บท 39: Masquerade

Throughout the following days, Kyle was fortunate to have no time to mull over the merchant's words and his growing discomfort to spend any more time in Alsa.

However, instead of staying lowkey, he sold the remaining batch of meligna grass he had nurtured to the pharmacist.

She was growing suspicious of Kyle, and offered him less than what she would have paid earlier, but Kyle didn't fret about that.

In the end, telling the pharmacist that the entire field of meligna grass had been plucked should be more than enough to avoid being thoroughly interrogated.

Even if she were to interrogate him, Kyle could always avoid her by telling her that he was searching for more meligna grass while he was, in fact, only improving his combat awareness by sparring with Selene.

Additionally, he was practicing all kinds of suitable movement sequences with ungraded martial art techniques he could remember from his past life.

His Spirit Soul was unique because it didn't want to stay within Kyle's body for longer than necessary.

Because of that, he didn't think that exposing the Emerald fox would be a problem until he had evolved into a rare, and dangerous species.

Kyle was glad about the small fortune he had received.

All the batches of meligna grass he had sold to the pharmacist recently earned him a total of 150 Maest crystals.

Thus his total wealth as of now included 164 Maest and 3 Pryr crystals.

He was short of only 5 Maest crystals to purchase the discounted spatial pouch that would normally cost 250 Maest crystals.

Though the price was fair, the number of crystals he had was not enough, and he couldn't afford to stay in the tavern any longer!

Days flew by quickly and it was the afternoon of the last day before Kyle would have to leave the tavern.

With each passing day, his worries seemed to increase.

Despite a jam-packed schedule, his subconscious thoughts always kept going back to the news of the return of the hunting groups.

It had almost been four days since Kyle had heard the merchant's words.

Despite that, he noticed that not even the bravest hunters dared to venture out of the village anymore.

Even the slaves were forbidden from entering the woods in search of firewood because the slave merchants didn't want to sacrifice them needlessly.

This clearly showed how terrified and nervous the villagers had become just in a matter of days.

It was frustrating to just sit and do nothing, but complaining about his current situation wasn't going to help Kyle.

Instead, finding a solution to the issue would ease his mind.

Wanting to clear his mind, Kyle decided to take a walk.

He was mindlessly walking through the streets and didn't even realize that his feet had automatically taken him to Jar's shop.

Selene was meekly following him, trying to prevent her empty stomach from rumbling loudly and letting him know that she was famished.

The price for meat had increased during the last few days, so they had spent sparingly on food.

Kyle had hoped to purchase the spatial pouch so he was ensuring to save as much as possible.

Not wanting to add to his worry, Selene hadn't told him that she was eating less for the last few days. As such, she felt ravenous at the moment.

Meanwhile, Kyle was in his own world. 'Was I too full of myself?' He wondered, as he entered the inscription shop, where he greeted Mell rather half-heartedly.

She immediately noticed that Kyle's voice lacked the usual vigor.

But instead of wondering what was going on, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Only a moment later, Gard Jar rushed behind the corner to enter the inscription area of the shop where his wife usually worked.

He had noticed that Kyle had arrived after a total of four days and was curious to know what brought him to the shop again.

Lots of things had happened in the meantime, but the most interesting was the pharmacist's visit to their shop.

She had wanted to inquire about Kyle!

Apparently, nobody knew anything about him nor was anyone aware of where exactly he had found the meligna grass.

This was the first time that the Jar couple had heard another villager talking about Kyle, and it was only then that they learned how hard he seemed to be working.

Knowing what kind of item Kyle wanted to purchase, they decided to give him another small gift, hoping to see a wholesome reaction.

However, they hadn't expected Kyle to be utterly flabbergasted with what he saw in front of him. He had to rub his eyes several times to check whether the price tag was correct or not.

"230 Maest crystals?? That's...161 Maest crystals with the discount. We can finally eat something again!!!"

Mell and Gard looked at each other with squinted eyes with the same thought in their mind.

'Finally eat something again??'

Without wasting any time, Kyle hastily approached Mell and quickly asked,

"Has the price for the spatial pouch really been reduced to 230 Maest crystals?"

Mell just nodded her head in response and Kyle took out the entire pouch that was filled with 3 Pryr crystals and 164 Maest crystals.

Taking out the Pryr crystals except three of them, he smiled brightly before he said confidently,

"I'll buy it!"

Kyle was proud of his achievement because it was one of the major goals he had attained in his plan for the next few months.

Owning a spatial pouch was not a big thing to powerful cultivators, but it served many purposes.

