Norbert walked into the shop, seeing the usual Beckia face down as she continued working on whatever she deemed necessary to tinker on. Walking through the store, he stopped when he realised something: “Where are all your products?” The empty racks stared back at Norbert as he scanned them, seeing one after the other empty.
Only several pieces remained, and Norbert did not see his helmet in any of them. Hearing the door close behind him, Norbert turned around and saw Count von Count not standing in the shop. Leaving the vampire to do what he wanted, Norbert walked over to the counter where Beckia was working.
Standing there, he let the woman continue to work as Norbert looked around at the pieces left behind, unpicked for whatever reason Norbert could discern just from looking.
“Beckia, someone just came in!” The booming voice from the smithy came from the other room behind the counter. The lack of rhythmic hammering took Beckia out of her work's trances. She looked around the room, locking eyes on Norbert, and she seemed to jump in the chair out of surprise.
“You took a day longer.” The words came out, the slight venom coming off them. Norbert was still guessing she wasn’t happy with his actions, probably for the better that Count von Count wasn’t there with him, not knowing how she would take the guest from Grimm.
“Had some things come up, I’m guessing it's ready?” Norbert asked the woman.
Watching her bend over for a moment, she disappeared behind the counter. Items ruffled around before she popped back up again, and Norbert looked at the black helmet once more.
The two pieces came together as Norbert watched them, the previous smooth seal between them now jagged. Norbert noticed runes connecting the two pieces together as he picked them up, the two coming up as the runes were one and connecting together.
“The helmet has the same features as previously due to your constraint,” Beckia told Norbert.
He nodded as he placed his hand on either side, trying to pry the helmet apart, his fingers sliding off it.
“The structural change you noted will increase its strength; the seam won’t be such a weak spot,” she said.
Norbert clicked them apart again as his finger brushed the edges, feeling the point poke into it.
“There's the obvious downside of having it accidentally poke you, but I’m sure that won’t bother you to much,” Beckia added to Norbert, once more receiving the hint of annoyance from the woman about his actions.
Nodding his head in thanks, Norbert reached into his pouch and pulled out a silver coin, adding it to the table. “As thanks for the job. Won't accept no.” Norbert quickly said, taking both pieces and stepping away from the table.
Obsius jumped off his head and onto the table, looking at the scattered knick and knacks. Norbert holding the mask up to his face and feeling it click in place, the weight he had been missing now returned to its proper place.
Breathing out slowly, Norbert smiled and nodded his head. Turning about, he indicated to the rest of the shop that Beckia was listening to him now.
“What happened to all your stock?” Norbert asked as he pointed around.
“The Frontier took it all, gave the going rate, and have asked for more to be sent to them—n—nearly everything,” Beckia said, the exhaustion starting to ebb into her voice.
Norbert nodded as he looked back. “How long has this been going for? It must have been recent,” he asked, remembering the last time he was in here; the place had been as full as he would have expected it, with multiple wares for those passing through to pick out exactly what they needed.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Just the day after you came, I started going around to all the shops and buying up all the weapons and armour, taking it off to their building and who knows where from there,” Beckia told Norbert.
Nodding his head, he picked Obsius up, placed the bird on his shoulder, and picked up the other half as he headed outside.
Beckia looked down at Norbert. “Need another dagger?” She asked him.
Norbert stopped and looking down at his throwing dagger and the one missing, remembering the one he had thrown into the wall.
Turning back around to Beckia, Norbert said, “If you have one that fits, then sure. It's always better to have it even out,” he said as he patted the missing slot in the sheath.
Beckia went to the back when he heard pieces of metal hit together. The clanging of the metal stopped as the smith had stopped his work, probably looking at what his wife was doing.
A moment later, the smith came out, Norbert looking slightly up to the man, nodding to him.
“Sorry about Beckia from before; she’s had a bad history with the Kreevss from when she was in the Frontier.” The smith told Norbert.
Norbert nodded his head in agreement. “She’s not the only one, it seems. And another great piece of work you’ve done repairing this,” Norbert said, tapping his mask and the back of the helmet together. A clang resonated out as Norbert felt his skull shake. “Norbert, by the way,” he added at the end and held his hand out.
“Frank,” the smith told Norbert, the two shaking hands. Norbert felt his start to get crushed by the smith, and the muscles of the man bulged out as he tried to crush Norbert’s hand.
Norbert just smiled back, putting the same pressure he was receiving back to the smith.
Beckia returned, stopping as she saw what the two men were doing.
“Frank, what are you doing? Norbert here is probably not even trying against you,” she told her husband, handing the dagger over to Norbert.
I gave the man a quick squeeze, feeling it squash slightly before letting go. I was thankful he didn’t squeeze too hard and accidentally broke the smith's hand.
“Thank you for that. It feels much better.” Norbert reached for the dagger as he slotted it in, not realising he was walking slightly funny around with the uneven weight on his legs.
Moving the mask around, feeling it jab in but not cut himself enough to draw blood, Norbert clicked the other half of the helmet, feeling it slot in together and form into one piece.
Taking a glove off, Norbert ran his finger around it, not feeling the crack and only the runes on it. He nodded as he put the glove back in his hand, shaking the helmet around, feeling the same.
“For repairs, can anyone do it?” Norbert asked them, remembering the last time.
“If they know how to. Most in Liberia won’t know. As usual, it's always best to return to the original creators for custom work.” Beckia recited to Norbert.
Nodding his head in agreement, he waved as he walked out of the shop. The bell rang again, and the sounds of hammering in the back came up once more. Closing the door behind him, Norbert shouted out so both inside could hear, “Best of luck with the demand!”
Dingle
The bell chimed once more as the door hit the bell, and the sound cut off when it closed.
Count von Count walks over from between an alleyway, stands in the shade; there is no point in tempting fate by standing outside in the sun.
As Norbert looked out towards the tree, the vampire beside him said, “What was that about?”
“What was what about?”
“The best of luck with the demand?” Count von Count specified.
“Oh, that’s because the Frontier is taking up all the weapons and armour,” Norbert said matter of factly as he turned around, staring to go towards the wall, heading back to the inn to say one last goodbye.
“Dang it, developing much quicker than I wanted.” Count von Count said as he walked past Norbert, the vampire lost in thought as he walked down the path, heading back to the inn.
Norbert caught up to the vampire and quickly spoke before the vampire lost their point. “And now it's my turn to ask, what was that about?”
“What was what about?” Count von Count asked, a cheeky smile on the vampire's face, knowing precisely what Norbert was asking about but being annoying anyway.
“The entire, it's developing quicker than I wanted, bit?” Norbert asked.
“Exactly as I was saying, it's developing quicker, so we need to get back to Libitina lickety-split,” Count von Count said, starting to steer Norbert towards the casino.
Norbert sighed. “But you owe me for not saying goodbye.” As he added.
“Any small thing, that’s all.” Count von Count replied.
The paper the Traveller gave him suddenly felt heavy in his pouch. Not feeling now was the right time to ask, Norbert just added, “Where a place is? I need to go there to deliver a letter, but I'm just waiting for the location.”
Count von Count turns around, looks at Norbert and his strange question, shrugs his shoulders, and walks back down again, heading to the casino.
Putting it off for a bit longer wouldn’t hurt him, not like he was anywhere to getting to Grimm anyway Norbert thought to himself, following after Count von Count, ready to get back to Libitina and hopefully get some rest before the match.