THE MERCHANT'S SECRET: My Unexpted Isekai Life

Chapter 3

After a couple of hours later, a cool breeze drifted through the desert night, rustling the cloth of the small camp near the oasis. I groaned and shifted slightly on the makeshift bed—a blanket laid over the warm earth. I looked around and saw two elven women sitting nearby, watching the fire with wary eyes. One was a tall, brown-skinned elf with silver hair, her piercing violet eyes narrowed in suspicion. The other was slightly shorter, with her hair tied in a loose braid, her emerald eyes filled with curiosity as they looked at me, so I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep but couldn't help to be amazed. I'm in fact in another world. Elves. Wow! But I was a little disappointed; they weren't wearing revealing sexy clothing like in those isekai anime.

"Who the hell is that boy?" the dark-skinned elf muttered, poking at the fire with a stick.

"I don't know, Ella," her companion replied, crossing her arms. "We found him alone in that godforsaken zone. Very suspicious with his weird clothing, huh?"

"I know, but what bothered me the most is that he wasn't dead even though he was surrounded by those deadly scorpions."

The taller woman frowned. "Right. I think the same thing. No sane person wanders there unarmed. He had no weapons, no provisions... just that odd green bag and very weird clothing. What a fool. Good thing we found him after the scorpion left him." She glanced at my backpack, which lay beside me.

The green-haired elf tilted her head. "You think he's from another land? A lost traveller?"

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Maybe it doesn't matter. The Adventurer's Guild needs scorpion blood for their potions. We have work to do."

"So, should we leave him here?"

They both glanced at me. I was still pretending to be unconscious, my breathing steady but deep. However, I was wondering about their language. I've never heard it on earth, but the most amazing thing was I understood it without a problem. The guardian was amazing.

The smaller woman hesitated before sighing. "If we leave him, he'll be scorpion food by morning."

"Fine. But if he slows us down, I'm dumping him back at the hellhole."

What the hell? I need to stop pretending.

They are savage. So, I groaned a little and stirred as my eyelids fluttered open, revealing my dazed blue eyes to them as I looked around. "Where... am I? Who are you ladies?"

The taller woman raised an eyebrow. "Good, you are finally awake."

Then the smaller one smirked at me, "You're lucky we found you before the scorpions made you their snacks. Now, get up. If you want to live, you're coming with us."

I blinked at them, still groggy. "Wait... who are you?" My eyebrow knitted as I looked at the two women with long pointed ears and not-so-sexy elven clothing; disappointment was an understatement.

"I'm Ella." The small elf grinned, her sharp emerald eyes scanning my face with curiosity. "We're Elven adventurers, and you just joined our hunt."

Suddenly an idea crossed my mind. I summoned the GUARDIAN SCREEN in my mind; it appeared, and then I looked at the two elves and knew that they couldn't see the GUARDIAN SCREEN. I smirked to myself as I focused on the screen of the woman named Ella and saw her status; surprisingly, she had an amazing stat.

NAME: Ella Elvania

RACE: Elf

LEVEL: 180

POWER: 1550

VITALITY: 1550

HP: 1000

MAGIC: 1000

Holy fuck, this woman surpassed me in the sense that my stat was like a little child.

"Are you even listening?" Ella asked.

"Hmmm," I blinked, and I ignored the screen, my head still spinning, but I glanced around, searching for my backpack. I forced myself to sit up and then turned to the taller elf with a beautiful face, who had a more composed, scrutinising gaze. "And you are?" I asked and focused the screen on the other woman.

"I'm Elvie," she answered, her voice smooth yet laced with suspicion. She crossed her arms, her long silver hair cascading over her shoulders. "We're sisters. So, human, who are you?"

NAME: Elvie Elvania

RACE: Elf

LEVEL: 250

POWER: 3000

VITALITY: 300

HP: 1800

MAGIC: 1800

Holy hell! She was way more powerful than Ella. Compared to them I'm just a pony.

Okay, I need to befriend these two if I want to be safe from those scorpions.

But hell, I couldn't blame her for the distrust. If I were in her shoes, I'd feel the same. But what the hell happened after I fainted? And was I seeing those high priests and their unsuccessful summoning ritual?

"My name is Dirk Robinson; you can call me Dirk." I replied, brushing dust off my torn sleeves.

Elvie arched a brow. "What were you doing in that wasteland?"

I hesitated as Ella crouched near her satchel, rummaging through its contents. There was no way I could tell them the truth—that I was a summoned hero from another world. Instead, I forced a sigh. "I don't know what happened. I was travelling with a merchant, but they abandoned me. I woke up alone in the dry lands."

