As the caravan decided to set up a camp for the night, Jared, who was supposed to guide them through the way, was chosen to stay guard at night since he had accidentally cost them two days worth of traveling.

"Yo, Jared! It's time to switch." A dark skinned man with long, dark hair said as he tried to find his comrade, who was supposed to be on guard at the entrance to the camp.

Rustle, rustle.

As he heard something coming out of the bushes, he quickly pulled out his sword and got ready to fight. When suddenly something came out of the bushes and fell in front of him.

"Y-yoo... Leonard, whass upp?" Said the drunk man.

"For fucks sake, Jared?" A dark skinned man who had nearly swung his sword out of fright quickly kicked Jared in the sides.

"Ah! Ohh! ffuck, sorry, sorry. Jeez, I juzs zjrunk a li'l bit."

Hick!

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, you fucker... Why the fuck are you drunk??"

"Relax, relax... These idiots don't know... nothing about us. Ha-ha-ha... They think they're carrying an ordinary slave and some goods, wh... what could go wron-"

ARRGHHH

"The fuck, Leonard?!?!" The drunk man finally came to his senses as Leonard kicked him in the nuts.

Slap.

"Listen, here you little fucker..." Leonard said as he pulled Jared close to himself.

"... Unlike the others, I don't find any of your sh*t amusing, got it? We're here to do one job, and that is to make sure nothing happens to the boy until the caravan gets to Prossel's City, after that, we'll disappear like we were never fucking here. Understood?" As he spoke, he let a little bit of bloodlust out to sober up Jared.

"Got it, got it... Fuck..." Jared said as he got up, still holding onto his family jewels.

Arghh

"Now, be a fucking professional and do what you're paid to do."

Urgh

"Alright... What's even so important about the mixed bastard..."

"He's the only Lich currently under imperial control. Did you even read the fucking..." As he looked at the idiot, nearly tripping himself again, he could only sigh.

"Why am I arguing with a fucking drunkard..." He finally said to himself after taking a deep breath to calm down.

"Yeah, yeah, you need to learn how to live life more freely, friend..." Jared said as he tried to put his arms around Leonard's neck.

Thud!

...

A young man wandered through the magical alleys of the imperial capital. His bloodred eyes scanned the tiny shops around him.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

As he stopped in front of a small, three-story shop, its flimsy chimney started exhausting blue smoke. While he read the sign on the door, he felt as if there were people looking at him. After looking around, however, there was no one there.

\\ Nightshade's Homemade Poisons //

'Am I the only one in this city that lacks honor?' These were Raphael's first thoughts as he finally found a shop that sold poison.

Ting-Ling-Ling.

As he opened the door and looked at the insides of the store, he stood in a daze for a second. There were rows after rows of shelves filled with seemingly harmless herbs, ominous-looking mushrooms, odd-looking potions, and many more things he could barely see since they were so far away.

'What...?'

As he was about to go back and look at the outside of the store again, a happy child-like voice sounded behind the counter, freezing him on the spot as the door closed behind him, making a sinister sound.

"Yes, yes. It is bigger on the inside, young man... No need to be frightened, come on in, for gods sake!" No one could see anything behind the counter, however, until an unpleasant sound passed through the store.

Screechhh!

"Aha! Much better, isn't it?" As a small head with big eyes, pointy ears, and green eyes appeared behind the counter, Raphael did his best to look as nonchalant as possible.

"Hello... Storekeeper. Do you have any sleeping potions and truth serum for sale?" He asked with a casual smile on his face as he looked at the tiny girl standing on top of a stool with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, you wouldn't be planning on kidnapping someone, would you...?" She asked as her eyes gleamed slightly.

"..." As his face froze for a second, the smile on the shopkeeper's face only widened.

"Kidnapping is a crime, shopkeeper... How could a law-abiding citizen such as myself commit such a morally despicable act...?" Raphael answered promptly as he tried to calm down my nerves.

"Of course, of course... But, you know, if you did, supposedly, want to kidnap someone, I could, also supposedly, give you a fast-acting anesthetic instead of a sleeping potion... That would, hypothetically, be much more efficient, you knoww..." She said with her childish voice as she tiptoed on the stool, putting her arms on the balcony.

"Hypothetically, if I did... I'd like the fast acting anesthetic, then."

"Which, hypothetically, would cost 3 golds for both the truth serum and the fast acting anesthetic." She giggled as two potions appeared on top of the balcony, as if out of thin air.