Chapter 107: The Trading Market

An hour later, after dinner, Chen Zixuan logged back into the game.

Because he leveled up so quickly that he couldn’t find any wilderness area matching his level, Chen Zixuan didn’t go out of the city to hunt monsters. Instead, he put on his hood, left the inn, and headed briskly toward a certain area on the west side of the Main City.

According to the signpost next to the central square, that area should be the trading market where players were free to trade among themselves.

His goal tonight was to check out the trading area and see if any players were currently selling rare materials.

After all, the server had only just opened a few days ago, so Chen Zixuan didn’t expect to be able to purchase all the materials needed to craft the [Rose Maid] set in one go.

As long as he could find two or three kinds, he would already be very satisfied.

He planned to buy up some other materials as well—so that, when the game reached its mid-to-late stage and players urgently needed materials to craft and upgrade equipment, he could make a tidy profit.

Just as Chen Zixuan passed by a street corner, the sound of synchronized footsteps suddenly came from the other side of the intersection. It was like iron boots striking the ground—crisp and carrying a martial air filled with military severity.

“Are those the city guards patrolling the royal city?”

After all, this was the royal city, and there were a lot of guards patrolling around. Chen Zixuan had run into them before.

Though they were all NPCs, they were very high level—at this point, players couldn’t hope to provoke them.

In order to avoid trouble, the silver-haired girl pulled her hood more tightly around herself, leaned subtly against the wall at the side of the street, and planned to let those guards pass by before moving on herself.

However, contrary to expectations, the guards didn’t appear right away. The sound of iron-shod boots drew closer and closer until, a few seconds later, a group of heavily armored knights gradually entered Chen Zixuan’s field of vision.

Huddled in the corner, Chen Zixuan covertly glanced over with the corner of his eye.

At the front of the group was a girl who looked about eighteen or nineteen. She wore exquisitely crafted silver armor plates. Her pale golden hair was tied back into a high ponytail, and while her eyes had a noble violet hue, they were not gentle but rather sharp—like unsheathed blades.

If a person’s aura could be compared to weapons, then while Cecilia was a dark blade capable of hurting others, this girl was absolutely a knight’s greatsword—sharp, noble, and radiating an overt, intimidating presence, as if she had no concept of concealment.

In fact, she was indeed carrying a golden-white greatsword of a knight on her back.

Just one glance was enough to spark a powerful sense of danger deep in Chen Zixuan’s heart.

He didn’t know why, but he sensed an extremely dangerous aura from this girl.

With an upright bearing, the knight girl walked down the street without glancing sideways, as proud and graceful as a swan.

Meanwhile, the silver-haired girl huddled in the corner kept her gaze lowered, saying nothing.

Ordinary guards already had high enough levels; one could only imagine how terrifying the strength of a girl leading a band of knights must be.

After all, this was a human city, and Cecilia’s race was Vampire—part of a camp in hostile opposition to humans.

If discovered, things would definitely not end well.

Being executed in public might even be getting off lightly…

Thankfully, the group of knights did not stop and quickly disappeared at the far end of the street. Chen Zixuan breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left that street, quickly heading in the direction of the trading market.

On the other side, however, aedeline, who had just rounded the corner, suddenly stopped in her tracks as if she sensed something.

“Aedeline, my lady, did you discover something new?” asked a knight at her side, approaching with nervous trepidation.

Although this girl looked young, her background was anything but simple.

She was not only the most promising candidate for the next captain of the royal city’s knight order, but also exceptionally ruthless in her actions, especially zealous in hunting down non-human races hiding in the royal city. Few who fell into her hands came to a good end.

Based on that background, it was only natural that her subordinates would fear her.

Aedeline stretched her sore shoulders ever so slightly, her ample chest bouncing conspicuously—a sight that immediately drew the gaze of several passing players.

After thinking silently for a few moments, she suddenly smiled, a glint of excitement flashing in her beautiful violet eyes.

“I didn’t expect those flying rats to have infiltrated the royal city already. Interesting.”

“You mean… there’s a Vampire?”

The knight who had spoken earlier tensed up instantly, grasping the hilt of his sword at his waist.

“As a Holy Knight, to show such cowardice—don’t you feel ashamed?”

Apparently displeased with her subordinate’s reaction, aedeline stepped closer, her face expressionless as she interrogated him.

The young knight was caught off guard. His face turned pale at the words, but he quickly came to his senses, standing as straight as possible and not daring to retreat in the slightest.

“Hmph.”

The girl let out a cold chuckle, glancing at him sidelong before turning and continuing onward.

Her knights fell silent as well, following closely behind their commander, striving for perfect order.

Though they hadn’t been together long, all of them knew their captain was not a normal person and no one dared question her further.

As they walked, the girl suddenly gave a nervous laugh, muttering to herself, “Interesting. To think you could evade my eyes—you’ve made some progress after all.”

“I’ll let you off this once. The royal city is so small; next time you better hope our paths don’t cross again…”

Meanwhile, Chen Zixuan, who had long since left, was still unaware that, even though he had tried to avoid them, he had been firmly remembered by a cunning she-wolf.

A few minutes later, a stretch of open, flat ground appeared before him—nestled between several buildings and about one fifth the size of the central square.

He had arrived at the trading market.

Even though it was only the third day since launch, the sheer number of players meant many had already set up stalls along the roadside, their tables piled high with various materials and weapons. Some people wove between the stalls, searching for items they wanted.

Ensuring no one around noticed him, the silver-haired girl pulled her hood even lower, doing her best to completely conceal her face and those two highly recognizable ponytails.

Then, Chen Zixuan ambled to the nearest stall—the one with the largest crowd watching. There might just be some good stuff here.

Peering through the gaps between people, he swept his gaze over the stall—and was surprised to see a skill book placed in the most prominent position.

Though it was only an ordinary white-grade item, for regular players, it was already quite rare.

Why had he never gotten such luck with white-grade skill book drops?

***

New names, locations, skills, and techniques introduced:

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