Chapter 16: Manual

"Twenty goblins and one hobgoblin. The bounty is 17 gold and 4 silver."

"Investigation Mission No. 701, reward: 30 gold coins."

"That makes a total of 47 gold and 4 silver coins."

The short-haired girl's emotionless voice reached his ears as Xia Nan weighed the heavy coin pouch in his hand.

A profound sense of accomplishment welled up from within his heart.

He slightly opened the pouch, caught a glimpse of the glittering gold inside, and couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his lips.

He did not count the gold coins on the spot.

On one hand, the Adventurers' Association was a massive entity spanning the entire Aifala continent; they certainly wouldn't cheat him out of his small share. Furthermore, judging by the girl's speed of operation just now, the aggregation of loot was clearly not a manual process, so the probability of error was low.

On the other hand, with people coming and going in this hall, he knew better than to "flaunt his wealth." If he was truly uneasy, it wouldn't be too late to count them carefully once he was settled.

While Xia Nan was lost in thought, the girl's bored voice came from in front of him once again

"The party emblem—do you want to cancel it?"

Unfamiliar with the mechanics of it, Xia Nan asked with some confusion: "Does canceling it have any impact on me?"

"A captain must pay a 20-gold party fee every year."

"Cancel it!"

It wasn't that Xia Nan was stingy about the 20 gold coins... alright, it was indeed a bit expensive.

The main issue was that the "Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp" party now consisted only of himself. As a novice adventurer with zero experience in field missions, there was no point in forcing the party to exist, nor could he recruit anyone.

What he truly needed to do now was find a suitable party to join as an ordinary teammate, allowing him to gain a deep understanding of everything he needed to know about this world; or, he could simply go solo, starting with the lowest-risk, simplest tasks and taking it one step at a time.

Therefore, Xia Nan decisively handed his black iron emblem to her.

With many things left to handle, he stuffed the gold coins into his backpack. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and asked

"Healing potions—do you know where I can buy them?"

Xia Nan was deeply impressed by the healing potion Magi had used during the battle with the hobgoblin, which had acted almost like an elixir. It could heal minor wounds instantly and could even keep someone clinging to life during a near-fatal injury. Possessing a healing potion was equivalent to having an extra trump card and an extra layer of protection for his life. If he could buy one with money, he naturally wouldn't pass it up.

"Turn right, all the way in the back," the short-haired girl replied lazily without lifting her head.

Xia Nan's eyes lit up at the words, and he hurriedly thanked her before leaving.

Sure enough, in a corner of the hall, a small shop bearing the sign "Alchemist Association" sat nestled among the crowd. It maintained the natural style of the association's branches, reminiscent of the "Mist Forest," but the shelves were filled with various bottles and jars

[Truth Serum]: 150 Gold [Poison Potion]: 200 Gold [Luminous Resistance Potion]: 300 Gold [...]

Xia Nan felt dizzy just glancing at the price tags.

"At these prices, the target customers probably aren't low-level adventurers like me."

For a moment, he even became cautious about moving through the aisles, terrified that accidentally breaking a single bottle would cost him his entire net worth.

Then, in the most prominent position of the shop, he found his target

[Healing Potion]: 50 Gold

"Not too bad."

After the previous visual shock, the price of the potion wasn't as expensive as he had imagined. However, considering that his total gold holdings currently amounted to less than 50 coins, the price of this single potion was quite substantial.

As if sensing Xia Nan's hesitation, the shop owner—a bald man in a cream-colored robe—strolled over with his hands behind his back.

"A rookie?" he asked casually.

Seeing Xia Nan nod, the man pointed to the shelf behind him and said, "Healing potions aren't very cost-effective, and you lot don't use them often. In comparison, I actually recommend this."

Xia Nan followed his gaze.

In the corner of a nearby shelf, several leather pouches marked with classic herbal symbols were piled haphazardly.

[Medical Kit]: 5 Gold (Contains bandages, ointment, and splints with ten uses each.)

"I don't keep much stock here, and no one usually comes to my shop to buy this stuff; you can find it in every general store outside."

"Thanks for the tip," Xia Nan nodded in thanks, but his gaze shifted back to the healing potion.

In his mind, the priority of such life-saving medicine was undoubtedly the highest. Although it was expensive, there was no immediate rush. After all, he still had many spoils of war to process and had yet to accept his next adventure mission. It wouldn't be too late to consider buying it once he had organized his savings.

"Are all the potions here this expensive?"

Seeing that the bald man seemed easy to talk to, Xia Nan couldn't help but ask the question on his mind.

"You get what you pay for," the man said, waving his hand. "These are all brewed by professional alchemists from the Association; the quality is guaranteed."

As he spoke, the bald man glanced toward the stairs at the back of the hall.

"Actually, what I have here are just the cheap goods. The truly top-tier stuff is upstairs!"

" [Eagle Eye Potion], [Gaseous Form], [Strength of the Hill Giant]... tsk, tsk." He nodded with his hands behind his back, reciting them like a familiar list. "It's just the price... it's not something people like us can afford."

"Upstairs?" Being new to the area, Xia Nan knew nothing about the inner workings of the Association.

"The second floor of the hall is where true adventurers with professional levels take their missions. After all, you can't expect those guys to spend all day scraping together pennies on the outskirts of the forest like you lot, can you?"

Knowing the man wasn't intentionally belittling him but merely stating a fact, Xia Nan didn't harbor any unnecessary resentment. Just as he was about to take the opportunity to ask a few more questions, a shout came from the shop entrance

"Where are you? Boss, I want to settle my bill!"

"Coming." The bald man strolled over with practiced ease, and before leaving, he offered Xia Nan one last piece of advice.

"There are manuals for sale at the stalls in front of the Association. If you're a rookie, you might want to buy one to read; it should be helpful."

Having finished his business and intending to leave the Association anyway, Xia Nan naturally followed the advice. After asking a vendor a few questions, he found the "manual" the bald man had mentioned.

3 silver coins.

It wasn't particularly expensive, so he bit the bullet and bought it.

The cover was quite exquisite, with two lines of large text printed neatly in an unknown font

[Adventurer's Manual] (River Valley Town Branch Special Edition)

Below that was a row of small white text as a supplement "21st / Duskclaw Moon (Chess) / Revised Edition, Year 1019 of the Arcane Calendar"