Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz)

Chapter Ten : Entering Mistwood

After EeDechi handed over a 50-gold-coin deposit, the Adventurer's Guild stepped in as notary, sealing a magic-branded contract between them. Barrett officially became EeDechi's guide, tasked with getting her safely through Mistwood to Golden Sheaf City.

The contract came with an unbreakable curse clause: if Barrett bailed on his duties and broke the deal, the 3rd Tier spell Crimson Curse would haunt him for life.

It was a bright, sunny morning in Montell City. Following Barrett's supply list, he and EeDechi split up to hit the city market and the weapon shop run by the Adventurer's Guild to stock up.

Having seen EeDechi wipe the floor with Wood, Barrett had zero doubts about her skills.

But when they met back up at noon as planned, Barrett realized, to his dismay, that his orichalcum-level elite adventurer buddy had been played for a total sucker by some shady merchant.

"This glow potion you bought..." Barrett picked up a fancy glass bottle etched with an owl design, filled to the brim with what looked like deep blue potion.

He unscrewed the cap and poured it all into another clear vial. The liquid turned out to be a weak, pale blue—while the fancy owl bottle itself stayed dark blue.

"You got ripped off! This glass bottle's just dyed dark blue—the glow potion inside is cheap, pale blue junk." Barrett shook his head, then grabbed a bundle of steel wire, yanking it hard. The whole thing fell apart in a mess.

"This twisted wire's fake too. And this healing potion's green? Total scam! This steel dagger's just magic-plated crap, and this glowstone, and this... and this... and this..."

Barrett kept going, tossing EeDechi's purchases out of the bag like they were trash.

EeDechi, with her oversized giant sword strapped to her back, crouched on the ground, her face beet red with embarrassment, head buried in her arms, too ashamed to even look up.

To be fair, it wasn't really her fault. Sure, our EeDechi was an orichalcum-level high-tier adventurer, but she'd only been in this world for a little over two months.

When it came to slaying high-level monsters and enemies, she totally earned her orichalcum rank. But as far as adventurer street smarts went? She probably couldn't even keep up with the lowest copper-level newbies.

Copper-level adventurers were at least born and raised in this world, natives who knew the ropes. EeDechi, though? Fresh off the boat, she spoke the language but was clueless about everything else.

Plus, the merchants in Montell all had about the same Justice Value—equally low, to be exact. EeDechi had no way to tell an honest trader from a sleazy con artist.

Barrett picked up a bottle of pale yellow vitality potion, watching the yellowish stuff inside slowly settle into a clump at the bottom, shaking his head.

He decided to school this adventurer, who outranked him by a level, on some basics: "For someone like you with zero knack for spotting fakes, steer clear of buying stuff from Gyxiya caravans. Eight out of ten Gyxiya are shady dealers, and the other two are thieves or fortune-tellers. How do you spot a Gyxiya? Look for caravans with a yellow seven-star emblem. Sure, some Gyxiya don't bother with the emblem. Then you've got to pay close attention—check if the caravan's got a fancy red-fringed canopy or if the seller's got that rolled-tongue accent from the northern City Alliance..."

Barrett went on and on, rattling off tip after tip. He realized just how much adventuring know-how he'd racked up—way too much to cram into EeDechi's head in one go. A little pride bubbled up inside him.

This orichalcum-level "elite" adventurer might be a beast in a fight, but she's still gotta sit there and take my lessons like a good student.

EeDechi stood up, steadying the giant sword strapped to her back, cleared her throat, and said, "Look, As your employer and direct supervisor, you should be mindful of how you speak to me. Otherwise, you might have a hard time navigating the bureaucratic world. As a leader, I only need to provide the general direction. The specifics, of course, are up to you to handle."