Chapter 182. Running Errands.
“I don’t know who you are, but I suggest that you don’t pull those blades,” I warned as I slowly shifted to my right, trying to get to the nearby shop and use it to block at least one approach from the potential enemies.
“We know what you’re doing to our town, and today it ends,” the young woman said as the two men pulled their swords and started to walk toward me, the crowd parting at the sight of a potential fight.
“Before you do something that gets all three of you killed, why don’t you tell me what you think I’m doing that’s wrong?” I asked, noting that they had missed the fact that the two Grulnok’s were with me. Both orcs had circled behind the pair of sword wielding men. Lillia, along with Rupert, were moving to cover the young woman.
“Do not listen to his corrupting words, end him now,” the young woman shrieked, causing both men to raise their swords and step towards me. In an instant, axe and mace blows slammed into the pair as my Grulnok team went to work. Both attackers fell under the blows and Lillia skewered the young woman on her spear when she drew a dagger that had begun to glow with mana.
“Come on, we don’t have time to wait around for the guard to arrive, everyone here can see we were attacked without provocation,” I said, raising my voice for the last part, hoping the crowd would corroborate my version of events if the town guard were even inclined to investigate.
I led my team toward the apothecary’s shop, noting that the crowd seemed to stop gawking and go about their business rather quickly for the most part. It was anyone’s guess how much violence a place like this saw. From their reactions, the brief fight, and the death of three people didn’t cause the same type of reaction that it would have back home.
The apothecary shop was only a few doors down from where I was, and we reached it without further incident. I left one Grulnok along with Rupert outside, taking the other two minions with me. As I opened the door, a happy-sounding bell tinged to announce our entrance. I was greeted with a small, tidy shop with only a couple of other customers inside.
Wooden shelves lined the walls, and smaller display bins were placed on the floor. All of them were stocked with various things from soap to medicines that I couldn’t identify. The shop had a pleasant scent to it, almost like one of those places in the mall where they sold scented candles.
Two clerks, a middle-aged man, and a young woman were behind a long counter at the back of the shop. Both were currently working with other customers, but the man nodded in my direction to acknowledge that he had seen me and knew I was waiting to be helped. I tried to wait patiently, my body still shaking a bit as the adrenaline from the fight began to bleed off. It wasn’t long before one of the customers left and the man behind the counter waved me over.
“What can I help you with today?” he asked with a bright smile.
“I need to see Lucinda,” I replied, following the instructions I was given on the scroll. The man’s smile disappeared, and he walked through the curtain to the back of the shop without saying a word. I began to wonder what was going on when an older woman stepped from the back of the shop and passed a small bundle over to me. As she handed it over, the old woman stared intently into my eyes, making me more than a bit uncomfortable.
The bundle was wrapped in thick, brown paper and tied up tightly with twine. It wasn’t in my instructions to be nosy, so I simply put the package in my pack and headed out the door to find my next stop. I could feel that the creepy old woman’s eyes were still riveted on me as I left the store. The bell above the door no longer sounding quite as happy and pleasant as it had when I had entered.
“Weird people here,” I grumbled as I joined the rest of my team outside the shop. Following the instructions I’d been given, I jotted down a quick update on my successful first stop.
Our next task was to find the fishmonger’s shop that had a sign cracked in half. I didn’t have to ask anyone for directions to the docks, I just let the cool breeze that blew in from the ocean guide me toward my destination. As I moved off the main thoroughfare and into the side streets, the crowds of people diminished. The foot traffic might have been lighter, but their absence was replaced by more of the heavy wagons hauling crates of cargo from what I assumed were the ships in the harbor.
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When I reached the waterfront, I became lost in the press of passengers and workers coming and going, as well as teams of stevedores moving cargo on and off the vessels. Breaking through the crowd, I found myself walking on a large, wooden pier with thick stone pilings. The pier ran across most of the city coastline. Beyond the pier, the city surrounded a calm bay with an open ocean in the distance. Both large and small vessels were docked here, and ships were constantly coming and going.
