Wizard: I brought the wrong system.

Chapter 408 The Situation Cools Down

Five days later at noon.

Arro, upon arriving at the Mannheim market again, ignored the strange looks from passersby and headed straight for Harvey's alchemy shop.

Pushing open the shop door, a small warning magic circle emits a faint light, and a thumb-sized bell next to it rings 'ding ding'.

"Please wait a moment, guest. I'll be right out."

A slightly monotonous sound emanated from the small, bright copper-colored metal sphere beside it, sounding like a recorded audio recording.

After a short wait, hurried footsteps came from the direction of the alchemy room, and then a bald middle-aged man came out.

Before he could see what was happening, he heard a voice that made his heart tremble.

"Haha, junior Harvey."

"Ah... Ah..."

Shopkeeper Harvey suddenly remembered something, glanced around, and seeing that no one was around, lowered his voice and greeted, "Lord Yaro."

"Oh, it's alright, just call me 'Senior Yue'," Yaro said warmly, putting his arm around Harvey's shoulder. "Junior, how have you been lately?"

Harvey, the shopkeeper, hunched over, trying to accommodate Yaro, who was a head shorter than him, and said awkwardly, "It's alright..."

"I knew it, you must be doing well!"

"Mr. Yue, please speak frankly about what you need to say."

Harvey, the shop owner, couldn't help himself. He might not know the saying "unsolicited kindness is often a thief," but he understood a similar principle.

"Haha, it's nothing serious..." Yaro paused, "You haven't paid me my portrait fee this month, have you?"

Yaro was really out of options. He had no money in his pocket and couldn't even afford purification potions, so he could only try to squeeze some money out of Harvey, the shopkeeper.

"Portrait fee? What do you mean?" Harvey, the shop owner, frowned and straightened his back.

"You make money using my image, shouldn't you pay me a portrait fee?"

"Ha! Senior Yue! I know you're a reasonable person..."

Harvey, the shop owner, first offered a compliment, then proceeded to pour out his grievances.

"...It's been almost half a year since the wanted record stone incident, and there's been no new news about Yaro for so long. Many young wizards have already been attracted to new things. All the armor materials I bought at a high price are stuck in the warehouse and I can't sell them. The rent is due soon, and now I'm so worried that I can't sleep at night..."

Yaro knew that every hot topic eventually cools down, but this one has cooled down way too quickly.
How long has it been?
Harvey noticed the doubt in Yaro's eyes and asked:

"Do you know why you... before Yaro Garner, suddenly became so popular?"

"Tell me."

"The reason why Yarrow Garner became 'popular' is not only because the story was novel and eye-catching, but more importantly because it successfully catered to a large number of young wizards' aversion to evil authority, which can be considered as following the trend."

"That sounds reasonable." Yarrow thought for a moment, then looked up and asked with a smile, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​researching these things?"

Harvey, the shopkeeper of the empty alchemy shop, sighed, "Because I also want to know why my business has suddenly become so quiet, especially how to sell the inventory in my warehouse."

"Have you figured out the reason?"

"The reason?" Harvey, the shopkeeper, sighed. "What else could be the reason that things cooled down so quickly? It's naturally because the mainstream forces intervened to suppress it."

"Mainstream forces? Would a large wizarding organization pay attention to something like this?" Yaro was astonished. Was the impact of that incident really that great?

"No, the mainstream forces I'm referring to aren't large wizarding organizations."

“What is that?” Harvey, the shopkeeper, turned to look at Yaro, his eyes filled with a complex expression.

"They are the young wizards' elders, their families, their mentors... all sorts of people who control, govern, and teach them."

"What?!" Yaro wondered if he had misheard.

“I don’t know if there were any other forces guiding it, but the deeds of Yarrow Garner certainly caused quite a stir.”

Harvey, the shop owner, added:
"Perhaps it's because people of the same age can relate to it more. Those influenced by Jaro Garner are all quite young, and they find it difficult to judge who is good to them and who is bad to them."

"At the same time, those who have access to the Recording Stones are generally quite capable."

"Just imagine, what if those little wizards suddenly attacked their teachers..."

Um... that kind of scene, just thinking about it is 'beautiful'.

“…Okay.” Yaro said, both amused and exasperated.

He was persuaded by Harvey's shop owner and was too ashamed to continue discussing the 'image fee'.

"No wonder the passersby were giving me strange looks when I came over. I initially thought it was because of the 'Dancer Under the Moon' incident, but now it seems..."

"Wait a minute..." Yaro suddenly thought of something else, and his expression changed slightly. "If that's the case, then... will Ian still be able to come as promised?"

With all the preparations complete and all the necessary instructions given, and with the magical ingredients ready to be cooked, Yaro naturally couldn't possibly return empty-handed.

Thinking of this, Yaro looked at Harvey again: "Has Ian left any messages during this time?"

The last letter was given to Yaro by Harvey, the shopkeeper, so he naturally knew Ian.

"No, he hasn't come over in a long time either."

“Is that so…” Yaro sighed.

Without leaving a message, Yaro had no way to contact Ian.

In this situation, we either have to wait here idly, or we have to think of another way.

"Do you have a map of the Dark Plains?" Yaro asked in turn.

“Detailed maps are treasures for hunting teams, so naturally I don’t have them…”

Harvey's facial expressions were very well controlled; Yaro couldn't tell at all whether he genuinely didn't have it or was just making excuses.

Noticing Yaro's scrutinizing gaze, shopkeeper Harvey suddenly changed his tone and suggested:
"If you want to go to the market in the Dark Plains, just take a few main roads. You can find a caravan and pay some money to travel with them."

If you want to hunt monsters, then find a hunting party to join. They have connections, experienced hunters, and routes, which is much better than going it alone.

First, we can rule out caravans. They charge money and travel on the main road, so it's unlikely they'll find the magical plant.

Where can I find a hunting party?

"The tavern is where they usually recruit new people. Everyone knows your strength. If you go there, there will definitely be many hunting teams vying to recruit you," the tavern owner, Harvey, flattered.

"I hope so."

Yaro didn't want to give up on Ian's route and still wanted to see if Ian could come today.

“Junior Harvey, I’ll go to the tavern to check things out first. If Ian comes, just tell him I’ll wait for him there.”

(End of this chapter)