The little, compared to the scaled titans of legends, dragon perks up noticeable at my offer to provide a little more help, his long sinuous tail waving about excitedly. Oh dear, does he need my help? It sure looks like it! Very much so in fact. It's a small miracle that he doesn't send coin from his hoard flying everywhere.

"Throwing knives? Oh, I think I can help you out in that regard. And yes, I could use a little help with something too! I'm so glad you are offering to help! Just give me a moment. I'll be with you right away!"

True to his word, he joins me on this side of the bars separating the shop from the space behind the counter, his hoard, a moment later.

"Let me show you what I need help with first."

He moves past me, without even waiting for an answer, towards a stack of crates and chests standing in front of the usual shelves. Those have most certainly not been there the last time.

Well, my curiosity is piqued, thus I follow him, taking care not to be blindsided by his tail. He is still quite excited. Or could it be that he is even more excited now than before?

He turns around besides the crates and chests to address me.

"This is it. My newest spot of trouble. Well, not too much trouble. It's a new acquisition. Bought up an inheritance from some siblings who were squabbling about it because they had no idea how to best divide it in between them. Got it for cheap. And they were much happier with some coin that could be divided into equal shares too."

He lets out a long sigh for dramatic effect.

"But woe is me! I now have to sort through all of this to make sure it ends up on the right shelves. And I have to be quick about it too. I really don't want those crates still in here by the time Sezemat is back in town and might drop by."

I nod along with his words, suppressing a grin all the while. He really is putting on a grand act. I decide to humor him. If it earns me a discount on those throwing knives, it's time well spent. And I have to pass some time anyway until Matylda and Sylwia get me for their next little stint at the underground fighting ring.

"Well, I could land you a hand. Maybe even two. I hope you will appreciate all the time and effort this will take."

Apparently this is good enough to make my [Haggling] skill progress a little. I appreciate the fact although it isn't enough for a level up. I don't let that slow me down either. Even as I speak I open the topmost chest. It contains all kinds of writing utensils. Not too shabby, but nothing really exceptional either.

"Well, shall we get started? Where does this go? The set as a whole? Or should any of this go into the trash?"

He looks over and into the little chest, taking stock of its contents at a surprising speed. I'm pretty sure I'm watching a skill at work. For all I know he is appraising and identifying the entire contents of the chest at a glance. Finally he nods.

"The ink is still in blocks. The utensils look good too. The previous owner obviously took good care of this. It can go on a shelf as is, right over there with the rest of the writing, calligraphy and painting supplies. Can't miss it."

He nods in the direction of the shelf he has in mind as he says that. And he is right, it's impossible to miss.

I put the chest there, with its lid closed once again. That way it's contents won't be gathering dust and only the chest will need to be wiped down every once in a while.

By the time I return Beldragor is already looking through one of the bigger crates.

"Clothes. All kinds of clothes. New and worn. Casual and formal."

He sounds a little annoyed, and I can imagine why. He doesn't carry regular clothing in his shop. There are pieces of armor, sure, but no clothing. I decide to interject before he can get any more worked up.

"Sell the whole crate to the ladies over at the Flea and Flotsam?"

The dragon looks over at me as he ponders my words.

"Probably … yes, that will be for the best."

He lets out a long, drawn out sigh.

I can't help but grin.

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"They drive a hard bargain? Harder than most customers coming in for just one thing or another, or am I wrong?"

The little dragon emits a throaty chuckle. He finishes going through the rest of the crate to make sure there is nothing else hidden in there.

"Yes, just about. Say, could you drop by their place and ask them to drop by once we are done here?"

I shrug and help him move that one crate out of the way. It's not terribly heavy, but heavy enough that I wouldn't want to move it on my own.

"Sure. I'll pay them a visit. Just don't expect me to lug this thing over to their place on my own though. Breaking my back is not on the list of things I want to do today."

He snorts in amusement and opens the lid of next chest. I let out a low whistle, looking over his shoulder. What I see may seem ordinary at a glance. Knives, forks, spoons, plates and bowls and so much more. Enough to host a decent sized group. It probably doesn't look like much. Not to anyone who doesn't know that the black patina is a sure sign that the silverware is actually made of silver in this case.

"And they really let you have that for cheap?"

Beldragor is almost drooling now. He runs a claw over a few of the pieces, scratching the blackened patina ever so slightly to reveal the silver gleam below. When he speaks up again he sounds giddy, like a little child that just beheld entirely too many sweet treats.

