Monster Girl Contract Manual

Chapter 83 Red-haired shopkeeper: How about trying this one?

Gold's Tool Shop.

We once again arrived at the Gold Item Shop, which appeared somewhat dilapidated but actually held hidden secrets.

House stood at the door, briefly checked his clothes and appearance, and then rang the wind chimes.

"welcome."

A familiar voice rang out from inside the store.

But when House entered the store, he found that, just like last time, there was no one behind the counter at the entrance.

After waiting for a moment, the red-haired shop owner slowly emerged from the dark inner room.

House glanced curiously at the dark back room behind the red-haired shopkeeper, past the red-haired shopkeeper.

The inner room was completely dark, thick and silent, with a strange and oppressive feeling that seemed to prey on those who were about to devour them.

House shuddered inwardly.

Why does this feel a little scary?!

Shaking off his jumbled thoughts, House looked at the red-haired shop owner in front of him.

Race: ? ? ? (Insufficient knowledge, unable to obtain)

[Favorability: 12/100]

[Status: Tired, Curious]

It only displays the status; there is no option to adjust the favorability rating.

In general, at this point, you need to find some topics to talk about, such as preferences, and try to trigger some option branches.

Unfortunately, the red-haired shop owner's favorability rating was not high, and his strength was formidable.

House was a little worried that trying to find random topics to talk about would not only fail to build rapport, but might also anger the other person.

So he chose to get straight to the point and expressed his desire to buy the staff to the red-haired shopkeeper.

"Are you a mage?"

Upon hearing that House wanted to buy a staff, the red-haired shopkeeper tilted his head slightly, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes.

His gaze swept back and forth over House.

He glanced at Harpy on House's shoulder for a moment, then stared at the longsword at House's waist.

Finally, it all came down to House's leather armor and clothing.

No matter how she looked at it, the human male in front of her did not resemble a mage at all.

"Yes, I am indeed a mage."

House nodded seriously.

If it weren't for the venue limitations, he could have shown the red-haired shop owner his Iv2 level fire missile in person.

After explaining that he was indeed a mage, House also stated that his budget was at most 3 gold.

When buying things, you generally shouldn't let the shopkeeper know your bottom line or your wallet balance.

But that depends on the situation.

Considering the red-haired shop owner's special circumstances, House decided to make things clear in advance.

Otherwise, what if the other party pulls out some expensive staffs that he can't afford...?

It might trigger a decrease in affection level.

Sure enough, it's too low.

When the red-haired shopkeeper heard that House's budget was only 3 gold coins, he did not show any unusual expression on his face.

But House knew perfectly well that the red-haired shopkeeper had lost interest in him at this moment.

As for why he knew...

Race: ? ? ? (Insufficient knowledge, unable to obtain)

[Favorability: 12/100]

[Status: Tired, indifferent]

Just look at it directly.

Fortunately, no "affinity -1" message appeared.

Either the red-haired shopkeeper's favorability towards him hasn't dropped to the point of -1;

Either the favorability rating has been increased, the kind that's permanent once and for all.

House can't figure it out right now, and he doesn't want to.

The red-haired shopkeeper quickly replaced House's clothes with a new batch.

With a soft sound, dozens of ordinary-looking staffs of varying sizes, lengths, and materials were casually placed on the counter.

As expected, each item will cost no more than 3 gold.

.

House began selecting a staff.

The spellcaster's weapon is different from ordinary weapons, and it requires a certain degree of compatibility.

The higher the compatibility between the staff and the user, the smoother the flow of magic, and the faster and more powerful the spells can be cast.

On the contrary, the worse.

In some extreme cases, it's even less effective than casting spells with bare hands.

Picking up the staff, House began to channel his magic power into the staff.

To House's surprise, his magic flowed into the staff without any resistance the moment it touched him.

Is this considered good luck?

House pondered to himself, while setting the staff aside.

But he did not make a choice immediately.

This was, after all, his first time using a staff.

House wasn't sure what the staff would feel like to use, or whether other staffs would be smoother.

Try several different ones and compare them carefully to choose the one that suits you best.

Then pick up the second one.

It releases its magic, penetrates easily, and the whole process is smooth and effortless, just like the first one.

Why?!

House, slightly puzzled, also took out the second staff in his hand and placed it next to the first staff.

Anyway, these two don't seem to be that different.

Beside him, the red-haired shopkeeper glanced at the two staffs that were placed separately, a little puzzled in his heart.

House selected two staffs, one with a base of vine and the other with a base of oak.

Although both are made of wood, their magic conduction properties differ.

Green vines lean towards the wind element, while oak leans towards the earth element.

"So, this human male in front of me has magic that leans more towards the wind and earth elements?"

Just as the red-haired shopkeeper was making his own guesses, he saw House place the third bamboo staff next to the two staffs.

"?"

Is the water element also suitable?

Before the red-haired shopkeeper could even ask questions, a fourth crimson hardwood staff, a fifth stone staff, a sixth iron staff, and more than ten other staffs in a row were presented, all of them suitable.

After trying the last staff, House was unsure of what to choose.

He found each one very easy to use.

It is completely unlike what is described in the "Adventurer's Handbook," where there is no noticeable magical stagnation or rejection when encountering an unsuitable staff.

Just as House was hesitating about which staff to choose, the red-haired shopkeeper, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "How about trying this one?"

As he spoke, a stick, clear and transparent, about the length of an arm, and emanating a faint chill, was handed to House.

A... popsicle?

No, it doesn't feel like ice.

House could only tell that the translucent rod in front of him was not carved from ice, but rather looked more like some kind of crystal.

But he didn't know the specific material.

House looked up at the red-haired shop owner, who had a look of curiosity on his face.

[Status: Curious]

At the same time, a prompt from the manual appears.

[Option 1: Reach out and take the staff made of an unknown material, and try to infuse it with magic (Bold attempt) Affection +1, looking forward to it]

[Option 2: Politely refuse and continue to choose the original staff (to be on the safe side) -1 favorability, disappointment]

Without a word or hesitation, House immediately accepted it.

【Favorability +1】

The next moment, a chilling sensation seeped back into House's body from the "Ice Staff".

This unusual situation immediately startled House, and he instinctively tried to let go.

But after applying force with his fingers, House suddenly realized that he could not feel the existence of his palm at all!

Why?!

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