Chapter 132: The General Store

[Notification] A first-tier magical beast, Frost Spider, has been discovered. Would you like to place it in the beast pen?

Jia Zhengjin selected “Confirm,” putting the Frost Spider into the beast pen before clicking the treatment option at the feeding trough.

Treatment and taming together would take a total of 125 hours. As expected, the stronger the creature’s combat abilities, the longer it took to tame.

The beast pen could still accommodate three more creatures. Jia Zhengjin decided to first gather four low-tier magical beasts. Although that might not sound like many, their combat strength was absolutely incomparable to those several thousand kobolds!

As for upgrading the beast pen again, he was in no hurry.

His immediate priority was to raise the levels of the arrow towers around the city and improve its defenses as much as possible. After all, whether dealing with city guards or dangerous creatures approaching from the forest, automatically attacking arrow towers were far better than any other defensive measures.

He had to ensure the city’s safety first—and the safety of the civilians living within it!

Apart from upgrading the arrow towers, the remaining materials had to be used as much as possible to arm the kobold troops stationed inside the city and at Mine No. 1.

Only after the kobolds were fully equipped would he consider upgrading the city’s other buildings!

Of course, for newly acquired blueprints such as the general store, whose material requirements did not appear particularly excessive, he would build them immediately and see what exactly they had for sale.

After taking the necessary materials from the warehouse, Jia Zhengjin went to a broad empty lot in the residential district.

There were fewer and fewer vacant spaces like this in the inner city, which had been almost entirely occupied by the villagers’ homes and other buildings. Jia Zhengjin was already preparing to stockpile stone bricks, expand outward, and construct an outer city.

For now, any place where construction was possible should simply be put to use.

Boom!

Once he used the blueprint and consumed the required materials, an unremarkable house appeared before him. Several wooden crates were scattered haphazardly in front of it, and a sign reading [General Store] hung above the doorframe.

Jia Zhengjin stepped inside for a look. The interior was surprisingly well decorated. Counters stood in orderly rows across the spacious room.

What surprised him was that the general store he had built actually had someone inside!

“Welcome!” The person standing behind the cash counter was a woman who looked to be in her fifties. She wore plain cloth clothing and had a kindly smile on her face. She also spoke the language of the Heroic Wind Empire.

“Does opening a shop come with a shopkeeper?” Jia Zhengjin walked over and examined her carefully. “She looks exactly like a real person!”

“What do you mean, I look exactly like a real person? I am a real person!” the woman protested. “I’m the proprietress of this general store. My name is Winnie, and I’m a resident of Boundary Village in Blackwater Town, Heroic Wind Empire!”

How incredible! Jia Zhengjin’s eyes widened. Not only was she a human being indistinguishable from a real person, she had even been given an identity!

“Winnie!”

While he was still standing there in a daze, his mother-in-law, Landis, entered the shop from outside and greeted the proprietress with obvious familiarity.

“Hi, Landis!” Winnie greeted Landis with a smile.

“Mother, you know her?” Jia Zhengjin asked in astonishment, staring at Tina’s mother.

“Of course I know her!” Landis replied with a laugh. “I used to buy things at Winnie’s shop all the time. Winnie, have any new goods come in?”

“Yes! Come over here and have a look…”

“This is getting ridiculous!” Jia Zhengjin stood motionless, dumbfounded. It seemed this had even altered the memories of the people in this world. No—that was not quite right. It had implanted a completely nonexistent memory into their minds…

Could something like that actually be done? It was difficult to comprehend! Could the underworld forces of Earth have already extended their reach into this other world?

It took him a long while to recover. By then, his mother-in-law had already bought something and left.

Coming back to himself, Jia Zhengjin walked up to the proprietress. “May I see what goods you have for sale?”

“Today’s goods are all here. New items will be put out at this time tomorrow!” Winnie said, pointing toward the counter. “Take a look and see what you want.”

“Oh…” Jia Zhengjin hurried to the counter to examine the merchandise. Sure enough, several items had been placed there.

[Old Rag Doll] A toy the proprietress had acquired from somewhere. Price: 10 silver coins.

[Wild Fruit Juice] Wild fruit juice personally made by the proprietress. Price: 1 silver coin.

[Ruby Necklace] A precious piece of jewelry, beloved by mages. It possesses a miraculous effect! Price: 30 gold coins.

[Sewing Kit] An essential item for repairing clothing durability. Price: 10 silver coins.

[Cloth Shoes] Traditional craftsmanship, guaranteed comfort. Price: 4 silver coins.

[Strange Silk] Price: 5 silver coins.

[Unicorn Sheep Horn] Price: 10 silver coins.

[Trute Lyre] Price: 50 silver coins.

The merchandise was all rather strange. Some items did not even have descriptions, only prices.

Jia Zhengjin took a fancy to the ruby necklace. Although it cost thirty gold coins, the description said it was something mages liked to wear and that it possessed a miraculous effect. He decided to buy it for Tina.

“Proprietress, I’ll take this ruby necklace!”

“Thank you for your patronage!” Winnie immediately broke into a delighted smile. “As expected of Lord Keane—truly generous! Out of consideration for you, I’ll take two gold coins off the price. You can have the necklace for just twenty-eight gold coins!”

“Oh? Really?” Jia Zhengjin immediately took twenty-eight gold coins from his virtual inventory and handed them over, accepting the ruby necklace in return. After playing with it in his hand for a while, he looked up and asked, “Will you have anything this good tomorrow?”

“The goods I put out are known only when the day and hour arrive!” Winnie replied with a beaming smile. “Lord Keane can come back at the same time tomorrow.”

“How bizarre. Even the proprietress herself doesn’t know what merchandise she’ll be putting out?” Jia Zhengjin was utterly speechless. “Fine, then. I’ll come again tomorrow.”

He left the general store in a good mood. Tina would definitely love the ruby necklace. Even Jia Zhengjin thought it looked wonderful; he almost wanted to wear it himself.

Humming a tune as he passed the prison, he was startled to see Christina sitting at the wooden table inside, her back to the entrance and her lips moving in constant prayer.

The prison gate stood open. It seemed she had taken the place as her private room. After releasing her, Jia Zhengjin had actually considered having Tina take her to stay at a temporary inn.

Curious, he put away the necklace and walked inside to see what the priestess Christina was doing.

Once inside, he saw a hard, stale loaf of bread and a bottle of clear water on the left side of the table. On the right sat a piece of honey-roasted meat and a bottle of honey nectar.

Christina gripped the bread in her left hand and held the water cup in her trembling right hand, yet her eyes remained fixed on the honey-roasted meat and honey nectar. She kept muttering to herself, “I thank the God of Light for granting me bread and water. I must uphold the principles of an ascetic priestess and never succumb to worldly indulgence…”

As she spoke, a long strand of glistening saliva hung from the corner of her mouth.

What a comical sight, Jia Zhengjin thought to himself. So this beautiful priestess really did have something wrong with her head!