The weather is getting hotter.
Wooden-legged Denver sat behind the counter piled with miscellaneous items, shaking out his collar impatiently. The captain's suit had begun to get sticky and stink.
The whole morning passed, and he failed to sell even one of the "antiques" - or old rags - in his hands.
"The noble Holy Spirit has mercy, the great Emperor has mercy..."
he muttered in a pretentious, hopeless way.
If the Holy Spirit were as merciful and just as the frothing preacher on the street says, then liars like him would have been punished by God long ago.
It's all bullshit. The Holy Spirit is bullshit, priests and priests are bullshit, and the Pope is the worst of bullshit. He shook his remaining left leg and thought.
As for His Majesty the Emperor, well... let's wish him a long life.
Wooden Legs Denver still maintained a minimum of respect when it came to that man. He had heard that crows would visit people who spoke ill of the emperor in the middle of the night, and he didn't want to disappear mysteriously.
Captain Denver's Magical Treasure Room.
Serious antique collectors would definitely not patronize a small place like his.
Most of the people who come here are ordinary citizens who want to buy some pretentious handicrafts to display at home, or they are just idle guys hoping to find something missing - of course, this is impossible.
There is another type of people, and the type of people Wooden Legs Denver likes the most, are the customers who are fascinated by chivalry novels:
These guys who have money to read are always happy to spend money and are full of curiosity about the old things in his store, hoping to find the artifact that seals the soul of the ancient magician from the broken rings and bracelets that no one wants.
Wooden-Legged Denver is very good at packaging his goods, and his second-hand captain's suit and wooden prosthetic legs are also very confusing. This is his secret to wealth.
When he meets this kind of person, he will make up some fantastic background stories for the old rags in his hands, thereby making a lot of money. One of the most successful cases is the rusty copper ring. This is how he introduced it at the time:
"It was a stormy night, and my black-sailed speedboat approached the sea area pointed to by the treasure map. The sunken treasure was here. None of my sailors dared to dive into this dark ocean, so I rowed The boatman himself jumped into the sea and swam toward the treasure.”
"It was as dark as the ink in a squid's belly. I couldn't see anything. Just when the water was about to crush my lungs, I finally found the entrance to the sunken ship and touched the treasure chest inside - it looked like It's on, but actually it's closed, it's indescribably weird."
"I took out the scroll the sea witch gave me and unlocked the spell on it. There was only an ordinary copper ring in the treasure chest, and there was nothing else. Just when I took out the ring and returned to the sea, The whole ship was caught by some kind of giant thing. Amidst the lightning and thunder, I saw countless green and black spiked tentacles, and then the whole ship was dragged into the bottom of the sea, as if it had never existed."
"The situation was critical. I climbed into the boat and tried to escape, but a ten-meter-long great white shark suddenly jumped out from the bottom of the sea, tore the lifeboat into pieces, bit off my right leg, and tried to drag me down. I pulled out my sword and stabbed it hard, hitting its eyeball, and the monster sank into the abyss."
"In the end, I grabbed the broken planks of the ship, drifted on the sea for a month, and lived on an isolated island for three years before returning to Laeria, with only this ring left in my hand."
As Denver described the story vividly, he could even see the scene he was describing reflected in the customer's eyes like a movie.
As a result, the ring was quickly priced at ten pounds by the customer, but at this time Denver just smiled and put the ring away again.
In the end, after some fierce bargaining, the broken ring, which was bought at the price of scrap copper, was sold for a whopping price of 12 pounds.
As for the truth, only Denver himself knows. He has never been a captain. He used to be a sailor working as a coolie on a whaling ship. Later, when his rheumatism got worse, he quit working and used the capital he saved to open this second-hand shop.
This wooden leg didn't even have anything to do with his experience at sea - it was when his right leg accidentally scratched a crooked iron nail on the fence when he was pulling goods with a cart. He was reluctant to go to the hospital to find a doctor to bandage it, and the continuous rainy days kept him injured. The wound became ulcerated and the leg eventually had to be amputated.
"anyone there?"
The footsteps approaching the door made Denver raise his head expectantly.
Standing in front of him was a young man with fine features and fine features. He was dressed better than most people he had seen. He was standing at the door with a metal cane in both hands. It looked like it was well made.
His intuition told him that a big deal was coming.
"Aha! Welcome to Captain Denver's magical treasure room. There are all kinds of potions, swords, antiques, and secret treasures! Dear customer, how can I help you?"
Denver said with strong emphasis while fiddling with various potions in narrow-mouthed glass bottles on the wooden shelf. They were pigmented water mixed with chemical dyes. Drinking a small amount will generally not cause death.
"Just take a look." The young man took two steps forward and walked into the store. He ignored the colorful potion bottles, took off his hat and looked around, "I heard that you can buy some magical little items here?"
"Of course, please allow me to introduce you to the most precious collection here, please see——"
Denver limped over to the thick red velvet display case and lifted the tablecloth to reveal the smooth, creamy white porcelain plates inside.
"Ancient elven porcelain! The treasure I brought back from the longest expedition in my life. Look at this silky texture like ivory. Only the greatest elven craftsmen in ancient times can make such a texture. It has a history of at least a thousand years. .”
The black-haired young man came over and observed for a few seconds before asking:
"Is this bone china?"
Bone china? Although Denver didn't know the word, he continued to receive it without changing his expression:
"Of course, that's right...I guess some dragon bone ingredients are added to it, so it has such luster and magic power. It is said that it can reflect the true appearance of vampires, werewolves and people possessed by demons. Use it to eat It can also keep your body active and healthy. How about it, are you interested?"
"Well, I feel pretty good." After hearing the introduction, the young man nodded with a smile.
What Denver doesn't know is that "bone china" was invented less than sixty years ago and is a completely modern industrial product.
