Max and the group were speechless when they saw red sparrow shivering in fear.
Leticia frowned and couldn't help but say, "Manager, are you trying to sell this cowardly bird to us?"
The manager awkwardly touched his nose and said, "Young miss, although this beast is cowardly, it's the best two-star flying beast there is. I'm sure you won't find a faster two-star flying beast than it in the entire market, or maybe in the entire kingdom. To capture it, we had to send a group of three-star mages with three-star flying beasts to capture it."
"Oh?" Max and others were interested when they heard this.
Little Arya's eyes were gleaming, and she excitedly said, "Yeah, big brother, buy this one. Look how cute this is."
Max glanced at the manager and asked, "What kind of beast this is?"
The manager shook his head. "I'm not sure. It's quite similar to a scarlet sparrow, but not entirely."
When Belen heard this, her eyes flashed, but she didn't say anything.
Max noticed this and asked if she knew what it was, but she also shook her head and said the same thing the manager said.
Max thought for a while and asked, "So, should we buy it?"
Belen glanced at the red sparrow cowering in the corner and said, "Since we are unsure of its kind, we don't know if it has the potential to break through to the three-star realm. If it can't break through, we will have to buy another one because no matter how fast it is, it can't be faster than a real three-star beast."
Max nodded. He understood what she meant. So, he glanced at the manager and said, "Manager, why don't you show us some three-star flying beast instead?"
The manager nodded and then carefully said, "Please forgive my impudence, but none of you seem to be a three-star mage. So, I don't think you should buy a three-star beast since you won't be able to control it?"
"What do you mean?" Max and Leticia asked at the same time.
The manager let out a breath of relief inwardly. 'Fortunately, my guess was correct. None of them is a three-star mage.' He brought them to show the two-star red sparrow because he could feel that they were only two-star mages, except Max, who he couldn't guess whether he was a two-star or three-star mage.
He took a breath and said, "Dear guests, it's because of the slave seal. The slave seal compels its bearer to obey the one who has the corresponding master seal. However, only people with a strong consciousness can endure the pressure brought by the master seal. If the consciousness isn't strong enough, there is a high chance that you'll end up damaging your consciousness and in the worst-case scenario, you might die."
"So, you are saying that to tame a three-star beast with a slave seal, we have to be at least a three-star or we will die?" Leticia unhappily asked.
"Yes." The manager nodded.
Max was silent for a while. He glanced at the red sparrow and nodded. "Since this is the case, we'll buy this one."
After today, he had only four days left before he would need to go to the demon continent and, after meeting Rima's teacher tomorrow, he wanted to return to the academy.
It would take them at least two or three days if they went on foot, so he won't have much time left to spend with his lovely half-sister Anna or meet Flavia and give her the beauty pill. Moreover, he needed some time to earn the remaining 131,000 more lust points to open the portal to the demon continent.
Therefore, to save the time, he decided to buy the red sparrow even though it won't be of any use in a fight given its cowardly personality.
Since Max had decided to buy it, none of the ladies had any objection.
Little Arya became happy when she heard Max was buying the sparrow and excitedly hopped toward the cage, but Rima stopped her.
Max glanced at the managed and asked, "So, how much is it?"
"Dear guest, an ordinary early-stage two-star flying beast cost somewhere around 50,000 low grade Mana stones. As for this one, although we don't know exactly which species it belongs to, we know it shouldn't be any worse than a scarlet sparrow which makes it a premium product…." The manager had a professional smile as he spoke. However, before he could speak any further, Belen coldly interjected.
"Don't beat around the bush and just state your price." Belen had a cold and slightly angry expression which surprised everyone present, especially Max, Leticia and Rima since they were very familiar with her personality.
The manager frowned and felt displeased by her rude behavior, but didn't say anything about it. He put on his professional smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll speak frankly. It'll cost you one million low-grade Mana stones."
"One million?" Leticia's eyes widened in surprise.
"How can it cost so much when an ordinary flying beast is only 50,000? Are trying to swindle us?" Leticia had a cold expression as she said this. Max and others were also skeptical.
The manager's expression turned ugly. Their behavior incensed him. One was stopping him from speaking and the other was accusing him of being a swindler.
If it was anyone else, he would've thrown them out by now, but since they were the city lord's guests, he didn't dare treat them the same. So, he controlled his temper and said, "If this young lady had let me speak, I would've told you why this was so."
Leticia glanced at Belen and said, "Sister Belen, let him speak, okay? I don't believe this timid bird cost one million."
Belen shook her head and smiled, "The scarlet sparrows rank among the top three mortal beasts when it comes to the pure flying ability. They are also said to possess the potential to break through to the mortal boundary when they mature. If it was a genuine scarlet sparrow, people wouldn't mind paying ten or even twenty million for it. But since it only seems to be a hybrid, paying one million for it isn't a bad deal."
Leticia was startled when she heard this and the manager couldn't help but glance at Belen. Suddenly he was enlightened, 'It seems this girl had recognized it before but played the fool to get a lower price. Damn it, I knew it was a scarlet sparrow hybrid. I would've asked for at least five million.'
