other party used to judge the quality of the fog lamp grass, their performance still gave off a very professional impression.

After checking for ten minutes, Edwina's face, which was usually extremely serious when it came to professional knowledge, finally softened into a gentle smile as she looked at Xia Nan behind the counter:

"The quality is excellent! Thank you for your help!"

"I will give the highest possible evaluation of the mission to the association later."

150 gold coins in hand!
Even though such a large sum of money hadn't arrived in his account yet, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, and his mood immediately improved.

There was no rush for them to say goodbye and leave.

Instead, he waited for Edwina to collect all the fog lamp grass before taking out the biological materials he had peeled from the fog lamp monster and placing them on the front desk.

"These are spoils I collected from a monster in a canyon. See if they have any value for recycling."

Xia Nan naturally couldn't possibly treat the other party as a fool.

The Fog Lantern Monster's physical characteristics are so obvious that even it can recognize itself, let alone the owner of this herbal medicine shop who has been running it for many years.

Saying that you have nothing to do with fog lamp grass will only arouse suspicion and make you seem insincere.

Anyway, he had already burned down the druid's cabin and garden, and he was carrying the diary with him.

It would be better to explain the situation simply, which would also make it easier for the other party to make a judgment.

"I suspect it is a mutation of the fog lamp grass, which is extremely aggressive towards humans."

"However, it seems that there is only one in the entire canyon. I searched carefully again later, but I did not find any signs of its kind."

Edwina didn't think much of it.

After all, several villages near Lianhe Valley Town may discover mutated crops that are different from their counterparts every autumn harvest.

The misty forest is rich in magical particles, and the canyon itself is located on the outer edge of the forest, so the concentration of magical particles in the air is even higher than in other places.

In addition, the fog lamp grass has special properties; it is a magical crop, and when it blooms, it will actively release magical particles.

Even if the probability is low, over the years, some special changes may occur, giving rise to a grass spirit-like monster. This is not something to be surprised about.

The smile on her face slowly faded, and Edwina focused intently, leaning slightly forward to examine the biological materials Xia Nan had taken out.

What first caught her eye was the core of the Foglight Monster, which, even though it had been separated from its original body for many days, still emitted a blue-white fluorescent glow and a misty aura.

"Is this the inflorescence of a fog lamp grass? No, it's significantly larger and more fully formed."

The woman observed carefully, muttering to herself, "The fluorescence emitted by ordinary fog lamp grass flowers is much softer, and it quickly goes out once it leaves the plant. But this one... it's almost completely crystallized, like some kind of gemstone essence."

Edwina used tweezers to pick up the flower core, held it up to the light, and squinted her eyes slightly.

"The crystallization is of very high purity, with traces of magical flow... The fluorescence emitted by these fog lamp grasses seems to have been concentrated and solidified within this core."

"Hmm, I can feel the magical particles gradually dissipating inside. It's clearly not a constant light source, so it can't be used as a material for enchanting equipment. But if it were used for alchemy..."

Her long, wavy hair swayed gently in the breeze blowing into the shop from outside. The woman frowned slightly, her expression thoughtful, as if she was considering the use of the Fog Lantern Monster's core.

After a long while, I gently put down the crystallized fog lamp grass flower.

Turning our gaze to the other side, we saw those same bundles of thorny, purple-green vines, the toughest parts of the Fog Lantern Monster's body.

Compared to the fluorescent crystal nuclei, these vines are much easier to identify.

Edwina simply picked up one of the bunches with both hands, pulled and examined it for a few minutes, and had already made a rough analysis:
"Its physical properties are outstanding, and its toughness even surpasses many known enchanted woods. If you need to make high-level traps, longbows, or whips, you may consider keeping it and finding a suitable craftsman to process it."

"Of course, a detailed strength test needs to be conducted before that, and you need to keep that in mind."

Edwina straightened up, folded her hands in front of her, and resumed her gentle and affluent demeanor.

"To be honest, I can't price these spoils based on the usual materials."

"After all, such naturally mutated monsters are very rare. As for the Fog Lamp Grass, you might not see one for decades."

