001 There must be something seriously wrong with this card!
“Ding dong~ ding dong~”
With a pleasant ringing sound, the slightly old store door was pushed open.
The grocery store was of a classical style, but every corner bore traces of the owner’s meticulous maintenance.
A simple layout divided the store into several sections; apart from the counter, there were a few tidy shelves.
The orange-red sunset, riding on the unique cool breeze of the kingdom’s border during autumn evenings, entered the shop, dyeing the warm-toned wooden interiors with a light tint.
The visitor was a young girl. She wore a silver-white standard military uniform, though unlike a regular uniform, it resembled a reserve or student model.
The clothing could not conceal the girl’s well-proportioned figure. Long, indigo hair cascaded down her shoulders, complemented by an elegant and noble demeanor.
Behind the counter, Dekan was lazily leaning back on his chair.
He had elf-like delicate features, but his eyes held a hint of coldness.
Supporting his chin with one hand, he held a bright red apple in the other, staring at it in a daze.
The girl walked straight up to the counter and lightly tapped on the table to draw Dekan’s attention.
Dekan furrowed his brow slightly and looked up.
Soon, his gaze was drawn to the girl’s clear, gem-like, and vividly colored eyes.
Involuntarily, he lingered his gaze on her face a little longer.
“Alright, forgive you for interrupting my deep thoughts.”
Sitting up straight, Dekan switched to a businesslike smile and asked:
“Is there anything you’d like to buy?”
The girl Trecia hesitated briefly as she glanced around the small shop and looked at Dekan.
“Are you the owner of this grocery store?”
“I’m just helping out.”
“Was this card sold here?”
Trecia took out a magic card and placed it in front of Dekan.
It was a one-star Goblin summoning card.
As the easiest type of summoning card to make, it was generally very cheap.
Due to its extremely weak attributes and effects, few people used Goblin card decks.
However, Dekan instantly recognized this magic card—it was indeed made by him.
The Goblin on the card had a distinctive outfit, with a black mask over its head and a strange weapon resembling a fire gun in its hands.
“It’s one of ours. Is there something wrong with it?”
“It’s not broken, but the issue is grave!!”
Trecia suddenly became somewhat excited: “Do you know that this card has disrupted the entire magic card system of Hevenlit Magic Academy!”
“Could that be true?”
Dekan raised an eyebrow, looking at Trecia with confusion.
He had indeed mass-produced a batch of Bandit Goblin cards recently, and sold them to a traveling merchant.
He had no idea that this card would cause such a significant impact.
He appraised the card on the desk again, reconfirming that it was indeed his own work.
“This card seems so normal…”
Dekan scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the attributes.
[Bandit Goblin]
[Category: Summoning Card]
[Rarity: Blue Valuable]
[Rank: 1]
[Attack: 100]
[Health: 100]
[Effect: When this summoned creature is about to deal damage to an enemy, it will forcibly steal an item from the opponent instead of dealing damage.]
[Note: “M1917 Smith & Wesson Gangster Revolver, solves all your problems!”]
Dekan looked up at the girl’s expression and suddenly began to understand why she was so agitated.
Was she annoyed by the card?
Surely not…
The truly sinister card he had in mind was the one he didn’t sell.
“If that’s the case, why don’t you just take more Bandit Goblins?”
If you can’t beat them, join them.
Dekan’s eyes were full of confusion.
“Who’s the fool to carry so many first-class cards! And do you even know how much one Bandit Goblin costs in the Capital City now?!”
Trecia was getting frustrated. This shopkeeper clearly had no idea about magic cards.
This card wasn’t wildly powerful or overly stable either.
It was purely annoying, and what it steals completely depends on luck.
Bad luck might mean stealing a candy from someone’s pocket, good luck could mean entirely stealing your opponent’s card slots!
Carrying more first-tier Bandit Goblin cards would waste positions, not taking any would lack deterrence, and might even be disgusting to the opponent!
What was this? This was internal competition!
“What should we do then?”
“…Do you have a set of Goblin cards to match this?”
Dekan: “…”
“Turns out we do.”
If someone was willing to buy his cards, he naturally wouldn’t refuse, especially since this girl had traveled all the way from the College in the Capital City to his remote town.
Dekan opened the counter, took out a card album, spread it on the table, flipped to the last page, and found a two-star card he had recently made.
“Goblin Sheriff. I recommend you buy this one.”
“Sherriff?”
The same peculiar art style, clearly designed by the same genius who created the Bandit Goblin.
Trecia was full of questions. Although this card was two-star and the Sherriff and Bandit wouldn’t conflict, right?
Dekan didn’t say much, he directly drew the card and handed it to her for her appraisal.
[Goblin Sheriff]
[Category: Summon Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Rank: 2]
[Attack: 200]
[Health: 200]
[Effect: When accompanied by a Bandit Goblin, this summoned creature gains the Bandit Goblin’s effect and additionally summons two Bandit Goblins.]
[Note: “Deputy is just my side job, being a Bandit is my real job!”]
“What the heck is this?”
Trecia stared at the card’s effect, dumbfounded, not worrying about her idol image as a beauty.
Never mind if the card was over-powered.
If suddenly four Bandit Goblins rushed toward her, her only choice would be to turn around and run.
“I want to buy it! How much?”
She came back to her senses and rushed to say to Dekan.
At least this sinister card can’t end up in someone else’s hands!
“Actually… I’m not too familiar with the prices in the Capital City. You name it.”
Dekan was somewhat regretful having sold those Bandit Goblin cards to the traveling merchant for 100 coins each.
Although he didn’t know exactly how high the price had been inflated in the Capital City, it was certainly higher than he had imagined.
Trecia thought for a long time and then cautiously asked, “What about 60 gold coins?”
Whoa!!
Dekan almost fell off his chair.
1 gold coin equals 1000 coins.
Twenty gold coins were enough for a family in a border town like his to live for a year.
Trecia observed Dekan’s reaction. Despite the fact that Dekan seemed like someone who didn’t understand the market, she didn’t want to deceive him.
A legendary cardmaker must be living in this tiny shop.
She still needed more help from this maker.
Trecia bit her lip: “This card can definitely sell for more in the Capital City, but I don’t have a lot of money with me. I need to save some for travel expenses back to the Capital City… If it’s not enough, I can compensate with my own magic cards.”
Although she also wanted to buy three-star or even four-star cards, she knew she couldn’t afford them now.
“Alright.”
Dekan saw she was honest, didn’t say much, and just took out the ledger to scribble some notes.
Trecia was also very decisive, quickly taking a bag of gold coins from the pouch on her waist and handed it over to Dekan.
“By the way, could you show me what your three-star cards look like?”
Trecia was curious to see what kind of peculiar three-star cards this shop produced.
Even though she couldn’t afford them, she wanted to take a look.
“We don’t sell three-star cards here.”
“What?!”
“How can that be?”
“Because I can’t make three-star magic cards yet.”
Trecia: “???”
“Did you make these cards?!”
