Chương 14: Unless, of course, the Gods put limits on me.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!" The small mob of robed people Seagulls approached. I quickly learned this group of Seagulls was a part of the alchemists guild. I gleaned this from their chatter, which wasn't actually them saying "Mine!" Over and over, it just felt like it. This group of apprentices had come to the market for supplies, and surprise, surprise, there was a crate of S-tier mountain spring water in the market. Their masters back at the guild wouldn't rest until they discovered the source - me - and they all knew it.

"Everyone stay back! Form a line! One at a time!" As apprentice Seagulls swarmed around us, she popped her armor back on from inside the bag and looked menacing. Lakshmi called them to order.

"There will be an Orderly line, or I'll start breaking knees." An orderly line formed, almost as fast as my finest platoon could have done it, and before I could even start selling to them, another merchant complained, "Hey, he ain't even got a booth!"

"Oh shut up, Leonard." The guy I'd initially sold the spring water to said.

"He can have my fuckin' booth. I already made more today than I normally do in a season."

"Thank you. I'm Johnny, by the way."

"Jimmy," he gestured at his booth with his name on it 'Jimmy Glasses'.

"Been amazing to meet you. My booth is all yours for the rest of the day, I'm gonna go pay off my item-box, and celebrate by getting drunk." Jimmy cleaned up all his stuff, freaky fast. It was still weird watching people vanish things. Jimmy 'Glasses' was an optometrist in his first life, and sold glasses, just... regular old, non-magical glasses at his booth. Did eye exams there, too. His power? Magical Optometrist, of course.

He could turn rock and sand into glass, and diagnose people's prescriptions via magical scan... at least that's what it said on all his signage, before he disappeared it. I hadn't even really bothered to look at what he had for sale before, I was too hungry. Which reminded me. I had meat sticks in my hand, which I tried to finish as fast as possible. The line of orderly seagulls was herded to my new, empty booth, and I finished devouring my weird reptile meat lunch.

"So..." The first Seagull standing in line almost shouted to me, "How much more of that water have you got? And how much am I allowed to buy? And... What is the price?"

"Johnny here will be charging you a large gold for a case of 12, or a single gold per bottle." Jimmy said, patting me on the back, and giving me a wink.

"Also here, a gift." He handed me a set of bifocal glasses, with a pair of business cards pressed between the arms as they were folded.

"Thanks," I took the glasses.

"Two cards?"

"One is mine, one is a business partner. An enchanter that does great glasses work. Tell him I sent you." I checked the cards. One was Jimmy's, the other, 'Herman Buster, Mystery Buster: Identifying lenses, and other fine glasswerks.'

"This is the shop Brian suggested."

"He probably got his glasses there. Tell Herman we both sent you, that's fine. I'll split the referral bonus."

"Referral bonus?"

"Herman will explain." He looked at the line.

"Anyhow, good luck here today. I have a feeling you're gonna have a very interesting day."

"Thanks." Jimmy skedaddled, and I turned around to see Lakshmi had stopped the first one from approaching.

"You have a sickness. Johnny, can you summon us some masks?" Balance: 31278. 91 I bought a twelve pack of different colored cloth masks, I put a blue one on, and handed an olive colored one to Lakshmi. It would look good with her eyes. She immediately put it on, and asked for another, for the man with a large gold in his hand. I handed her the pink one. He frowned, but put it on at Lakshmi's insistence. She didn't even need to speak to demand such things.

"So, to answer all your questions from earlier. I will sell you one crate each..." I made a show of looking at them to count.

"I should have enough for all of you, if all of you should want a crate each. You will pay my friend, and get the goods from me."

"And you'll really sell us twelve," He had a bottle in hand already, from Jimmy's stock.

"In a cardboard box, like Jimmy had, for a large gold?"

"I'd honestly prefer it as ten regular gold pieces, but yea, money is money." Sochi had said I had to treat it all the same, legally. Lakshmi took his money, and handed me a piece of paper when she stepped him up to get his water from me.

"If you can, get him some of this too."

"Some what?" The man asked.

"Some flu medicine," Lakshmi answered "You have the influenza virus, it is just starting. You probably haven't even noticed that you're starting to get sick. Not much to do but ride it out, now, but you don't have to suffer the full power of it without medicine." Balance: 31214. 48 I put his water and meds on the one table Jimmy left me.

"Uhh... what do I owe you for the meds?"

"How about a silver piece?" He agreed and forgot the rule, you pay my friend. He flicked a silver coin my way and I just caught it. Whatever. Balance: 31614. 48 We burned through the rest of the line, and each one got some sort of something from the pharmacy. Lakshmi wasn't going to let a single one pass without a little medical tune-up. Some of the meds were actually almost a hundred dollars. Still, we raked in the gold pieces, and the silver pieces...

and I pushed my balance up to a slightly more comfortable number by taking some of the gold pieces. Balance: 120, 242. 48 Oh, excellent. It finally gave me a comma. I was worried if I got to 9 or 10 digits that it would be hard to tell how rich I was at a glance. Lakshmi's balance: (At least, what I thought she had at this point) 6 Large Gold, 60-ish Gold, and 50 something silver. This was the last time I'd have a reasonably good idea exactly how much money she had.

