The Flying Emporium

The last few days had been a real drag. Severin was exhausted to no end, mostly mentally.

Day in and day out, he had spent his time in the small room behind the store’s counter, busy crafting the annoying little metal spheres and avoiding most human contact apart from Emily with whom he shared the working space and ruining his hands in the process.

Despite the reserved, even disappointed, reactions of most of his regulars who had been there at the time to witness the demonstration, the demand was still huge.

Unlike what many had initially hoped, the sphere had proven itself unable to eradicate even low-level monsters, much less whole groups of them. Yet with time, many had still recognized their great utility even outside of combat; not least thanks to both Milly’s and Jasmine’s involvement.

Though the spheres might not be able to melt any hostile monsters, it was not difficult to imagine their usefulness in a cold-climate dungeon.

It could easily, in terms of generated heat at least, replace any campfire.

As for the lighting aspect of the tool-or rather the lack thereof-, depending on the situation, this too could be taken advantage of.

And when an argument was true for the [Heating Sphere], then more often than not, a similar one was also true for its counterpart, the [Cooling Sphere].

And who knows, maybe with enough creativity, the spheres could be turned into weapons after all.

Either way, these things shouldn’t be underestimated, the adventurers realized.

Not at just half a gold a piece.

Even completely decking out each and every member of a group, or even a raid, to their full carrying capacity, would still cost far less than even just one person’s remaining purchases.

Even if a group couldn’t see themselves actually using the spheres, there really was no reason for them not to stock up on them.

And then, of course, there was Jasmin. The ghastly princess, who, every evening just before closing time, sent a couple of her many subordinates to buy up all the remaining stock that remained sitting unsold on top of the shelves.

At least that last part shouldn’t have bothered Severin.

After all, he had already resigned himself to the mind-numbing labor that was crafting as quickly and as many of these metal balls as possible until his corresponding [Artificer] class reached a level up at which point he would hopefully unlock some other, more practical and more profitable, recipe.

And considering the pitiful amount of experience he had managed to accrue so far, it would still be a long time until then.

If anything, the princess’ involvement saved him from having to spend money on building a new floor simply for storage purposes.

Not to mention the princess’s goodwill he was garnering along the way.

And so, all these things considered, one might think there was no reason for Severin to complain.

And yet, from the [Shopkeeper’s] point of view, this was a Sisyphean task, unable to ever fully stock his shelves, and neither the money nor experience to show for it.

Not even after multiple days of constant work.

The only thing Severin was looking for each day was the moment he could crawl back into his comfy bed. Only to wake up a few hours later and do it all over again.

Severin, who was widely known for his cool and calm, never losing his temper, was close to reaching his breaking point and on the verge of doing something drastic. Maybe stupid even.

Something like swapping places and responsibilities with Bandur; have the dwarf deal with it. Maybe close down the café completely and work on it together.

Or promote one of the two newbies.

That was when one day the perfect excuse to take a break presented itself to him, something he should have long seen coming, but which he had somehow forgotten about in the daily grind.

[You have reached your destination.]

What he couldn’t have expected, however, were the other notifications that followed before he could even react to the first.

[Abnormally high density of potential customers detected in the vicinity. Issuing new task.]

[ Spread the Word II

As a [Shopkeeper] and businessowner it is your responsibility to constantly be on the lookout for new opportunities. Spread the word and with it your influence. Introduce your wares to new potential customers and win them over.

Reward: Class-Orb Removal Device]

Severin was ecstatic at the sudden notification. And with no imposed time limit, even without his involvement, the quest would simply take care of itself, he was convinced. And yet it was the perfect excuse of a distraction. A reason to take a break. Go sightseeing. Go see what adventurer-life really is like.

It didn’t even matter that the reward seemed so lackluster.

Nor did he mind the lack of a concrete goal, number-wise, he had to achieve; in that respect, it was the same as with the previous task of the same name; the one that led to his cooperation with Richard.

But in the end, that wasn’t all the System had in store for him.

Severin had barely begun to make plans when another barrage of similar notifications arrived.

[Abnormally high dungeon density detected in the vicinity. Issuing new task.]

[ The Core of It

Obtain a dungeon core from any dungeon.

Reward: Variable - dependent on various factors, such as the provided core’s condition and quality.]

Now that was different.

“Didn’t even bother to make up another shitty reason for its demand.”

In his mind, this also pretty much confirmed his previous assumption that some quest rewards were dependent on the satisfaction to which he accomplished the respective task.

Severin wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this fact, “but at the very least that means I don’t know what I’m missing out on when I skip this one. Last time was only because of the dungeon break. No shot I get my hands on another one.”

[Notice: Until further notice, flight capabilities have been limited.

Thank you for your understanding.]