The journey was long and tense. While they came asking for help from Froggy, the witch title didn't have a good reputation to make them feel comfortable around him.
The night caught us when we were almost at the first village, and monsters started to appear all over the dry sand.
There were a lot of them, much more than in the forest village that I'd been to. So I and the guards took our iron swords out and raised the shields, I had to attack more carefully since I left my broken armor at the witch's house.
The noble just stood there with a shield to stop any arrow incoming in his way not bothering to even help us defend.
We were in constant movement so we wouldn't be surrounded, which resulted in not too many kills, a small hoard started to gather after us. Things started to get so intense that I considering just sprinting away, but Froggy managed to save the day by throwing a slowing potion on them.
This gave us enough time to outrun the horde.
After a few minutes of running, we finally saw the village, it had a 5-block tall wall surrounding it, and the materials were a combination between sandstone and smooth sandstone.
The villagers on top of the walls soon saw us getting closer and quickly opened the gates.
One we safely got inside, the horde just parted ways once they lost sight of us. The noble asked for a place where we could sleep, and the towns guard responded respectfully by showing the way to the tallest building in the village.
"Well stop here for tonight, and tomorrow we'll leave at the first sign of light. Don't worry, I'll be paying for your rooms as well."
The noble kid said with a tired voice.
The inn had only three free rooms, so Ferdinand took one for himself, the guards another one, and me with Froggy the last one.
Once we got in the room I spoke to Froggy for the first time since we started this journey.
"Why is everyone so afraid of you? Even the town's guards looked ready to attack you. Did you do something?"
"Weren't you also ready to attack me when you saw me?"
I was speechless when he pointed that out, and he seemed to enjoy my reaction.
"When I first become a witch my village was attacked by monsters. I don't know how they passed the wall, but I only managed to survive because they didn't seem too interested in me once I became a witch. After everyone found out what happened they started to see me as a bad omen, so for the safety of everyone and myself I decided to live somewhere isolated."
"I'm sorry to hear that... But why did the kid ask for your help then?"
"While most common folk fear me, the noble society knows the truth. They aren't afraid that I bring bad luck, the only thing they fear is that I'll join the Pillagers."
"That... sounds like a headache for them, sorry for asking this, but why are you still alive then?"
From what I remembered from my world, the nobles weren't to excited to have a threat in their territory.
"Because I'm a master at potion brewing. I'm the only master in this whole kingdom, the next highest one after me is only at level 3 in the brewing skill. The Stone kingdom has a monopoly over the blaze powder, and we don't know how they get it, unfortunately. So most of the time nobles come to me to make their potions while also bringing the ingredients since they have the connections to get them."
"That's pretty good for you then."
"You could say that."
After this discussion, we decided to get some sleep since tomorrow we're going to continue our travel and we should arrive at our destination by the end of the day.
The night went quickly, but we got woken up by a banging at our door.
"Wake up! It's time to leave."
And then it was followed by silence.
I quickly got up and ate what I had in my inventory, which was golden carrots.
They actually tasted really good, almost addictive.
Froggy wasn't a morning person, so I had to be a bit rough with him to get him out of the bed.
"W-what time is it?"
"I don't know but it's time to leave, so get up."
With a heavy sigh, he finally got up from the comfort of the bed.
We went downstairs where the three villagers were already there eating at the table.
The noble boy didn't look like he was fully awake either. But after they ate some bread and drank some water, we finally continued our journey.
This time we managed to arrive at the city before night fell.
It was my first time seeing a city in this world and I was not disappointed.
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The place was huge and full of houses of different shapes and sizes.
And everything was surrounded by a wall 10 blocks tall, it wasn't made with sandstone like the earlier village, but with actual brick stone.
"Wow, this place looks amazing!"
"This city has been ruled by my family for generations, it's one of the safest places in the whole desert."
Ferdinand said with a proud voice, while the guards nodded their heads in agreement.
We entered the city without the guards even checking us. The streets were full of life, villagers were standing at stalls selling items or advertising their trading tab.
I looked closer at a sign from a tool smith and I was shocked by what I saw.
1 iron 10 emeralds → iron axe
1 iron 11 emeralds → iron pickaxe
1iron 9 emeralds → iron shovel
"Why do they have those
weird prices? "
"What do you mean weird prices? They only advertise their trading tab. This one is pretty good actually, most of the iron axes cost 1 iron and 15 to 20 emeralds. This shop must be pretty popular."
I was stunned when I heard that. I just found out that the villagers have a different trading system them me. And it actually sounds worse than what I have.
Maybe my Trading skill helps me more than I expected. They don't have my skill so they have access to all those sales from the beginning, while I have to grind to get the next tab of sales.
But in exchange, I get better offers than them, which I don't mind.
"But how do they make a profit from this then?"
