novelraw Chapter 199: Old Debts
Chapter 199: Old Debts
“Anyone who likes hats is a good person.”
Hearing that, the Hat Mouse took off his own hat and gave Leon a polite tip of the brim.
“All right, time to go.” Leon waved his hand. He hadn’t learned anything particularly interesting from the Hat Mouse today, so he had no plans to linger. Besides, it was getting dark.
“Wait—if you still have some money, I think you should buy this hat.”
Leon had just turned to leave when the Hat Mouse called out to him.
Leon looked back and saw the Hat Mouse holding a floppy, grimy old top hat. The brim had a tear, and through that gap, Leon could faintly see a yellowed piece of paper.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this was one of the three hats he’d examined earlier—the Old Timer’s Hat.
Leon had been curious about it before. But since he wanted to spend every coin wisely, he had suppressed that curiosity.
Now, with the Hat Mouse pointing it out again, Leon suspected there was some hidden story to it.
That was the advantage of playing along with people’s words—offer the right emotional value, and you could easily close the distance and gain small bits of help.“Give me one good reason.”
Even so, Leon still hesitated. After all, 1000G was not a small amount.
“My gut tells me you’ll uncover this hat’s secret.” The Hat Mouse’s tone carried a hint of mysticism—and Leon happened to like that sort of thing.
“Good reason. Convincing enough.”
Leon pulled out another 1000G and handed it over, taking the hat in return.
“Don’t focus all your attention on the note. Remember—the hat is what matters most.”
The Hat Mouse gave this reminder as Leon pulled the note from the brim’s tear.
“Got it.” Leon nodded, stowing the Old Timer’s Hat in his System Backpack while keeping the note in hand.
The Hat Mouse said nothing more. After glancing at the sky outside, he shut the little service window, cutting off Leon’s view—whether because it was closing time or because he didn’t want to answer any more questions about the hat, Leon couldn’t tell.
Leon didn’t feel like pushing further anyway. They’d already said their goodbyes before he was stopped.
Still, watching the Hat Mouse make such a show of closing up was a little exasperating. If Leon didn’t value the hats in his possession so much and didn’t want to sour their relationship, he might have considered finding a mean-tempered cat to spice up the Hat Mouse’s life.
Following the path he’d cleared earlier that afternoon—chopping wood and cutting grass—Leon returned to his farm. He stored the wood, fiber, hay, and other resources in a chest, then picked up the note from the Old Timer’s Hat.
“Sea Feast – 40G, Fish Roll – 25G, Beer ×5 – 20G. Total: 85G. —Starfruit Saloon.”
That was all it said. Food, drinks, and a location. Judging from the style, it looked like a bill from the Starfruit Saloon—but not the kind Leon had seen during his own visits. This one was clearly from years ago.
There was no other information. As for the Old Timer’s Hat itself, it seemed completely ordinary—no special properties, no System Prompt, nothing.
Still, it had cost 1000G, and Leon remembered the Hat Mouse’s words: the hat was the important part.
“Guess I’ll take this bill to the Starfruit Saloon tomorrow and ask around.”
He glanced at his watch—it was already past six in the evening. The saloon would be bustling now, but given the possibility that this might get complicated, he decided against approaching Gus when the place was full of eyes and ears.
After dinner, a bath, some laundry, and a bit of TV, Leon went to bed early as usual. The morning sun woke him promptly, and he opened his eyes the moment it streamed into his cabin.
Wash up, breakfast, watering—the routine carried him to 9:15 a.m. By then, the land in front of his cabin was full of thriving crops.
Following his “plant it if you’ve got it” philosophy, his farmland had grown quite large.
Just watering everything took four full fills of his System Tools watering can. That alone showed the scale of his planting.
Thanks to the efficiency of the System Tools and his own good stamina, he still had energy left after watering. A regular person would have been bent double by now.
He inspected the fields. Every crop’s soil was damp—nothing missed. Satisfied, Leon pulled out his bike and headed for Pelican Town.
Right in front of Pierre’s General Store, he ran into his target for the day—Gus, the owner of the Starfruit Saloon, fresh from a grocery run.
“Hey, Leon, good morning!”
Seeing Leon park in front of him, Gus greeted him warmly.
“Morning, Gus. I’ve got something I want to ask you.”
Leon returned the greeting, then pulled out the old bill he’d prepared and handed it over.
“Oh, this handwriting takes me back. That’s from six years ago, before the Starfruit Saloon’s renovation—back when we used these notepads. Where’d you get this?”
“Found it in an old item,” Leon explained.
“So, you’re showing me this bill because…?”
“I want to know if you can tell me who ran up this tab.”
“Without a name, that’s tricky—it’s been a long time. But don’t worry, I’ve got an old ledger. Maybe I can find it. Come on.”
Rather than brushing him off, Gus offered help and invited Leon along.
Leon thanked him and followed him into the Starfruit Saloon. For the first time, Gus led him past the main hall and into his private living quarters behind the bar.
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