Donkey Skin and Youth

Chapter 44 Donkey Skin and Youth

"Let me see..."

Rorschach took it; the water hadn't soaked the taut donkey hide, and the midday sun made it shimmer with mottled light.

"A talisman! Leather tanned by the Semitic people... I know this is that old antique dealer's trick... Nine out of ten of his goods are fake... I have it, but besides this, I have nothing else!"

The text above is in Archaic English:

To have me is to have everything, except for the life that has passed, as you are experiencing every moment.

A voluntary transaction is fair, regardless of which side of the scale is on either side.

May your wish be fulfilled, may your wish be granted.

Every time your desire is fulfilled, I will shrink once more.

……

"God will allow it, I hope so!" Varon said in a trembling voice, uttering the last line.

"You also speak Yabb? You're not a mage or priest, you seem to be a nobleman."

"Noble!" He gave another bitter laugh. "That title is worthless."

"Nine fakes and one real... Mr. Varan, what you have might be genuine." Rorschach returned the donkey hide to the young man: "But I still want to remind you that it would be best to hand this strange hide over to the church."

According to the results of [Magic Detection], the donkey skin was emitting a faint spiritual light. If it hadn't been held in hand while the spell was applied, it might not have been detected at all.

"You asked me to hand it over to someone else, my last bit of property, if it can be considered property!" The young man took the leather and gripped it tightly.

"If you don't want to, how about selling me a piece of gold?" Rorschach thought the hide might be worth studying. Granting a wish, taking a life. This seemed like a devil's deal, but in this other world, only evil gods and their servants existed; in the Age of Silence, even the true gods vanished.

"One gold coin?" Varon shuddered. "Sir, you and the other two sages saved my life, I'm so grateful! But is this piece of donkey hide really worth one gold coin? Or should I just let it go and not rip you off?"

"Fine, if you don't want to, then good luck." Luo Xia was hungry and didn't want to waste any more time, so he walked with his senior brothers and sisters towards "Valuwana's Stomach".

The large market in Valuana was a bit quieter than when Rorschach had visited. Two children, one carrying a chicken and the other a sausage, ran past, their hair still covered in straw. On the outskirts of the market, next to the butcher's stall, was a small restaurant, which already had a few customers inside.

The waitress, a woman wearing a greasy apron, said, "What would you three like? Today we have roast chicken, stewed pike, beef, and the freshest vegetables."

"And there are pies! Lamb pies that are almost ready!" The kitchen was right behind the seating area, and the boss, with his protruding belly, added in a loud and energetic voice.

The customer behind Rorschach took a sip of light beer: "You guys are lucky to have stumbled upon this newly made pie. If I had the money, I'd eat a whole one by myself!" It seems the pie at this shop is quite good.

"Since it's your turn, you two can choose first." Luo Xia then realized that this kind of small restaurant didn't have a menu—the customers who frequented this place might not be able to read all the characters.

"Then I'll have a mixed vegetable stew and a pie."

"Is the beef stewed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then bring another serving of clear-broth beef and two slices of bread."

Luo Xia felt he had ordered too much staple food, so he added a roast chicken.

Other customers glanced at this table, seemingly considering it one of the few "big spenders" in the restaurant.

The stew arrived quickly; it seemed to be cooked and simmering in the pot, serving a portion to whoever ordered it.

The braised vegetables were served on a wooden platter, seemingly roasted before being boiled, with slightly charred edges, lying limply in the broth. The clear beef stew was named "clear stew" because its broth was not thickened with potato chunks or flour, and was a clear amber color.

If it were a restaurant in the palace or the middle floor of the Starlight Torch Tower, the radishes, celery, and onions added to the stew might be removed. But here, these "soup residues" fill the small cast iron pot halfway, "filling the space" for the meager amount of beef.

"Wait a bit before you eat." Paulina wiped the table, looking somewhat disgusted by the lingering grease.

After the steaming hot pie was served, Rorschach noticed Paulina fiddling with something under her robe. He activated [Magic Detection], and the entire table of food flashed with a fine, spiritual light.

Rorschach lowered his voice: "[Purify Food]?"

Paulina nodded.

Pascal looked surprised, as if he were meeting this woman for the first time: "When did you learn nature magic?"

"I once wanted to study at the Forest Tower."

"Indeed, we need to be careful about food safety." Rorschach ladled the clear soup into bowls and handed them to his senior brothers and sisters. "I suddenly remembered a story. Two human adventurers were poisoned, and neither the priest nor the druid could do anything about the poison."

Pascal, scooping up some beef, asked, "Even the most potent poison a druid couldn't cure?"

"Don't interrupt, that's not the point." Rorschach tore off a small piece of bread and dipped it in the vegetable soup. "At that moment, a giant stepped forward and said in broken Common, 'Let me try!' Then, with a divine spell, both of their poisons were cleared, and they became clean as if they had taken a bath."

"How did you do that?"

"Use the magic my senior sister just used."

"what?"

"I know, that big guy casting the spell is an ogre!" Pascal proudly revealed the mystery.

"Interrupting someone at a crucial moment is not the behavior of a good listener." Paulina seemed to have a lot of pent-up resentment towards Pascal.

Pascal picked up his soup and drank it all: "It's all because my junior brother's jokes are too old. Hey, let's eat."

The lamb pie was indeed delicious. Tender leg meat was cut into strips along the muscle fibers, mixed with onions and peppers, and wrapped in a flaky pastry. The locked-in juices and oils, along with the soaked pastry, made it irresistible to chew. The small restaurant and the diners' mouths were instantly filled with the aroma of the pie.

"Sixty-three copper coins, sir." Twenty copper coins were equivalent to one silver coin, so Rorschach paid without much pressure, but he was still a little surprised: "We haven't ordered any drinks yet."

"Guests, the food you ordered is all of high quality, and with the food shortage this winter, we have had to raise our prices."

After a hearty meal, even the winter wind outside didn't feel so cold. The two went to the seafood section of the market and bought a pound of small miscellaneous fish for Gast. The prices at the market were indeed expensive. Rorschach saw that Floran had set up a table and chairs next to the seafood section, with standard weights and a booklet written in charcoal on the table. He himself was fast asleep, wearing a felt hat.

"Prices have gone up everywhere." In just ten days, the price of vegetables and grains has generally increased by 10%. Even with Luo Xia's limited life and economic common sense as a former engineering student, he knew that prices had risen sharply.

"Brother Rorschach, are you planning to lug these scumbags all the way here?"

"Oh right." Seeing that no one was paying attention, Rorschach used [Touch of Ice] to freeze the fish solid and stored it in his storage ring. He'd have to clean out the things in the ring sometime.

Returning to Dupeng Avenue, the first thing they saw was the imposing den of iniquity. Just as the two passed by, a young man rolled out, followed by four burly men.

The young man lay on his back, looking up at Rorschach; he was none other than Varan, who had failed in his attempt to enter hell.

(End of this chapter)