Balthazar sat on a cushioool behind a rge table with a couple of chairs oher side. The mayor’s staff had arranged a spot for him ihe building, he hall of the Mert’s Guild, for the crab to meet aiate with all the traders, merts, suppliers, and other important figures who wished to meet the city’s new celebrity.

  And there were many of them.

  Whearted early in the m, Balthazar saw a liending over the hall’s atrium and taking several turns around ers. It was filled with loobles, extravagant merts, rich businessmen, and even the occasional adventurer who saw a long line and had joined in thinking there was free stuff being given at the end of it.

  “!” the crusta called after seali another deal with a local supplier of nighttime freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers.

  A less visionary mert might have sidered a deal to receive ahat supplier's stock at their establishment a waste of time and resources, but not Balthazar.

  Sure, he had no idea why anyone would ever buy those things, but he also khat he could sell anything to a dumb enough adventurer if he really set his mind to it. And with those suppliers practically throwing their products at him for nearly free just to say they’re in business with the mert crab, the mark-ups on those nighttime freshwater mango-shaped fishing bobbers were surely going to be huge.

  And so he kept striking deal after deal.

  “So it’s a deal, Mr. Balthazar!” a young man with a big smile said, extending his hand to the crab.

  “Sure is!” the crusta replied, along with a nod. He wondered if people would ever start realizing how silly they looked a handshake to a crab.

  The young man was the nephew of Marquessa’s most famous jeweler. What stood out the most to Balthazar was that, unlike all others that m, the jewelry trader hadn’t e to see the mert crab in person, instead choosing to send an emissary in the form of the young man.

  Despite what the crab could have easily taken as an affront—someohinking themselves too important to bother meeting him in person—he decided to let his mert instincts speak louder.

  Their pieces were famous in Marquessa and sold at high prices. Being the exclusive reseller of Marquessian jewelry oher side of the ti was certainly going to be a profitable deal. Adventurers, much like crabs, also loved to collect shiny things.

  If the jewel-maker didn’t want to meet him, so be it. Balthazar valued making a lot higher thaing new people anyway.

  “!” the mert called.

  They were just a means to an end. Whether that end was morading experieo level up, or even pastries.

  “Mhmm, sure, mhmm…” Balthazar idly mumbled as he tinued chewing on a sliango pie and another local salesman waxed lyrical about what an honor it was to meet him.

  Madame Margo had dropped by earlier, right after the mayor led him io meet the Marquessian nobles, with several boxes of mango delicacies. Acc to the baker, she and her husband had been hard at work in their boutique’s kit since before the sun came up to put the returned mao good use.

  They decided the very first batch of pie and other mango goodies o go to the city’s new hero, the traveling crab that—as Madame Margo apparently had established—had e all the way from the other side of the ti just to try her baking.

  A marketing strategy Balthazar was more than fio let her have, so long as it meant he’d keep getting free pastries.

  The crab then proceeded to spend the m iating with Marquessians while stuffing himself with all manner of mango sweets. Mango mousse, mango puddings, mango delights, even a mango écir. Eaore delicious tha but still ter than the simplicity of a sliango pie.

  It was simple pleasures like these that Balthazar missed most from home. Sitting on a fy seat, stuffing himself with sweets while making deals and trades.

  Yet, ohing was bugging him. The more hours that passed, the less satisfied he felt. The greater his disi. The more bored he became.

  Perhaps it was his new key to the city making it all too easy and unrewarding? Every trader and mert he met practically tripped over their owrying to please him and the best items and deals they had. There was nuing, no haggling, no satisfa of finally ing out on top like when dealing with the adventurers bae.

  Or maybe he had just spent too much time on the road, seeing the world, experieng so mahings in his life. His mind had opened up to so many new perspectives. Could it be that what once was enough for the old crab living by a poo a small road was now simply unfulfilling for the more experienced crusta who had been matured by his travels?

  In the end, Balthazar went with the more likely ao that existential crisis: he was just feeling drowsy from stuffing himself with so many desserts.

  All things sidered, that robably the more reasonable answer.

  Crabs don’t ge anyway. They’re already the perfe.

  Thankfully, his nagging feeling of unfulfillment was finally struck down after finishing a trade deal with a local seller of hand painted seashell dleholders with a little to hang them from the windowsill. While the produame was quite the mouthful, the crab was certain it was a market about to go big and that he’d do well to get in early.

  As the deal was sealed for him to bee the sole reseller of hand pai… of the seashells, a new notification appeared in front of Balthazar’s vision.

  [You have reached level 22!]

  Oh! He thought, suddenly perking up on his seat. I leveled up again already! I haven’t even had time to assign the points from the previous o makes sense, with all this trading and dealing I’m making. Lots of experience.

  The crab frowned slightly. There was another notification after the level up one.

  [1000 sales pleted! You have gaihe rank of Expert Mert.]

  [As an Expert Mert, your ts are more likely to accept your deals, and you will always have a natural advantage wheiating with lower rank merts.]

  Woah! A thousand?! It feels like a lifetime ago when I reached one hundred and became a mert.

  Feeling quite pleased with himself and his new achievements, Balthazar decided to pull up the stats s before calling the persohey were there for the honor to meet him, they could wait a few more minutes for the city's hero.

