“Everly, right?”

The steady clopping of horseshoes pounded out on the dirt trail as the Willow Caravan made their way through the open forest.

“Yes. What is it? What do you want?” Giving Mican a brief response, the alchemist turned his head away, looking towards the front of the caravan.

“As you know, my name is Mican.” Trudging a ways behind the alchemist’s wagon, Mican reintroduced himself.

“…”

“I had wanted to ask you several questions about your profession, alchemy.” The young man sped up slightly, walking in pace side-by-side with the wagon. “Of course, I’ll only ask the most basic questions that you’re alright with.”

“…This is what you came here for? Sir, I’m a very busy person, and I don’t have time for such small talk. If you want to talk about the weather, then go do it with the Winifreds.” Clearly annoyed, the young man waved his hand towards Mican, as if to shoo away a fly.

“Uh-huh…”

Giving a skeptical look towards the half-eaten biscuits which had been strewn around the interior of the wagon, and the open romance novel in the alchemist’s hands, Mican was unconvinced.

“Can you not spare even a slight moment of your time? I won’t bother you; I assure you.”

“…” In response to Mican’s inquiry, he was given only an annoyed glance. “Are you going to buy something?”

“N-“ he paused momentarily in his speech. “How much for a… potion of lesser healing?”

“Since you’re Boss Melinda’s… whatever you are, I’ll give you a discount. Five gold coins or an item that I deem of similar value. Rare materials interest me the most.” The alchemist crossed his arms.

“I see. How exactly did you make such a potion?” The curious Mican couldn’t help himself from asking.

“…” Everly gave the young man a very prominent frown in reply, turning his head towards the front of the wagon. “Driver, move faster.”

Telling him to move faster was just for show though. The wagon was in formation with the caravan, and no one vehicle could break the formation so easily. Despite this, the wagon did move forward just a few inches more, speeding up almost inconsequently, as if to mock the young man.

With Mican’s long strides he could easily catch up to the wagon, but he knew when he wasn’t welcome.

Slowing down in his strides, he walked off the trail to wait for the Ashleye wagon to cross by his path.

Mican was extremely curious in Everly’s craft, having approached him in search of knowledge, but Everly clearly couldn’t care less. He understood that alchemy was likely a very confidential profession, seeing as to how profitable it was. Ones own techniques had to be guarded carefully, in the case of plagiarism. He was perhaps even too guarded though, refusing to even answer basic questions.

At the very least, he had managed to leech some information on a potion’s worth from the young alchemist, he hadn’t ended the trip empty-handed.

After a couple moments, Mican spotted the wooden wagon wheeling down the trodden dirt path, along line with the caravan. Three other new additions were riding alongside the wagon.

“Mican, there you are.” Harold’s voice sounded out from the from the driver’s seat of the wagon.

“Harold? What’s all this?” Mican gestured with his head towards the three people riding along with the wagon.

Walking towards the wagon, he lifted himself up onto the driver’s seat in one fluid motion, sitting down beside the blacksmith.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“These three siblings from the Hathwaye family have been looking for you, I have no clue what about.” The blacksmith shook his head.

The trio consisted of two young ladies and one man, riding atop two horses. The siblings all looked alike to a fair extent and shared the trait of being very beautiful. Their facial features were small and elegant, and their eyes were soft and warm.

A very handsome man was riding slightly ahead of the wagon. His face was cold, stern, and staring forward, uninterested in the events around him. A gentle lady was sitting behind him, both of her legs drooped over one side of the horse. She was quite beautiful even despite her slightly gloomy facial features, her brown-hair hanging down to the bottom of her back. She was staring down at the ground passing by, occasionally glancing up to peek at Mican before immediately dropping her eyes back down.

Mican had seen the two before. The young man as a singer for the caravan, and the lady a dancer alongside her sister.

The last of the trio, Mican had already met before. It was the young lady Poppy Hathwaye, who he had met earlier when he was looking around the caravan. Right in front of her sat Sarah, who was joyfully playing and talking with her.

