Chapter 126
A Brief Rest, A Little Punishment
“You are late,” Illumca said as soon as she saw them returning to the mansion. She also saw that the two of them were disheveled and Connie walked favoring her right leg.
“Did the two of you have a fight?”
“A simple spar, nothing big,” Connie replied. “We had a little bet, and now Akula will be one of our companions.”
“Glad to have you join us, Zalkhin Altanghazar,” Martell said as he turned from his chair. “With you around, enemies won’t be able to hurt us! Isn’t that nice, Illumca?” he asked, expecting the cold Dark Elf to react somewhat badly. Instead, what she saw was Illumca extending her arm up to the Centaur’s belly.
“Welcome to the Party, Akula.”
“It is my honor, Illumca,” She said as she grabbed her arm. “I will be asking a lot of spars in the future if you are interested.”
“Of course,” The Dark Elf answered. The two gazed eye-to-eye, confirming each other’s intention before letting go. She then returned to her room to put on some salve. Illumca asked if she needed any help, but she rejected, saying that she was not hurt that bad.
“You aren’t worried that Mistress had taken interest in Zalkhin Altanghazar?” the boy asked with a sly tone. As soon as the Centaur was out of an earshot.
Illumca folded her arms. “She has risked her own life to save Connie, even to the point of breaking her own body. So, I consider her a friend.”
“Boring,” Martell shrugged.
“If it’s so boring for you, why don’t we see how far you’ve improved on your swordplay,” she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.
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A few days after finishing their affairs, it was finally time for them to leave for Cairula.
In the morning before they left, a few people were there to say goodbye. Which was quite surprising to Connie, seeing how she was sure that she had made more enemies than friends during her stint in the Capital.
Illumca was speaking with the excited Eleanora while Klein was talking with Nick, who was feeding the horses some apples.
“You are leaving in this?” Hannah asked with an unhidden bewilderment in her face upon seeing the miserable wagon that they are leaving with. “But you’ve got money!”
“The Mistress likes things in her own her ways,” Martell said with a bit of a chuckle as she hopped onto the wagon.
“Hannah,” Akira scolded her. Despite their history, Akira and Hannah came to bid them farewell, clad in laymen’s clothing to avoid the gazes of the people. Which was overshadowed by the fact that the Maiden of Water was also there with two very recognizable Church Knights.
“It’s a shame, I haven’t had the chance to spar with you while you’re here,” Akira said. “Then again, I would make a terrible opponent.”
“Well, the good thing about knowing you are terrible, is that you know you need to improve. I am looking forward to you actually managing to put a wound on me next time.”
“That’d be the day. And I see that you decided to follow her, Miss Akula,” the Hero of Calendia remarked.
Akula gave him a firm nod. “Yes. It is the beginning of my search for my own path.”
“I didn’t know that you are friends.”
“Ah, we spoke at length a few days ago,” the Hero said in response.
“Mainly about you and your tendency to make trouble anywhere you go,” Akula added.
“Aand…if she was not…it would nooot be…her,” Allenca posited. “Please beee…careful. The lands to the South aaare…undeveloped. It iiis…filled with dense forests…aaand monsters that are stronger…than the ones you meet…heeere. Winter…iiis still in two mooonths. You better leave theeere…soon if you dooo not want too…wait for next…spriiing.”
“I cannot lie, I am rather looking forward to that,” Connie said, “Aren’t we, Nick?”
“As long as I still have my neck when we return, Milady,” Nick said from the back of the wagon, doing the last check on the wagon’s back wheel. “The horses are fed and watered, Milady. We are ready to go.”
As they were about to leave, a man came riding on a horse. As soon as he arrived, he quickly got down his horse and bowed with a well-practiced flourish.
“Thank Junnaveil that I am not late,” Jorge said, slightly gasping. “Prince Elhart had bid me to come to you with a gift, alongside his wish for your safe trip to the South.”
He then produced an item which he presented respectfully to Connie. It was a golden badge with the image of a golden sparrow carved to the middle.
“This badge signifies the highest rank of our Merchant Alliance, the Golden Sparrow. You can use it to get help from any of our Merchant affiliates. He is sure that it will come very handy in your journey.”
“Extend my thanks to the Prince.”
“I will, Lady Steelheart. Please, have a good trip and safe passage.”
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The road back home was uneventful, unlike last time.
They arrived in Cairula after lunchtime. Their arrival drew the gazes of many; some curious, some awe. A stark difference to the look that they gave her when Connie first took her first step into Cairula in her new body.
“L-lady Steelheart!” a familiar grunt of a soldier saluted. “Please, you can go in. No need to queue.”
