Armed to the Teeth

When Roland went to the dining room in the morning, elder sister Natasha acted as if nothing had happened at all, greeting Roland with a smile.

Her body had undergone a noticeable change. The demonic aura had vanished, and the horns on top of her head were completely gone.

"Come and have breakfast," elder sister Natasha called out to Roland.

Both of them pretended that nothing had happened the previous night.

During the meal, Roland inquired about the matter of servants and stated a few requirements.

After listening, Wallace shook his head and said, "I don't have any suitable servants on hand right now... and your conditions are too demanding."

Pausing for a moment, he added, "If you're in a hurry, you can keep an eye out today when you pass through the Black Forest on your way to the academy. Some magical beasts should be able to suffice temporarily... Besides, there is something that might barely be usable. We can get it after we buy your equipment and magical items."

After breakfast, Wallace dragged Roland out onto the street, intending to sort out everything Roland needed for enrollment as quickly as possible and then dispatch him off to the academy without delay.

An hour later, Roland walked out of the tailor's shop wearing a set of Fire Demon Lizard Demon Hunter leather armor, mooncloth vestments, and an elven hooded cloak.

This outfit could be described as impervious to blades, spears, and fire. When Roland had flipped through the Codex of Alaya, its effects were listed as: [Magic Resistance +23%, Evasion +8%, Fire Magic Resistance +2, Physical Resistance +2].

Roland felt that the physical defense of this equipment was comparable to plate armor, and ordinary bows and crossbows simply could not pierce it. Weak fire magic with less than 2 units of damage could basically be ignored.

Its effects were equivalent to a fairly decent defensive wondrous item. The total price was 500 magic stones.

Roland spent 0 magic stones.

Because Wallace signed his name on the bill at the tailor's shop—on credit.

Before leaving, the old tailor cautiously hinted to Wallace that a certain young lady had already accumulated quite a few unpaid tabs here.

Wallace frowned and immediately scolded him with a couple of remarks. The general meaning was: If a certain young lady deigns to grace this place in person, how dare you even mention money to me? You should put up a sign and draw a circle around the young lady's footprint!

Sweating profusely from the scolding, the old tailor bowed and watched Wallace and Roland depart into the distance.

Turning back, Wallace told Roland, "Remember! The more flat broke you are, the more you have to puff out your chest and pretend to be wealthy. If you and the young lady act even slightly frugal today, all the creditors will come knocking at the door tomorrow, and the Alexandra family's house will collapse!"

Roland's expression was wonderfully complicated: 'Just how poor has the Alexandra family actually become?!'

'No wonder when we left the day before yesterday, the senior sister didn't give me a single magic stone!'

'Just how much external debt does the senior sister owe?'

'If I really marry into the family in the future, won't I end up shouldering these debts as well?'

Roland felt as though he had been roped onto a pirate ship.

'Well... it shouldn't come to that. It's all a fake arranged marriage. Once this storm blows over, I might not continue using the Alexandra family name, so I won't need to pay off the debts... The two of us aren't actually getting married, surely she couldn't force me to marry her, right?'

Wallace told Roland that although the purchase was made on credit using the Alexandra family name, Roland would definitely have to pay it back in the future.

Look at that; such a grand family would haggle with a mere apprentice over such a small amount of money—what else could Roland say?

Naturally, he indicated that he would pay back the money.

"Don't go foolishly running to the tailor's shop to pay the debt yourself. Every single debt we owe must never be paid off! Pay one, and all the others will come knocking! Just pay a little bit of interest each month."

Wallace warned, "Return these five hundred magic stones to the young lady... No, you can't hand them directly to her; she can't accept money from you face-to-face. You have to give the money to me first, and then I will pass it on to the young lady."

Roland's expression grew very peculiar.

It sounded like the dignified heir of the Alexandra family, eldest Miss Catherine, was lacking even 500 magic stones, yet she was too embarrassed to ask Roland for them to his face!

Therefore, Roland had to take a detour, handing the money to Wallace first, who would then pass it along to the senior sister.

'Sigh,' Roland sighed inwardly: 'As a dependent son-in-law, I'm starting to give her pocket money before I've even entered the household... Which of us is actually keeping the other?'

"Come on, let's keep going!" Wallace grabbed Roland and hurried off to the next shop.

Two hours later, Roland had finished buying everything. This time, Wallace did not use credit because these were all small, miscellaneous items.

