novelraw Chapter 113: George the Dog Butcher
Chapter 113: George the Dog Butcher
Next, Li Wei didn't rush to purchase today's portion of Table Salt. Instead, he was forced to go to the tailor shop; he needed a Cloak that could conceal his face as much as possible.
Because he still had to stay another night in Kakh City. Thus, before he could buy the last kilogram of Table Salt tomorrow, he needed to be even more careful.
The owner of the tailor shop was a pale young man, seemingly having just recovered from a severe illness. With his head lowered, he was busy among piles of fabric. Hearing Li Wei's purchasing requirements, he looked up and sized him up, but his gaze ultimately landed on Li Wei's leather boots.
He had acquired this pair of Ox-Hide Boots from Bandits last autumn. It had been over eight months now, and parts of them were damaged, but fortunately, they were still wearable.
However, after racing the wild dogs yesterday, the damaged parts had grown a bit larger.
He had also planned to visit the leather workshop in a while to see if they could be repaired.
"George? I shouldn't be wrong, right? You are George. Although you look vastly different from five years ago, I can still recognize you." The young man suddenly laughed, but his words only caused waves of horror to wash over Li Wei. He had been recognized.
Holy shit, what do I do? Silence him by killing him! That was absolutely unfeasible; this wasn't the wilderness.
Just as Li Wei was trying to think of a solution, he heard the young man continue to smile and say:
"Thank you for killing those wild dogs. My little daughter Margaret was bitten by a wild dog three months ago, and then she died. My wife was overly grief-stricken and passed away as well. I wished nothing more than to chop them into mincemeat, but I lacked the capability. The Lord and the knights of Kakh City are busy with big matters and pay absolutely no attention to this.""Therefore, I must thank you, George the Dog Butcher. Although this title is simply a mockery for someone possessing noble bloodline like you, I truly am very grateful to you. I am also willing to keep your secret for you. I can even—apologies, I really want to gift you a pair of boots, but business is bad right now, so I am willing to charge you the cost price."
The young man smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Li Wei, however, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Many thanks. I am willing to buy it at the normal price."
He estimated his own net worth and felt he should be able to afford it; he indeed needed a good pair of boots.
"Thank you, George the Dog Butcher. I will remember you forever."
The young man, whether intentionally or intentionally, repeated it again. Following this, he rummaged through boxes and cabinets, finally pulling out a pair of somewhat aged Ox-Hide Boots that had clearly been tried on several times. However, this shouldn't affect their quality.
"Apologies. I felt this pair of boots would fit your height. I once really wanted to be a shoemaker and served as an apprentice under Shoemaker Ribas for a few years. But my father had objections to this; he was a highly skilled tailor, but unfortunately, the Plague took his life. This also disrupted our family's plans. I was forced to return to being a tailor, losing a portion of the costs."
While speaking, this young boss very carefully handed the Ox-Hide Boots to Li Wei.
Taking the boots, Li Wei immediately felt their quality from a physical level. The heavy weight was only natural, proving the materials used were solid.
The curvature of the toe and heel was very balanced, and the density of the stitches was like rows of beautiful ciphers, proving that the creator's craftsmanship was actually very exquisite.
As the three cards flashed and vanished, it was essentially confirmed: this was a star-rated piece of equipment.
[Name: Ox-Hide Boots Crafted by Ribas]
[Quality: One-Star]
[Description: He might be a failed son, a failed husband, and a failed father. His destiny is fraught with hardships, but he is at least a shoemaker with exquisite craftsmanship and a kind heart.]
[After equipping: Agility +1]
[Trait: Even on muddy roads or in steep mountain forests, you can run swiftly with your feet firmly on the ground.]
[Price: Three gold coins. You said it, purchase at normal price.]
[This equipment can be carried out of this world.]
—
Fine then! Three gold coins was a bit expensive, but Li Wei paid up without a second word.
"Thank you very much, George. I can repair the pair on your feet for free; you can come pick them up tomorrow morning. Additionally, as a gift, here is a Cloak. I can also help trim your beard and hair, and use dyes to alter your skin tone. However, I still advise you to leave as soon as possible."
The young man said very sincerely. Li Wei agreed, putting on the new boots right then and there. It was amazing; they fit perfectly. After putting them on, he felt as if the earth itself was standing by his side, possessing an indescribable sense of solidity.
This time, even without going out for a run, Li Wei was certain that this pair of boots would inevitably bring him more agile evasive abilities, as well as superior feedback regarding the surrounding terrain and environment.
Furthermore, there was the +1 Agility! His Agility had thus reached 12 points.
Next, under the young man's recommendation, Li Wei chose a black Cloak. It was lightweight and shaded the sun—a relatively common summer attire in Kakh City. This sort of thing belonged to standard services, so it was given for free.
Leaving the tailor shop, Li Wei went to the Blacksmith Shop again to retrieve his newly modified and upgraded one-star Wooden Spear.
This time, the blacksmith apprentices didn't recognize him as George the Dog Butcher; perhaps their information was a bit more delayed.
But Li Wei was very satisfied with the retrieved Wooden Spear. Because of the sharper spearhead added to the front and the counterweight at the back, the total length of this Wooden Spear had increased by about fifty centimeters compared to before, making the total length reach two meters.
Among this, the spearhead was thirty centimeters long, and the front end was wrapped in sheet iron for about fifty centimeters. This meant that this Wooden Spear already possessed an extraordinary melee piercing advantage.