  First thing to do ick what base stats to increase.

  Hmm, ever g with more health. He thought, recalling his repeated enters with the ander’s baton.

  He increased his health by 10, but still had another 10 points to use.

  Right, two level-ups. Could just do more health…

  Balthazar thought back to how he had almost failed to activate his Copycrab skill the night before due to having used most of his mana to activate the Imbuing one earlier. Things would have gone a lot differently with Velvet if that had happened. With a growing list of skills in his arsenal, perhaps iing on a little more mana wouldn’t hurt.

  Rolling his eyes at the idea of skipping on more health, the mert pced the other 10 points into his mana begrudgingly.

  [Health: 230/230]

  [Stamina: 30/30]

  [Mana: 30/30]

  up were his attribute points. With six of them to distribute, Balthazar remembered his other new skill he hadn’t been able to use yet.

  [All-Tongue]

  [Requirements: 40 CHA, 20 INT]

  He groaned. I only have 16 Intellect. Do I really spend four out of six points into it just for a skill I don’t even know I’ll use?

  His immediate instinct was to put them all into Charisma. After all, his enter with the witch proved that despite how high that attribute already was, it still wasn’t high enough to beat her when his special trait failed against her.

  But the crab also khat the moment he chose not to unlock that new skill, he’d find himself in a situation where he desperately. That was always how those things went, and he had learned better by now.

  Fine, just these four and then it’s Charisma all the way.

  Adding four to Intelled two to Charisma, Balthazar nodded in approval at the attributes list.

  [Strength: 5]

  [Endurance: 5]

  [Agility: 5]

  [Perception: 5]

  [Intellect: 20]

  [Charisma: 63]

  He dismissed the system text in front of his eyes just as a delicate hand touched his shell.

  “Mr. Balthazar,” Lady Marquessa called. “I’ve made the arras I mentioned earlier. Would you like to e with me now?”

  “Ah, great! Let’s go,” he said, hopping off the cushion he was sitting on. “I’m doalking to stuffy people for the day. I o stretch my legs.”

  The few dozen people still left in liched as the crab left with the baroness, disappoi all over their faces.

  “Sorry, folks,” the mert said loudly. “Time is , and I’ve got other busio tend to. You will have to find me some other time, maybe bae. Balthazar’s Bazaar is the name of the pce. All the way across the ti, o the town of Ardville. A bit of a stretch, but if you’re really determio do business with me, I’m sure that’s no big deal.”

  “I’m not sure Bergen will be too thrilled to see so much trade from Marquessa passing right by his front door,” the baroness said as they headed out the Mert’s guild hall.

  “The mayor of Ardville?” said the crab. “What makes you say that? You seem to know him well.”

  She smiled as she looked ahead. “As I told you before, we used to know each other. Long ago, when we were both much younger. Let’s just say we used to… csh a lot. He’s quite stubborn, as you probably noticed. Might also still hold a bit of a grudge against the Marquessa name, by the way. Just so you know.”

  “I’ll try to remember that,” the mert said. “But my business is my own. I’m not beholden to Ardville or his mayor. I’ll trade with whomever I want.”

  Lady Marquessa looked back at the pque by the door as they exited the hall to the atrium.

  “Shame the guildmaster of our Mert’s Guild is out on a busirip. I think you two would have liked to meet each other.”

  Balthazar remembered the only other mert guild master he had met before, Antoine, a a hefty amount of doubt about her words.

  “Say, I’ve made lots of deals this m,” the crab started, “but I’m still missing the biggest one. Who do I talk to in order te an export route for mangoes from here to my pond?”

  The finely-dressed dy looked down at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  “I’m afraid what you are asking for is not really possible, Mr. Balthazar. Mangoes only keep well for a few weeks and that’s under ideal ste ditions. A carriage taking them across the ti would take several weeks to reach Ardville. All you would be getting is a pile of rotten fruit.”

  “Damn, you’re right,” the disappointed crab said. “But I’d really love to be able to enjoy fresh mango pies bae. And… to hopefully show them to someone very special someday soon so she could use them in her baking too.” He let out a long sigh. “I’ll have to figure out another way.”

  “I did arrange for that other item you requested earlier, if that brings you any sotion,” the mayor said as they crossed the atrium toward the exit.

  “The gold ingot?” the excited crusta asked.

  “No,” the woman replied. “That one I’m afraid is a big ask on such short notice, even for the city’s new hero. There are no gold mines near Marquessa, and while there’s plenty of gold to go around, solid ingots of pure gold are hard to e by. I did get you an ingot of silver, however.”

  One of the guildhall’s workers was waiting for them by the door, with a box in her hands.

  “Ah, well, that’s still pretty good,” Balthazar said as he opened his backpack to let the girl pce the ingot ihanks!”

  “And finally,” Lady Marquessa tinued. “I believe I promised you safe passage to where you wao go, off by the coastal cliffs.”

  “That’s right! That was the whole reason why I came here in the first pce. I just wanted some dires.”

  “Well then, as promised…”

  The baroness extended her arm to the front door just as Captain Leaepped through it.

  “Ready to go, Mr. Balthazar?”

  The crab smiled with determination. It was finally time to get ba trad find the wizard that could help him bring Bouldy back.