Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Hmm..." Livia stared blankly at Roach and Vivi, her little hand raised and pointing at the fox girl who was beating up the mermaid. Her mouth was slightly open, as if she wanted to ask what was going on, but didn't know how to respond.

"If there's a next time, I'll beat you up again." After seeing that the little witch had regained consciousness, Alessina released Leslie, raised his fist at her, and then poured a bottle of healing medicine into her mouth.

"Oh, this is to train her to take a beating," Roach said casually. "As the saying goes, if you want to hit someone, you must first learn to take a beating; this is part of the training."

"..." Livia looked down at her own little fist, then at Alessina's fist, and a look of fear crossed her face. She hugged her spellbook tightly, feeling a sense of "so this is what a terrifying profession a warrior is." Then, she looked at Roach with some concern, "You want one too?"

"I'm not a warrior, I don't need to," Roach said, indicating that he would rather just be a spellcaster.

"Are Master Roach and Miss Livia there?" A strange voice sounded from outside. Roach opened the door to find a young-looking adventurer. "I am Tex, a swordsman." He showed off the longsword and leather gauntlets at his waist. "We're about to venture into the outer caves, and I heard from others that you sell cheap alchemical weapons here."

"...Are you all alone?"

"There are a few more companions." It seems that the other party knows a bit about the unspoken rules of the adventure industry. For example, no matter what kind of operation it is, it is best not to have everyone go. That way, if they are cheated by the employer, the others can run away and report to the local guild or even the lord.

Don't assume that the guild and lord are good people. In reality, those who can become adventurers are at least the children of small farmers, who are the backbone of the territory and city. Normal things are fine, but those who deliberately dig pits will definitely be investigated.

Unless, of course, the pit was dug by the lord or the guild. However, he had clearly forgotten another rule: never go on an adventure alone. Whether it's purchasing supplies or visiting a client's home, it's best to go in groups. This is why most adventure parties have an even number of members rather than an odd number.

This way, no matter what happens, at least half of the people can escape, and even the smallest team has four people. Two people together are enough to cooperate and pose a certain threat. As for the employer, they won't have any bad intentions because they see the other party alone.

It's like a child carrying gold in a bustling market. If he gets robbed, it's not someone else's problem, it's yours. Whether you're fishing and get caught by fish, or you're really that stupid, it's the same.

So, what are you planning to buy?

"Um...can I take a look?" "No, or rather...how much money do you have?" Roach glanced at the guy. Thick cloth clothes and warm leather armor protected most of his body, but they weren't real leather armor, just simple animal hides, which were much better at keeping him warm than protecting him.

The only equipment he has on his right hand is the wrist guard and the longsword on his right side, which suggests he is left-handed. This type of iron-inlaid gauntlet can also be used as a shield. In melee combat, you can often sacrifice your weaker hand to gain an opportunity to attack with your stronger hand. Although he doesn't look like he has much money, judging from his equipment, he must have some experience or been guided by an experienced person.

"This..." "What I mean is, with the little money you have, you don't have many choices. You can only grab a few cheap items within your budget," Roach said calmly, looking at the conflicted boy. "If you expect to buy high-level weapons from some so-called 'master' with very little money, either that master is a fraud, or he has ulterior motives."

"So, do I look like a conman to you? Or do you see yourself as someone who could be taken advantage of?"

"..." These words are very sharp, but they are the absolute truth, because only the absolute truth can be sharp; anything that isn't sharp is just a lie.

What's the cheapest weapon here?

“Okay, let’s talk in my workshop.” Roach opened the door and walked towards the workshop on the side of the hut. Tex cautiously followed behind. When they reached the workshop entrance, Roach told him to stand still. “Don’t follow me in. There are a lot of flammable and explosive materials inside. If you don’t want to die, stay here.” After a while, Roach came out with two balls. “Here, these are the cheapest things.”

One is the latest rune bomb, which is more advanced than the previous alchemical bomb. It can combine the effects of multiple alchemical bombs, greatly improving the power and range of the explosion. However, the drawback is that the stability is also greatly reduced. The more effects are stacked, the bigger the explosion will be, and the easier it is for it to explode on its own.

