Chương 25: An Investment for the Future
The party had ended and the next day came soon thereafter. There wasn't any trouble coming to them as both Amy and Sebastian had managed to enjoy the party after the matter with Gilbert.
—He should be more wary of you now.
"...It's unavoidable. Sooner or later, I'd have to show a hint of my power. I would've preferred keeping it completely under wraps until the duel but..." Sebastian sighed.
If he hadn't participated in the goblin subjugation then Gilbert definitely wouldn't have found out but if he hadn't participated, he wouldn't have had such a earned such a great amount of experience.
Although Sebastian felt the change after the goblin subjugation, he didn't know how much he had changed in the eyes of others. To them, the Sebastian of the past and present are two different people with the disparity of the sky and the ground with the past being the latter.
"Kathrina told me that I didn't need to practice archery as intensively as before and that I needed more practical experience..."
It was then that Sebastian remembered Rob and his profession. He needed experience and the best way to do so was by becoming a mercenary.
"Anyway, arrows were made over... here?" Sebastian turned the corner and found an old wooden building with a sign with an all but faded symbol.
It gave off the feeling that it hadn't been used in years, there was even cobweb building up outside and the dust was plain to see.
—I think you took a wrong turn somewhere.
"Kathrina told me she used to buy them here though. Did they close down? She did say it had been a few years..."
"Umm... are you okay?" just as Sebastian was about to turn around and search elsewhere, a voice accompanied by a tap on his shoulder startled him.
"Ah, sorry for scaring you. It's just that I heard you talking to yourself while standing in front of my shop," the man who didn't look much older than Sebastian explained.
"Your shop?" Sebastian repeated, "does that mean it's still open?!"
The man scratched his head, "yes... well, at least this is the last day that it's open."
"Oh..." Sebastian sighed, "can I at least look at some arrows?"
"Alright, this shop was built for that reason after all," the man walked ahead of Sebastian and led him into the shop. The door opened with a creak and what Sebastian saw was exactly like he imagined it from the outside.
There were bows, arrows, daggers, and some light armor on the racks and shelves but most of them were covered in dust. The place itself was also dimly lit and looked as if it had been abandoned.
"Sorry for the mess. It's been a while since anyone came to buy something after all. My name's Pine, the owner of The Loose Arrow."
Sebastian took a look around and since he was wearing gloves anyway, he didn't mind picking up the arrows covered in dust.
"Oooh~ This looks really good," he picked up an arrow and looked at it from top to bottom. He'd been oriented about arrows and how to tell if they're of good quality. The ones given to him in practice by Kathrina were just run-of-the-mill arrows that could be bought in bulk for cheap.
If he wanted to kill goblins like he did in the forest, then he had to choose arrows of higher quality. The ones given to him at the time were given to him by the Warde House who didn't hold any abilities and so the quality of their arrows was important.
"Did you make these?" Sebastian turned his head towards Pine and held out the arrow. It didn't look special at a glance but the craftsmanship was obviously very diligent. It wasn't rushed like the arrows he fires during practice.
"Yes, though those are quite old. I've got some made just last month at the back, are you sure you want to buy those arrows?"
"Yes, give me everything you have. Including these."
Sebastian pointed at the arrows he had looked at earlier, there were two sheaves with the exception of the one he held in his hands.
"E-everything?" Pine asked back while feeling overwhelmed. Though his shop was about to close, there were still quite a bit of arrows after all. How could a random customer just walk in and ask to buy everything he had in stock without even checking it? It was obvious to him that Sebastian had a very good background.
If his shop was famous then it wouldn't be strange but why would someone like Sebastian who was obviously wealthy shop at such a barren place? Not only that, he had neither an escort nor a guide.
"Yes, how much do you think it'll cost?" Sebastian replied causing Pine's knees to almost give out.
"F-five hundred Aur per sheaf and 2300 Aur per five sheaves," Pine quickly looked to Sebastian for any reaction but there wasn't a single change in his expression.
"So, how much is there left in the back?"
"Ah, yes... I'll go and check them now," Pine ran through the door and to the back as fast as he could and came out holding a wheelbarrow with a bunch of arrow sheaves on top after two minutes.
"There are about fifteen sheaves here with 25 arrows in each, a-are you sure you still want to buy all of them?" asked Pine while moving the
"Yes, 34,500 Aur plus these three which would place it at a total of 41,400 Aur. Here's the money."
