Summoning the Holy Sword

After realizing Stefania’s identity, Rhode was no longer surprised as to why she was with Emily anymore. Although he had never met Stefania in the game, he was aware about the rumors spreading among players about the plane merchants’ characteristics. The plane merchants loved to roam the world for rare, bizarre items while Emily was an expert in finding them for business deals. It could be considered the will of heaven that both of them met.

“I have everything, Your Majesty. I have many, many interesting things. Ah, but I’ve to put it upfront that although it is rare for me to have a chance to meet you, I can only sell one item to you. So, please choose carefully and of course, as for the remuneration....” Stefania gazed at Rhode meaningfully. “Your Majesty, since you’re aware of us, plane merchants, I don’t have any reasons to keep secrets from you. We don’t need gold coins and if you have any precious treasures, gems, or amusing things, you can use it for an exchange. Of course, if you do exchange with an adorable girl, I will give her something extra for free. That’s because I love adorable girls.”

“Adorable girl?”

Rhode looked meaningfully at Angelina while the latter was bewildered. Stefania showed a bitter smile.

“Ah... Unfortunately I can’t accept this vampire lady. For some particular reasons, I just can’t... Besides, my adorable kittens dislike vampires so I’m sorry. But since you’re Emily’s friend, I will give you a 20 percent discount, Your Majesty.”

Every family has its hardships it seems.

Although Stefania sounded vague, Rhode still realized the hidden meaning behind her words. Yes... He wouldn’t be commenting on her personal interest.

“Alright then, what would you like to have, Your Majesty? How about this, the Transformation Bracelet? It can transform you into a real woman and I suppose you need this, Your Majesty. Not only will your gender switch, but your hair color will also change. I guarantee that no one will see through your disguise. Besides, it will also strengthen your powers to the next level. There are three colors of red, blue, and white for it. If you want to, I can add on a talking puppet for free.”

“It’s not necessary.”

Rhode shook his head. He had no interest in becoming a real woman and his disguise was only for show. Besides, he didn’t find anything special about this bracelet.

“Hmm... I thought that you’ll be interested in that, Your Majesty... If that’s the case...”

Stefania didn’t give up despite the rejection. Instead, she promoted other items like a true merchant.

“How about this sword, the Frostmourne Blade? This is a truly powerful weapon. Not only does it have the ability to abstract souls, but it can also be used to summon armies of undead. Your Majesty, if you want to show your prestige as the ruler, you mustn’t miss this weapon. If you buy it now, I’ll add on a Frost Throne for you. It is 100 percent hand-made and uniquely exquisite...”

Rhode pondered for a few moments before shaking his head. Indeed, perhaps this sword would be considered godlike for ordinary players, but after considering his identity and relationship with Lydia and Lilian, he didn’t believe that having this sword on him would be useful. Moreover, he had already obtained powerful swords like Shira and Celestina, so there was no need to waste a valuable chance with a plane merchant on an additional weapon.

“By the way, it seems like you have plenty of girls around you. Am I right, Your Majesty? With your grand identity, the young ladies will attract attention, even from the bad guys. Since that’s the case, I think you will be interested in this, the Sunburst Sword. It is a S-grade magic weapon that can provide a powerless woman with strength that can destroy the planet. Well... if you dislike violence, I have this Soul Gem. As long as the girl signs a contract with it and becomes a magical girl, her soul will be stored in the gem. She will even survive even if her head is bitten off—provided that the gem isn’t on her head.”

“Nope.”

Rhode shook his head. If it were in the past, he would have bought and given it to Christie. But now, since half of Christie possessed powers of the Deity Warden, he didn’t need such a protection item anymore.

“Do you have any means of transportation?”

Rhode suddenly recalled that he didn’t have any impressive vehicles. He had to admit that some of the items that Stefania promoted were indeed powerful and amusing. However... They weren’t especially useful for him.

“Of course!”

Stefania revealed an excited smile. She waved her arms in midair and shortly after, an illusory image appeared between her arms.

“How about this, Your Majesty? The Normandy Warship; it is built using the latest technology, contains super-space navigation capability, and can conceal from most space detection. Also... I have this Autumn Wind Cruise. It has first-rate defense and if you buy now, it will come with artificial intelligence installed for free. If you dislike its appearance, please have a look at this Spaceship Essoda, elegant and beautiful. It possesses strong firepower and transport capabilities. Do you like any of them?”

My goal isn’t even to go to the Stars Ocean...

Rhode twitched his brows to the three warships. Indeed, although they seemed impressive, his goal wasn’t to enter outer space, after all. He only wanted a convenient means of transport within his territory.

