’Ugh... So this is the place.’ Ren thought while adjusting his clothes as he stood in front of the exterior of a Pawn Shop.

He had long since finished eating lunch with Rowan and Alina, spaghetti and meatballs had never tasted as delicious as he did in his life; however he had told them to go on back home and promised he would catch up with them shortly after running a quick personal errand.

As for the undeniably shady Pawn Shop that he was currently standing right in front of, it had been quite a popular location back in the original Protagonist’s POV.

Throughout the original story, this unassuming little building was where the Hero, Jace, completely unloaded and sold all of his incredibly rare spoils that he somehow managed to miraculously acquire from dangerous dungeons.

Subsequently, the establishment became wildly popular within the capital, mostly since the balding guy inside the shop was enthusiastically coined as the ’Friend of the Hero’.

’It’s not like I care about it, though.’ Ren thought with a heavy drawn-out sigh crossing his arms over his chest.

All he genuinely wanted to do right now was to be incredibly unapologetically petty.

He was fully committed to the bit. He was going to ruthlessly sell almost everything that he had forcibly taken from Lumi an hour ago. Well, almost everything, except her heavily enchanted staff even if the Saintess somehow miraculously managed to scrounge up the funds to buy her precious items back at this exact time, he absolutely wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of getting her main weapon back.

’All in a day’s work of being a petty villain, I guess.’ Ren finished that thought and confidently pushed the heavy wooden door open, walking into the dimly lit Pawn Shop.

The loud obnoxious chime of a brass bell echoed through the place announcing his grand arrival.

Like all normal Pawn Shops deeply entrenched within the tropes of the fantasy genre, the interior was an absolute chaotic mess of highly questionable merchandise.

Every available inch of space was crammed to the absolute brim.

To his immediate left, massive wooden shelves groaned under the sheer weight of broadswords, battle axes, and suits of armor.

To his right, locked glass display cases housed an assortment of oddities: glowing vials of swirling potions, strange dried monster parts suspended in murky jars and a seemingly endless pile of cheap tarnished rings that radiated weak magical auras.

In the far corner, a massive, stuffed head of a low-tier wyvern stared blankly at him with dull, glassy eyes, completely covered in a thick layer of dust.

The man standing behind the wooden counter stiffened immediately with his eyes widening in sheer terror the very second the bell chimed.

Unlike all the perfectly sculpted, thin, and overtly muscular people that Ren had seen roaming the streets up until this exact point in his new life, the man behind the counter was built entirely differently.

He was currently existing somewhere in the awkward middle ground of being terribly fat and incredibly slim. He had a distinct paunch that pressed against the fabric of his cheap merchant tunic yet his arms and face were surprisingly gaunt.

Ren actually understood the struggle perfectly. When he was still living his mundane life as Jordan back on Earth, he certainly hadn’t been particularly fit or athletic either.

He knew the pain of the skinny-fat physique all too well.

"L-lord Ren Crowhurst!" The man suddenly let out a horrified, high-pitched yelp and immediately slammed his upper body forward.

He bowed so aggressively at the table that his forehead pressed firmly against the polished wood with a loud painful thud. "What brings you to my humble shop today, my lord? I am completely ready to serve you to the absolute best of my meager abilities!"

Ren shook his head slightly and let out a long exasperated sigh.

He genuinely guessed that anyone in their right mind would be utterly terrified of him right now, especially when he was currently seen by the entire general populace as an unhinged violent noble who would instantly slam a commoner’s head straight through a brick wall if they so much as annoyed him even a tiny bit.

The original Ren had a spectacularly terrible reputation, but the current Ren didn’t actually mind it all that much, at least as long as it successfully helped him get in and out of tedious places like this quickly.

"I appreciate it." Ren said simply as he stopped right at the edge of the wooden counter.

The man practically flinched at the sound, his terrified eyes darting up to quickly glance at Ren for a microsecond before his gaze flashed aggressively back down to the safety of the table’s grain.

"You may raise your head, peasant."

The man trembled violently, his shoulders shaking under his tunic.

Ren, on the other hand, felt a sharp, sudden pang of genuine guilt pierce his chest.

He really hated treating people like garbage, but then again, he honestly couldn’t completely control his intense, overwhelming desire to call Commoners ’peasants’.

It was like a biological reflex deeply ingrained in the original Ren’s muscle memory. The only real reason he didn’t openly call the Hero, Jace, a ’peasant’ was because that main character had brutally beaten the original Ren so many countless times in the past that it had completely, permanently rewired his brain through sheer agonizing trauma.