"I hope you can understand this."

Xia Nan nodded slightly in agreement.

He knew clearly from the diary that the Fog Lantern was an experiment created in advance by that evil druid for his own ascension ritual, and there would never be another one like it in the entire world.

Given this premise, there are naturally no other directions for its biological materials to refer to.

Whether something has value and how much it's worth depends entirely on the acquirer's own judgment.

“Then I’ll be frank.” Edwina leaned forward, her eyes behind her glasses looking directly at the black-haired youth in front of her, her expression sincere.

"Although I have some vague solutions in mind, acquiring them carries certain risks for me."

"After all, it's a completely new material that has never appeared on the market before, so everything has to start from scratch."

"Material quality, magical reaction, compatibility with other materials..."

"If it turns out that their quality does not meet expectations, or the experiment fails, then this money will be wasted."

"The risks involved are significant, the margin for error is low, and the potential benefits are uncertain."

"So no matter how rare the material itself is, I won't offer a very high price for it."

"But one thing I can guarantee is that among all the shops in the entire River Valley Town that have the ability to handle this kind of unfamiliar material and are willing to take it on, the conditions I can offer are absolutely the most favorable."

Edwina, with a sincere expression, explained the situation and gave her offer directly:
"A crystallized core, plus these vines..."

"320 gold."

Xia Nan's heart skipped a beat. Clearly, the other party's offer had met his expectations, but he was not in a hurry to agree. Instead, he pondered it carefully.

First, just like the "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, Ms. Edwina of "Grass Crucible" has always had a good reputation among the adventurers in town, and I have cooperated with her many times and established a deep relationship with her.

There's no need for the other party to ruin the reputation and brand that the shop has built up over the years for the sake of a few hundred gold coins.

The offer... is most likely reasonable.

Secondly, the "advanced traps, spiked whips, and longbows" mentioned by the lady do not fit his fighting style and he has no need for them. Therefore, he does not need to keep them to make equipment and props, and he can just sell them for cash.

Finally, to be honest, before coming here, Xia Nan actually had certain expectations about the price of these materials.

Unlike Edwina, he himself had some people to compare himself to.

Armored Monster - Challenge Level 4. I missed its most valuable part, the gills, but I still managed to sell it for 100 gold thanks to some nerve fibers, carapace, and a single eyeball.

The petrified lizard—Challenge Level 3—is among the most valuable monsters of its level. Its rarity, especially in the Misty Forest, combined with the small portion of its skeleton brought back by Adeline, along with its heart and stomach, brings its total value to 683 gold.

Use these two as a reference.

Based on Xia Nan's actual experience in the battle, the challenge level of the Fog Lantern Monster is roughly between 2 and 3, which is lower than the previous two.

Moreover, I did not bring back its entire body; I only took the core flower crystal and some of the tough vines.

I was wondering if I could earn some extra money.

In this situation, 320 gold is already higher than the total earnings from several commissions and miscellaneous materials he made on this mission.

This far exceeded Xia Nan's original expectations!

He stopped haggling and nodded to Ms. Edwina, who was patiently waiting for his answer.

"make a deal."

……

Ding--

The bell rang softly.

Xia Nan pushed open the door of the "Green Grass Crucible" herbal medicine shop and slowly walked out.

The backpack that was originally bulging behind him had completely deflated.

Instead, there were three extra crystal cards in the waist bag.

Once the procedures for the several commissioned tasks from the association are completed and the rewards are credited to my account, along with the 320 gold coins I just earned, I will be able to complete them.

His total earnings from this adventure will reach 575 gold, 7 silver, and 3 copper (fluctuating by 10 gold coins – depending on the specific earnings of the two goblin extermination missions).

In addition to the original savings, there's also the buyback price of the chainmail.

The numbers in the bank account...

Back to four figures!
Even though it was only temporary, and the debt would be repaid after the enchanted armor was paid off, Xia Nan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

I felt my body, which had been weighed down by bills and debts, suddenly lighten.

It was as if some invisible burden had been lifted from my body.

Their steps became lighter as they walked towards the blacksmith's shop.

(End of this chapter)