It wasn’t just Klein’s family who saw the little family drama happening near the riverside. A short and muscular brown-haired woman was peeking from behind the second-floor window curtains of her house next door. Those bright green eyes narrowed and focused on Jade’s wrist…

Then she closed the curtains and went into the upstairs bathroom. There was nothing particularly special, just that it seemed to be cleaned meticulously. She opened up the back of the toilet and pulled out a plastic package, which contained various mechanical parts. A few minutes later, she managed to assemble a small radio transmitter and receiver.

Turning it on, there was a bunch of static for a while. She turned a knob a few times until a deep and raspy voice came from the singular speaker.

“Agent Verde… Report.”

“Stone Six. Miner, unknown, likely six as well. Thief, unknown, probably only four. Merchant, still only three. Plague Doctor, six. The others are mostly ones…”

“Ones are insignificant. For now. Two wild Sixes… The Miner isn’t a Dwarf?”

“Unless you’ve seen a Dwarf that’s almost two meters tall?” The middle-aged woman snickered and started smoking a cigarette, “Being able to survive for a year underground… He doesn’t look like he turned into stone like his girlfriend. I haven’t seen his chest yet. Do you want me to ask around?”

“No. It’s too dangerous. Just keep watching. Report back if something changes. Beware the Thief. A Four is nothing. A Five or Six? Can’t be allowed to exist.”

“What about the Miner and Stat-er, Stone? How can a Thief be more dangerous than those two monsters?”

“No matter how powerful, a Miner is still a Miner. The Stone will stay underground, where it belongs. But a Thief… Needs to be a Thief to improve. If a Thief works for us, that’s fine. A rebellious Thief is intolerable.”

“Just like a Spy?” Forest’s Granny snickered and shook her head, “Do you need me to get rid of the Thief?”

“You’re not strong enough anymore. For now, just observe the situation. If she gets sick… Make sure she never recovers.”

“For Kresvallia.”

“For Kresvallia.”

After turning off the radio and taking it apart, she smoked the rest of the cigarette in the bathroom and sighed dramatically. Then she shook her head and went downstairs to start making breakfast.

“Goodmorning, Mom.” A young woman with a missing arm at the shoulder was feeding a green tabby cat, “Did you sleep well?”

“I’m fine… I told you to let me take care of everything.” The ‘old lady’ was only 42 and her daughter was already 30, even her grandson was already 12. But Forest lived in Grun’s old house, which was next to the Herbalist Shop.

“I might be a cripple, but I’m not helpless, Mom.”

“I didn’t say you’re helpless! You’re feeding that damn cat too much! Look how fat he is!”

“Mew~!”

“Look, Mom! Glen is a growing boy~!”

“Yeah, that’s the problem! He’s growing into a pig!”

“Maybe I should buy a pig… I heard there are cute and tiny ones in the city.”

“That’s a bunch of horseshit! Those little pigs turn into big hogs sooner or later!”

***

“Verna, Darlin, did ya miss me?”

A tall old ‘cowboy’ walked in through the wide-open glowing green door and walked straight to the counter very familiarly. He reached out and took an expensive ‘Greenstone Cigar’ from the beautiful girl’s dainty hand. Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t wearing any rings or other jewelry today. Although it did seem a little suspicious, he lit the cigar and took a deep puff with a satisfied expression on his wrinkled face.

“Heh~! Saul, you’re here to rob me blind again? The damn Bandits couldn’t do it, so the good old Sheriff is gonna finish the job?”

“Aww~! Don’t be like that Sweetheart, you know it’s my duty to make sure there ain’t no illegal activity around these parts…” Even though he said that, the ‘righteous’ Sheriff still accepted a small bag of gold coins that were handed over.

“Do better.” Verna frowned, “I don’t wanna see anymore Bandits or Robbers near Verde. It’s bad for business. And if you can’t do it, I can always find someone else who can.”

“Sheesh~! Ya almost scared me for a moment there, Kiddo~! Don’t worry… I’ll take care of your little problem. But don’t cross the line. You make too much noise and folks are gonna get mighty~ suspicious… Heh~ heh~!”

“That’s why the ‘police’ should be the ones making noise. Not my bodyguards. Now go… Do your job. Sheriff.”

The old man laughed and tipped his cowboy hat towards the beautiful girl, then left after taking a few more expensive Greenstone Cigars from the box on the counter. After he was gone, Verna snickered and quickly put the half-empty box back under the display case, next to some bongs, fancy lighters, expensive cigarettes and some glowing green playing cards.

There was also a whole display case completely devoted to gold nuggets and another for Greenstone crystals. Over time, Greenstone tends to decay or corrode and the appearance does change to a certain extent. The untreated or refined crystals always release a somewhat dangerous gas, which isn’t some new discovery that Klein made recently. It’s just that people didn’t really think too much about it.

If it burns when you touch it, just don’t touch it for so long. If it causes a rash, maybe you’re just allergic? If you don’t like the way it tastes, then don’t eat it. Some people even believed that smoking was bad, but without any ‘evidence’, their controversial theories and research were suppressed.

“It’s all about money.” Verna smirked, conjuring a few gold coins out of thin air and making them float around above her right palm, “As long as I have money, I’m invincible. If there’s really a problem that can’t be solved with money, then it just means you don’t have enough money, hyahahaha~!”

“Are you having a stroke?”

“Ah~!” Verna screeched and sent her coins out like little bullets, but they were easily caught in Oliver’s right hand. With a slight squeeze, they were damaged enough that they disappeared.

“Ollie?! What the hell are you doing here?! This is not a good time!”

“I saw that bastard in town and wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything… But I guess I’m worrying for nothing?” Oliver snickered and took his black backpack off, placing it on the sturdy glass counter with a loud noise.

“Is this?”

“Of course. Hehe~! Some nuggets, fines and placers. I’m too lazy to melt ‘em down myself.”

“This is all gold?!” Verna’s eyes widened in shock, “Ollie! This is over a hundred kilos!”

“Yep, we’ve been busy the past few weeks.” Oliver smirked, “A hundred kilos should be worth at least a few thousand dollars, right?”

“Ollie~! I love you so much~!”

“Happy Birthday, Verna.”