’Though... I do feel a strong urge to call him my Rival.’ Ren thought, feeling a sudden, irritating twitch develop in his left eye. ’Absolutely not. I wouldn’t be caught dead saying that ridiculous, walking plot-armor merchant was my rival.’

"T-thank you, my lord." The man stammered out, slowly raising his head from the wood, though he kept his gaze pointedly glued to the collar of Ren’s expensive clothes.

He didn’t dare look the terrifying noble directly in his eyes. "So, my lord, what exactly did you visit my humble establishment for today... Did you come to sell something of great value, or perhaps to purchase a rare artifact? I will gladly help you do either with the utmost haste!"

"Right, look me in the eyes when I’m talking to you." Ren said firmly, his tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. He really didn’t feel comfortable having an entire conversation with someone who was intensely staring at the floorboards like a beaten dog.

The merchant flinched again, but slowly, agonizingly, lifted his gaze until his terrified watery brown eyes met Ren’s stoic golden ones.

"I came to sell you a deal that you absolutely won’t find anywhere else in this city..." Ren continued smoothly as a confident slightly wicked smirk formed on his face. "And I’m very sure that you’ll like it very much."

The man swallowed heavily and a bead of nervous sweat rolled down his gaunt cheek.

"W-what deal do you mean, my lord?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly under the immense pressure of the noble’s gaze.

Ren chuckled, seemingly making the shop drop a few degrees in temperature before proudly declaring.

"Used items from the Saintess. They have been collected today... and they are completely fresh from the Saintess, too."

The man gulped so loudly it sounded like he was trying to swallow a golf ball. His eyes widened to comical proportions as his brain short-circuited.

"U-used items... from the Saintess?" he repeated weakly, his voice barely a whisper as if merely speaking the holy title aloud in his shady shop would bring down the wrath of the Church.

Ren nodded calmly. He was perfectly well aware that Lumi actively wore the highly expensive clothes that he had previously given her.

As for why she specifically carried her entire wardrobe inside a magical storage ring instead of leaving them in her dorm, he clearly remembered overhearing some gossiping girls in the Church once mentioning that she had severe trust issues and liked keeping all of her most valuable belongings physically on her person at all times.

He guessed that paranoid habit had ultimately been her downfall today then the trembling man hesitantly asked if he could physically see the items in question to appraise them.

Ren simply tapped the sleek, silver band of his magical storage ring exactly once.

With a bright flash of spatial distortion, a massive pile of incredibly expensive items unloaded effortlessly onto the pristine white appraisal table.

First came the stunning, flowing dresses. They were woven from the finest, softest arachnid silk, complete with highly intricate, deeply enchanted embroidery that the original Ren had painstakingly hand-picked for her. Next came the dazzling, matching jewelry sets that he had also personally hand-picked, specifically designed to complement her vibrant purple hair then came the fine, delicate silk robes, smelling of expensive lavender perfume, as well as a beautifully crafted, gold-framed photo of Lumi smiling warmly.

Ren had personally paid an exorbitant sum to the highly talented, master apprentice of the absolute best artist in the entire Empire to perfectly capture that specific expression.

He specifically didn’t bring out the raw mana stones from the ring, though. Those glowing, crystallized gems were incredibly costly, high-tier consumable items that could permanently increase the total Mana quantity of a person.

He fully intended to selfishly use those on himself later to boost his own stats, or perhaps generously gift them to someone loyal, like Mandy.

Next to tumble out onto the wood were the heavy, diamond-encrusted necklaces, the intricate platinum bracelets, and finally, the shimmering sapphire earrings that clattered loudly against each other and then, he abruptly stopped.

He was absolutely keeping that high-tier magical staff tucked away in his inventory for now, entirely just to spite her.

"That is all. How much will I be able to get for this entire collection?" Ren asked, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly, adopting the posture of a shrewd businessman.

The man gulped again, his eyes darting frantically over the literal mountain of treasure sitting casually on his cheap wooden counter.

His mind raced as he mentally calculated the sheer ridiculous value of the materials alone, let alone the scandalous premium attached to the ’Used by the Saintess’ tag.

"I... I think I could reliably get about 30 gold coins for all of it," the man squeaked out, his hands trembling as he hovered them over the silk dresses.

He quickly closed his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable physical blow for lowballing a noble before rushing out. "I–I can go a bit higher if you want, my lord! Please!"

"50 Gold." Ren said immediately, completely cutting off his panic.

The man nodded vigorously, his head bobbing up and down so fast it looked like his neck might snap. "It is a deal, my lord! A perfect deal!"

