24 Hearts

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The Tenth Fragment, Altemia

Slowly, the old lady approached Judah.

“If you have something you’re looking for, can I help you? Or, do you wish to browse and bring it forward?”

“I will choose and take it myself, please.”

The old lady looked sick and unfit to walk around, so Judah politely declined. She told Judah to take his time before retreating to the counter to take her seat, then Judah began to look around her things.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Jeanne whispered, watching the sickly store owner. Was it okay to buy things here? Sure, the weapons around them seemed well-maintained, but Jeanne still had her doubts.

Judah went over to the nearest sack and pulled out a longsword, handing it over to Jeanne, “Look at it for yourself. The quality of the weapon is not bad.”

“Well… You are right.” When Judah handed the sword to her, its sharp edges took her by surprise. It was different from what she expected. The store looked old, but it felt like the store was cleaned spotless every day on the inside.

“If you need anything, I buy it at Lee Cham. I heard that the store’s quality is excellent.”

“No, I’m fine.” She replied right away. The Blue Lancer didn’t need any special weapons. She was able to summon spears and shields, including full plate armor. She didn’t need to buy or use anything else.

Judah left the bastard and longsword section, moving further into the store for the daggers. Despite being a small store, the shop offered a wide of weapons. The daggers sat by the corner.

‘Hmm. In the game, the store owner just sold it.’

In the game, NPCs show you a list of their items, sparing you the bother of looking for what you wanted. They sold the dagger with the highest price at the bottom of the list, which was the Altemia.

In detail, Altemia was hidden inside a dagger, like a traditional Russian doll, Matryoshka. The shopkeeper believed that the item was merely their heirloom and nothing else.

If you tried purchasing it with insufficient funds, the storekeeper would tell you, ‘This dagger is a product made by our great grandfather. It’s not for sale, but… If you really want this, I’ll sell it for a reasonable price. Since it’s an heirloom, I cannot lower or change its price.” and will later urge you to return once you have enough money to pay for it.

Perhaps, right now, he could just go up to the storekeeper and ask for an heirloom, but he didn’t wish to bother the old lady who seemed to keep on sighing now and then. So instead, Judah kept on picking up the daggers before him, then checked his information window to see if it was the fragment he was looking for.

‘Hmm? Why is…’

Judah had checked most of the daggers one by one, but nothing special deserved to be called an heirloom. The information window could not lie to him either, nor were there other daggers on display.

‘Is it hidden?’

Or perhaps someone had already bought it.

No, it can’t be. Judah believed so.

However, he couldn’t stop but feel anxious by the thought of it.

“Why does the store owner look so ill? There must be a temple here.” Jeanne mumbled, waiting for Judah as he scavenged the daggers.

She watched the old lady sighing at the counter over and over again. Jeanne was too worried about the storekeeper that she missed the grim frown upon Judah’s face.

“I don’t know.”

In truth, he knew, and it was no illness that made the old lady look so beaten down. Her daughter had a rare disease, and she could not be cured with priestly remedies or any alchemist medicines, all that was to improve her condition. But even that required a lot of money.

That’s why they were blessed with a hidden fragment that they could sell at a high price. And after purchasing the dagger, you can get a new quest from the store owner, which gives you the option to accept or not. It wasn’t essential. However, taking this quest will be of tremendous help when visiting the Elven Land later.

‘Even then, I can only get that quest if I get Altemia or not…’

Judah racked his brain on what they could do, juggling a dagger into the air and catching it as he was lost in thoughts.

He could simply go and ask the storekeeper for the fragment… But in the game, she had no idea about the fragment in this very room.

Judah rechecked the daggers, but nothing stood out enough to fit the heirloom he looked for. He sighed, putting down the last dagger he inspected. If he thought about it, who would even mix an heirloom within their regular merchandise?

They walked over to the counter, with Judah raising his hand politely to get the attention of the gloomy old lady. She looked back at them with woeful eyes, ones that made Jeanne’s heart swell with sympathies.

“Are these all the daggers you have here?”

“Yeah. Didn’t find anything you like?”

“No, that’s not the case. It didn’t have what I’m looking for…”

He paused. Judah’s eyes turned to the showcase behind the counter. There was a curtain hiding a showcase, and down at the lowermost compartment peeked a weapon draped with a small cloth. It was a dagger. Its gorgeous gleam told him it was an expensive item. There were other weapons in the showcase, but his interests weren’t for any of them.