Another one is Roach's improved rune bomb, which consists of two very safe dual-effect alchemical bombs. The elements that make up these dual-effect bombs are not conflicting elements, so theoretically the explosive power will be greatly reduced. The method of use is to pull the string hard to activate the two safe dual-effect bombs at the same time. In this way, the non-conflicting elements will become two pairs of conflicting elements, triggering an extremely terrifying triple mixed explosion.

As for its drawbacks, this thing has no fuse time; it explodes as soon as it's pulled, making it suitable for self-destruction and a must-have for terrorists.

"...Two iron balls?" Tex didn't understand what kind of weapon these two iron balls were. Were they launched with a slingshot, or were they thrown weapons?

"Hmm..." Roach didn't know what to say, so he could only say, "These two iron balls could probably wipe out your entire squad in an instant."

"How much does it cost?" Tex reached for his wallet.

"One gold coin for every 10 silver coins I make, I'll make a little profit." In several currency systems with relatively stable value, the ratio of gold coins to silver coins is usually 11 to 14. Of course, in those currencies with unstable value and quality, it's hard to say.

There are small gold coins worth five silver coins, and large gold coins from the Eastern Strait that require 20 silver coins to exchange.

Roach had seen those gold coins before. It was said that they were only common in Pulu, or the Principality of Pulu, on the narrow coastline east of the Kingdom of Rada. This was because the country monopolized the interests of the Eastern Strait. Across the strait was the Eastern Continent. Crossing the strait northward into a large area of ​​sea led to the island of Alesia, while crossing the strait southward led to the Storm Ocean, or what the Empire called the "Hurricane Sea."

Due to the high pressure over the continent, the hurricanes formed by the low-pressure belt will be pushed back by the high-pressure belt when they move northward, forming an arc-shaped route from east to west, and then visiting the Kingdom of Kelvin in the south of the Duchy of Pru. The latter is relatively developed in agriculture because of the stable water vapor brought by the hurricane.

However, due to the hurricane, it lacks access to the sea and can only be exploited by two neighboring countries that it has no choice but to rely on as middlemen, making it the poorest country on the mainland.

Unfortunately, the Eastern continent was not the Chinese-style, or similar, or Asian-style world that Roach was used to. On the contrary, it was probably more like the western part of America, near a large coastal plain to the west, with mountains to the east. The mountains were rich in minerals, which were reddish-brown in color. Because of the abundance of minerals, gold could be panned in the local rivers. As a result, many people crossed the strait and established countries there.

However, because the soil contains a lot of heavy metals, only a small amount of land can be used to grow crops. Most of the time, they can only rely on exporting gold, iron ore and high-quality timber produced locally to exchange for food.

These large gold coins were minted by the local city-state alliance. They were pure gold and quite heavy. Based on Roach's feel, they should weigh around 20 to 35 grams, equivalent to the weight of 7 locally minted silver coins. In other words, although the ratio of gold to silver coins was 1 to 20, the actual ratio was about 1 to 3.

“If it’s a large gold coin, then half will be enough,” Roach added immediately after thinking about it. “Also, I don’t accept any gold coins other than the Imperial official gold coins, church-minted gold coins, large gold coins, and arcane gold coins from the Arcane Association. As for silver coins, apart from the Imperial official silver coins, Rada Kingdom silver coins, Pru Duchy silver coins, and Eastern Continent silver coins, others will be converted at 60% of their weight.”

This means that a 5-gram silver coin is only calculated as 3 grams of silver. Considering the seigniorage, this is a fairly fair price. In reality, if the merchants don't reduce the price to 40%, they will have almost no profit.

"Just one gold coin, enough to wipe out an entire squad? I mean, a whole squad of monsters?" Then this gold coin is truly a bargain.

One gold coin is equivalent to 12 silver coins according to the official set price. Without considering the increased purchasing power brought by using the more reputable and polished Imperial Silver Coin, based on the market price, one silver coin can buy about 2 kilograms of beef or a 5-liter barrel of distilled spirits.