Elvie scoffed under her breath, arms crossed, her golden eyes narrowing as she leaned slightly against the rock. The bluish glow from the enchanted stones embedded in the rock around them cast a faint shimmer on her silver hair. She had always been sceptical of humans—and this moment only deepened her mistrust. "Typical humans," she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper. "They always abandon their own." She didn't say it aloud, but the disappointment in her gaze was palpable. Humans, despite being widespread across the kingdom, were among the least powerful races. They had short lifespans, barely any innate magic, and often relied on enchanted trinkets and borrowed strength to stay relevant. Without magical items to amplify their mana reserves, they were little more than fragile sacks of flesh in a world full of monsters and magic.

Curious—or perhaps in silent judgement—Elvie opened her third eye, a skill granted only to high elves who had completed their ancient rites. Her vision shimmered for a moment as the magical world revealed itself to her senses, revealing Dirk's status aura like a faint pulse of energy floating around him.

What she saw made her frown deepen.

Name: Dirk Robinson Jr.

Race: Human

Level: 10

Magic Power: 10

Vitality: 10

Even in human villages had more magic. How in the seven elven stars had he survived the Wasteland, let alone gone unscathed from scorpions? That earned him a sliver of respect, even if Elvie would never say it aloud.

"How is he even breathing with stats like that?" she muttered again, incredulous. She looked over at Dirk, who was fiddling with something invisible in front of him.

Ella, in contrast, beamed with a warm, contagious smile that broke through the sombre mood. She turned toward Dirk and threw a hand on his shoulder as if sensing Elvie's silent scrutiny.

"Don't worry," she chirped brightly, as if reading her companion's thoughts. "You can come with us!"

I blinked in surprise at her sudden kindness. She didn't seem to care that my stats were rock-bottom or that I was clearly the odd one out. There was something genuine in her voice—something pure.

Ella lifted her skin satchel and tilted it over her lips, sipping the final few drops of water. The leather squelched as she drained the last of it and sighed.

"But... we're running out of supplies," she added, her voice a little less cheerful now, more grounded. "So we need to finish this quest soon and head back to town."

I gave her a small nod of thanks, still visibly trying to process what my so-called "status screen" had revealed. My mind raced between feelings of inadequacy and determination. I knew I wasn't strong. But I'd been underestimated all my life. And if there was one thing I was good at, it was surviving. Even if it meant doing it with 10 magic points and a stubborn grin.

"I might be able to help with that," I said, unzipping my backpack, praying that the guardian didn't trick me with my so-called cheat backpack. By then, when I opened my backpack, I sensed a faint tingle in the zipper and a magical glow. I frowned but ignored it. However, their gazes immediately snapped to it, their pointed ears twitching with interest. I reached inside and pulled out a plastic water bottle. "I have supplies in here." I need them to trust me; after all, I'm a newbie here, and I need allies in order to survive.

"Really?" Elvie's sharp demeanour softened slightly, though her tone still carried an edge of disbelief. I hope they didn't notice the changes in my backpack as the faint purple glint slowly vanished.

I handed them each a bottle, hoping that the guardian who gifted me this enchanted bag wasn't lying about its infinite storage. Taking a peek inside, I nearly gasped—every single item I had packed before being summoned was still there.

"What the hell is this?" Ella's eyes widened as she examined the bottle in her hands.

I frowned, my amusement fading. "That's... water?"

Elvie turned the bottle over in her hands, her expression shifting from scepticism to sheer wonder. "I've never seen something so beautiful before. It's shimmering with strong, powerful mana." She thought, how could this human have these kinds of very high-grade items with him? Not only was his satchel infused with some ancient magic that brightened with a high-grade glow earlier after he opened it, but he was acting like it was so ordinary. Her gaze, once cool and distant, now fixed intently on the worn-looking bag strapped to Dirk's side—the same odd satchel from which he had, moments ago, casually pulled out a magical water container as if it were nothing. But to Elvie, it wasn't .

That bag... it gave off an aura. Subtle, but unmistakable to someone with her level of magical sensitivity. She thought, narrowing her eyes further, trying to identify the runes faintly etched into the seams.

She recognised them—archaic Magixah script, nearly lost to time, woven between enchantments that could only have been crafted by a Grand Enchanter. That satchel is far more than it seems... Her mind raced. No human—even nobles—should have access to such a relic.

Unless...Or worse. But that didn't make sense either. She had seen his status. It was pitiful. Ten in vitality? Ten in mana? That was the kind of stat you'd see in a sickly toddler, not a grown man. And yet here he was—surviving the Wasteland, fighting off monsters, feeding them from a magical bag like a seasoned adventurer.

Nothing added up. In truth, she was unsettled—not by Dirk's presence, but by what it meant. If a mortal with no magical foundation could wield ancient artefacts... then something bigger was at play. Something the Elven Kingdom might want to keep hidden. She glanced again at Dirk. He looked ordinary.

Just human. A bit clueless, maybe. But behind his tired eyes and awkward smile, there was a quiet resilience that didn't match his numbers. Elvie didn't trust him. But more importantly... she was starting.