Sebastian handed Pine a pouch filled with coins. Aur came in several different types of coins. A small copper coin is 1 Aur, a large copper coin is 10 Aur, a small silver coin is 100 Aur and a large silver coin is 1,000 Aur. But, there were rare coins that only the highest of nobles used, the gold coin costing 10,000 Aur and one rarely seen even among nobles and mostly used between royalty, the large gold coin costing 100,000 Aur.
The dumbfounded Pine gulped and peeked into the pouch, there were about thirty large silver pieces and the rest were a mix of small silver pieces and large coppers.
"...I actually don't have a way to transport these. Hmm... do you mind if I leave it in your shop for a while? I'll pick them up from time to time, is that alright?" Sebastian asked not knowing how shocked and confused Pine was.
"Yes, it's fine..." After receiving Pine's agreement, Sebastian picked up the three dusty sheaves and took two more from the wheelbarrow and began walking out of the store. There were quite a few arrows and he had to embrace them with both his arms to walk.
"Ah, wait!" just as he was about to step out of the door, Pine stopped him.
Sebastian turned his head back, "is something wrong?"
"Sir can take the three sheaves for free," Pine handed over a large silver and five small silvers that were inside the pouch. "Sir, will you come back to purchase arrows again?"
Sebastian raised a brow, "isn't the shop going to be closing after today?"
"Yes, well..." Pine awkwardly scratched his cheek with a wry smile, "the purchase that sir has made today is enough to keep the shop running for a while. It might just be a foolish wish but I wish to keep this shop I've inherited to stay open."
Sebastian blinked his eyes for a few moments and replied with a smile, "alright. Then I'd like to order this same amount in advance. I'm going to need a lot of arrows after all."
Pine widened his eyes but soon nodded over and over. Although it was quite a weird request for a single archer, Sebastian was his only customer after all.
"If I may ask, can I have sir's name?" Pine looked at him expectantly. He at least wanted to know the name of the person who saved his shop.
"It's Sebastian. I'll be seeing you again soon," with that, Sebastian walked out of the store with the arrows in hand. He had walked here all on his own as it would be quite difficult for a carriage to travel in such a crowded place. Luckily, he couldn't get lost as just following the crowd of people a ways off from the store could lead him to the exit.
—Sebastian, avoid that person wearing a hood.
"Huh?"
Sebastian went out of his thoughts and looked to the front. Like Balanos had described, there was someone in the crowd of people heading to the opposite of Sebastian's destination. He didn't think too much about it and moved to the left to avoid the person.
—He isn't giving up, make a left towards that alley once you pass him.
"What's happening?"
—Keep your mouth closed. That man is emitting killing intent and it's aimed towards you. It should be an assassin though I've no idea who employed him.
Sebastian's brows furrowed. An assassin? Who would send someone like that after him? The first culprit would be Gilbert but if Sebastian died an early death before the duel, then it wouldn't benefit him at all.
The two of them crossed paths nearly half a minute after Balanos had discovered the hooded man and Sebastian quickly turned to the side and entered the alley. Once he got out of the crowd of people, he began sprinting with sheaves in hand.
Soon enough, he heard footsteps behind him, the man from before was chasing him through the alley and his running pace was just too fast compared to Sebastian.
Sebastian tried knocking over the things in the alley but it didn't delay the man at all. It was obvious that the man was quite used to running and vaulting over obstacles.
—You're too slow. Now is the time to do what you've been practicing.
"Now?!" he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Balanos wanted him to execute 'that' without any previous experience, it was just crazy talk!
—You've no other choice. You don't have any weapons on your body and I've no power in this place completely bare of nature and so far from home.
Sebastian grit his teeth and stopped his steps. He quickly turned around and held out his left hand towards the assassin who was charging at him with a dagger.
"Fireball!"
He felt of all of the energy inside the stigma being drained all at once after his shout and a ball of flame manifested on his palm. The assassin had no time to stop nor room to maneuver, the ball of flame flew towards him and exploded.
BOOM
"AHHH!"
Sebastian's pupils continued in a cycle of contracting and expanding as the assassin's body flew backward—completely scorched. The hood and clothes that he wore were burnt and most of his visible body was charred black. The only detail Sebastian could make out of the assassin was a mark on his chest that had somehow been spared from the flames.
He had no time to think, he quickly ran out of the alley in case someone were to come in and inspect what happened. The explosion was quite loud after all.
He picked up the sheaves that he dropped and dashed in and out of the crowd.
The day after, news spread that an assassin was found burnt from head to toe with his face being nearly impossible to identify.
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