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Chapter 9 RWBY A Promise and a Return
🕑 Added 2025-10-07 20:15:52 +0000 UTCJaune stayed with Naruto for a few more hours, watching the sunset cast long shadows over Hokage Mountain.
“I have to go now, Naruto,”
Jaune finally said when the last sliver of sun dipped below the horizon.
He had finished the missions, and the risk of lingering in a volatile world was too high.
Naruto's face fell, his excitement replaced by a deep sadness.
Jaune was his first friend, the first person who had been genuinely, unconditionally nice to him.
“W—Will we ever meet again?”
Naruto asked, his voice small but hopeful.
He desperately wanted to see Jaune again.
Jaune asked Ciel, needing a concrete answer.
“Can I come to this world again?”
[The Host can come to this world again. However, the Host needs to pay for the inter-dimensional travel fee himself. The cost is 1 msc.]
Jaune quickly did the mental math.
"One silver coin is equal to 100 copper coins. 1 copper coin is equal
to 1,000 Lien… My Oum!"
The cost was exorbitant—100,000 Lien just for a portal ticket—but it wasn't impossible.
He held onto the hope that perhaps the next missions might even be from this world again.
"We absolutely will,"
Jaune promised, meeting Naruto's gaze with absolute sincerity.
"An Arc always keeps their word."
They said a final, heartfelt farewell to each other, and then the familiar sensation of the world cracking and fracturing overtook Jaune as the system pulled him back to Remnant.
...
He snapped back into the Vale Slums.
The smoggy air and the distant drone of the city replaced the clean mountain breeze.
Time had not moved.
Jaune stood behind the counter, fully expecting the thugs to burst in, but silence reigned.
It had been a long, exhausting day across two worlds.
Jaune was tending to his shop like always, nervously waiting.
But there were no customers at all.
"So there is a month-long period of cooldown for missions,"
Jaune realized, recalling a detail Ciel had mentioned offhandedly.
"And I have to grind the missions to upgrade to the next rank and unlock better-paying quests."
He thought that it made sense.
The primary purpose of the shop was to sell things and generate a trade economy, not to be a vehicle for his inter-dimensional adventures.
The thugs didn't come back after a few days.
Jaune didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
He yawned a hundred times that day.
He was bored, restless, and still wearing his old dirty and bloodied clothes.
He thought that there wouldn't be any customers again today.
However, he was wrong this time.
A man with messy black hair and bloodshot red eyes stumbled into the store.
His clothing was disheveled, and the heavy smell of stale alcohol wafted off him.
He clearly hadn't showered recently.
“Do you have anything to cure my hangover?”
The man slurred, leaning heavily on the counter.
Jaune’s focus sharpened instantly.
Of course, this was a multiverse shop.
There was everything one needed.
Ciel immediately displayed the relevant item.
Item—Remedy
Origin—Final Fantasy
Rank—Copper
Price—5 mcc
“There is it… but the price…”
Jaune began to warn him.
The man didn't wait to hear the price.
His desperation outweighed all caution.
He snatched the vial and drank it down in one gulp.
The effect was instantaneous and profound.
His heavy, sickly hangover vanished in a second. His mind became incredibly clear, sharp, and focused.
Not only was the hangover gone, but he felt an exhilarating rush of vitality—it was like he had been purified of years of grime and toxins.
He felt noticeably younger, healthier, and completely sober.
“Wow, what is that potion, kid! Do you have more of it!”
The messy man demanded, his voice suddenly loud and commanding, his red eyes blazing with intense realization.
Jaune brought out ten more vials.
Counting the one he just drank, there were eleven.
The man greedily took them all, stuffing them into his coat pockets before finally asking for the price, though his tone was now less demanding and more cautious.
“A—All of that is 55 copper coins,”
Jaune stammered, still slightly taken aback by the speed of the transaction.
“55? That is so cheap!”
The man pulled out a crumpled wad of Lien, slapping fifty-five Lien onto the counter.
Jaune immediately refused, pushing the local currency back.
“It’s 55 copper coins, not the Lien. Each copper is worth one thousand Lien. Which means you owe me 55,000 Lien for the eleven remedies…”
The man was absolutely shocked by the astronomical price.
He stared at Jaune, then at the potions stuffed into his coat.
“Can I give them back?”
He asked, a painful groan escaping him.
Jaune nodded.
"You can return what you didn't take yet. But the one you drank, you have to pay for."
The man visibly deflated, slowly pulling ten vials from his coat.
"One thousand Lien... It is still expensive, but I can at least manage it."
He slammed 1,000 Lien onto the counter.
"My name is Qrow Branwen by the way."
Qrow knew the price wasn't exaggerated.
He could feel the pervasive effects of the Remedy; his health had improved dramatically, and the decade of self-abuse felt cleansed.
He had just traded 1,000 Lien for a miracle.
[Transaction Complete. Received 1,000 Lien. Current Balance: 1,000 Lien(Exchangable), 7 mcc.]
Qrow looked at the store, at Jaune, and then at the shelves full of impossible treasures.
His mind, now perfectly clear, began to calculate the immense value of this place.
"So, kid. How does the rest of the payment work?"
Qrow asked, indicating the debt he still owed for the ten returned remedies.
"I want those back, but 54,000 Lien is a bit steep for a drunk like me."
Jaune, seizing the opportunity, now faced a high-ranking, powerful Huntsman who needed his products.