The alchemist's guild Seagulls had attracted other Hungry Gulls, but I was enough fry to satisfy them all, or so I thought. Also, I think Damon might have been doing some unintentional advertising as he walked around the market getting materials. I would have to have a talk with him later about loose lips. My first non-robed customer looked like a stereotype of a bandit. Not quite enough cloth on his top half for a tank top, a coxcomb hairdo, and a nice facial scar.

I was kind of surprised Lakshmi didn't hand me any prescription when he stepped up and asked "Bruh, can you get, like... mountain dew?" Based on the 'bruh', I suspect he meant the soda, and not whiskey.

"Did you want regular, code red, or baja blast."

"Bruh!? You can get Baja blast? I want that!"

"It'll be two silver for a twelve pack." I didn't want such a bad habit to be cheap.

"Can I get five twelve packs for a gold?"...

"Sure." He handed Lakshmi the coin and she put it in her frog. I guess I learned my lesson about trying to tax people out of bad habits. Makes me rich though, which felt wrong. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Balance: 120, 219. 68 I stopped paying close attention to my balance as the morning wore on. The next few people asked for equally inane things from the first world. A toaster, that puts Hello Kitty's face on the toast. Genuine Maple syrup for a once-Canadian.

And paint brushes for an enchanter that used them to make painted wards on things. I asked about paint, but she said she has to make it herself for the wards to work properly. She did also buy some paint thinner, though. Damon returned with the supplies needed for us to get our clothes enchanted, but somehow news spread that there was a guy with all sorts of random shit from the first world for sale. The line started growing longer, so Damon went and got his robes done, and I continued to man my booth.

Maybe Wally could come to me? Honestly, I was very surprised by the orderliness of the mob. Maybe all the people who can't stand in line and behave themselves get goo gunned before they leave the portal chambers. I sold pillows, baseballs, vinegar, varnish, Groucho Marx glasses, a mini-fridge, a couple sets of plate armor, after Lakshmi showed off the armor while bouncing a mid-day drunk. She cast Drune-Rembark on him as she shoved him away. Maybe the magic would sober him up.

He could come back when he was able to behave. The next hour or so was a blur. A sort of secondary crowd formed, holding a respectful ten(ish) feet away: Journalists, lookie-loos, and general rubberneckers of all types. They all wanted to see what I'd pull up next, and honestly, me too. Everyone wondered - rather loudly - what the first item I wouldn't be able to produce was going to be. Good thing no one asked for guns. The secondary crowd hushed as a man with a platinum piece in one hand walked up.

He was dressed in a finely tailored suit of blue linen, and wore a fancy wizard hat with sparkly glowing stars and moons on it. Had his own body guard, too, like me. His was a burly fellow in heavy armor, with the sniffles. The armored behemoth sized Lakshmi up, and she sized him right back up in return. Then she turned to me and handed me a prescription.

"A bottle of regular Advil too, please, this man has a terrible headache. And a bottle of these allergy pills. His histamines are off the charts." Balance: 107, 787. 98 I got what she asked for.

"Take one now, and then one a day at breakfast. You can follow the instructions on the bottle for the Advil." She pulled a bottle of water from the frog purse and handed it to him, along with the pills. We, by which I mean she, had decided that I should get her a couple 48 packs of bottled water, because so many people needed medicine, and she wanted to make sure they started taking it right away.

"Very kind of you." The big man said.

"Here." The fancy wizard flicked a large gold coin her way.

"I assume that more than covers it?"

"More than fair to me," I said. I hadn't even spent twenty bucks between both medicines.

"I'll add the excess to your balance for this transaction. Now about that platinum piece. I will make a rare exception and take that myself, If I can provide what you're looking for, that is." Lakshmi shot me a look, but when I saw one in person, I immediately made up my mind to test its value as soon as I could.

"Very good. I should like to buy a washer and dryer set, a dishwasher, a full size refrigerator, three kerosene generators, each capable of producing twelve kilowatts, one hundred gallons of kerosene, a large battery supply, like for a house, at least fifteen kilowatt hours - two of those if possible - and a solar array capable of generating at least thirty kilowatts in full sun, to start. I may have further requests of your access to first world goods in the future."

"I... think I can do that. Give me a minute, let's go over it one at a time." We went over his list - slowly - and I put the full order together before I purchased. It would be, by far, the largest single purchase I had made yet. 75, 567. 69 in one go. I hope it blows your mind, Golden One.

"So you got a house off grid or something?"

"Something like that. I have a demi-plane with a day, night cycle. I'm planning to build a mansion in there with all the fixings. This way when I go adventuring I can have a luxurious place to sleep for myself and my party."

"How much was the demi-plane, if you don't mind me asking."

"Two hundred Large Plat."

"Plats come in large?"

"They do. We got them from a dragon's horde, but I'm the only one with enough mana to summon the demi-plane, so the party decided to buy it for me, and in my down time I decided to spruce it up. Came to the market today to contract a guy for lumber, which I did... but then I heard about you." I knew that if for some reason the platinum piece wasn't worth much I'd still be able to replenish my balance anyhow. It would be a setback, but not the end of the world. I prayed to the Golden One that it was worth a lot.

