Chapter 35: What Are They Doing?
Scenic Isle gradually emerged from the lake mist, and the jagged rocks along the shore could be vaguely seen.
The wind blowing across the lake carried damp air against their faces. Roderika seemed a little unused to it and pulled her perfumer’s robe tighter around herself.
Before they even got close, a loud shout had already torn through the quiet of Scenic Isle.
“Brother Patches—!!”
Kiro’s voice was extremely penetrating, echoing across the open lake.
Sure enough, a flustered commotion came from behind the rocks.
A bald head suddenly popped up, looking around in all directions.
“Who? Who’s calling me?”
Patches’ voice carried a trace of panic. It seemed that this sudden shout had scared him quite badly.
When he saw that the person coming over was Kiro, the expression on his face instantly changed from panic to delight.
He smiled like a blooming flower.
“Oh my! Miss Kiro! What a rare guest! A rare guest indeed!”
As he shouted, he stood up and waved his arms enthusiastically.
“What wind blew you here? Quickly, quickly, this way! This way!”
Kiro also picked up her pace and ran toward Patches.
Loran followed behind her, looking at Kiro’s excited, bouncing figure, and sighed silently in his heart.
He had expected this development from the beginning.
Before he could stop her, Kiro had already rushed up to Patches.
The two did not shake hands.
They did not hug either.
Instead, with perfect tacit understanding, they raised their arms and bumped fists heavily in a gesture that only street hip-hop kids would use.
“Yo! Brother Patches! How’s business lately?” Kiro’s tone was so familiar that she sounded like an old friend who had not seen him in years.
“Thanks to you, it’s been decent, decent.” Patches smiled so widely that his eyes narrowed into slits. “You are my great benefactor! I still haven’t spent all the runes you gave me last time!”
Loran noticed that right after the two completed that slightly stupid fist bump, the UI panels above their heads both underwent subtle changes.
[Patches’ Affection toward Kiro: 20 → 40]
[Kiro’s Affection toward Patches: 30 → 40]
Just one simple bit of physical contact had raised the Affection between them to 40 at the same time.
The Affection system of this world was truly difficult to understand.
Roderika, standing behind Loran, showed a confused expression and asked softly, “Mr. Loran, what are they… doing?”
“That is a… rather special way of greeting someone,” Loran explained vaguely.
“Miss Kiro,” Patches said, his eyes spinning over the black gauze robe she was wearing. A light flashed in his eyes, the light of a man who had discovered a new business opportunity. “That outfit of yours is truly extraordinary.”
As he spoke, he carefully pinched Kiro’s sleeve between two fingers and brought it close to his eyes, examining it in detail.
“This material, this workmanship, tsk tsk… I, Patches, have traveled far and wide for many years and seen my fair share of fine goods. But an outfit that is both… both solemn and somehow temptingly mysterious? This is truly the first time I’ve seen one.”
Kiro was delighted by his praise.
She proudly puffed out her chest, and the fabric of the robe shone softly beneath the sunlight.
“Of course! Look who’s wearing it!”
“Yes, yes, of course. The main reason is that Miss Kiro has such excellent bearing. You would look good in anything.”
Patches immediately climbed up the ladder she handed him, his tongue as sweet as honey.
“But, you see, a good horse still needs a fine saddle. I was thinking…”
He leaned close to Kiro’s ear and lowered his voice, as if discussing some great confidential matter.
“Miss Kiro, would you perhaps… know how to draw a design for this outfit?”
“A design?” Kiro froze for a moment.
“Exactly!” Patches’ eyes flashed. “Think about it. Look at how the Tarnished in the Lands Between dress right now. One after another, they’re either wearing ragged cloth or iron cans so heavy they look ready to drop dead. Where is the sense of beauty?”
“If we can mass-produce this outfit of yours, just imagine the new trend we could start in the Lands Between!”
“When the time comes, forget female Tarnished. Even some male Tarnished with special tastes will definitely rush to buy it!”
“Then the runes will be flowing into our pockets like water, won’t they?”
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, as if he could already see himself lying on a pile of runes and counting money.
“When the time comes, you provide the design, and I handle the sales channels! We split it eighty-twenty. You take eighty, I take twenty! No, no, no, you take ninety, I take ten! You just sit there and wait for the dividends! How about it?”
This entire business blueprint completely stunned Kiro.
She looked at Patches, her eyes wide and round.
In her mind, those grand goals such as “Frenzied Flame” and “becoming lord” were instantly replaced by something more concrete and far more tempting.
Runes.
Mountains of runes.
Runes that could raise her Faith to 99 and turn all incantations into forbidden spells capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Runes that could let the little perfumer girl manufacture explosives without limit.
Runes that could let that boring guy Loran buy every sorcery and become a human artillery platform.
Kiro smiled so widely that she could not close her mouth.
She was almost drooling.
“Dividends… hehe… dividends…”
“Brother Patches! You really are my soulmate!”
She slapped Patches on the shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance.
“This idea is amazing! How did I not think of it?”
“Come, come, come!”
She grabbed Patches’ arm with one hand and started drawing on the ground with the other.
“I’ll draw it for you right now! It’s just a design, right? Easy!”
She picked up a twig and began scribbling on the ground.
She drew with great focus.
Sometimes she gestured at the robe she was wearing. Sometimes she frowned and modified the lines on the ground.
Loran stood off to the side, looking at these two business partners who had hit it off immediately.
He no longer even had the energy to comment.
He did not even bother reminding Kiro where that outfit had come from.
Loran looked at the so-called “design” on the ground, crooked and messy from Kiro’s drawing, no better than a child’s doodle.
Then he looked at Patches, who was nodding and praising that pile of incomprehensible scribbles as if he had discovered a priceless treasure.
He decided to say nothing.
Let the two of them run happily down this business road that was destined to go nowhere.
Roderika stood behind Loran, watching this absurd scene with confusion written all over her face.
She gently tugged at the corner of Loran’s clothes.
“Mr. Loran…” she asked softly. “What are they… doing? They look… really happy.”
“Mm,” Loran answered expressionlessly.
“They are dreaming.”