Ren smiled in genuine satisfaction.

The original Ren had likely spent upwards of 20 or so gold coins just to commission the dress and buy the basic jewelry, given that his monthly allowance as the Heir was a staggering 5 gold coins per month.

To put that into perspective, 5 gold coins was more than enough for a large, extended Commoner family to live incredibly rich, luxurious lives for several years.

Furthermore, Ren knew from reading the web novel that this specific man was actually a quite successful, secretly wealthy underground merchant long before the Protagonist formally came along in the book, so it completely made sense for him to casually have that much liquid capital lying around his shop.

The man quickly, almost frantically, took all of the shimmering, expensive things and carefully loaded them into a velvet-lined basket behind the counter. Then, he reached under the desk and began placing heavy, solid gold coins onto the table.

He counted out exactly 50 of them. Each time he heavily dropped a coin onto the wood, it sounded with a sharp, incredibly satisfying clink that echoed in the quiet shop.

Once he meticulously made sure that Ren clearly saw that it was exactly 50 gold pieces without any tricks, he scooped them up and slid them into an expensive-looking magically reinforced leather pouch.

"Thank you very much for doing business with me, my Lord." He said, his voice dripping with sheer relief while offering the heavy pouch forward with both palms extended in total submission.

Ren effortlessly took the pouch, feeling the satisfying heavy weight of the gold settle into his palm. Without another word, he turned the other way and began walking towards the exit, making the man let out a massive highly audible sigh of absolute relief behind him.

"Good work... maybe if I happen to have something important to sell next time, I’ll consider coming here again." Ren casually threw the comment over his shoulder with a lazy wave of his hand. He left the merchant completely trembling in terror.

Once he finally got outside, the cool afternoon air washing over his face and he looked up to the vast open sky.

"Come down, Reo." Ren commanded, projecting his voice slightly.

Almost instantly, a shadow came down as the griffin descended from the clouds without any trouble with its razor-sharp talons clicking against the cobblestone as it landed directly on the middle of the street.

The sheer force of its wingbeats sent a powerful gust of wind blasting through the area, rustling the awnings of nearby stalls.

Ren walked up to the majestic beast and affectionately patted his feathered head while effortlessly mounting the specialized leather saddle on the griffin’s broad back.

"Good boy... Let’s go back home."

Reo let out a loud, piercing, eagle-like cry that echoed for blocks, and immediately soared back into the air with a powerful thrust of his hind legs.

He climbed higher and higher, leaving everyone on the bustling streets looking up in sheer awe and whispering among themselves as the infamous Crowhurst Heir disappeared into the evening sky on the back of his terrifyingly powerful griffin and once they were completely gone from sight, a figure silently slinked out of a dark, narrow alleyway directly across the street.

It was Lumi.

The usually pristine, immaculate woman was currently wearing a rather generic, albeit elegant, dark cloak.

Her vibrant recognizable purple hair was messily coming out the sides of the hood which was a stark contrast to her usual perfect styling.

Her eyes were also burning with an intense murderous fury and her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were completely white.

’That fucking...’ She aggressively bit her lower lip, desperately holding back a highly un-saintly curse from escaping her mouth.

She stomped her boots against the pavement and walked furiously directly toward the pawn shop that Ren had just nonchalantly strolled out of.

She was absolutely, one-hundred-percent sure that the petty bastard wasn’t going to actually keep her precious things and that he would instead sell them off instantly just to spite her and she had been completely right.

The absolute dumbass had sold them off immediately, exactly like she expected him to.

Lumi reached the heavy wooden door and violently shoved it open with the bell violently clanging overhead.

She glared menacingly at the exact same balding man who was currently standing behind the counter counting his new inventory.

The shopkeeper practically jumped out of his skin, trembling violently as the furious woman reached up and aggressively let down her dark hood, revealing her striking purple hair and glowing, divine eyes.

The man’s jaw hit the floor.

Two massive, monumentally important, untouchable figures coming to his shady place in the span of a single day? Was this a sign of incredible, life-changing good fortune or was the universe signaling his immediate impending death?

"I... came here for my staff." Lumi stepped fully into the shop while forcefully closing the heavy door behind her with a loud bang, rapidly approaching the counter with a stride.

She genuinely didn’t care all that much about the other stuff... well, she did care, and she desperately wanted her expensive silk dresses and personalized jewelry back from this creep, but recovering her highly customized, magically attuned combat staff was her absolute top priorit—

"Your staff? It isn’t here." The man replied honestly, blinking rapidly in pure confusion. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Huh?!