“Where’s Duarte?” Looking behind him through the gap in the cloth of the wagon, Mican noticed nobody there.

“He went off just a minute ago, to bother Everly for more stories about his adventures.” A slight frown hung upon the blacksmith’s face.

“You didn’t stop him?”

“Considering what happened, I found it best to give him some more freedom. Whether I like it or not.”

Mican nodded in understanding, giving the middle-aged man a pat on the shoulder.

“Hi there, Mister Mican.” Seeing as the two were done talking, Poppy’s light voice called from the side.

“We meet again, Poppy. So what’s up? Why’re you looking for me?”

“Well, it’s nothing much…” The young lady gave a slightly mischievous smile before continuing. “I had just wanted to know more about you… and Boss Melinda!”

Upon hearing her reasoning, Mican instantly understood. A mysterious and reticent boss that rarely revealed herself, showing a clear interest in someone for the first time? It was prime material for girl talk, especially for one in her late teens, like Poppy. She was curious about any romances or spicy talk between the two.

“Poppy, asking about somebody’s private life can be considered very rude, you know.” Raising an eyebrow, Harold shook his head at the girl condescendingly.

“Old man Harold, butt out! An old man has no place in the talk of young people.” Poppy waved a small fist about threateningly towards the blacksmith in reply.

Watching the commotion, Sarah imitated the hand movements towards her own father, giving him the stink eye.

“Urgh…” Seeing this scene, Harold seemed to age by five years before his face shriveled up like a prune. “I’m not even that old…”

“Don’t mind the old man, Mican. Spill the beans!”

“Well, nothing’s really happening. I suppose she just likes me for some reason?” He decided to give the girl a vague answer, as he felt it would be best to keep such matters private.

“Do you really think I would accept that answer?”

The young lady frowned in clear doubt, and even Harold shot him a doubting look from the side.

“Fine. I’ll take it upon myself to judge whether or not you’re worthy of our Boss.” Not taking the hint, or perhaps purposely ignoring it, the young lady continued blathering on. “What was your previous profession? What do you do right now? How old are you? Do you have any talents?”

“I was a translator, and now I’m in the caravan. I’m twenty-two, and I don’t have any particular talents.”

“Really? How about your family? Are you a single child? Have you had any previous wives?” The vibrant girl showed a curious expression as she continued her onslaught.

The answers Mican gave in turn were pre-thought out, short, and simple. He kept his replies as boring as possible, so as to bore Poppy into leaving him alone, but it didn’t seem like it was working.

The young man felt a slight headache come on as the menial questions bombarded him, unwilling to deal with the energetic young lady.

“Poppy, it’s not good to disturb people too much…” A small voice rang out from the front, from the young lady’s elder sister.

“Sister, why are you so afraid of him? You know that Boss Melinda accepted him personally, right?”

The elder sister, giving Mican another once-over, paused for several moments before hesitantly raising her hand up in greeting. The manner in which she raised her hand was slow and seemed to show signs of self-doubt, or timidness. Perhaps she had realized that it was rude of her to interrupt the talk between the two without even having introduced herself.

“Hello, my name is Primrose.” She spoke in a small tone of voice and Mican would nearly have missed it if not for his good hearing.

“Hello, my name is Mican.” The young man nodded at her in response.

It was another moment that proved to him at how trusted Melinda was in her caravan. Just mentioning her name had lessened the clear distrust or shyness that the elder sister harbored.

“Uh, Harold. You had mentioned telling me about Granberia on the road?” Taking the brief respite in Poppy’s questions, Mican quickly broke the conversation.

“Ah yes, let me do that now then.” Taking the hint, Harold nodded at him subtly.

“Oh, I know about the city as well! I can help.” Watching the two, Poppy nodded enthusiastically.

Mican breathed a sigh of relief as his plan of shifting the topic worked successfully, and he turned his attention towards Harold, as it was a topic that he was curious of as well.