26: Missed the opportunity to become a wealthy woman

Chapter 26: Missing the Chance to Become a Small Tycoon

Before long, the carriage arrived at Forge Street in the northern part of the Royal Capital.

As the name suggests, this is a place where forges are clustered together. Along the entire street, there are at least nearly a hundred forges.

As soon as they arrived at Forge Street, the group immediately felt the temperature rise, as if they were in the middle of summer.

The sounds of 'ding ding dang dang' from hammering constantly echoed, and many Dwarfs, shirtless and covered in sweat, were swinging giant hammers, sparks flying everywhere.

The Dwarf race possesses extremely strong Blacksmith talents; they have a natural control over metal ore and flame temperature, making them more suitable to become Blacksmiths than other races.

The Bison Family also operates several forges in the Royal Capital, but the Blacksmiths inside are not high-level and do not have the ability to repair the Sacred Shield.

Alice had always been somewhat skeptical, feeling that any Blacksmith of around level ten would be sufficient for this broken shield.

Furthermore, instead of spending money to repair it, it would be better to just buy a brand new shield.

However, Dick not only wanted to repair the Sacred Shield, he even wanted to spend a large sum to enchant it, which was equivalent to embedding diamonds in a toilet.

The shops on Forge Street also sold weapons. Along the way, Alice saw many beautiful shields, and the prices were not expensive either.

Whether in terms of appearance or cost-effectiveness, they were leagues ahead of the so-called Sacred Shield!

"Little brother, what a coincidence, we meet again..."

The short-haired girl who had previously sold weapons waved her hands from the side of the street, greeting Dick enthusiastically.

She was still dragging a cart of broken weapons. It seemed she couldn't sell them and was now trying to sell them here at a low price.

Many forges have recycling services; they will melt down Magic Items to extract valuable materials from them.

To put it bluntly, they are scavengers.

Truly high-value Magic Items generally appear in auction houses.

Dick smiled gently, his gaze subtly sweeping over the girl's cart.

After discovering that everything on it was junk, Dick immediately felt bored.

But the girl was extremely enthusiastic, introducing herself familiarly: "My name is Xiao Nai, I'm a professional Underground City adventurer. Perhaps we'll cooperate in the future..."

Hearing this, Dick glanced at Xiao Nai's information.

In the Academy dormitory, Xiao Nai (in her youth) who carefully counted her gold coins every night.

"Name": Xiao Nai Kulounan.

"Race": Human, female.

"Age": 19 years old.

"Profession": Berserker, Level 18.

"Talents": Abundant Energy (Beginner), Brute Strength of the Ox (Beginner), Swiftness of the Gale (Beginner).

"Recent Encounter": Argued with her parents, ran away from home, and is determined to become the most powerful adventurer in the Aimiya Empire.

Xiao Nai's talents were outstanding among her peers, but Dick's standards were extremely picky, so he did not intend to deepen their acquaintance.

After a few pleasantries, the carriage continued to move.

However, Xiao Nai kept following behind the carriage.

"Dick, we've arrived."

The carriage stopped in front of a small-scale forge. The sign above was a bit old, with the three large characters "First Artifact" crookedly carved on it.

Unlike other forges, there was no noisy hammering sound here, nor was the air scorching hot; it was as quiet as if it had gone out of business.

The shop owner was an old Dwarf with a full beard, currently sleeping soundly in a wicker chair, surrounded by empty wine cans.

Coincidentally, Xiao Nai also stopped her cart here and was currently shaking the sleeping Dwarf vigorously.

"You might not believe it, but he is the most powerful Blacksmith in the Royal Capital, and also the president of the Royal Capital Blacksmith Association..."

Alice immediately began introducing the Dwarf's identity, her expression respectful.

Although the Dwarf looked like a drunken brute, in Dick's view, his status information already explained everything.

"Name": Cooper Douglas.

"Race": Dwarf, male.

"Age": 250 years old.

"Profession": Blacksmith, Level 41.

"Talents": Magic Item Identification (Intermediate), Mineral Identification (Intermediate), Lucky Forging (Low).

"Recent Encounter": A jar of black wine he had treasured for many years was stolen, and the patrol knights have not yet found the thief, leaving him in a bad mood.

Cooper's professional level was the highest Dick had seen on this journey. Although a bit unkempt, he was undoubtedly the strongest Blacksmith in the Royal Capital.

What surprised Dick was that Cooper actually possessed the rare talent of "Lucky Forging".

One must know, this is a talent that can increase the success rate of forging. Although it's only a pitiful 0.5%, it becomes incredibly valuable in the later stages!

Dick had also been a Blacksmith for many lifetimes before, but he had never managed to acquire "Lucky Forging", which had always been a regret.

Tens of seconds later, Cooper was finally woken up. He rubbed his red nose and yawned.

"Xiao Nai, did you bring me wine?"

