"You will meet with the darkness magician woman tomorrow. Her name is Celty Stur. As I warned you, please refrain from developing emotions toward her. Just get in, get in, get out, and get out."
"You said everything twice."
"I know what I said."
Gale rolled his eyes as soon as he realized Lena's joke and moved on.
"Please don't do to her what you did to Rachel. If she isn't interested in giving up her magic, then don't make her."
"I already told you. If she doesn't get help, she will probably kill herself. It's a fair trade. In a sense, our deal is like a miracle for her."
"I don't want to take advantage of someone's situation and troubles. How about that; I will offer to help her without any terms, and if she still wants to give up her magic, I'll accept it."
"No. That's simply not how you trade with people. You offer something, and they offer something of equal value to you. We offered her the only thing she desires, and she should offer the only thing we desire in return. By helping her for free and expecting her to still give you her magic, you're not being nice. You're just acting naïve and stupid. Since she readily accepted the deal, it only means she feels she gains more than she loses."
"That… makes sense."
Gale relented and agreed. His desire to get stronger helped him to slightly bend his morals. Fundamentally he believed in helping the weak, and that was the way he lived his life until now. Yet when he looks at it as a trade, it solves his internal conflict.
"I start feeling like I've started thinking only of my own benefit ever since I got those powers. Today I will go to the market and help the commoners, to remind me of my values and who I am."
Gale decided to spend his day helping others. He wore casual clothes that wouldn't make him stand out too much and left the mansion.
"Clothes, robes, dresses, blankets. Everything you need to keep yourself warm!"
"Spices, recipes, cookware. Keep your kitchen equipped!"
He heard people shout and describe their merchandise everywhere. As usual, he went to the empty stalls, trying to help those who couldn't find customers. He'd check their merchandise, pretend to be clueless, and compare the prices they give him with the true market price.
As long as it was of good quality and they didn't ask for more than 110% market price, he would buy a large quantity and leave. The fairer they were, the more he would buy. As for the dishonest ones, he wouldn't help those.
He didn't even try to help those who offered a high price and expected the customer to bargain for a better price, as he felt they were aiming at those who didn't understand the conventions of the market.
"Excuse me, Sir, are you single?"
He heard a feminine voice behind him. He turned and found a cute commoner girl, around 18 years old, looking at him with burning cheeks, a hopeful gaze, and admiring eyes.
"If I knew you'd approach me today, I'd do my best to remain single. However, I'm engaged now."
Gale smiled kindly and rejected her. He heard whisperings 20 meters behind her and to his shock, he saw a group of girls leaning close to each other and talking in a low voice. He could easily hear them with his enhanced senses. Obviously, they didn't imagine he was an Advanced Magician at such a young age.
"He looks like a prince. NO, HE MUST BE THE PRINCE! He will never accept our advances."
"From the way he is dressed, I think it's more likely that he is a son of a successful merchant. I believe it's our chance, I bet all women are too nervous to ask him out. Let's check with Sophie, she went to test the water after losing the bet."
Gale who has been hanging around with people of higher stages has forgotten about the devastations his charm can bring to the lower stages, especially under the Magician Phase. He quickly turned away and distanced himself from the love-stricken girls. He looked around him and realized that almost everyone sneaked glances at him, even the older men and women! He couldn't help but feel somewhat harassed.
Gale closed his eyes and concentrated. Once he could feel the mana around him, he made it stop swirling around his body. Almost instantly people started losing their obsession with him and the market went back to its usual activity.
Seeing all the women looking at him with thirsty eyes made him remember Mira and his blissful sessions with her.
"I should check up on her. Lena said she was living happily with her kid and left the city so I should just trust her for now. I can check on Mira after my trade with Celty is done."
He quickly repressed his thoughts about Mira. Every time he thought about her, he felt like he should check on her, yet subconsciously quickly repressed those thoughts without knowing why. He decided to busy his mind with testing his charm abilities; how far would they make a weaker person go for him? Would they be able to make them do the normally impossible? Do they affect men too?
He left the market and went to the road. He walked for a bit until he saw a chubby middle-aged woman walking alone. He approached her to test the answers to his questions.
"Hello, pretty lady. Are you single?"
The woman turned to look at him and went into a daze for a moment as soon as she saw his overly handsome face.
"Um… No?"
She said hesitantly as if she wasn't sure of her status herself.
"Are you asking me?"
Gale looked at her with an amused smile. He found it to be fun to tease these people. The woman looked at him reluctantly, she seriously thought of just denying reality and saying she was single and seeing where this conversation is going. Her husband would understand if it was with this young man, right? She knew she would understand if he lied to be with this man.
"I… am married."
She said with a sad voice. Gale was stunned, he didn't even actively use his charm yet, and she almost denied being married right off the bat. He decided to tease her further. He leaned forward until his mouth was a few cm from her ear and whispered.
"Would you spend the night with me?"
"I don't think it would be appropriate. You can find better-looking women easily."
She said it unwillingly as if she was hoping he would prove her wrong. Gale smiled and looked into her eyes. His green eyes shone with a weak light as he asked his next question.
"Did you ever cheat on your husband?"
"No, I love him. I never thought of cheating on him before."
"Before? Would you cheat on him with me now?"
He thought of how much she wanted to spend the night with him and the light in his eyes became slightly brighter.
"I would. I'd do anything to spend the night with you."
"What if I want you to beg me to sleep with you in the market?"
"I will not hesitate."
He got the answer to his first question; they would go very far.
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