‘No way.’ Judah checked his information system about the dagger.

──────────────────────

[Name: A dagger in which the craftsman has hidden something]

[Rating: Legendary _ Ordinary Sword]

[Equipment: Dagger]

[Durability: 5/5]

[Attack power: 30]

[Explanation]

It looks like a dagger made by an excellent blacksmith on the outside, but it has a deep secret. There is something special in it.

-Passive: A special secret is hidden within the dagger.

──────────────────────

He found it! That was it!

Inside that dagger was Altemia. Judah, trying his best to calm his beating heart, pointed at the dagger in the showcase.

“May I please see that dagger?”

“The weapons in the showcase belong to the house. My apologies, but I cannot show them to you.”

The storekeeper wouldn’t sell it. Usually, he would have turned around here, but he needed to buy that dagger. Things weren’t this tricky in the game.

“I’ll give you any amount you want. I want you to sell that dagger to me.”

“…”

A troubled look came across the old lady’s face. If she were to accept the bargain, she needed to decide and give the amount she wanted for it.

“15 gold coins. I’ll give you 15 gold coins.”

“15 gold coins, really?”

“Yes. Even if you decline my offer, you won’t have a good chance to sell something at this price. What do you think?”

The dagger was available for ten gold coins in the game, but Judah added five more to it. The lady’s eyes widened, and her fists clenched. She bit her lip, and Judah could tell the turmoil she was in.

“Could you please give me a minute? I’ll talk to my husband and come back.”

She jumped up from her seat and walked to the back of her shop. Jeanne grabbed Judah by the shoulder.

“Are you insane, Judah? What is it with that dagger for you to pay such huge sums for it? 15 gold coins… You can get an excellent weapon with such! A waste of money, this is! Absolutely crazy!”

“Oh, don’t worry, Jeanne. I’m insane. But for now, just— I’ll explain later. Let me take a look at it, and you’ll be surprised later.”

“Ha!” Jeanne huffed, face churned in disbelief. Judah tried talking to her again, but she only closed her lips, but sighed a moment later, “Okay. I’d like you to give me a proper explanation that I can understand. Whoo— But give me a moment, for now, I’d like to go out for a bit.”

“Okay. We’ll be done with this soon…”

Jeanne left the shop without looking back, grumbling to herself as she stormed off. Judah watched her go with a bitter smile on his face. Shortly after that, the storekeeper returned with a middle-aged man who seemed to struggle with his movements. He looked back at the lady before wringing his hands. The man walked over to the counter and looked down at Judah.

“You want to buy our heirloom?”

“Yes, I’ll give you 15 gold coins.”

The man stared at him in disbelief. How could a young thing like him pay a big sum of 15 gold coins? Instead of speaking further, Judah opened his coat and pulled out the bag inside. He dropped the coins on the table, and they shimmered brightly despite the low light of the store. As a blacksmith who touched metal on a daily dose, the older man knew right away that they were real gold. He quickly took the gold coins Judah had presented.

“My great grandfather made the dagger, and it’s not a great weapon. I don’t think it’s worth 15 gold coins. Wouldn’t you regret this? I would rather sell you a different weapon.”

’15 Gold coins weren’t worth it?’ Judah barely endured how much he wanted to laugh at the remark.

Whatever continent he was in, there was no other place for him to get a fragment for the price of 15 gold coins.

“No, it’s okay. All I want is that dagger.”

“I see… If you say so. Then, give me a second.”

He walked through the curtain of the showcase and took out the dagger from inside. The dagger, without a speck of dust, flashed sharply when it met the light. Judah took in the sight of it. The system was yet to tell him that he had acquired the fragment.

“Thank you. Thank you very much.” Suddenly, the lady next to the man bowed to Judah and thanked him. Her voice wavered as she cried. The man approached the woman and hugged her, and soon he was crying as well.

“I think I bought it at a fair price. You shouldn’t thank me for it. But what are you thanking me for? Is there a story I should know?” Judah asked.

The man debated what to say, only sighing at the end, “No big deal. We just needed the money.”

“How is it not a big deal?!” While crying in his arms, the lady raised her head and exclaimed to her husband.

Taken aback by her outburst, he grabbed his wife’s shoulder and replied with a firm voice, “Honey, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It doesn’t matter! How can you easily say that it’s no big deal when we have to see her suffer every day!”

Judah had no choice but to wait for them to calm down, not daring to intervene in their conversation.