Immortal Freeloader 81 (Patreon)

The changes capital had gone through in a mere day since I saved Pearyin were enough to be classified as shocking. The Tiger Fist Disciples filled the streets, patrolling every part of the city like they were the royal soldiers. 

Arguably, they were looking for me and Pearyin, who, according to the gossip, ambushed their brave commanders cowardly before escaping. Quite a bit different than I remembered. And, even if that was true, it didn’t explain why they were getting exorbitant protection fees from every shop, and beating any dared to resist. 

It wasn’t exactly looting, but it wasn’t too far away from it. 

I didn’t feel any guilt even as I saw the army filling the streets. What they were doing was a dare, one that required a response from the Royal family. Tiger Fists were not soft-hearted to something like that for a couple Bone Forging realm members, and even if they had been, looting wasn’t exactly a necessity. 

No, combined with the hidden Connate Realm experts they had brought with them to build the fortress, it was clear that they had bigger ambitions than taking revenge, and they were just using an excuse. With one notable exception, I didn’t have any good feelings toward the royal family. It was their mess to clean up. 

I still walked around, looking to see if I could get a nice opportunity. Tiger Fist Disciples demanded a lot of money or other items of clear value, and not everyone had such liquidity, so they had been desperately selling stuff. 

Stuff that included collector items like broken cultivator items. Since they required inspection from experts — as well as willing buyers — the disciples weren’t interested in taking them. They preferred cold cash. 

It was a good opportunity for me for some bargain shopping. At a minimum, I wanted to buy some useless talismans, which then I could reverse engineer. A few empty talisman papers and other craft items wouldn’t be amiss. 

However, that was just the worst case. The sudden flux was an excellent opportunity to go back to my roots and swindle some people for valuable items. All I needed was to make them pity me, or better, insult me in an indirect way. 

Pity was an interesting emotion, one that I had learned a lot, both after my injury that ruined my career as an athlete, and after my summoning during my stint as a beggar. Pity came from a combination of empathy, combined with a sense of superiority. 

Of course, my experiences with Elsana and Aisnam had shown a much more productive — and fun — way of eliciting pity before turning that into pampering, but it required a lot of preparation and good timing; and the rewards required careful balancing. 

Acting as an unlucky beggar offered many other possibilities. Naturally, I didn’t plan to be dressed as an actual beggar. Even in their most content time, it was hard for a rich noble to feel empathy toward a poor beggar properly, let alone when they were actually worried about their own lives. 

They would gut a beggar without blinking. 

Luckily, at this point, my quick-change ability, combined with all the junk I had in my inventory, allowed me to respond to the situation quickly without too much preparation. 

First, I disguised myself as a nondescript young scholar with dusty and slightly ripped clothes, which was a flexible identity that I was comfortable with. Also, it gave me the flexibility to buy or beg for any paper-based scrap, particularly if they weren’t aware of its true value. 

Then, I went toward the royal auction house. There was a huge line in front of it, with many nobles and merchants with piles of items. 

“… Please, esteemed master. You can’t be serious. Just five coins. I purchased it for three hundred gold pieces last month. Check your records please.” 

“That was between you and the auctioneer. Now, you’re selling it to us directly. Feel free to pay a gold piece deposit and we will try to auction,” the employee explained smugly. And, he wasn’t the only employee doing so. In front of the auction house, they had set almost fifty desks, each with a line of anxious merchants and minor nobles, many with either no martial skills or merely in the Initiate realm. 

Money bought a lot of things, but it didn’t buy safety. 

Still, I was surprised by the reaction of the royal auction house, which was another reflection of the attitude of the royal family. Not only they didn’t try to moderate the Tiger Fist army, but also they were actually trying to rob their citizens. 

Interesting stance, but nothing more than passing curiosity. Even before Aisnam’s little summary, I had realized how insignificant was the mortal kingdoms. Understanding the true scale of the world drove that message even deeper. Even if I wanted to help the unlucky people, all I needed was to raise Aisnam to the Foundation Establishment Realm. 

I took a position near the line, trying to feel a hint of Qi on the broken items they were trying to trade, trying to get a hint of Qi from them. It was hard to detect Qi from a distance while trying to stay hidden, but the long lines allowed me to walk to them and examine their items. They were more than happy to get a second opinion. 

The royal guards weren’t as happy. “Hey, you can’t just try to buy anything here!” one of them said as he moved toward me. 

“Please, my lord. I’m just looking for a gift so I can impress my master. I’m going to buy only one item.” 

“Doesn’t matter. You can’t intervene with the business of the royal auction house. Now, go away—” he started, only to fall silent when I bowed down, but using it to flash a small pouch. His hand moved far faster than her cultivation suggested. 

His bribe-taking skill would have been at Major Immersion if the world had recognized it as a skill. 

He checked the contents quickly, and his eyes widened when he realized there were coins inside. Still, he schooled his expression, ready to fish for more. I didn’t want to deal with him for long. “Please, sir,” I said as I grabbed his hand. 

He smiled smugly, his ego boosted by my move, but soon, his eyes widened. I squeezed his hand, hard enough to tell him that I was much stronger than him. “Alright, but you can only buy one item. And, I need to check it beforehand,” he said. Then, he paused, and added with a whisper. “And, you can’t get it back if you don’t buy anything.” 

Carrot and stick was a devastating combination as always. 

I nodded. “Thank you, brave soldier,” I said. I didn’t bother arguing about the item limit. In the end, I wasn’t planning to buy anything useful while on the line, even if I had seen several valuable items. 

Either they would fail to sell, which then I could target them in a way that would trigger the System under an appropriate identity, or I could just rob the auction house for things that would be useful without multipliers. 

Under different circumstances, robbing the auction house was too high profile, and would have incited a chase that I could live without, but right now, the Royal family wouldn’t have dared to do so, afraid that it was a trap for them. 

I might even frame Tiger Fist for it, which would make the lives of my enemies even harder. 

Half an hour later, I had managed to identify several dozen items that had the potential to be useful after the System. Unfortunately, there were only a couple items that had the potential to be useful without a System bonus, and even then, it was only because my talisman skill was high enough to learn from them. 

The first one I decided to target was a ruined ring. It was too mangled for me to even begin understanding what it was supposed to be used, but it was being sold by a woman in her fifties, who had just argument with the employee that she would rather throw it away than sell it for three gold, and left angrily. 

“Damned bastards, how dare they,” she muttered as she walked away. “I just needed to get enough gold to pay my idiot son’s debt…” she muttered. “Damn those Tiger Fist bastards and their grubby fingers.” 

She was the easiest target imaginable. 

I moved forward until I was in an alley that would cut her path. “… I know, mother. But I don’t even have money to buy her a gift after those Tiger Fist bastards destroyed our shop and stole our money. I can’t even give her a token gift. How can I ask her not to break the engagement,” I said, doing my best to sound proud and pitiful at the same time as I burst out of the alley, and collided against her.

Her ring flew off. “Sorry, madam,” I said as I grabbed the ring and bowed in front of her. “Please forgive me. I wasn’t myself.” 

As I did so, I embodied the type of ideal young man, the kind that every mother nagged her son to be. She was particularly vulnerable to it because of her son’s most recent failure — who was clearly a moron since he dared to gamble with what essentially was an invasion force. He was lucky to lose, as winning in such a situation would have ended worse. 

“Keep it, young man,” she said. 

“But —” I started, but she wrapped my fingers. 

“Take it as a little token from an old woman. I heard you,” she said as she squeezed my fingers, and walked away. 

Leaving a very happy young man behind. 

[Pity Bonus - 10 (Capped)]

[10x Return - Storage Ring, Profound Low-Grade]