"Concede to our demands! Or give us your most valuable merchandise!"
"By most valuable merchandise… You mean me, right?"
The very suggestive and misleading response—paired with her mature, seductive appearance and the alluring smile she gave at the end of her remark—made not only Arezu but also Lynn blush in flustered embarrassment. A reaction that even Arezu had rarely seen from Lynn.
"Pfft—"
Holding back her laughter at their innocence, Marionette promptly guided Lynn and Arezu to take a seat on the couch in the corner of her shop—a set of furniture she had just set up days ago in anticipation of another visit from the two.
Sitting around a low table, Lynn stated the reason for their visit—
"Can you lend us an enchanted storage, Ms. Marionette?"
—which, upon hearing, caused Arezu to finally relax, now that he was sure they weren't at Marionette's shop to sell another one of those jewels.
"So you want to rent one of my enchanted storage units?" Marionette said, as if already aware of what Lynn planned to use it for.
Meanwhile, Arezu was still trying to figure out exactly what an enchanted storage even was.
To clarify her intent, Lynn continued the conversation.
"Not exactly rent, I mean lend it to us freely. But if you want to make a trade, how about this?"
Opening the small enchanted bag attached to her belt, Lynn pulled out the dungeon artifact robe she had failed to pawn at Broc's weapon shop.
"Lynn..."
Before Arezu could fully voice his complaints—both about how she was making demands of Marionette and that she was trying to barter Alex's hooded robe again—Marionette had already taken the robe from Lynn to appraise it.
"I told you, didn't I? Let's just have someone return that robe to Alex," Arezu said, reminding himself not to mention Hannah's name so as not to trigger another unreasonable tantrum from Lynn.
"And I told you, Mr. Arezu, he can just buy it back after he recovers."
Her argument might've sounded reasonable to Arezu if not for the fact that Lynn didn't exactly "recover" that dungeon artifact robe with permission.
Waiting for the chance to interject while enjoying their bickering, Marionette finally responded to Lynn's offer when their attention shifted back to her.
Without saying a word, Marionette flashed a gentle yet somehow threatening smile and pointed with her slender finger at a certain spot inside the hooded robe.
To Arezu, the spot Marionette pointed at just looked like a stain on the cloth. But to Lynn—
"Tsk!..."
So that's the trace of the marking enchantment she erased, Arezu thought, understanding her reaction.
"Fine—we're just going to rent it then," Lynn exclaimed, pouting as she took back the robe from Marionette.
"On second thought, how about I offer a different deal?" Marionette said, leaning forward intentionally to give Arezu a peek at what were already nearly visible under her revealing dress.
But before Arezu could avert his gaze, Lynn was faster and had already slapped her hand over his eyes.
"Pfft—Hahaha..."
After calming down from laughing at their reactions, Marionette began explaining the details of her offer.
"You're going to use that enchanted storage for the Annual Caravan Quest, right? Then you can borrow one in exchange for—" Marionette paused, crossing her arms under her breasts, closing her eyes, and tilting her head side to side, thinking of what she wanted in return.
After a moment, she finally decided.
"—more Dungeon Core specimens."
"Please don't raise a red flag before the quest even begins," Arezu said, already feeling anxious about the upcoming Annual Caravan Quest.
Lynn, on the other hand—
"That's a deal then."
—was already on board with Marionette's offer.
With the deal settled, Marionette got up from her seat and headed to the back room of her shop to bring out the enchanted storage.
But as she was walking away, she suddenly stopped and looked back at Arezu. Then she said:
"It's actually quite heavy. So can I ask for your help, Arezu?"
Arezu promptly got up to comply with Marionette's request. However, Lynn suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his coat to stop him from following her.
"Pfft—"
Marionette barely held back a laugh, seeing Lynn's bashful reaction that she was clearly trying to hide from Arezu as she silently looked down.
Arezu, for his part, couldn't understand why Lynn was acting like that.
"Don't worry, Arezu. Just stay by Lynn's side. I can handle it myself," Marionette said, ending her teasing—at least for now.
Sitting together on the couch while waiting for Marionette to return, Lynn suddenly started up with a tantrum.
"So Ms. Marionette and Hannah are really your type, Mr. Arezu," she said, pouting and still looking away from him.
Once again, Arezu had no idea what Lynn was talking about. Regardless, he tried to be patient with her and offered a casual response.
"I don't get what you're talking about, Lynn."
However, Lynn continued saying things that made Arezu even more confused.
"I may not be a saintess or a saintess candidate, but I'm still a priestess, Mr. Arezu! So I think I'm still within the range of your preferences!"
Whether she was being serious or just teasing him again, Arezu thought he had just heard another concerning line. But before he could ask for clarification, Marionette returned from the back room, pushing a trolley with her.
Upon seeing what was in the trolley, Arezu finally understood what an enchanted storage actually was.
"So it's a storage chest," he muttered—only to immediately receive a teasing jab from Lynn. Or rather, a bit of mockery.
"Of course it is, Mr. Country Bumpkin."
"Was that really necessary?"
"Hmph!"
"Pfft—Hahaha… It's really fun to watch the two of you," Marionette said with a charming smile that neither Arezu nor even Lynn had seen from her before.
After acquiring what they needed from Marionette, Lynn and Arezu—now pushing a trolley—made their way through the bustling streets of the capital toward their next task. One that Lynn had already started working on a day earlier.
"Let me introduce you to the newest addition to my loyal steeds, Mr. Arezu. His name is Ragwort, Chevaline's new companion."
To Arezu's surprise, the place they headed to was the horse stable at the capital's northern gate, where they had left their carriage and horse, Chevaline, after the orc-hunting quest.
What surprised him even more was that Chevaline now had a partner—a second horse pulling the carriage. Or rather, the new carriage. A much larger one capable of accommodating six to eight individuals.
With all these developments making him anxious, Arezu finally decided to speak up and not let Lynn handle everything on her own, even if it might ruin her cheerful mood.
"You're not hiding something troublesome again, are you, Lynn?"
"My, my… How rude of you, Mr. Arezu."
Her teasing tone and mischievous smile told Arezu everything he needed to know:
Lynn was dragging him into yet another troublesome quest.