Judging from this meat price, we can know the price of live cattle and horses. However, if you replace the beef with pork, you can buy about 5 to 8 kilograms of pork. If you replace it with the cheapest poultry, you can buy about 8 plump capons.

In other words, with just one extra silver coin, you could enable a family to live the “American life” promised by the then-President of the United States—a chicken in the pot every week.

If it's just about feeding a family of five, including parents and two sons and one daughter, a typical working-class farmer might not even need three silver coins a month.

In most ordinary people's transactions, silver coins were already a large amount of currency. Except for large expenditures such as weddings and buying property, they were rarely seen. Copper coins were more common. A pound of low-quality black bread (made with sawdust and flour) could be bought for only one copper coin.

Okay, now the question comes back: is it worth it to be able to eliminate a monster that takes a whole squad to fight, even if it costs one gold coin?

It's such a great deal! Considering the price Roach paid for monster materials, you could sell the materials from these monsters for more than half a gold coin, not to mention the bounty and other rewards.

Therefore, there are only four types of people in this world who can trade with gold coins: nobles, spellcasters, merchants, and... adventurers.

Even so, most of the time, adventurers' entire team's liquid funds are usually around 600 to 800 silver coins. If you deduct the money for necessary treatment and purchasing replenished weapons and ammunition, the actual disposable funds will not exceed 10 gold coins.

Unless you join one of those elite teams, this is the limit for adventurers. Even when faced with Roach's tempting price, Tyx held onto his purse tightly. It contained half of the team's disposable funds, which was 3 gold coins. He wasn't just buying weapons; he also needed to buy things for the adventure.

“In a sense, yes, but it usually wipes out your squad along with your enemies,” Roach shrugged. “With this amount of money, you can only choose one: power, safety, or range. Hmm, with another ten gold coins, you can choose another one. Would you choose that?”

"No, no, no, I mean, is there any safe weapon?"

"That has neither power nor range, hmm..." Roach pulled out two short swords made of electroslag remelted, or more accurately, alloyed from slag magic. "Here, this one is safe."

"..." A short sword that has no enchantment, no decoration, and not even a sharpened edge—from the perspective of a monster, if this thing is not safe, then nothing is safe.

"These things cost one silver coin each, and they're all the same price, except for heavy weapons, regardless of the style." They're just scrap products and not worth much anyway.

"Is there any that is both safe and powerful enough?"

“Oh, yes,” Roach thought for a moment, pointing to a single-edged sword on the shelf. It had a trigger on the side, and like other swords, it used the recoil from a bullet to enhance its slashing power—enough to drive katana-wielding enthusiasts crazy—a gun-sword-style jet-powered katana, especially good for quick draw slashes. (Refer to Kagura Tsuchimiya's sword in Ga-Rei.)

"Ash Paradise, a smelting alloy recipe from Instructor Livia, processed with ash dragon flames, comes with a scabbard imbued with Sharpness Technique, which applies a sharpening effect to the blade for several seconds upon drawing the sword, especially useful for swordsmen who perform quick draws or rapid slashes," Roach then stated his price.

"15 gold coins per weapon, plus 8 miniature alchemy cartridges. You can refill the cartridges here; each one costs 2 silver coins to refill, or 8 silver coins to buy new ones. If you have the materials I've listed for purchase, I can reduce the fee to just 18 copper coins for labor."

"Eight silver coins for a single slash?" Tex felt that he had underestimated the life of adventurers when he left the village. He didn't expect that a magical weapon would cost eight silver coins just for one use. It was too expensive!

However, strictly speaking, Roach's sword belongs to the "high-level enchanted weapon" category, and 15 gold coins is practically a freebie. Of course, if you consider that this is a printer that comes with a free ink cartridge, then it's fine.

"Is there a weapon that has power, range, and safety?"