It took more time than I had anticipated to make my way to where the fishing vessels docked and were being unloaded. The city was busy and prosperous, with the docks seeming to contribute the lion’s share of that prosperity. Where the alchemist I was looking for had been easily found on the main street into the city, the fishmonger was a bit tougher to locate. I ended up asking a few of the workers nearby, greasing their palms with some coins to point me toward the shop with the broken sign.
The workers did steer me in the right direction, and I hoped that when the summoning was over, the coins I gave them didn’t disappear. It was a question I hadn’t found an answer to in Refuge’s database. Maybe now that we were playing nicely with other groups and the government, more data would be added.
“I’m looking for Old Man Iskander,” I said to one of the workers at the fishmonger. Unlike the apothecary shop, this place was an open-air affair, with crates of freshly, and some not so freshly, caught fish placed out for people and businesses to purchase. There were tarps overhead to keep the sun from beating down on the fish, but they did nothing for the flies that seemed to be having a field day.
“He ain’t here, probably at the Leaky Gullet, the man replied, pointing at a rather ramshackle looking tavern across the street.
“What does he look like?” I asked, unsure how to identify the man inside a tavern full of drunk fishermen.
“Old, that’s why we call him Old Man Iskander,” the worker replied. With a sigh, I dropped a handful of copper in his hand.
“Now I remember a bit more about him. Look for a clean-shaven old man that’s missing his left hand. If you’re going into the Gullet, make sure you keep your hand on your purse,” the worker advised.
“Thanks, I’ve got plenty of people to watch my back,” I said, pointing to the two Grulnok summons. The worker just nodded and gave me an approving grunt before returning to his task of stacking the heavy crates of fish.
The fish market wasn’t a pleasant-smelling place, but somehow, the Leaky Gullet managed to surpass its stench. Without a front door, the pervasive fish smell from the market wafted into the place. Mixed in with the fish market smell was a lovely blend of unwashed workers, sour spilled ale, and vomit from those that had too much to drink. As for staff, an old man was behind the bar and two haggard-looking older women who could have come straight from the overnight shift at a Waffle House were serving drinks.
I scanned the crowd, glad that the two servers were too busy to notice that I had come in and hadn’t ordered a drink yet. Sure, my body would be rebuilt when I left here, but I could only imagine the diseases crawling on the dirty wooden mugs they used to serve their customers with. About the only saving grace was that the tavern at least didn’t seem to offer any food.
Surprisingly, several people could have almost matched my contact’s appearance. I guess that losing one of your hands wasn’t all that uncommon in their business. The man I was looking for was seated at the bar, one of the few people without a beard, and with a metal hook where his left hand should have been.
“Old Man Iskander?” I asked as I sat down next to him.
“Who wants to know?” he slurred back at me. It was only early in the afternoon and the man was already sauced.
“I do, just answer the question,” I barked, not wanting to waste time bantering with an old drunk fishmonger. Picking up on my annoyance, the duplicate Grulnok sat on the other side of the man and growled in his direction.
“Fine, tough guys, eh. Well, I don’t owe anyone money that I can think of so ye probably ain’t here to rough me up for my coin. I admit that I’m Iskander, what do you want with me?” he asked.
“I’m here to tell you that Liam’s boss requires another shipment,” I said, following the scroll’s instructions.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get around to it when I can,” he said waiving me off.
“Repeat it back to me,” I demanded.
“Don’t get all feisty with me young man. Fine, you told me that Liam’s boss needs another shipment. Are you satisfied now?” he asked.
“Yep, now I’m out of here,” I said. I’d done exactly as the scroll had instructed and I waited until leaving the nasty tavern before jotting down my notes.
“Next stop, the adventurer’s guild,” I said putting the scroll away.
There was only one stop after the guild, and that was to kill the people below the Grey Balloon inn. That was a task I wasn’t sure I was going to complete. It all depended on what I found inside there. I would either finish this summoning strong or be forced to burn another Notice of Cessation and bail out early.