Chapter 22: Draining Wiz Dry

The next day, Kobayashi went to visit Wiz.

The Cabbage Harvest Day had not only filled the pockets of the adventurers, but with Kobayashi’s help, Wiz’s magic item shop had also seen a massive surge in popularity. Although it was not yet enough to reverse the prejudices others held against her shop, Kobayashi believed that with his continued, vigorous promotion, it would surely become more popular—provided, of course, that Wiz didn’t start stocking some bizarre, useless trinkets.

"So, the revenue that day was quite impressive, right?"

"Yes! 5.5 million Eris! That single day brought in more than the entire month’s revenue! Thank you so much for your promotion, Kobayashi!"

Wiz was overjoyed. Aside from a brief period of high foot traffic when she first opened, her monthly revenue had consistently been in the red. It was truly heart-wrenching that such a powerful Archwizard and Lich was forced to scavenge for discarded vegetables at the market just to eat—though why a Lich even needed to eat remained a mystery.

Kobayashi was happy for her as well. "Congratulations. Keep it up, and you’ll be able to climb out of poverty in no time."

"Thank you! I will definitely work hard and seize this opportunity to fix the shop’s deficit!"

Wiz’s excitement was unstoppable; she even gave a little hop of encouragement to herself. This caused her ample bosom, constrained by her belt, to bounce with the influence of gravity, tracing a breathtaking, perfect arc in mid-air.

So that was the answer to the mystery of why she needed to eat. And what was up with this Lich? Why was she so... jiggly?

Kobayashi quickly tilted his head back.

"Kobayashi, are you alright?"

"It’s nothing. My nose just felt itchy, like something was about to flow out."

Forgive him, but the allure of this frail Lich shopkeeper seemed even stronger than that of the succubus Luna. Was it because a Lich’s status was higher than a succubus’s, or did he simply have a preference for someone like Wiz?

Wiz hurried over to help Kobayashi sit down, asking with concern, "Are you okay? Do you need to see a High Priest?"

"No, no, it's fine. I’ve just been feeling a bit overheated lately; I’ll be fine after drinking some hot water." Kobayashi waved a hand to signal he was alright.

Upon hearing this, Wiz rushed to prepare some tea. After a brief moment of bustle, Kobayashi raised his teacup and said, "Wiz, the revenue for this month shouldn't be in the red anymore, right?"

It was impossible not to feel proud about turning a shop that had always been in debt into a profitable one; otherwise, he wouldn't have come to claim credit so quickly.

However—

"Well, about that..." Wiz looked slightly embarrassed. She hesitated before saying, "Under normal circumstances, that would be true, but I used that money to purchase new magic items, so it’s still in the red."

*Pfft—!*

The tea Kobayashi had just taken into his mouth sprayed out instantly, reflecting a crystalline light in the air like a Merlion fountain, before falling back down to soak the floor.

"Ah! Are you okay? Was the tea too hot?" Wiz pulled out a towel to wipe him off.

Being served by a beautiful girl was wonderful, but Kobayashi was in no mood to enjoy it. He grabbed Wiz’s hand and said urgently, "You spent the money? All of it? 5.5 million Eris?!"

"Yes, I bought all new magic items. They're right over there."

Following the direction of Wiz’s finger, Kobayashi saw a pile of strangely shaped junk in the corner. He had noticed them when he first walked in, but he had mistaken them for trash that Wiz had cleaned out and was planning to throw away. He hadn't expected them to be magic items!

Wiz ran over excitedly and picked one up to show him. "Look, look! This is a Crystal Bomb. The effect is that after injecting mana, it explodes within one second. Its power is equal to a top-tier Explosion spell, and the blast radius reaches 100 meters! Isn't that an incredibly powerful magic item?!"

The power of a top-tier Explosion spell with a 100-meter radius was indeed exaggerated. But a one-second fuse was a hilariously terrible design! Among the rookie adventurers in Axel, how many would dare to say they could throw a bomb 100 meters in under a second? And how many could survive the damage of an Explosion spell?

Ultimately, this item had such severe limitations and niche use cases that, under normal circumstances, no one would ever buy it.

"They are all part of the Crystal Bomb series. The production costs were incredibly high, so buying them all for 5.5 million Eris was such a bargain!" Wiz beamed with a happy smile, as if she had made a killing.

With her usual miraculous lack of judgment and her powerful talent for wasting money, he really wanted to tell her to stop running the shop and let him support her if she couldn't make ends meet. But he knew that was impossible. Wiz kept the shop open to await the return of her former adventurer companions who had told her, "If you're tired, you can come back and play anytime," and to fulfill her contract with Vanir to earn money to help build a dungeon as payment for her reincarnation as a Lich. Whether it was the promise to her friends or the contract with the devil, Wiz could never give up the shop.

Forget it, he would just have to help her out more. Wiz’s problems would improve once Vanir arrived; he could leave her to that devil lord who loved to toy with human hearts and let him deal with the headache.

You want to build your own dungeon?

Then you’ll first have to make Wiz’s shop profitable.

A smirk identical to that of a certain devil lord tugged at the corner of Kobayashi’s mouth.

Once he had finished his tea, Kobayashi brought up the second reason for his visit. "Wiz, the number of zombies in the graveyard has been increasing lately. Do you know what’s going on?"

"I’m sorry. It seems they are reacting to my mana, so..."

"No, no, I’m not angry. I just wanted to confirm if another Lich had snuck into Axel."

Although Wiz was a Lich, she was kind by nature. She had once set up a magic circle in the graveyard to help ghosts who couldn't afford a priest to pray for them ascend to heaven. However, due to the influence of her own powerful mana, she would often unintentionally cause the corpses in the graveyard to react to that energy and turn into zombies. It had caused a few minor disturbances before, but they were always kept within a manageable range. Still, the number had been higher lately, and he felt something was wrong, so he had come to ask.

After some thought, he said, "Oh, right, Wiz!"

"Yes?"

"You’re a Lich, right? I remember that Lich skills are quite powerful. Why don’t you teach me some practical Lich-class skills?"

"But Kobayashi, you’re an adventurer, aren't you?"

It was well known that "Adventurers" were barely worthy of the name, primarily because they only received one measly skill point per level. And since Lich was a high-level, rare class, the skill point costs were usually quite steep.

"Don't worry about that. Even though I’m an adventurer, I do have a few skill points saved up." Kobayashi pulled out his adventurer card. His level had already reached 20, and he had over 60 skill points—more than enough to learn most Lich-class skills.

"Wiz, I’ve done you such a huge favor, so why don't you compensate me with your bo... (skills)? Hehehehe~"

Kobayashi approached Wiz, full of anticipation. But his strange smile was misunderstood by the timid Lich, who looked at him with teary eyes, feeling helpless as he gradually drew near.

And just like that, Wiz was drained completely dry.