“Yes…” Roach glanced at him, “but you don’t look like you’re coming to me with a bag full of gold coins.” Even if all the money on this guy was gold coins, he wouldn’t have more than 20. This Ashes of Paradise is the limit he can afford.

"...How much?" Tex, who hadn't yet experienced the harsh realities of life, had a clear look of stupidity in his eyes. Any other alchemist would probably have already called for thugs to throw him out. What are you? How dare you ask the price? Are you a band of thieves here to scout out some high-value magical artifacts?

However, Roach wasn't afraid of that. Thieves? See those two cows and horses in the cowshed over there? Let's beat them first before discussing this. Anyone who can beat them, or more accurately, who can defeat the old horse with their bare hands, could go straight to Hell and become a lord. A little magical equipment, not an artifact, it's not that serious.

"Oh, the cost price is no less than 1 gold coins. Do you want it?" This is not like the Little Witch's handmade armor where the labor cost is the majority. This is a crossbow with a real cost price of more than 1 gold coins. It uses materials from the Living Forest and the body materials of two great demons. It was also made by a gold-level witch.

It was a ranged weapon that Roach made for the little witch to use for self-defense, since she could not always cast spells smoothly and might lose control of her magic if she was frightened.

This crossbow with automatic reloading is perfect for the little witch. However, its drawback is that it lacks an energy source and relies on Livia for power. During testing, its power, range, and safety were all guaranteed.

In terms of power, it can fire various magical arrows, with the maximum potential enough to penetrate Old Ma's defenses; the range goes without saying, at least 60 to 150 meters; and it is very safe because it uses the mane and horns under Old Ma's demonic form, so it is very sturdy and will not explode.

However, for Livia, it had a drawback: the recoil was a bit too much for the little girl's weak physique, and it could easily turn into indiscriminate shooting, turning everyone in front of her into hedgehogs.

But for serious adventurers, it's not a problem; they can easily manage it. It's just that the cost of materials and craftsmanship is what it is, and Roach doesn't expect to sell it, nor does he intend to.

The reason he placed it in the workshop was that he planned to add a folding gun mount and sights to it, so that... well, Livia could reduce the impact of recoil when shooting from a prone position.

However... the witch who uses a crossbow-shaped weapon but is actually a machine gun always gives the impression that she doesn't wear bottoms and likes to fly around with her panties showing.

"I'm sorry, Master Roach, I'd better go back and think about it and discuss it with my companions." Tex ran away as if he were fleeing. With a few coins in his pocket, was it appropriate for him to get involved in a business with only a small profit margin? No, it wasn't!

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Invincible Little Witch Has Fallen (Tragedy)

On the first floor of the inn, it has been transformed into a simple meeting place and restaurant. Some quests are casually pasted on wooden boards on the wall. Judging from the color of the paper, they should be long-term quests, such as collecting herbs or other materials formed by the leakage of sinful magic around the Lost Capital. They are probably similar to the permanent material gathering quests in Monster Hunter.

Compared to the warm bathhouse where you can enjoy a few copper coins, there aren't many people here. They are mostly poor adventurers. There aren't even any cooks selling food here. The adventurers just combine the food they brought with them and use the kitchen here to cook something edible.

"Crack!" The moment the wooden door was pushed open, a blast of cold air swept into the room, dissipating the already dwindling warmth. "Sorry," Tex said, stepping inside and carefully closing the door behind him. The door, already shattered from the previous invasion by the Wrathful Demon, was now held in place by a jumble of planks and ropes.

“Hey guys, I checked out that rumor,” Tex said, finding a seat. “But there’s a problem: we don’t have enough money. If we want to buy a safe and effective weapon… well, we can only buy one, and each use will cost 8 silver coins.”

"What about the cheapest one?"

"There are unsafe but useful methods, but they can easily kill the entire squad and the target at the same time."

"That's good." The petite black-haired girl, who had been looking down at her book, looked up. Her black hood with blue trim slid down her smooth hair, revealing two low pigtails tied in front of her hair, one on each side.

"We only need to set traps to ambush powerful monsters. Even if the monster's materials are destroyed, we can still make enough money through bounties and franchise rights."

