Walking through the crowded streets, I went to the market area.
The shop vendors shouted, and some sat on the ground with wooden tables set on the side. Their goods lie atop them, collecting dust. But this didn't discourage them from calling them antique; they shouted louder.
"Hey, man check this out!"
An old man shouted, wearing an old brown jacket and a straw hat above him for the shed. In his hand was some kind of fruit I had never seen before, it had a green and yellow skin with red spots all over and a peculiar smell that made my nose twitch. He caught my gaze and his eyes lit up, revealing a toothless smile.
"What's this abomination—?! I mean, What's this fruit-like thing, old man?"
Changing the words as soon as possible, I asked. The old man was left stunned for a moment but nodded like nothing just happened.
He muttered in a slow voice, which made me even more embarrassed.
'This kid is quite honest....'
The old man chuckled to himself, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He held out the fruit for me to take, and I hesitantly picked it up. It felt firm yet yielding to the touch.
"Um, what's this exactly?"
I held the fruit in front of the old man, hoping he wouldn't be offended by my initial reaction. He leaned in closer, his eyes never leaving mine as he spoke.
"It's a delicacy from the Eastern continent archipelago, one of the countless islands. Very hard to find and sell on the mainland like gold."
He spoke excitedly, his voice reaching a new level of liberation gathering attention from our surroundings.
'Is this guy crazy?' I honestly thought to myself that the Eastern continent was far away and would take months without proper conditions and people to travel.
Bringing something edible from there especially fruits was a daylight scam.
"Is it free?"
The old man's face fell instantly as he frowned, without a moment's notice he snatched the fruit away and spoke in a loud voice for others to hear.
"Are you trying to rob me, young man?!"
What?
I looked at him in shock, as he shouted louder.
"Help! This guy is extorting money from me!"
"Another gang?"
"Oh Goddess not again..."
Soon the crowd gathered surrounding us from all sides, the old man grinned but kept a pitiful appearance.
"Pay me my money back you thief!" He added.
I was stunned. What was happening? I had just made a casual joke and suddenly, I was being accused of theft. The crowd grew denser, their murmurs turning into accusations, pointing fingers and narrowed eyes boring into me.
I knew I had to act fast.
The world slowed down as my vision changed, I saw the old man, the people surrounding us and the small stall in front of me.
'Trying to scam me huh, what a bad choice.' I chuckled and slowly smiled.
'Let's see what I can do right now... My choices...'
'Ah, it's not looking good.'
My confidence shattered as I thought for a moment, I had no way to prove my innocence nor could I just pay him the money.
Both will lead to bad outcomes. If I refused I would be forced by the crowd to pay and if I did pay it would prove this man's words as truth.
Both will make it hard for me to do my business and gain trust.
'Let's just tell the truth first, I will decide based on the reactions I get.'
With a small smile, I looked at the bastard— No, at the old man. Seeing me smile he frowned and asked.
"What? Are you gonna pay or not?!"
"I—"
Pat—!
Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind. I turned my head and looked at the man in a blue suit, he had those familiar brown eyes mixed with a tint of black, the crowd behind him scattered away like bugs, giving space for two more to stand beside him.
"This man did nothing wrong." He proclaimed solemnly.
The crowd murmured among themselves, and from one corner a whisper entered my ear.
"Hey, it's Elric..."
"What's he doing here...?"
The old man's face turned pale, the fruit in his hand falling away, he licked his lips pushing his ragged clothes away for a breather.
He ruffled his nag and then asked loudly.
"Sir, this young man threatened me. He said he will destroy my shop if I don't give him my goods!"
I blinked, my laughter almost coming out.
'And he fucked up.'
"Didn't you say previously he was robbing you? How come, he is destroying your property now?" Elric asked with a raised brow, his lips curling up into a smile as he crossed his arms.
"S–Sir I was scared..." He stuttered, his voice sounding pitiful.
Elric looked at me and then asked carefully, patting my shoulders.
"Young man, tell us what happened, you also have the right to share your side of the story."
'Ah, what a saint.' I praised him internally.
If not for knowing Ains side of the story, I would have thought he was trying to help me. I turned to look back, and the people surrounding us looked at me expectantly.
Sigh...
"Sir, he called me over, to tell me about the fruits. Since I had never seen them before I inquired a little from him, and he said they came from 'The Eastern continent archipelago'." I emphasized the last address, hearing this, Elric lips twitched, even those behind him almost laughed out loud.
"He called them a special delicacy when I asked if they were free... for taste sample, of course, he started shouting I stole his money or whatever, he has gone mad I presume."
The crowd looked confused for a moment, some whispering among themselves, others glancing at the old man, who was now sweating profusely.
Elric picked up the fallen fruit with an amused look, he squeezed it tightly, making a yellowish liquid come out from it.
"I see." He nodded and smelled the fruit for a moment before tossing it on the table.
"Everyone, this man is telling the truth!" He announced loudly, then said with a confident smile.
"Tell me if these fruits come from the Eastern continent archipelago."
"Y–Yes they do, my dear nephew, send them here."