The purchased items mainly included all the magical items required by a wizard apprentice, several valuable combat-grade potions, textbooks needed for enrollment, and so on.

The magical items Roland chose were the finest available. Basically, whatever Wallace owned, Roland bought in full, and the quality was even superior to what Wallace used.

In addition, Roland purchased many combat-grade magic potions: some for healing wounds, some for restoring magic power, and some for removing curses.

Furthermore, Roland bought a substitute doll.

This item could fend off a medium-level apprentice's dark magic—such as curses, hexes, mind control, and other magic that was difficult to guard against using the 'Lantern Barrier'. The substitute doll could block one lethal blow for Roland.

Roland had originally wanted to buy a comprehensive encyclopedia of daily spells, but Wallace told him that such books could be borrowed from the library, so Roland managed to save that sum of money.

From then on, Roland had acquired everything needed prior to enrollment, leaving 70 magic stones in his pocket.

Counting his money, Roland stared blankly: "Today I spent over three hundred magic stones in total... My original budget was forty magic stones..."

Pausing for a moment, Roland looked at Wallace: "Didn't you say earlier that you have purification-type potions here?"

A joyful bloom spread across Wallace's aged face: "Ah, Roland, today is your lucky day. I checked my inventory in the basement this morning and found that they are all completely intact—my potions are the finest potions on the entire street! They can purify pollution, delay the effects of curses, and heal injuries as well! They are practically omnipotent!"

"Do such potions really exist?" Roland frowned: "How much will this cost?"

"Not expensive... but also very expensive," Wallace stroked his beard and said, "It's very expensive when sold to others, but selling it to you... 50 magic stones, buy one get one free."

If Wallace hadn't just been bragging, this price... was simply absurdly cheap.

Roland couldn't help but look at Wallace suspiciously.

"Haha, my young brother Roland, although the things I sell are often criticized by people, my clients have never thought of switching to another partner. Because my goods are genuinely useful."

Wallace changed the subject and said, "However, I have one small condition."

At that moment, the two of them passed a 'quest notice board'. Today was a holiday, and since the new students had been enrolled for three months, many people were trying to go out and take on quests during the break.

Most of the quests on this board were located near the academy and had lower difficulty levels. Some people planning to return to the academy today would stop by to pick up a quest and earn some extra cash.

Seeing that there were quite a few people here, Wallace pulled Roland and said, "Let's go, let's go into the alley to talk—hehehe, as for this condition, it's just that I happen to have a wondrous item that's difficult to sell off, and you happen to need a servant..."

Roland interrupted, "Wallace, if I buy your potions, I'll only have 20 magic stones left."

"You can buy on credit! Pay in installments!"

With these words, the two of them entered a small alley.

Roland asked with some curiosity, "What kind of wondrous item could it be that you're forcing me to buy it?"

Wallace raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Do you remember the Wind Prince from yesterday?"

Hearing the mention of this Wind Prince, Roland instantly lost interest.

He already had plenty of wondrous items, and the Wind Prince... was completely all show and no substance, a total white elephant.

It looked mighty and impressive, but it could only deal with rookies.

Moreover, the Wind Prince lacked sentience, and Roland did not want a servant of that sort.

Roland clearly had no intention of buying it, but Wallace's next words made Roland realize that he really needed to swallow this white elephant.

"First of all, your enemies at this stage are primarily magical beasts. Magical beasts can't handle the Wind Prince the way I can. It's an artifact for dealing with rookies and small fry! This Wind Prince will serve you just fine all the way until the mid-level apprentice stage."

"Secondly, your magic and wondrous items can be used for killing people to seize treasures, or for dueling magical beasts in single combat. But using them openly in a crowd is far too conspicuous. An electric arc combined with the Wind Prince is the absolute best combination for a wealthy, foolish noble freshman who knows nothing yet loves to show off!"

Roland: "......."

"Lastly..." Wallace pulled out the Wind Prince magic ring. Judging from the materials of this ring, it was clearly a top-tier wondrous item—though, of course, the Wind Prince didn't live up to it.

Wallace said, "If it's just for display, who can tell that it's trash? I don't have time to put it up at an auction house to sell, but you do! You can list it at the auction house later to fool some fools. Wealthy fools will definitely pay a high price to buy it!"

Roland: "......."