"You ask some weird questions. The system will take some of the costs but it would give you a portion of it in your inventory. Depends from person to person and when you have two items for a trade then you can choose what to get from those two."
Froggy explained while looking suspiciously at me. Once I realized that I quickly changed the subject before he asked more questions.
"Oh, of course, I knew. What do you trade by the way?"
His face went sad and silent once I said that.
"I haven't been able to access my trading tab ever since I've become like this. At least I can use someone else's tab to buy items."
For the rest of the walk, we were silent. While the guards and the noble heard our conversation they didn't seem to be interested in it. Actually, they tried to avoid talking with us as much as possible for some reason.
Fortunately, I didn't have to suffer in this awkward silence for too long since we arrived at the noble's estate.
It was majestic, it was inspired by the desert temple design with smooth sandstone and different clay blocks.
It was guarded by villagers with fully enchanted iron armor. Which impressed me, to say the least.
We entered without a problem and walked on the long hallway to a big room, it was the throne room.
There was a big throne in the middle of the room, where a man with fancy clothing stood looking at us intensely.
"Ferdinand, my son! I heard you ran away from home a couple of days ago. I did not expect you to be back so early, and you brought new friends with you."
He suddenly looked bored.
"Did you run out of emeralds or what?"
"Father, this is not why I left and you know that. I left in search of a cure for mother."
The air suddenly got tense once Ferdinand finished saying that.
"You know there's no such thing as a cure for the infected ones. If those people claim they know, there's a high chance they are scamming you which makes me wonder if they're idiots or have big guts."
"They're not random strangers that I found on the road father! I went to the swamp to meet the witch and they said that they have a cure."
"You went to the coursed one you say."
He then looked more carefully at us before fixating his sight on Froggy.
"I can see that he's a little paler than normal, while the other one doesn't have a nose. Is what my son said true? Do you have a cure for the infected O cursed one?"
"It was my friend's original idea, but I think it's feasible."
"Hmm... and what would be the process?"
"Well use a weakness potion to weaken the infection, and then we'll feed her a golden apple where the last bit of humanity she has in her will fight back for control over the body."
The noble looked like he was digesting the new information and then nodded his head.
"An expensive item to have and a potion that only you can make. How convenient for you? If you lie to me there will be heavy consequences, but if you manage to cure my wife I will reward you properly."
That made me a bit scared but Froggy looked more sure than me in the process so I decided to push my worries down as well.
Then we were guided toward the underground cells by some guards.
It was long and lit by lanterns. After a bit of walking, we finally arrived at the last cell where we could hear the noises that a zombie usually makes.
The iron door was open with the help of a lever, inside stood a zombie villager tied to chains to stay in place.
"Well, do your job, Witch."
The young noble said from distance with mixed emotions in his voice.
Froggy looked at me and I nodded my head in understanding.
I took a potion from my inventory and throw it at the mad zombie. Once the potion was broken and the content got over her skin. The zombie just stopped and looked confused at me.
Then Froggy came from behind me and shoved the golden apple in the zombie's mouth while she was still confused.
We couldn't make her eat the whole apple but looks like one bite was enough, once the piece of the apple got inside the zombie she started to growl in pain.
She started to trouble uncontrollably and tried to run but was held firmly down by the chains.
"What did you do to my mother!"
An angry voice was heard from outside the cell.
"Don't worry, this is a normal process. After a few hours, she should be back to normal."
I said with confidence.
The reaction was similar to the game but a lot more exaggerated, which I took as a sign that the method actually worked.
And after a few intense minutes, we could already see the change.
The green color started to slowly fade, and while the process looked painful it was working.
"I-it working, she's starting to get better."
Tears started to appear around his eyes, and the guards started to cheer.
After they saw that it was actually working we went back to the throne room to spread the good news.
"I heard the good news, I am beyond thankful for your help. You just performed a miracle! What rewards would you like my dear heroes."
The noble looked very happy to see us, and he looked like something heavy was finally lifted from his shoulders.
"I would like some more alchemy materials."
Said Froggy quickly.
"Hmm, while it's not something easy to get it's something that can be done. How about you my friend? From what I understood the method was actually your idea in the first place."
"Yes, your greatness. I don't need much, I only want a horse or a camel for transportation."
The noble just looked at me like I said a bad joke.
"Only a horse? I can't just give that to our heroes. The people will say that I'm taking advantage of you. Pick something else besides the animal."
I then started to think about what I could request from them.
I don't need emeralds since I can get them pretty easily, diamonds or other precious metals would be good but I can't even use them yet.
As I looked around the room my eyes fell on a guard.
Or more exactly on his enchanted armor.
"Can you help me raise my Enchanting Skill?"
The whole room got silent once I said that.
"Hmm... While the enchanting is usually reserved for the nobles, I can help you get the first levels of enchanting as a reward for saving my family. Consider it done. Now it's time for celebration!"
The whole court erupted in cheers of happiness.