“Is there anything that is more... normal?”

“... Your Majesty, how is it possible that we sell normal items?”

Rhode gazed at the helpless-looking Stefania and realized that he asked a naive question. Indeed, the biggest feature about plane merchants was their rare, amusing goods. He would be asking the wrong person if he wanted something ordinary.

“What about some summoning cards?”

Rhode wasn’t optimistic but still tried his luck. However, Stefania’s eyes glinted almost instantly. She extended her hands and colorful sets of cards appeared out of thin air.

“Of course! Please have a look, Your Majesty. We have the full set of Klo and Cherry cards. As long as you buy any of the sets, I will add on the necessary sealed key for you to activate them. Also, I have this dark magic card deck which is a famous card game and it will display incredible strength if you complement it with the game board~ Also... This one, the five-colors deck created by the traveling Mages. If you buy it now, I’ll give you a free Amber Sword card and its land expansion pack. It’s definitely worth it!”

Why does it seem like the strangest and most ridiculous things make me feel the most danger?

Rhode grabbed the cards and scanned them carefully. Although the cards contained powerful strength, they weren’t compatible with his system as there was no response at all. The summoning cards that he wanted to obtain also weren’t among them.

Do I just give up like this?

Thereafter, the negotiations continued with Rhode being disinterested in whatever Stefania presented.

The items were either only selling their cuteness or were totally meaningless for him. He finally understood why that particular player bought the biped robot back then. Compared to the items that could turn one into a magical girl or was a ship that could go to outer space, at least the biped robot was able to enhance his strength in the game. Also, Stefania had even promoted a biped robot named ‘Zagu’ which was also known as ‘the romance for men’... Rhode almost nodded in agreement straightaway because it was much more realistic than some spaceships, after all.

“You’re truly the dragon soul heir indeed. Your requests are so unique...”

Stefania couldn’t maintain her smile anymore and looked at him with a helpless expression instead. On the other hand, Rhode was equally speechless. Frankly speaking, there were a few times when he almost nodded to one of the offers as a means to end the transaction. But every time he was on the verge of giving up, the player spirit in him surged. What?! I finally get to meet a plane merchant and why must I buy something that I have no use for and head home?!

In fact, Stefania had offered several wonderful items just like this particular pocket watch that had been constantly rotating around them. It could slow down time, which was why he and Stefania could negotiate a deal slowly. If not, perhaps they wouldn’t come to a deal even after the banquet was over.

However, something like this was useless for him. The reason was simple. As a dragon soul heir and the representative of rules, the ability to slow down time wouldn’t work on him. With his current strength, he only feared the other four dragon soul heirs, which meant that slowing of time also wasn’t effective on them. Moreover, he could easily eliminate anyone below their level without the need for such an item.

For the same reason, the black book that could annihilate anyone by writing one’s name was also pointless. He would rather rely on Christie’s Knowledge Scroll than it.

Normally players had the habit of letting merchants list out all their goods while they slowly considered and picked their desired choice. But after reading Stefania’s long, endless list, perhaps even a decade wouldn’t be enough for him. On the other hand, it also wasn’t nice of him to make her promote the items one by one.

“It seems like I can only resort to that.”

Stefania sighed upon realizing that this was wasting their time. She raised her hand and shortly after, a spinning roulette appeared before them.

“Let’s use this, Your Majesty. This is the Roulette Of Fate. It can detect your hidden desires for something that you actually need. As long as you give the command to stop, it will randomly point to one of the items. This is like a gamble, so what do you think, Your Majesty?”

“... Okay then.”

Rhode hesitated as he was well aware of his ‘unlucky looting aura’. However, he eventually agreed to her suggestion because no matter what, this was much better than spending decades to finish reading the list of items.

This is fate it seems...

“Stop!”

Rhode gazed at the fast-spinning roulette. There was no point in struggling now. He pointed his finger at the roulette and it slowly came to a halt.

Then...

Boom!

A pitch-black bucket descended from above and landed before them. Rhode widened his eyes in astonishment.

It was an oval container with several mysterious patterns that resembled magical rituals or some super technological lines. At a single glance, it looked like a metal egg...

What’s this?

Rhode scanned at the metal egg before shifting his gaze to Stefania. The young lady shrugged.

“Ah, this... I found it in the ruins when I first arrived in this world. But because I can’t open it, I don’t know what’s inside... If Your Majesty wants it... No, since it is the chosen one, I’m sure it must be related to you in some ways. I shall sell this to you then, Your Majesty.”

Is this really fine?