"Of course I did, Grandpa Cooper, but please take a look at these weapons of mine first..."

Hearing this, Cooper glanced at the dozens of Magic Items on the cart and immediately shook his head, saying: "Junk, it's all junk."

"Ah? Please look closer, I'm an adventurer you've had a long-term partnership with, you can't rip me off..."

Cooper simply waved his hand and said: "Five gold coins at most."

"Five gold coins each?"

"Five gold coins for the whole cart!"

Xiao Nai was stunned for a moment, then her face crumpled, and she whined sadly: "This is the result of my hard work in the Underground City for three days! Please give me a little more..."

Ignoring Xiao Nai's grumbling, Cooper turned to look at Dick and the other two.

But just as he was about to speak, his gaze suddenly landed on the Sacred Shield held by Mina, and his old eyes widened!

"The Sacred Shield of Sissymia?!"

Cooper exclaimed, then immediately jumped up from the wicker chair and scrambled over to Mina, rubbing his hands excitedly: "Girl, will you sell this shield for twenty thousand gold coins?"

Before Mina could reply, Xiao Nai on the side immediately cried out in disbelief, "How, how much?! Twenty thousand?!"

"Grandpa Cooper, please look closely again, this, this is what I just sold not long ago..."

"Hmph, are you doubting my Intermediate 'Magic Item Identification'?"

Cooper stroked the Sacred Shield with a fanatic expression, letting out a light breath and saying: "Although it is completely damaged, this was originally a high-grade advanced Magic Item!"

Although Cooper's "Magic Item Identification" was only Intermediate, far inferior to Dick's Perfect level, it was already capable of identifying high-grade Magic Items.

Xiao Nai was greatly shocked. Her mouth was agape, she wanted to speak but couldn't, her body swayed precariously, and she soon collapsed to the ground.

Good heavens, a high-grade advanced Magic Item, and she actually sold it for two gold coins... she practically gave it away.

Even the original outrageous price of two thousand gold coins would have been a huge loss!

Xiao Nai, with snot and tears, crawled over to Dick's side and cried: "Wuwuwu, little brother, please take pity on me and add a little to the price..."

"A deal is a deal. How could the price be adjusted afterwards? You can only blame yourself for having poor judgment."

Dick righteously refused, letting Xiao Nai cry and wail.

If Xiao Nai had endured and not sold it earlier, but brought the Sacred Shield here to Cooper, she would have become a small tycoon in the Royal Capital by now.

However, she thought Dick was a foolish son from a rich family and was greedy for the "huge profit" of two gold coins, thus losing a fortune.

But the main reason was that Xiao Nai was unlucky and encountered Dick, who possessed Perfect-level "Magic Item Identification".

Otherwise, just based on its appearance, this Sacred Shield would be worth at most a few silver coins, and no one would have come to buy it.

Dick looked at Cooper and said calmly: "If I wanted to sell it, I would have gone to the auction house long ago. I came to you to reforge the core and repair the damage."

Hearing this, Cooper nodded helplessly. He had already guessed Dick's purpose.

After all, who would bring a high-grade shield to a forge to be used as material for low-price recycling?

"Young man, my abilities are limited, I'm afraid I cannot fully restore this shield to perfection," Cooper said somewhat awkwardly.

Dick was not surprised. Although a Level 41 Blacksmith is the strongest in the Aimiya Empire, he is insignificant elsewhere and does not have the ability to repair high-grade Magic Items.

But there were no better options now. He could only wait until he left the Aimiya Empire later to find a higher-level Blacksmith to continue the repair.

"I understand, just do your best. The price is not an issue, but at least the core must be repaired to intermediate-advanced level..."

Dick stated the requirements very specifically, right at the limit of Cooper's ability.

After a few exchanges, Cooper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He could tell that Dick was simply a seasoned Magic Item merchant.

It was normal for Xiao Nai to stumble in Dick's hands.

Finally, Cooper accepted the commission and agreed on a delivery time with Dick.

After Dick left, Cooper patted Xiao Nai's shoulder and comforted her: "Don't cry anymore. What is yours will eventually be yours, and what isn't yours, you don't need to care about losing..."

After a few words of life philosophy, Xiao Nai had stopped crying. Cooper was like her own Grandpa, always looking out for her.

"By the way, how much did you sell this high-grade shield for?"

Hearing this, Xiao Nai's eyes became moist again, and she trembled as she held up two fingers.

"Oh, two thousand gold coins, that's not bad. For you, it's also a huge sum..."

Before Cooper could finish speaking, Xiao Nai shook her head vigorously.

"Uh... only two hundred? As a lesson, that's quite profound enough..."

Xiao Nai still shook her head, tears already streaming down.

"Alas, only twenty gold coins? Then Young Master Dick really taught you a lesson..."

"Wuwuwu, it was two gold coins!"

Xiao Nai burst into tears again. This matter was something she would never get over; she would remember it for a lifetime!