The cloaked man had sent off his preliminary report to his client and had set off to follow the tracks of the target's vehicle. He purchased a horse and restocked the necessities, before speeding out of the town on the trail of his target.
He rode on for a few hours before the trail went off the road, and near this area were the fresh corpses of 8 riders and 6 horses. The riders and horses had been torn into and mutilated almost as if by a pack of wolves, but there were no such reports of feral wolves in the area. He also noted they had nothing of value left in their pockets. The trail diverted back onto the road going past the grisly scene, so the man continued to follow it till he either lost it or found his target.
~~~
Hisoka powered through the throbbing pain in his leg as he continued to speed down the road. The forest was quite thick and they must've driven at least 10 kilometers. He continued to follow the road until they stumbled upon a familiar looking carriage parked on the side of the road.
The driver of the carriage had a bewildered, then frightened look as he spotted the two gunslingers drive up to him in their odd horseless carriage. Before he could even decide a course of action Hisoka had parked his car and dismounted to meet the man.
Grimacing in pain Hisoak hobbled to the driver of the carriage.
"You are a merchant, yes?"
The man responded with a slow nervous nod.
"Would you happen to deal in healing potions or something similar?" Hisoka asked as he produced a coin pouch to ease the nerves of the merchant.
"Ah yes, of course, I have varying quality healing potions ranging from minor cuts and scrapes to major internal injuries," the merchant said after regaining his composure.
"How much would it cost for something in the middle there?" Hisoka inquired.
"15 silver coins apiece," He looked at the bandages wrapped around Hisoka's leg, "They should be more than enough to handle that wound of yours." The man stated confidently.
Hisoka produced two gold coins. The man rooted through the carriage and produced 6 potions and 10 silver in change. Hisoka gratefully took the potions and gave 3 to Misumi to keep in storage. He popped the cork off one of his and downed the bottle. It had a strangely alcoholic taste, which suited Hisoka just fine.
He felt the tissue of his leg reforming and seamlessly coming back together. New layers of flesh entertained and became one bringing the wound to a proper close, greater than even the best surgeon on Earth could accomplish. Hisoka removed the blood-soaked bandages and gazed with admiration at the good effect of the potion. He passed the man his thanks.
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The man looked at Hisoak for a second before asking, "You are the one that eliminated the bandits that were chasing me, aren't you?"
Hisoka gave a nod remembering the slaughter of the 8 horseback raiders.
"That weapon you used, I've never seen anything like it before. It boomed like thunder and spit fire, but I didn't see any arrows on the enemies. May I ask just what that amazing weapon of yours is?"
Hisoka grinned and replied, "This is a powerful weapon from where I came, it is called the VR60, and it is a semi-automatic shotgun which produces a spray of small metal balls, making a perfect mess of a human body at close range. It can fire 9 rounds without reloading, this it is called semi-automatic." Hisoka beamed with pride at the Earthen engineering.
"Semey-automatic..." the man mused as he stroked his chin. Certainly, the weapon shot multiple times in quick succession, but the speed at which the projectiles flew, and to hear that it shot multiple at once? The man was greatly intrigued.
Hisoka didn't bother to explain that he used two weapons, as it seemed just learning of the existence known as a "shotgun" is already understandable mindblowing.
"I'm sorry to ask, but would you happen to be willing to sell me one of those, or point me where you got yours?" the merchant asked with a shine in his eyes.
Certainly, the smart answer would be no, however a merchant usually had deep pockets...
Hisoka considered, before setting his mind. He would produce a simple firearm for the merchant.
"You'll have to give me one-second sir, I must get it from my vehicle," Hisoka politely said to the almost giddy looking merchant.
He returned to his vehicle and summoned a browning BT-99, while it was a single shot break action shotgun, it would have plenty of punch to fend off bandits. His MP had recovered leaving 10 available to spend, and Hisoka produced a box of 20 shells to go along with the sale. He returned to the merchant with the weapon in hand.
"I'll sell you this, and 20 cartridges for 50 gold," Hisoka stated bluntly.
The merchant didn't even have to think about it before he answered "certainly." confirming Hisoka's suspicions about Merchant's deep pockets.
He proceeded to show the merchant how to properly load the long gun and lectured him for 10 minutes about safe handling, and stressed trigger discipline heavily. The last thing he wanted was someone going around not knowing the safe handling of a weapon and shooting themselves or others.
He handed the merchant the weapon with 1 in the chamber and the box of shells, in exchange for the 50 gold coins that the merchant produced from a bag of holding.
"I can't thank you enough for this, you fought off bandits for me and even sold me such powerful weapon from your homeland.
Hisoka shook the man's hand and before they parted, the man left him a few words.
"My name is Bren, if you ever happen to travel to the capital of the Frankish Empire, look around for me and I'll treat you to good liquor."
"My name is Hisoka, and I would love to take you up on that offer if I happen to pass by that city."
Hisoka was pleased with this proposition and agreed. The two men shook hands and went on their ways, Hisoka's Polaris zooming past the carriage.
~~~