The right to purchase goods is a kind of gray income for adventurers that is not convenient to talk about openly. Simply put, it means that you can buy some goods from locals that are not officially registered and taxed. These goods usually come from local villages and towns. Because adventurers have the privilege of being exempt from taxes on a certain amount of goods they carry, these rights to purchase goods can be used to carry these local specialties for trade.

Another thing is that you can buy some items that cannot be freely traded and require a trade license or exclusive purchase privilege from merchants. For example, the candles from Windcandle Village were such goods. Because adventurers often have considerable combat power, the city guards will not search their bodies and luggage—how many silver coins a month? Why risk your life like this?

Therefore, this is considered gray income that adventurers cannot openly discuss, but everyone tacitly agrees to, and the merchants will not cause them any trouble for it. It's like the city entrance tax of 2 copper coins, but the guards actually collect 3 copper coins, one of which is an extra guard allowance for everyone.

“But I’m afraid that if such a powerful tool were used on a regular mission…” The brown-haired boy in a white muslin hoodie frowned. “Not only would we not get the bounty, but we’d also have to pay compensation for damaging villages or roads, and we might even be wanted by the police.”

This situation is rare. After all, most people wouldn't side with an adventurer who has this kind of destructive power for such a reason, but it's hard to say if this effect is achieved using a tool.

"It might even have the opposite effect," the freckled redhead girl finally said. "We might even be targeted because we reveal that we possess or can afford powerful magical items."

Those villagers are no saints; they could easily be called troublemakers. Even if they were forced into this situation by the times, it still means we must remain vigilant towards them, not let our guard down just because they were forced into this state.

Many novice adventurers didn't die at the hands of monsters, but rather at the hands of these villagers. After all, their equipment, weapons, and potions are quite valuable. Otherwise, this is why only half a group can go when discussing business or contacting unfamiliar groups—they can't be alone, nor can they all go.

Behind every seemingly absurd industry regulation, there is bound to be more than one person who died in a bizarre way as a negative example, and adventurers are no exception.

"So, we buy Ash Paradise? We could barely afford it if we sold all our goods at a low price, but we might not be able to afford to maintain it, and... that would mean I would be the only one with weapons."

Tex was a little embarrassed. He hadn't actually assembled his team. To be precise, calling them official adventurers would be an exaggeration; they were all recruits or newbies.

However, only they remained of the original adventurer group. Tex was the adopted son of an old swordsman who had previously served as a knight's squire. Because the old swordsman was the adventurer group's instructor, he was highly respected within the original group, which is why he is now the backbone of the group.

“Tex, I’m not that dependent on weapons,” the twin-tailed girl said in a deep voice. “Lai…” Tex hesitated. Lai was an apprentice of a sorcerer, or more accurately, a prospective apprentice. A sorcerer wanted to take her on as an apprentice, but unfortunately, that unlucky sorcerer was torn to shreds by the Wrathful Sin Demon.

"Don't worry about me, the key is what about Rosa and Erikson?" Rosa is a new recruit to the adventurer group and is currently learning basic scout skills. She barely knows how to pick locks and disarm traps. Even the money they have is what Rosa found by prying open the locks on the boxes left behind by the adventurer group.

Erikson wasn't even a combatant; he was an apothecary apprentice who knew basic herbalism and bandaging techniques. He was the only healer in the team. The only noteworthy thing was that he had learned how to make numbing powder, which could numb the pain sensation in wounds. When used in conjunction with bandaging, debridement, and simple hemostatic ointments, it could effectively maintain the team's combat effectiveness after injury.

"We can't expect the two of them to use sticks and knives, can we? You have to understand, we're out of money and supplies." They came with the main group, some were family members and some were new recruits.

As mentioned earlier, the adventure team cannot keep everyone together at the same time; some people must stay behind to guard the base. Therefore, it is a good option for the instructors and a small number of combatants to take these newcomers to guard the base.

Furthermore, the journey here also serves as practical training for these newcomers; it's impossible to expect to obtain qualified members solely through training.