"Fortunate for both of us!" I put my hand out, palm up, to await his platinum piece.

"Ready for your items?" He placed it in my palm and it was gone. Balance: 1, 107, 787. 98 I hope I held a good poker face, because I'm fairly certain my heart rate jumped up through the roof.

"And here's your stuff." Balance: 1, 032, 220. 29 His generators and appliances appeared all around me, and then disappeared just as quickly as he walked around touching each item. The crowd burst into cheers at the sheer volume and complexity of the stuff I'd just manifested. I gave them a moment to be awed before I beckoned for the next person. The fancy wizard just chuckled and dropped his card on the table for me.

"Call me later." He was clearly not used to being dismissed like just another customer, but I serve rich and poor alike. He pointed at his body guard, "Come on Frank, stop flirting with his guard, I'm sure she doesn't like it."

"No, no. Frank is welcome to flirt with me any time." Lakshmi said, biting her lower lip at Frank. Fantastic! She's found someone to get her urges out with that isn't me. Frank pulled a card from his own pockets, and handed it to her.

"I'll show you what the stamina of an A-rank Tank is like."

"Got dayum!" The man next in line said, overhearing everything.

"Well I ain't got no plat. Just a single silver piece. I wonder if I could get laundry bleach… and if such a thing as mind's eye bleach exists, can I can't unsee those two bumping uglies."

"Uglies?" Frank said, feigning deep offense.

"I'll have you know my Soldier is beautiful. That's my real Isekai power. Gorgeous Cock!" The crowd laughed, and Lakshmi put Frank's card in her pocket.

"God dammit Frank, I asked you to stop and you ramped it up to eleven. Are you about to show a crowd of people your dick again?"

"That was an accident and you know it!"" Ahooliminx Notoroth, Home." The wizard stepped over and grabbed hold of Frank - throwing up a 'call me' sign with his hand - before they both vanished. Clearly he didn't need a circle to cast that spell, he was a powerful wizard with his own demi-plane.

"So... about that bleach."

"Right." Something felt... off. When I attempted to add some laundry bleach to my cart, I got an error message.

'Daily spending limit exceeded.' I clicked the ' more info' hyperlink, and it opened up a window.

Daily limit may be exceeded only during the final checkout of the day. Lvl: Daily Spending Limit 0: 25k 1: 50k 2: 100k 3: 250k 4: 500k 5: 1M 6: 5M 7: 10M 8: 25M 9: 100M 10+: Unlimited I stared at the screen in my mind's eye.

"Hey buddy, can you get bleach or not?"

"I... Cannot?" Lakshmi turned to look at me with an eyebrow cocked up.

"I seem to have reached my... creating limit for the day. That last guy really used it all up at once. I'm sorry everyone who waited in line for no reason. I'll... try to be back tomorrow?"

"Drink a mana potion!" Someone in the line shouted.

"I'll pay for it!" Someone else said. I put my big-boy, soldier voice on, and addressed the crowd loud enough that the whole fucking market could probably hear me.

"Alright everyone, I appreciate the business, but my power is not mana based. I have no mana, in fact, and I have reached my limit for the day." While I wondered if a day meant, after the next I woke up from sleeping, or if it tripped over at midnight, or if there was some other more esoteric sunrise to sunset sort of deal, a murmur rippled through the crowd. Something between pity and horror. I see. Sochi had soft sold me on the lack of mana thing.

The crowd started to disperse and Wally finally made his way over with all his stuff.

"No mana, huh? That's rough, but good thing I know that before I get started. I can adjust the enchantment to pull mana from the air, and not you at all. Damon and Lakshmi might have to recharge it every now and then too, but they could do that just by giving you a long hug. Regular magic items'll make you sick after a while, but a good enchanter knows how to accommodate your disability."

"Not having mana is a disability?" I think I sounded more shocked than I meant to. Wally shrugged, "I guess, yeah, but like I said, any enchanter worth their salt will be able to work with you anyhow. Heh, salt." He started sprinkling ground pink salt on me, and misting my clothing with distilled water.

"Lovely." I felt like I was the lizard creature skewers I'd eaten.

"I'm being seasoned like an alloprat. Do you need dill, or oregano?"

"Ha, I bet you would get them too, if your power wasn't tapped out." Ouch Walter, kicking a man in his refractory period. Brutal.

"I'm going to do a self cleaning enchantment too, don't worry, you'll never have to launder them, just yourself. When you take a bath they will clean themselves. That is to say, while you're not wearing them, this armor enchantment will act as a self cleaning enchantment instead. Doing level three on the pants, shirt, and underpants. This will tingle... unless you want to strip naked and let me do them while you aren't wearing them. Public nudity is technically legal." I laughed.

Mostly at the faces of Damon and Lakshmi. Couldn't be two more opposite reactions. One said, 'Ohh yes, please do,' and the other said, 'Dear gods, no!' Damon wins this round.

"Tingle me, Wally."