Now that he finally owned a spatial pouch, Kyle stored all of his belongings inside.

It included the clothes they had bought from the old woman, in addition to their weapons and other belongings they owned, which were not many.

Everything fitted in the spatial pouch and he was no longer required to carry several backpacks, which caused Kyle to reveal a radiant smile.

'The space is much larger than I expected.'

Seeing his smile, made Selene express her happiness as well.

She hugged Kyle tightly, while her scut and bunny ears were twitching excitedly.

Kyle was equally excited which caused him to pat Selene's hair, as Mell's voice rang in the back.

"If you two have nothing special to do in the evening, how about we have dinner together?"

At those words, Selene loosened her grasp around Kyle.

She was about to decline the offer but her stomach decided to rumble loudly at the exact same moment, making her feel embarrassed.

Selene's cheeks turned red, and she wanted to leave the shop as quickly as possible but Kyle held her back and replied,

"If we aren't bothering you two, it would be an honor!"

Under normal circumstances, Kyle would have declined the offer which was the reason for Selene to have instinctively turned towards the door.

However, now that she looked at his face, Selene was able to see that he was up to something. The joy he had shown earlier was replaced by a serious attitude and a gleam of worry.

Selene hadn't noticed it, but there was a reason behind the Jar couple's sweet behavior. Kyle had been able to perceive that something was off.

Despite being happy about the second discount they had received, the timing was more than just a coincidence!

A storm was brewing up, and there was no way that Kyle and Selene would be able to survive it without facing the repercussions.

Surviving in the wilderness on their own was extremely difficult. If one wasn't equipped with the bare minimum items required to store food or other objects, they would turn into a walking billboard that can easily attract beasts.

Piecing together the small hints he had picked up earlier, Kyle could conclude lots of things. And, every single scenario was turning out to be worse than before.

Mell and Gard noticed how quickly Kyle's attitude had changed. This indicated that their masquerade had been exposed and he had seen right through their pretense.

Despite that, Mel tried to add in a cheerful tone, "You guys look awful, let's eat something first, alright?"

Knowing that the Jar couple could have killed them before but had chosen not to, Kyle decided to give them the benefit of doubt.

As such, he and Selene nodded their heads before following Mell to the second floor once the shop had been closed.

She prepared food, while Kyle and Selene were told to set the table.

While following her instructions, Kyle heard Mell say something that made him worry.

"The guard captain left in the morning, and the whereabouts of the village head are currently unknown…"

Her voice sounded nonchalant, but Kyle couldn't help but freeze on the spot.

Only when Gard pushed him slightly towards the table, did he shake his head and continue to arrange the plates.

"We won't force you two to do anything, but it would be best to leave as soon as possible. They're about to reach the village!"

Kyle wanted to ask who was coming, but Mell insisted that they should eat first and fill their bellies as much as possible.

She had prepared a lovely meal for them so Kyle didn't want to be rude.

It looked like this might be the last time they had fresh and home-cooked food for the next few days, and goosebumps began to spread all over his body.

He savored every dish and told Selene to do the same while giving his best to stay calm.

Adrenaline was already pumping through his veins, and Kyle couldn't help but feel both excited and worried about what would happen.

However, despite waiting calmly for everyone to finish eating, Kyle noticed that neither Mell nor Gard said anything, even after the dinner was already over.

Selene was not sure what was going on so her eyes automatically flicked towards Kyle, who was staring at Gard and Mell.

"If you leave now, we can cause a commotion in the woods to distract others from noticing you two. This should be more than enough to ensure your safety for the next half an hour!"

'Half an hour?' Kyle squinted his eyes at that and couldn't help but blurt out the next question.

"Why?"

Unfortunately, instead of giving him a proper answer, Mell could only smile at him ruefully as she answered,

"Let's talk about everything later...when we meet again!"

Despite being tired, Kyle's gut feeling told him to follow the Jar couple's advice immediately!

As such, he simply nodded his head, ignoring the fact that Mell had given him vague answers and was trying to avoid a specific topic.

Because of that, they left the small wooden house without wasting any time with small talk and farewells.

However, as if bad luck was determined to follow Kyle wherever he went, loud screams filled with pain and anguish resounded through Alsa's streets.

'Were we too late?' Kyle thought worriedly, as his left hand began to tremble a little.

Selene's body stiffened, as her eyes grew wide in terror.

She momentarily lost her voice and struggled to form a coherent sentence. In a stuttering voice that was barely a whisper, she said something that astonished Kyle greatly.

"I-I..c-can smell blood...lots of it...of different races!"

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