Chapter 15: Chapter 15 – Unknown Caller (Intermission 1, II)

The taste of venison and Bosa lingered in my mouth as I got up to stretch my stomach. This was the first proper meal I had consumed in this world, albeit a very simple one. The woodsmoke flavour from the pine added a nice tinge to the mix.

Azer and his men showed great appreciation and looked more lively and less paranoid of the wolves. They mentioned a few times that when they visited the other villages to trade, they had only been served plain soups. From what I had heard from them, venison had become very rare as the deer here normally didn’t venture that far south and the hunters didn’t risk straying too far from the safety of their abodes.

The two men had slightly opened up to me. Enough they had given me their names. The one with the bow went by the name Ceran, while the other one was called Bruney. Odd names, but from the bits of information they gave away I realized they were most likely from the mainland and had come to the island for work.

“Not bad at all, my friend,” Azer said, wiping his mouth with a small handkerchief before passing me the final gulp of the alcoholic beverage. “Give the empty bottle back when you’re done. I will take it back to get refilled as they’re hard to come by these days. Royo village had the largest glass forge on the island before the raid, you know.”

I finished the bottle, and Azer grabbed it and placed it in his bag. “Tasted better than I thought it would,” I said, followed by a small burp, I had tried to hold it back but failed miserably.

The others burst into laughter while Sparky and his partner looked in my direction and frowned. The kid wolf pranced over to me in a fit of chuffs and began to copy me with little baby versions before carrying on his charade of fun. I scratched my head looking at his parents with a chuckle, so much for being a good role model.

I turned to face Azer, “So… you got any good stuff to trade?” I asked, looking at the new gear his bodyguards now adorned.

Azer grinned, “Indeed, I did pick a few things from that blacksmith in Vern Village, his craftsmanship is half-decent and as you’ve already noticed, I upgraded the men with Iron Swords.”

He must have made some decent coin on the things I traded with him before. I was beginning to wonder if he had hustled me on the prices. “Yeah. They look alright… but not as good as this one.” I took out the Elven Sword and waved it about, the sunlight gleamed off it majestically.

Azer laughed, “Indeed. A fine weapon you have. The armour beneath your cloak also makes a fine addition if I might say so.”

“Yeah… they’re not for sale if that’s what you’re thinking. If I find something better, then I don’t see a problem selling my old stuff to you, after being properly valued by a third party.” Azer was a decent person, but when it came to business, I got the gist he was ruthless. He gave me an ‘Is this guy for real?’ look and got kind of serious, not sure if that was the alcohol or he was generally like that.

“Don’t worry... you’ll always get the first dibs on my loot. It’s just… business is business, we should keep it separate from friendship, if you get what I mean.” It was best to be clear with him from the start as I didn’t want to be dealing with nasty drama later on.

Luckily, the merchant pulled out from his annoyed mood and smiled. “Indeed, you are right. I have seen money turn the best of friends into enemies. You’re more than free to take a look at what I have in stock. Plus, I would like to take a look at some of the stuff you found down that dark hole.” He finished motioning at the cart.

I motioned to Sparky to stay put with his buddies and made my way to the cart with the merchant. The cloth cover was swiftly removed, and I began rustling through the stock.

I found a sack of feathers that I would need to craft arrows, now that I had found a bow they would come in use. I tossed it in the corner and continued my search, but there was nothing else there that caught my attention, so I just nodded to let the merchant know that this was it.

“That’s it for now. What’s the total?” I asked before taking a look at my Inventory while the merchant priced the items up.

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