章 84: Beware of pretty ladies, please! part 1

Here I am, all by my lone self again, I've been trapped inside an inn for three days without anything to do. I really appreciate what everyone is doing for me, but I feel like I'm losing my mind already.

After Karl told us about the curse, he offered himself to come with us to Celarent, which is the biggest city nearby, and help us find a priest who could take care of the curse. The only problem was that, despite it being the closest city, it still took us more than a week to get here and I've seen my life pass before my eyes a couple times already.

The first time was when we arrived at mountainside, the locals didn't believe Karl was Ironwoods mayor and gave us a sour welcome. If it wasn't for Hiraku I'd have been killed by the farm dogs. After the incident, the farmer apologized, he thought we were stealing his crops and he let out his dogs, but I still think he did it on purpose.

At that point I wished I had brought the amarok with me, but in my current state I wouldn't be able to even feed it without fearing for my life so I left it home. Anne is the only one who is not afraid of it, and for some reason the amarok likes her too, so she should be taking good care of him.

Now we are on the outskirts of Celarent, staying at a cheap inn. Karl is trying to find a priest somewhere downtown while Hiraku and Luke are trying to make some money. They've been wandering for three days, checking the market and today, finally, they should be able to sell something.

Back at Ironwoods food was scarce, but here in Celarent there are all kinds of dishes, fruits, salads, tubers, mushrooms, it's wonderful... or at least that's what I've been told, because the only thing I've seen so far is the way to the inn, the stairs on the inn and the four walls of my room at the inn.

Anyways, they will be selling medicine. Why? because we need to know if we can establish a trade route.

"We're back"

Luke said looking somewhat depressed.

"So, how did it go?"

I thought it was bad, but only after I saw Hiraku's pale face I was able to see the full picture. It was BAD.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry young Ryu"

"Why are you apologizing Hiraku? if you didn't sell anything it's ok, we can try again tomorrow"

"No, that's not it... we sold everything"

"That's a good thing then"

I say without any kind of conviction, they look defeated.

"You see, as soon as we headed to the market a pink haired girl came to us. She was a young beautiful girl brimming with energy, when she said she wanted to buy everything I couldn't believe our luck. But then, we got only this much"

Hiraku said showing me a silver coin and a handful of copper coins.

"So, you sold half our medicine and, instead of getting the right amount of money, she paid only this much?"

"Sadly, yes"

Hiraku sighed

"Did you call for a guard? you were robbed"

"No, it wasn't like that. I was there and there was nothing wrong. She paid the right price, Or at least we didn't notice anything wrong until we came back"

"Well then, maybe someone stole from you on the way back"

I fail to wrap my head around this situation.

"I doubt it, I think I would have noticed something like that"

Luke grunted

"But there must be an explanation!"

I'm really losing my patience, but it's not like they got tricked on purpose so I try to calm down. Luke noticed that I was freaking out and handed me a bottle of water.

"Anyways, I think you should come with us tomorrow"

"But young Ryu can't come with us young Luke, don't forget the curse, you will only put him at risk"

"Maybe, but our mission here is to establish a trade route. Losing one batch of medicine is a low price to pay if we learn how did she do it, I can feel there's something wrong about her but I can't punt my finger on it. If Ryu comes with us we might be able to find out her trick, establish a trade route and get some funds. About the curse, I bought this bottle of Aqua Benedicta, it should keep you safe for a while"

I take a second to identify the bottle.

Aqua benedicta: a bottle filled with blessed water, it contains the holy attribute.

It seems Luke is finally taking things seriously.

"This is great Luke! but maybe Hiraku should sit this one out"

"I know I screwed up, but I can still help young Ryu."

"We need him Ryu, my plan is as follows: Ryu, you will be holding the merchandise while Hiraku stays close to you keeping you safe and making sure she doesn't do anything weird. Whatever happens, I'll follow her stealthily and see where does she go after scamming you"

"Uhm, Luke... Why are you assuming I'll get scammed too?"

I say awkwardly.