Overall it was a bit heavier, but when Li Wei gripped it, his Two-Star Hunter Card actually grew somewhat restless.
Yes, the throwing performance of this upgraded Wooden Spear was not affected. Instead, because of the increment in weight and total length, its attack power had conversely become more ferocious—able to break shields and shatter armor!
[Name: Bloodthirsty Spear]
[Quality: Two-Star]
[Description: This was forged and upgraded by a professional blacksmith using mature craftsmanship. The quenched Refined Steel spearhead possesses extraordinary sharpness. Whether used for throwing or melee piercing, it will be the enemy's nightmare, because it can break armor! Even break shields!]
[Melee Damage +50. Often, a single powerful thrust is all you need to paralyze the opponent and admire the spectacular sight of rushing, spraying blood. Usage Requirements: Minimum 10 Strength. Building on this foundation, every additional point of Strength grants +10% armor penetration rate and +5 Damage.]
[Ranged Damage +50. Ranged throwing requires more skill; precise hits immensely outclass ineffective roars. Usage Requirements: Minimum 12 Strength, and you must possess outstanding throwing skills. Building on this foundation, every additional point of Strength grants +10% armor penetration rate and +10 Damage. It is capable of destroying any shield of two-star quality or below with 100% certainty, but after breaking a shield, it will inevitably be damaged and require repairs.]
[This equipment can be carried out of this world.]
—
Very nice. However, the spearhead of this Bloodthirsty Spear was overly sharp and ferocious. To avoid unnecessary trouble, and also for waterproofing and moisture protection, Li Wei still bought a leather spear sheath and twenty ordinary feather arrows from the blacksmith apprentice, costing -3 silver coins.
Next, Li Wei hurriedly went to the market and routinely purchased one kilogram of Table Salt from the caravan boss. The task progress arrived at four-fifths; he would only need to purchase one more time tomorrow.
But right before he was about to exit the city, Li Wei thought about it and still spent five silver coins to buy a sack of wheat. He kept five kilograms for himself and planned to deliver the rest to those refugees.
Roses given, fragrance remains. Acts of kindness should have continuation.
He only sought peace of mind as well.
Otherwise, holding those five One-Star Quality pumpkin seeds felt uncomfortable to him.
At dusk, Li Wei still took advantage of the time when the city gates were about to close to return to Kakh City. In this manner, he could maximize his chances of avoiding being recognized.
However, everything went very smoothly today, and the harvest was not small. He couldn't even spot a few wild dogs outside Kakh City anymore. As long as they didn't form a pack, there was no danger.
When he delivered the wheat to the Abandoned Farmstead, he found that forty or fifty refugees had already relocated back here. They had even begun spontaneously clearing the fields outside the Farmstead. As long as there were no major accidents, they would always be able to stubbornly survive here.
The refugees were incredibly grateful for his act of kindness, and in return, gifted him one kilogram of Flax Seeds.
Only after conversing with them did he learn that the majority of them were originally owner-peasants or tenant farmers of this Abandoned Farmstead. Last summer, the Plague broke out here, killing many people. Even the owner of this Abandoned Farmstead, the Lord's biological sister, Lady Luna, went missing during the Plague. Missing along with her were her two daughters, Hathaway and Mixi.
Among them, Mixi was actually the fiancée of the current Lord's nephew, George.
It was worth mentioning that Lady Luna's husband was sentenced to be hanged by the Lord.
But as to what specifically happened that year, none of them knew. The Lord had forbidden all discussion of the matter.
"Mixi? So the role-play identities assigned by the Headquarters over there are absolutely not fabricated out of thin air, but are actual existing people!"
At this moment, Li Wei couldn't help but think of the tailor's daughter Margaret and the blacksmith's son Thomas. Although there were some discrepancies with the latter, and the former's age didn't match, they were indeed actual people.
"Good heavens, if this is a plot stream, if I dig deeply into it, it might just flip the heavens and overturn the earth."
"My biological uncle became the Lord, my biological aunt went missing, my cousin became my fiancée, my cheap father was injured and forced to flee... Haha! Truly a family that dearly loves each other."
After returning to the city, Li Wei went straight to the Mare Inn. He paid the one silver coin room fee and returned directly to his room.
But this time, he didn't rush to sleep. Instead, through the crack in the window, he observed the Lord's Fortress that was close at hand.
Over these past few days, although he had spent very little time inside Kakh City, in reality, he had been constantly observing this city from the dark and compiling all sorts of details.
For instance, he was basically certain that Kakh City was not a square or a rectangle, but was built leaning against a low mountain. There were three city gates in total, and the city walls were divided into as many as nine short and long segments. Some parts were built of stone, and some parts had collapsed, so they could only be replaced with rammed-earth walls. There was even a segment constructed with logs.
It looked small, but in reality, it was somewhat large.
Additionally, according to his estimations, the total population in Kakh City was roughly maintained around 1500 to 2000. Of course, limited by the places he had visited, perhaps the total population was larger, but it shouldn't exceed three thousand. Outside the city, there were still three Farmsteads; one of them was already abandoned, while the other two each had a scale of one to two hundred people.
These past few days, he hadn't seen the Lord go out, but banquets were held in the castle every single day.
The highest-ranking official was the Tax Collector.
The guards in the city numbered around fifty, the militiamen roughly around a hundred, while Garrison Knights were very difficult to encounter. Furthermore, he couldn't determine if Kakh City had a class resembling a church and its clergy.
In short, even if it had suffered the impact of the Plague, Kakh City at this current stage was definitely not something the family Camp could contend with.