Chapter: Snow City Shopping
There were many pedestrians on the streets of Snow City. The atmosphere was bustling and lively.
Mina wore her maid outfit with a greatsword strapped to her back. The blade was about 1.6 meters long, wide and thick—it looked quite heavy. The contrast with Mina's slender figure was striking.
"Mina, if it's inconvenient to carry the greatsword, I can store it for you."
Cheng Yu had the system warehouse. He could put the sword away.
Mina shook her head. "No, I like carrying it."
As a warrior, having a greatsword on her back made her feel more secure.
Plus, carrying a heavy greatsword helped train her whole body's strength.
"Alright."
Cheng Yu walked forward.
At the end of the street, there was a square at the intersection with a huge fountain in the center.
Water columns rose from the fountain pool. Sunlight refracted through the mist, creating a beautiful rainbow.
A young, beautiful woman in white stood in front of the fountain, admiring the rainbow.
"Miss, hello. How do I get to the slave market in Snow City?"
Cheng Yu walked over and asked.
The woman in white turned around. Seeing Cheng Yu's sharp features and handsome face, her eyes practically turned into hearts. She'd never seen such a good-looking guy before. "Handsome, you're so hot! What's your name?"
If you're ugly, you'll never know how forward girls can be.
The woman in white looked ready to throw money at him.
"What are you doing?"
Cheng Yu was confused. He was just asking for directions.
"I want to get to know you! How old are you? What do you do? Where do you live? Do you have a wife?"
The woman in white approached Cheng Yu, growing more excited with each question. Her eyes were full of possessiveness.
You want to get to know me? I'm too embarrassed to call you out.
Cheng Yu grumbled internally and left with Mina.
"Handsome, why are you leaving?!"
"Sorry, I'm not interested in pure human women."
Looking at Cheng Yu's retreating back, the woman in white stood stunned. Not interested in pure human women? Does he have some kind of fetish?
After leaving the fountain square, Cheng Yu asked around and made his way to the Snow City Slave Market.
The slave market was actually a street lined with over a dozen slave shops. Many humans—men, women, young and old—were imprisoned in cages at the shop entrances.
According to the laws of the Black Sun Empire, people who owed debts or had committed serious crimes could become slaves.
Once someone became a slave, they were no different from livestock.
Many people came here to buy slaves. A few wanted to satisfy their desires, but most wanted to buy them back as free labor.
The two walked up to the counter at the entrance of a slave shop.
The clerk spotted the orc slave following Cheng Yu, and his expression immediately grew enthusiastic.
Anyone who could afford an orc girl was generally wealthy.
"Sir, do you have any needs? Our shop has all kinds of slaves, including orc beauties."
"I want to buy an orc slave with the mage profession. And she must be beautiful."
The main feature here was being eye-catching.
Hearing this, the clerk frowned. "You know, most beastfolk are warriors. Mages are rare, and beautiful ones are even rarer."
"So your shop doesn't have any, right?"
The clerk shrugged helplessly. "No."
Cheng Yu turned and left, heading to other shops to ask.
After asking eleven slave shops in a row, every answer was the same—no beautiful orc slaves with mage professions.
"There are very few mages among beastfolk. I lived among the tribes for over ten years and only saw a handful of beastfolk mages—all male."
As a beastfolk herself, Mina rarely saw mages among her people.
"I'll ask one more time. If there's nothing, forget it."
Approaching the front desk of the twelfth slave shop, Cheng Yu changed his question. "Brother, do you have any non-human mages here?"
"It just so happens our shop recently acquired a first-tier mage slave from the elf race," the clerk said respectfully.
"Female?"
"Female. Pretty."
Who could resist a beautiful elven mage?
Cheng Yu immediately perked up. "Take me to see her."
"She's not in the shop," the clerk said.
"Where is she?"
"This elven mage is valuable merchandise. Our boss has entrusted her to Michael Auction House. She's already been sent there."
"Valuable? How valuable?"
"Not only is she beautiful, but she's also royalty among the forest elves. She has exceptional talent in plant magic. Many people want to buy her."
Within the elves, there were different factions—light elves, dark elves, water elves, forest elves, fire elves, earth elves...
Different elven factions had different magical talents. Forest elves were born in forests and had naturally high aptitude for plant magic.