But who knew that almost the entire main squad was killed in the ruins, and those who returned were also seriously injured. Not long after, the Wrathful Demons attacked, and only these four lucky ones escaped because they were taken out by the team members to collect herbs.

However, after returning, the remaining members also left the team, joined other adventure groups, and took away almost half of the team's reserve funds and supplies.

The money and supplies they currently possess were obtained by Rosa through clandestine lockpicking. No one cared about these four new recruits, and their funds were insufficient to sustain them through the harsh winter. The only option was to use their last bit of money to arm everyone and then risk crossing the Black Forest to return to Tallinn.

If they can return to Tallinn alive, they can find the "custodian" in the city first and retrieve the adventure team's emergency funds from there—and the custodian recognizes the token, not the person.

Of course, the members of the fleeing adventure group also had the same token, and they did not believe that four complete novices could cross the Black Forest and return in winter, or even in the safe spring. Given the wealth these novices might have hidden, they would not be able to hire a guide.

As for crossing the Black Forest alone and returning... well, that just shows they have the ability, so there's no need for them to break up, buddy!

The reason they didn't kill anyone to cover it up is also because of this, and the camp isn't very big. Once they took action, it would be impossible to hide it from anyone. Moreover, their new teammates wouldn't accept these guys who could casually turn on their former comrades. After all, no one can guarantee that their team will last until everyone retires.

Of course, another reason is that, given the current state of manpower and crisis in this camp, even these four new recruits can at least delay the Wrathful Demon for a while, making them important human resources.

However, everyone misjudged one thing: the veterans might choose the safer option, but these newcomers... are more likely to choose the impossible all-in strategy.

"Master Roach, I've made my decision. I'll buy Ash Paradise."

"Hmm~" Roach scratched his head, took the single-edged sword off the shelf and tossed it to Tyx. Then he counted the mixed gold, silver and copper coins in his pocket and it took him five minutes to figure out that he hadn't lost money. As for how much he had made... well... it's hard to say.

“This sword…” Tyx gripped the hilt and slowly turned it, then swung it back and forth in his hand a few times. He was getting used to and testing where the sword’s center of gravity was, as well as its feel. Changing weapon types or even the weapon itself rashly is a rather risky act, especially for a swordsman.

Length, weight, shape, and even the friction of the grip can cause a sword technique that should have hit the enemy's vitals to miss, thus taking the sworder's life instead.

"This sword is suitable for slashing..."

“He’s a qualified warrior apprentice, you don’t need to remind him.” Alessina, who was watching the show with his arms crossed, nodded amicably to Tex, but his expression turned serious when he looked at Rosa, his beast eyes staring intently at her.

To the beastmen, human scouts, thieves, or rogues are nothing more than despicable thieves. Rosa, in particular, is unlikely to be honest, so Alessina must keep a close eye on her. This is not only to prevent the valuables here from being stolen, but also for the girl's own good.

Just kidding, everything here can move, including the radishes in the field. She can probably beat the radishes, but breaking through the fence might be a bit difficult. It's hard to say how long she can last against the pumpkin.

“Lay, I feel…” Rosa rubbed her arms, not even noticing that the powerful warrior Alessina was looking at her. She felt like everyone was watching her. After all, with a rogue like her, even the radishes in the field would look up at her a few more times.

“Yes, this is the ritual site of a powerful arcane mage. Don’t touch anything,” Lai comforted her. “It’s normal to feel strange.” After all, this is the territory of a very powerful arcane mage; they might be standing in some strange anti-theft ritual.

"I wonder what that witch looks like..." Lai thought she must be a dignified and solemn lady, just like the female mages from the arcane academy he had seen before, who possessed a lot of mysterious knowledge and had an elusive, mysterious aura like the night sky.

"Achoo~" Her little hands rubbed her nose until it was red, and then she called "Achoo" three times in a row. Her big emerald eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked a little tired. She sat on the recliner wrapped in a thick blanket, with three empty magic potion bottles in front of her.