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After that, everyone asked Fang Li when he would be leaving.
To this, Fang Li gave a straightforward answer: "Probably in three days."
Iris had also asked him the same question earlier. At the time, Fang Li gave her the same response. So, the farewell banquet that Iris planned for Fang Li was set for the night three days later.
During those three days, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness, the group of four, seemed to understand that Fang Li's decision couldn't be changed. With solid reasoning behind it, and Fang Li assuring them that he would return within a year at most, they simply gave up any other thoughts and focused instead on preparing for his departure.
Specifically, they helped Fang Li purchase potions and magical items.
Until now, Fang Li had always taken on the most difficult quests, and the rewards and bonuses he received were ridiculously high. As a result, the savings he had accumulated were frankly absurd, enough to fund an entire nation's operations for a year.
If he just held on to this money, it might not be of much use in the other worlds he would travel to. After all, the currency in this world wasn't limited to just gold coins, there were also copper coins, silver coins, and even paper bills.
Gold coins wouldn't be a problem. Even in other worlds, they could be sold off or exchanged for equal or even greater value, making them quite convenient for Fang Li.
But the rest of the currency, especially the paper money, was pretty much useless. The best choice was to spend it all now.
Of course, Fang Li could have left the money to Kazuma and the others.
Only... if he did that, he couldn't guarantee these guys wouldn't completely degenerate, living lives of absolute hedonism and chaos.
So, Fang Li decisively discarded that idea.
After all, as long as Iris was around, these people wouldn't starve to death.
Thus, Fang Li decided to spend all of it on useful potions and magical items, the kind that could still serve him well in other worlds.
As for the gold and treasure originally looted from the national treasury, Fang Li returned it to Iris.
Back then, he had taken it with the mindset of "might as well, don't get short-changed." But now? The princess of the kingdom had practically proposed to him, and the Kingdom of Belzerg was famous for its martial prowess, its economic development lagged far behind other countries.
The treasure he had taken, even if it didn't cripple the kingdom, would definitely cause some serious pain. So he figured he'd better return it.
In this situation, Fang Li also took out all his remaining personal wealth and asked Iris to have someone help him acquire the most valuable and practical items.
Iris happily agreed. She even set aside all her official duties and personally accompanied Fang Li shopping in the city. For once, she genuinely enjoyed the outing, and her sadness about Fang Li's departure lightened noticeably.
Surprisingly, Claire was unusually considerate this time and didn't interfere, although there was no way she would feel at ease letting Iris go alone with Fang Li, so she forcibly dragged Rain along and followed behind the two all day.
Worth mentioning is that Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness also volunteered to help.
"We're just shopping, right? That's my specialty!" (Kazuma)
"Behold my divine eyes! Who could be better than me at spotting quality goods?" (Aqua)
"When it comes to the quality of potions and magical items, no one in this world can beat the masterpieces of the Crimson Magic Clan." (Megumin)
"The Dustiness family has some reserves. I can't just take them out for no reason… But if you're willing to pay the equivalent value in gold, then I'll help you get access to some of the powerful potions and magic items passed down through my family." (Darkness)
And so, Fang Li entrusted the majority of the funds to those four.
One had to admit, this approach was actually correct.
Thanks to his ridiculously high Luck stat, Kazuma mostly bought high-quality goods, and even managed to haggle the prices down to their lowest. It's just that he seemed to have secretly pocketed a few tips for himself, but considering how much he brought back, Fang Li pretended not to notice.
Megumin went straight back to her hometown and, at incredibly low prices, purchased a large number of extremely powerful potions and magical items, proving her previous claims weren't just bragging.
However, because she was used to being poor and often couldn't even afford three meals a day, she also bought a huge amount of food for Fang Li based on her own value system, completely unnecessary. Still, compared to the real value of the powerful items, this minor waste didn't matter at all, and Fang Li had no complaints.
Darkness, true to her word, raided her family estate and brought back numerous precious treasures, some of which were one-of-a-kind ultra-rare items. Her haul was no less impressive than Megumin's. However, she also brought back whips, candles, ropes, and extremely revealing tight clothing, utterly tsukkomi-worthy items, which Fang Li promptly threw away.
As for Aqua, she showed up on the third day proudly holding an egg, gleaming with self-satisfaction.
"Hey, listen, don't be too shocked. This is a dragon egg, okay? It can hatch the most powerful dragon ever! The shop owner told me, once it hatches, it could even wipe out the Magic Royal Capital with a single spit. Even if an entire kingdom pooled all its wealth, they couldn't afford this treasure!
But! He said I looked cute, so out of the kindness of his heart, he let me buy it for whatever I could afford. I was so touched, I gave him all my money! Though I don't know why someone with such a treasure would be running such a crappy little stall, and I couldn't find him afterward no matter how hard I searched…
But this is definitely worth it, Aaaahhhh! My egg! Aaahhhh!"
Fang Li, deadpan, smashed Aqua's "dragon egg" on the spot, then asked Claire, who had command over the knight order and city guards, to strip and arrest the shady stall owner who sold it to her.
After much effort, they finally recovered all the money, and as compensation, Fang Li also gave Claire all the alcohol Aqua had secretly stashed, which Claire used to throw herself a party.
Aqua? She cried for an entire day.
Even though Fang Li was about to leave, these guys were still as unrestrained and chaotic as ever. It made Fang Li begin to wonder, was leaving them behind here basically sentencing the Royal Capital to doom? Would they one day cause the downfall of the kingdom, leading to the Demon King's army trampling the front lines and conquering the world?
Poor Fang Li, he'd previously claimed he didn't care at all what happened to this country or this world, but now? He was being forced to care. It was exhausting.
Still, all things considered, Fang Li had successfully exchanged all of his wealth for useful items.
So many, in fact, that even the Black Ring couldn't hold them all anymore.
Thankfully, Iris gave him an artifact.
Fairy Bag
Type: Accessory
Rank: Rank 3
Effect: A space-type item, capable of storing items. Unlimited capacity.
With this artifact, Fang Li could finally retire the Black Ring, and gifted it to Iris. After all, even though the Black Ring had a limited storage capacity, it also gave a +2 boost to all attributes, making it very convenient in every way.
And just like that, night fell.
The farewell banquet arrived quietly.
(End Of This Chapter)