"Well … they sold me all of the old man's household goods. They were so busy arguing among themselves when I made the suggestion, that they might not even have checked what exactly they just sold to me. And when I asked Barandon and some of his cronies to pack everything up and haul it over here, they were downright ecstatic."

Now it's my turn to snort in amusement.

"Blinded by a pouch of quick and easy coin and the prospect that all of their problems can become the problems of someone else with just one handshake."

Beldragor chuckles in such a way that it almost sounds like a cliche villain laugh.

"Well, they win. And I win some more."

I shrug. I'm not going to argue with that for sure. He is running a business after all and not a charity. Instead another question is prominent on my mind.

"Should I polish these up?"

I'm really not sure about it. Considering the even, black patina, this is probably almost pure silver. If there were any amount of copper worth mentioning in it, it wouldn't have blackened like that to begin with.

"These probably will just darken and tarnish again in no time."

Beldragor gives my words some thought. In the end he nods and closes the lid of the chest again.

"It probably will be for the best if I sell it to the lord's mint. Let them worry about alloying the silver with other metals to mint a nice batch of shiny fresh shillings. They are always on the lookout for high purity metals. And even if they don't pay the best prices this chest alone should earn me back my investment."

There is one more chest left. This one is a little more sturdy than the others. I help Beldragor move the one with the silverware out of the way so we can take a look at the contents of this one. Except, there is a slight problem. This one is locked. It's not a fancy lock, but it's sturdy enough. Combined with the iron bands reinforcing the chest it's sure to keep the container's contents safe. I raise a hand to stop the dragon from doing anything.

"Can I give picking that lock a try first?"

He looks at me and blinks once.

"Well, sure, be my guest. Go ahead."

I grin and grab my tools, purchases here at this very shop not too long ago, from my pack. Before I get started though I inspect the lock closely. It doesn't look like there is much room for a trap, but I'd rather make sure beforehand than find out the hard way. In addition I can gauge the complexity of the lock like this too. Thankfully it's a sturdy lock and not a complex one.

My [Perception] skill benefits from this approach anyway, which already is great news as far as I'm concerned.

Finally I get to work. With great care I probe the tumblers, trying to turn the lock with as little force as possible. I don't want to break my picks and possibly jam the lock after all. After a few tries I finally get it right and it clicks open, which earns me a little progress for my [Lock picking] skill. I get pack up and put my tools away again, while I motion, with a little flourish, for Beldragor to open the chest.

The dragon perks up even further as he sees what's inside.

"Oh dear! It seems the old man really was an adventurer! That is some pretty well kept gear. A little dated, probably, but not bad in general."

My left eyebrow rises a little, as I take in the things inside the chest myself. A wand of some sort, an often mended robe of some kind, curiously enough not kept with the rest of the clothing and a handful of books stand out the most. There are other things too of course, but they seem rather mundane by comparison, like the backpack and some camping supplies including a utility knife.

"Hm, was he a wizard? Are those spell books?"

Beldragor nods excitedly, making his scales rattle a little in the process.

"Oh yes! And yes! The wand even still holds some power. The robe is enchanted too. This is the real deal! Lets be careful with that. Could you bring the chest as a whole. It shouldn't be too heavy. The wand, the robe and the books need to go into one of my locked display cabinets. The rest goes onto the shelf with the assorted adventuring gear."

I let out a groan but don't actually protest. At least this chest isn't as heavy as the crate with the clothes. And unlike the crate the chest has handles and is intended to be carried about. It's still damn heavy though.

I give up after lifting it briefly and decide on a slightly different approach. I grab the camping gear first and put it where Beldragor wants to have it. With that taken care off the chest is down to a manageable weight.

Beldragor flashes me a toothy dragon grin as I finally catch up to him, but he doesn't complain either. Instead he uses his telekinesis powers to unlock the cabinet, so I can put the actual valuable items on display. And once I'm done he immediately locks the display back up.

I can't help but wonder if this piece of fancy furniture is really useful and decide to ask.

"Can't a determined burglar or thief just smash the thing to get at what is inside? It doesn't look all that sturdy."

The dragon chortles.

"A really determined one? Yes, probably. It's a little more solid than you seem to give it credit though. And anyway, it would not go over unnoticed and buy me enough time to prepare an appropriate response. Never mind though. Why don't you head over to the Flea and Flotsam while I look through my inventory for a few nice throwing knives for you?"

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