"Don't be offended Ryu, but I was there and there was nothing we could've done to stop her. I don't know if it was a spell or something, but we were completely powerless. Don't worry Ryu, even if we don't get our money's worth after selling the medicine, we will be able to buy food produce in here and stock up the trading outpost. Hiraku should go back to Ironwoods and then come back with more medicine to sell in here"

I've been thinking this for a while now, but Luke is a lot more reliable now than when we first met. What he says not only makes sense, it will help Ironwoods prepare for the next winter while solving our current problem.

"Sounds like a good plan, maybe you should do as Luke says, Hiraku"

"Maybe, but the only money we have is what we brought with ourselves. If I spend it in products, you'll be left with no means to live during this two weeks, let alone to pay for the curse removal. Even if Karl finds a priest, how are we supposed to pay for it?"

"Heh? you're forgetting who are we in the first place"

Luke smirked and kept speaking.

"We are heroes, I intend to sign up in the adventurers guild"

"I'm not sure that will be enough to keep us going until Hiraku comes back"

"Don't worry Ryu, I got it covered. All we need to do is get you to the morning market safely and you'll see what I'm talking about"

With this words Luke headed to his room and Hiraku did the same. I'm left alone again, except now at least I have a purpose. First, I need to figure out how did that girl manage to steal from them so blatantly without them realizing it. Second, I need to find a way to make a living in here, I'm not sure if Luke's plan will work out so I may need to find an alternative. And third, I have to find a solution to my curse.

So far, as long as I stay in my room nothing bad has happened. Things were completely different on the way here, but I think I'll be safe with this holy water. Now that I think about it, It is a good Idea to start trading with Celarent as soon as we can, it does make sense. But this will leave me completely at the mercy of Luke and he's been acting suspicious.

Could it be he's trying to get rid of me?

It was his idea to send Hiraku back to get more funds, it may be just an excuse to be left alone with me so he can say he 'failed' to protect me from the curse.

I try to shake off the negative thoughts, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. We've had our rough patches and he may still be resented, everyone at the brothel knew he despised me. How am I supposed to trust him now?

Next morning came and, as always, I'm the first one to wake up. The inn is as cheap as it is bad, it makes me wonder why do they even have clients, but then again we're staying here so it must be a popular stop for desperate travelers running low on funds.

We should have brought more money after all, I'm not accustomed to sleeping in a place like this. It makes me value a lot more what I have back home.

Hiraku and Luke came dowsntairs and joined me on a disappointing breakfast. It may sound weird, but good food is really important for morale. This piece of black bread hurt me more than any curse so far.

When we first arrived at Celarent it was already dark so I didn't get to see much, but now the scenery in front of me amazes me to no end. The streets are lively and filled with people walking with a smile on their faces, it's so different to Ironwoods where people always showed no signs of emotions. Except for the merchants, of course, who always kept a fake smile on their face.

After that, the first thing I notice is how lightly everyone dresses. Being used to a cold weather, it really surprised me to see people with shirts and low cut dresses outside. A young girl passes next to me, she's wearing a small skirt and a tiny top leaving her belly completely uncovered. Suddenly I start feeling somewhat hot, and it has little to do with the warmth of the morning sun hitting my face, and more with how revealing the clothes young girls and women wear in this city.

It's been about ten days since I'm far from Rina and it weights on my heart already. A man has his needs after all, or that's what Rina used to say after a deep sigh whenever I was in the mood for some night action. I just want to come back, but Luke is right, if we don't secure a trade route all this would have been for nothing. Even if we get rid of the curse, it wouldn't matter because we wouldn't be able to survive next winter.

Luke led us to a place filled with stands on the outskirts, people are coming and going with baskets filled with all kinds of foods. Now I see what did Luke meant, there are vegetables, fish, meat, it's so varied and also cheap.

"Wow, if Rina saw this prices she would go nuts buying everything. But we need to take a good look before buying anything"

I say while turning back to see Hiraku, who had his arms filled with many products. I keep glaring at him and he starts putting the items back from where he took them, one by one very slowly.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself"

Hiraku shrugged. Maybe the reason he got scammed wasn't a big mystery after all.