"Haha... Such a good joke, are you a comedian or a useless liar? Fruits coming from that far will rot away in the first week only. And this fruit is called Kafa... a very sweet fruit to taste actually, but it will give you a bad stomach ache later on."
He raised his hands and asked nicely. "Can anyone guess where they come from?"
The old man's face turned pale, as he visibly trembled, his voice shaky.
"I– I am telling the truth."
"Of course you are..." I muttered out loud, making Elric laugh.
"They come from the Lamern region wild forest, very popular among locals of that area but not good enough to sell outside," Elric spoke and caught the old man by his collar.
"So what do you say now?"
Elric's voice was cold, and the crowd's mood shifted. The old man stuttered, trying to defend himself, but his words were drowned in the murmurs of disbelief and anger from the onlookers. The once friendly marketplace had turned into a stage for accusation.
'Why is he doing this?' I asked myself but no answer came to me.
'Whatever let's help each other.' I concluded.
"Sir, it's alright, let the poor man go, he has learned his lesson, please show him the kindness I just witnessed." I pleaded innocently.
Elric's gaze fell upon me, and for a brief moment, something flickered in his eyes. But the smile never left his face as he nodded.
"Go away." He threw the old man down and smiled at the onlookers.
"Thank you for your patience, because of all your presence this young man was saved from being scammed."
The crowd nodded in agreement, some even patting me on the back and whispering words of comfort. I nodded back with a forced smile, feeling a mix of relief and bewilderment.
Who was this guy? His charisma was off the charts!
The old man grabbed his sack and ran away silently, vanishing at the center of the crowd.
I tried to look for him but found no traces of his presence.
"Young man, what's your name?" Elric asked, his smile never slipping off.
"Asher, that's my name .... Sir are you Lord Elric, one of the biggest merchants here?"
Elric's smile grew even wider, and he nodded. "Indeed, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you. Now, tell me, what brings you to the market today?"
I smiled.
"I was coming to meet you today, would you mind if we had a small talk?"
"No, issue Asher , I wanted to talk with you anyway."
'He knows me.' My smile widened, he wasn't even trying to hide knowing about me.
"Follow us." He said and led me to his store along with his other guards.
The building was big, even bigger than the workshop I rented. With big banners and holding making the other places look dull.
Glass walls showing the inner materials, this shop was the peak of what we called luxurious.
Luxurious enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
He led me to his office as he sat on his seat, the guards already gone from sight.
"Tell me Asher what do you wish to talk about?"
"Do you know me, Sir Elric?" I asked, not answering his question first.
Elric nodded and put his hand on the table.
"I do, you went to my nephew, right? Quite the blast you had there." He chuckled.
I pondered for a moment and said with a small chuckle of my own.
"I didn't like the welcome though, the guards were rude and almost killed me and my friend. We were lucky enough to get out with minor injuries. They just treated us with some bandages and medicine only to send us away, I can't do business with such people after all."
"They didn't offer you any business deal?" He raised his eyebrow confused at my words.
"They did but I refused. How can I do business with people like them, who treat guests like that? You are much better, so after hearing about you I came to meet you." I lied with a straight face, my expression solemnly speaking of dissatisfaction and regret.
Elric leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Interesting, so you refused my nephew's offer and now you seek one from me?"
"I do, I have started a small business, I can't just trust everyone right? "
Elric nodded his gaze sharp and piercing. "Indeed, trust is the foundation of any good business relationship. What kind of business are you looking to establish?"
"For some small tailor business, I would like to buy some clothing material for my workers to make, they are still learning so a bunch of them would be needed for a month. If it works out, I will continue to buy them from you." I said with a smile.
Elric nodded his eyes glinting with interest.
"Send me the address I will deliver them, to you, the general price would be this much and you can discuss the materials at the counter." He handed me a slip and nodded.
I took the slip with both hands and nodded politely, "Thank you for your trust and business, Lord Elric."
"It's a pleasure working with you, I pray to Goddess your work succeeds." He stood up and shook my hand in a firm grip.
I smirked and nodded.
"I will succeed, the Goddess resides just above my heart." I joked remembering the mark of stars upon me.
Elric blinked a couple of times in confusion, then with a wry smile nodded.
"Ah, yes good luck."
"Thanks" With that I left.
*****
Seeing Asher's figure leave, Elric sighed and sat down.
"Didn't know he was such a big devotee to Goddess."
"Hmm, we could have used that right?" He asked, the room was silent but then something stuttered inside the room.
Tak—!
Tak—!
A soft knocking sound entered Elric's ears as he looked at the window, this was the fifth floor.
He smiled helplessly and stood up reaching the window and slid it, creating a small opening.
A white creamy rope-like substance crawled through the window, it slid on the ground and created a hissing sound of a snake, slowly it multiplied making Elric look away in disgust.
Those thin ropes of skin-colored strings stacked above each other, turning and twisting in an inhumane manner.
The stacks of string soon rose from the ground, taking a new shape. They created a slender frame of bones then tissues covered them, the tissue soon became a mass of skin covering the entire frame of the newly made human body.
"Do you really need to take such a disgusting way to enter?" Elric voiced out.
"Calling a lady disgusting how rude Elric." The voice chuckled, as a face finally formed.