“Oh, not stopping me this time?” She said teasingly.
“No, I wouldn’t dare -!”
“Relax, I’m just playing with you,” Connie waved him off and told Nick to continue inside.
“It felt like ages since we left,” Illumca said contemplatively. “Straight to Ethel’s?”
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Connie nodded as she rested her elbow on the side of the wagon. Nick whipped the reins lightly to urge the horse to move forward. “Ethel’s it is.”
“You seem to have gathered some followers, Zalkhin Altanghazar,” Martell remarked when he noticed a few children running alongside them. Their eyes full of curiosity and awe.
“Whoa, cool! Are you a horse?” a sniveling little boy asked.
“But she’s got a hat! Horses don’t wear hats!” a smart-looking girl crowed in.
Akula was amused by the children and said. “Well, do horses talk, little one?”
“Oh! She talked! Wow!”
Some concerned parents quickly took them while saying sorry, intimidated by the large body of the Centaur. She was used to this treatment from the Stonemen, but she could not refute that it hurt her a bit.
Once they arrived at the store, they found that it was chock full of people. All of them clamoring over the counters. “Hoh, what is this?”
“So crowded,” Martell descended from the wagon and saw three men in regular clothes wearing well worn swords on their waists, lounging at the side of the store. Their clothes were worn out, but they were clean. Despite their slovenly attitude, their eyes were keen.
When they saw the wagon, they moved forward. “Good Afternoon, Lady Steelheart.”
“These are my friends that I told you about, Milady,” Nick said when he saw Connie looking at them with puzzlement. “They are good men. Did you remember? I told you that I hired them to keep the store safe while I’m in the Capital.”
“Oh, yeah. I think you said that before,” Connie replied. It did not inspire confidence in the scruffy Paladin. “Any trouble while we’re gone?”
“A few, but we chased them out,” the eldest looking of them, a tough looking man with a balding head said. “We also had a thief trying to steal some things, but Alan here made short work of him.”
“Excellent. I’ll add some Silver for your trouble later.”
“Ah, Milady!” Bertus ran up to the wagon and tried to help Connie down, but she had already jumped down the wagon and helped Illumca descend.
“Oh, Bertus! How are you doing?!”
“Very well, milady. Very well!” the jolly man said. “I’ve heard the news, Milady. Your father would be proud!”
Connie raised her nose at this and walked inside.
“You’re back,” Ethel commented from behind the counter, her eyes never moving from the newspaper she was reading. Connie noticed that she was sitting much straighter now and her thin fingers had begun to fill up. “How’s the Capital? Did you put it on fire when you left?”
“Mistress did not put it on fire, but she certainly put some butts on a flame.”
“We killed a Hero. Became Calendia’s worst enemies. Then became heroes,” Illumca explained shortly.
“Well now, the silent one speaks! An improvement!” the old crone raised a graying eyebrow.
Connie sat in front of the counter and Sen quickly brought out teas for everyone. She was fuller now; her slightly sunken cheeks had filled up and now had a rosy glow to them.
“How are you doing, Sen?”
“I’m good! My mom’s getting better because of the Pills! She can walk to the garden now!”
“Mm, good to hear,” Connie rustled her hair for a bit before returning to the sour old woman. “So how are things?”
“It’s going smoothly despite some disturbance. My friends are also doing well on their part. You should have seen the look on the old codgers’ face when they created their first Pill. Some annoyances have also approached me to learn how to make Pills. Of course, I chased them out.”
“Hmm,” Connie sipped her tea and grinned. “Gather your fellow disciples tomorrow night, Ethel. It is time we move to the next level.”
Outside the Store, children were gathered around Akula. Some of them were trying to climb over her, one was even pulling on her tail, but she did not seem to mind. Akula put her hat on one of the children. The hat went down to his eyes due to the size difference. She then put him on her shoulders. The thrilled laughter of the child drew other children to her and they began to clamor asking for their turns.
Just then four men came strutting in. All of them were burly and clad in leather armor. From their expression, Illumca knew that they were here for some trouble.
“You old crone! I bought a Rejuvenating Pill from you and it did not work! I want compensations!” Their leader, a tall and scruffy man with a glass eye shouted.
“Is this one of those disturbances, Ethel?” she asked.
“No…I think this is new,” Ethel groaned. “I don’t recognize them either. Might not be a local.”
Illumca glanced at Connie, the latter waved her arm to signal her to stand down.
“Martell, if you please.”
“Gladly, Mistress,” the Innocent-looking Beastfolk boy bowed slightly to acknowledge her order. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. I hear you’ve been complaining about our Pills?” The small boy said innocently. “May I ask how you used it? Where? And how?”
