152 An Argument in front of Lyla’s Store

“Who knows?” Aella giggled and looked out the window.

“Listen,” Lydia stared at Aella. “That’s too dense for me to cleanse with magic. You won’t recover as fast with that still inside you.”

%Since the people of this world use magic and it’s an integrated part of their daily life. They can recover faster than regular people. But if something disturbed their flow of magic. They recover at a natural human pace.

“It’s fine,” Aella waved her hand, “You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“It’s your choice.” Lydia sat on the couch. “But, what with all those wolves outside?”𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“They used to live here. Arad feeds them the monsters he hunts so they hang around.”

“So he tamed them like that?” Lydia sighed, “He’s strong, isn’t he?” She remembered the first time she met Arad, and he snapped her sword.

***

Arad rode across the street on his moose, scaring everyone standing in his way. Till he approached Lyla’s shop.

“Leave!” He could hear, “This is no place for children to waddle around!” He could hear the rough voice of a man shouting.

“Can you listen…” Arad then heard a kid trying to speak. But the man keeps barking like a dog. “Shut up and leave!”

BAM! Lyla smacked her hand on the counter, “Enough is enough! Both of you get out and scream somewhere else! You’re annoying and scaring my customers,”

“Then bring her out!” The man shouted.

“She will never come with you screaming like this.” The kid said in a calm voice, looking down, sighting.

“She will come out! That’s an order from the lord’s house,” The man shouted. Lyla growled.

CRACK! The man turned his head upon hearing a strange sound, only to come face to face with a moose snout. “Who are you looking for?” Arad jumped from the moose, glaring at the man with glowing purple eyes.

The man glared at Arad for a few seconds before gasping, “Dragon slayer Arad?”

The kid stared at Arad for a moment, taking a step back.

“The Lord has been waiting for you for a week! Where have you been?” The man growled.

“I asked who are you looking for here?” Arad glared at the man, the veins on his neck popping.

“That’s none of you…” CRACK! Arad grabbed the man by the face, lifting him, “I already know. You’re here for Mira, aren’t you?”

HMMM! HMMMM! The man growled, his screams muffled. He pulled the sword from his waist and stabbed Arad in the chest.

Thud! The man only managed to prick Arad’s skin no more than a fingernail. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! He stabbed and stabbed but to no avail. Arad wasn’t budging.

“Lyla asked you to leave, so get away,” Arad threw the man away, growling.

The man stood and pointed his sword at Arad, “Do you know what you just did? Do you think being a dragon slayer allows you to do whatever you want?”

“Will? What is it to you?” Arad growled, his voice booming. Barrels, cups, stones, and stalls started shaking, “Lyla didn’t want you here. What does her words mean to you?” Everything started levitating as Arad’s voice boomed.

“Nothing, I only care about the lord’s orders,” The man growled.

“The lord? How about I drag you with me to him now? Are you capable of taking the responsibility of turning me against your city?”

Arad walked toward the man, “I bet it wasn’t the lord who sent you. Who was it?” Arad smiled, “Can your lord take more shame because of her?”

The clenched his teeth, turning around and leaving, “You will regret this.”

“You know it was the wife who sent him and not the lord?” The kid looked at Arad with a passive face.

“I have a spectacular rogue,” Arad smiled.

The kid tilted his head, “A rogue? Is he the one who was sneaking around at the lord’s party? Tall, white hair and sneaky walk?”

Arad froze, ^Jack. You idiot! A kid has noticed you!^

The kid smiled, “Don’t worry. I bet none other than me have noticed him. I have a decent sense.” The kid bowed, “Chuzuke Esmeray, at your service.”

“The slapping kid.”

“That’s an unfortunate nickname.” Chuzuke looked away with a wry smile. “She wasted more than I could have remained silent for,”

“Ahem!” Lyla stared at them, “Mira won’t be going with you.”

The kid stood, looking at Lyla with a straight face. “That’s her decision. I will make my pitch, and she’s free to accept.”

Arad and Lyla looked at each other.

“I need someone familiar with wood to identify the elder tree. I don’t need her to harvest or do anything more than locate the specific tree and mark its location.” Chuzuke said, pulling his sword and drawing a map on the dusty ground. “We intend to make bows, staffs, and a couple of stakes. For that, we need the elder wood, demon spider webbing, and magic stones.”

Chuzuke drew a cave and tapped on it. “I will be going with a couple of elite troops to this cave and harvest the magic stones and the spider webbing.” He looked at Arad. “In the meantime, I want someone reliable to get into the forest and locate the tree so we can grab the wood.”

“And that person is Mira since she’s an expert in wood,” Arad looked at Chuzuke, “The forest is dangerous. Do you expect her to go alone?”

“She’s free to higher anyone, and I will pay the expenses,” Chuzuke replied.

“You will pay?” Arad looked at Chuzuke with a smile.

“It will be me, albeit the money isn’t mine. It belongs to my father.” He replied with a straight face.

“Can you go act like this? Are you acting on his behalf?” Lyla stared at Chuzuke.

“Father’s body has been has been getting worse in the past year. My older sisters are all married, so if I want the family to remain under the Esmeray name. I must step up.” Chuzuke sheathed his sword.

“So that’s why you were at the party?” Lyla looked at Chuzuke. “At such young age.”

Arad wanted to say something but stopped. He’s the last one with the right to complain. Chuzuke Esmeray is older than him by a lot.

“This is my pitch.” Chuzuke looked at Lyla, “If she accepts, tell her to speak to the guild. I already informed them to give her any party she asks for. You won’t even have to deal with me.”

He turned around and left.