Cheng Yu now had over 700 gold coins. He wanted to try and see if he could buy this elf. "When's the auction?"
"The night after tomorrow," the clerk said.
"Alright, thank you."
Cheng Yu left the slave shop. He'd find a place to stay first, then go to the Michael Auction the night after tomorrow.
After sitting in a carriage for a day and a night, Cheng Yu and Mina hadn't eaten much.
"Mina, let's go get something to eat."
"Finally! I can eat!"
Mina was already starving. Her stomach was on the verge of protest.
After leaving the slave market, the two walked along the street looking for a place to eat.
At that moment, Cheng Yu spotted a sign hanging on a restaurant across the street. Five large characters were written on it: "Secret Fried Rice."
"Why is there an egg fried rice restaurant here?"
Cheng Yu was puzzled.
Common folk on the Celsis Continent all ate potatoes. No one knew how to make fried rice.
Crossing the street and walking into the restaurant, Cheng Yu saw a familiar figure inside—Marcus, the slave trader who'd bought the fried rice recipe before.
Marcus was sitting at a table, his fat face full of anxiety.
The fried rice restaurant's business wasn't terrible. It could make money—just not much.
"Marcus, long time no see." Cheng Yu greeted him.
Marcus saw Cheng Yu and looked suspicious. "Cheng Yu? Why did you come to Snow City?"
"I came to the main city to buy some things," Cheng Yu said. "What are you up to?"
"I opened a shop using the fried rice recipe you gave me, but the taste is always a bit off. You weren't afraid I'd steal your business, so you didn't write down the full recipe, did you?"
The fried rice cooked according to the recipe tasted slightly worse. Marcus suspected Cheng Yu had deliberately left something out.
He'd been about to go to Bailu Town to confront Cheng Yu when the man showed up in the main city on his own.
"I swear to God, the egg fried rice recipe I gave you is absolutely complete."
Cheng Yu placed his right hand over his heart.
"Really? Then why does the taste come out worse than yours?" Marcus still didn't believe him.
Cheng Yu's cooking skills were max level. Even with the recipe, there was no way Marcus could make it as delicious.
"Take out the recipe I wrote for you. Let me have a look."
Marcus pulled out the egg fried rice recipe.
"Did you add MSG to enhance the flavor when making the fried rice?"
"MSG? What's MSG?"
Marcus looked confused.
"A seasoning."
"Huh? MSG is a seasoning?!" Marcus looked shocked.
When he'd received the fried rice recipe, he'd seen something called MSG listed. He'd never heard of it.
He'd asked many chefs, but none of them knew what MSG was. Marcus had assumed Cheng Yu made a typo, so he'd ignored it.
That thing is actually a seasoning?!
"You didn't even add MSG. Of course the fried rice you make is worse than mine."
"Then... where can I buy this thing called MSG?" Marcus asked urgently.
He'd found the problem. As long as he solved the MSG issue, he could perfectly replicate Cheng Yu's fried rice, and business would boom.
"MSG is my unique secret seasoning. I'm the only one on the entire Celsis Continent who has it. Of course, if you need it, you can buy it from me."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Marcus suddenly realized why Cheng Yu had so readily sold him the fried rice recipe before.
"You only asked for the fried rice recipe. You didn't ask for the method of making MSG."
"This..."
Marcus was always called a profiteer. Now he realized Cheng Yu was an even bigger profiteer than him.
He was speechless, unable to voice his frustration.
There was no other way. Marcus asked Cheng Yu, "Can you sell me some of this seasoning called MSG?"
"Sure. One gold coin per packet."
???
Marcus was shocked. This seasoning called MSG seemed absurdly expensive—not cheap at all.
One gold coin was equivalent to two or three months' wages for an ordinary worker in the Black Sun Empire.
"That's the price. Take it or leave it," Cheng Yu said.
Marcus was so angry he could spit blood. He'd paid 100 gold coins and a manor for the fried rice recipe, and now he had to pay a high price for MSG too. This was highway robbery.
"Then I'll buy one packet and try it."
At this point, there was no other option. Marcus bought a packet of MSG to test whether it could truly replicate Cheng Yu's delicious egg fried rice.
Cheng Yu pulled a packet of MSG from the system warehouse. Marcus handed over a gold coin. Money and goods exchanged hands.