The troublemaker seemed to have prepared for this eventuality and asnwered. “In the dungeon! Yeah, I got hurt in the dungeon and tried using the Pill! And it did not work.”
“Yeah! And it almost killed him.”
“Well, do you have the Pill?” Martell asked politely.
The man confidently produced the bottle. It was the same bottle used to store the Pills. Martell snatched it the moment he took it out.
“Hmm…let’s see,” Martell took one Pill from the bottle and sniffed it. “Dear Customer, did you really buy it from our store?”
“Yeah! And it did nothing!”
“But it seems to me that this one has no scent,” Martell crushed the Pill in his palm and showed it to the others. “And it is apparently made of dirt. Mister Bertus, please grab one Pill from the rack and give it to me.”
The strawberry-haired Beastfolk crushed the Pill the mustachioed man gave him and a waft of fragrant scent filled their noses. “Our Pills have blue colored cores, unlike your fake one. So, either you got tricked, or you have the deliberate intention to trick us. But you came here so it must be the latter. Tell me, who paid you to try and pull one on us, eh?”
“I – I …!” The man stuttered. He did not expect to be outed like this. “Run!”
The men turned to try and run away after he was caught, but he immediately ran into a brick wall. He then realized that it was actually a Centaur.
“Guh!” the man choked as he was lifted off the ground until he was face to face with an angry Centaur. “You are scaring the children.”
She threw him back inside the store, where Illumca brought him kissing the floor with a good kick.
“Argh!”
The other men, seeing this, intended to make their move but was brought down instantly by Nick’s hired men. “I-I can’t move!!”
Martell grabbed the fallen man by his collar. “You are challenging the power of our Pills, didn’t you? In that case, shall we test it?”
The current Martell had power beyond his size, and he exuded much threatening aura that made the man feel like he was being stared down by a wolf. A hungry wolf who liked to toy with his food.
“Wait! Wait! Please spare me!”
Martell ignored his plea and said cheerfully. “It is our pleasure to prove to you the effectiveness of our pill. Please have a sample.”
Martell then proceeded to cheerfully pound the man’s face until he was unrecognizable. He then fed him a Pill forcefully. The swollen flesh and skin quickly began to return to normal.
“Look and see, friends! With just one Pill, you can heal yourself up! Lickety-split!” he said with a big grin on his face.
“Would you like another demonstration?” The impish boy said
“No! It’s fine! The Pills are real!” the man begged. “Please stop!”
“Don’t be shy! Customers are always welcome to try our products! Especially naughty ones like you,” He smirked as he cracked his knuckles then proceeded to pound him.
“Stop! Stop, please! It’s Gerrick! Gerrick and hish friends paidsh me to scam you!” the man said, his words slurring from the swollen lips.
“Gerrick? That little shit?” Ethel put down her paper and groaned. “Gerrick is the local Alchemist, in case you don’t know. His profit has been going down since we sell Pills.”
“Buy 2 get 1!” The boy said with a smile that was the downfall of angels. “Don’t miss the sale! Just for today!!”
The onlookers were hesitating for a few seconds before they stormed the store. People of Cairula were not unfamiliar with such scene, especially Hunters, who were a rough bunch already. To them, if they could pay less for better products that would heal them, why would they pay more?
While the others were occupied with helping the store, Connie beckoned Illumca to the back of the store.
“Illumca. I’d like you to help me with something involving this fellow named Gerrick.”
“Yes, Connie. Do you want me to…?” the Dark Elf made a stealthy little gesture across her neck.
“No, no. Let’s not go there just yet. Just put some fear into him. Let him know, politely, that we do not appreciate disturbance to our healthy competition. Take Martell with you. Go at night.”
“Can I draw some blood?”
“If need be,” Connie winked.
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The next day, after a visit by the duo of remorseless people, a contract of agreement not to disturb Connie’s business complete with a blood thumbprint were placed on Connie’s table. The quick result made her feel quite good, and she taught the Herbalists turned Cultivator new tricks and new Recipes that night.
Along with them came a few other Herbalists from another city who wanted to learn the new way of Alchemy, as Ethel put it.
They were told to sign the same contracts as the first Herbalists. Out of five people, three accepted. Connie was not searching for opportunists, but for people who really wanted it.
“We will start small, Ethel. But soon enough, Culti – I mean, the new type of Alchemy will be the new standard of Alchemy!!”
After that, they spent the next few days resting their bodies and gathering supplies to prepare for the long journey South.
Unbeknownst to them, a drastic change was happening in Calendia that would change their fate.
A change that - like many things - started with a spark.