Chapter 7 “Explanation and Encounter”

“Welcome to Wayford’s Merchant Center! We hope you are healthy and well…that’s probably not the case right now, eh?”

“Really? *huff* You think? What *huff* gives you that idea?” I could feel my sarcastic remarks flew in between my rugged breathing.

As I sat on the floor of the merchant center, I looked at my two partners. Frankly, they were not in a much better shape than me. Lin was using her sheathed saber to support her body while her eyes were slightly bloodshot looking and her long hair was disheveled. Ris who was sitting near me also had bloodshot eyes with pale complexion. I guess that was the effect of using magic too much in a short span of time. The three of us had our back leaned onto the big wooden door of the merchant center, breathing ruggedly. Besides us there were also two men with huge built, holding the bar that locked the door in place.

Yes, the five of us were holding the door down from the force of the frenzied townspeople that was trying to break into the building to get the metal forcefully. I was afraid that the door will break, but it seemed that it is strong enough for the dire situation. I was also surprised to see that the moment we are near the place, the two men were already waving their hand at me and preparing to close the door.

Just after we stopped, I asked my two companions to help the two men while I tried to calm down Altent that was visibly agitated by the sudden turn of situation before joining them in holding the door. After that, sound of banging and shouting came from the other side of the door. Fortunately, the ruckus quieted down after a few minutes. It was a few minutes that felt very tense and tiring for me.

“Sorry about that, coachman. You three have been in a rough ride, eh?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I took a deep breath and looked at one of the men that helped us and also greeted us. “That was…very surprising for me. I’ve never expected anything like that to happen in this town.”

“Heh, I guess the guys at your place forgot to mention it.” He shook his head. “Good grief. I’ve especially said to mention it in case someone comes to deliver something here.”

“What really happen here?”

“Let’s talk in the office together with the matter of payment.”

“Competition?” I couldn’t help but let out a confused voice as I heard his explanation.

“Not just any competition.” He massaged his temple. “A tinker competition. The one that can bring the most unique contraption will win the competition and receive a very large amount of money and also a plot of land near the town.”

“Wow! A plot of land too? That is one generous prize you got there.”

“It is, right? It is only possible since the patron of the competition is Duke of Okellfell. He is known for his…rather curious mind.” He let out a heavy sigh. “And from what I’ve heard, it was just on a whim of him to do it, as everyone expected. Rich people have strange way of spending their money.”

“Uhm, so the townspeople’s craziness is because…”

“They are trying to get the best material. Since the town is not exactly specialized in dealing with blacksmithing, not many people are able to use iron ore. So…they turn to the next best thing.”

“Scrap metal.” I also joined him in massaging my own temple. It seemed that I have received the same headache as him. “No wonder they became so frenzied like that.”

“Uhm, excuse me…” Ris raised her hand. “I’m sorry if my question is rather insensitive, but…”

“Are the people of Wayford usually acted like that? Or something along that line, eh?” The man said to her. Ris nodded.

“Don’t worry, young man. They are not. In fact, what happened here really surprised us all.”

“A-Ah, y-y-yes.” Ris forced a smile on her face while Lin who sat beside her averted her face with trembling shoulders. Sound of her holding her laughter was quite audible. Do a better job, Lin. I, on the other hand, pitied her. As cruel as it may sound, she really have bad luck with being mistaken for a man. “T-Thank you for the i-i-information.”

“Don’t mention it, young man.” I could saw Ris’ face twitched as she heard that again. I’ll buy you something to eat later, Ris. You’ve done well. “Is the young lady there all right? She was trembling for quite some time.”

“O-Oh, maybe it was just the fatigue. You know, after dealing with that crowd.”

“Ah, very understandable.” He nodded several times after hearing my on the spot explanation. Sheesh, try to control yourself better, Lin. “Then let’s finish the delivery matter quickly. You can rest in the inn on the edge of the town. It is…much peaceful than staying near the center of the town.”

“Thank you, sir.” I bowed my head at him. I saw Ris elbowed Lin slightly while wearing a pout. But that just made her trembled much more.

After finishing the whole administration of the delivery order and such, the man –who is actually the chief merchant of the merchant center– gave us direction out of the merchant center onto the inn. Due the inn being located quite on the outskirt of the town and we are currently being…wanted by the local population, his direction which lead us from small street to small street is a very welcome help. Although we still found a couple of people along the way, it seemed that they are less aggressive than the ones that ambushed us on our way not long ago. But I have to say that their eyes still looked somewhat worrying.

“Wuahh…” For quite some time, Ris’ groaned could be heard as we move along the road. It was especially loud for me since we are currently in a quiet alleyway. “Why…does it always happen to me?” The reason, well, the usual case of her being mistaken as a man. Figures. Although I pitied her a bit, I couldn’t say anything to cheer her up since I don’t have any suitable word. Well, let’s leave it to her sister, right?

“Don’t mind it, Ris.” Lin who was sitting beside her patted her shoulder. Ah, the bond of sisterhood is so heartwarming. “It’s not like it is the first time.” Yeah, nice way of cheering up somebody. Give me back my compliment!

“…Y-You!...ahhh…..Let’s forget it.” Her shoulder slumped as she said that, clearly giving up any intention of trying to argue. “…I want to sleep….Is it still far, Zin?”

“Uhm, I think it is not far.” I looked at the surrounding. “If I’m not mistaken, we will see the building after we exited this alleyway.”

“Hmm…that man certainly knows this place.” Lin gave a compliment as she leaned onto the edge of the wagon that separated the cargo compartment with the driver seat. “Just as expected from a merchant.”

“Honestly, I didn’t realize that he is the chief merchant.” I let a small chuckle. “For me, he was a bit too brawny compared to your everyday merchant.”

“You’re right.” I could see Lin looked at me from the corner of my eye. “I thought that he was one of the laborers there.”

“Well…I didn’t think that he was a laborer. I thought that he was one of the guards there.” Ris added her opinion. “His language was too polite for a mere laborer.”

“Hmm, you’re right. Ah, here’s the exit!” I shouted with a rather happy voice since the thought of getting out of the dark and dusty alleyway is a very pleasant thought for me. “And with that, we are getting closer to–WOOOAAAHHH!!!!”

“W-W-WAAAAHHHH!!!”

“KYAAAAA!!!”

The three of us shouted in surprise as I forcefully jerked the rein to the side. Altent’s neigh could be heard rather loudly as he tried to follow my direction. The wagon jerked roughly to the side and a few cracking sound entered my ear. That…worried me.

“Z-Z-Zin! What gives!?” Lin’s angry voice entered my ear. She was getting ready to hit me. I could see that, unfortunately.

“T-T-That was not intentionally! I’ve got to do that!”

“Huh!?”

“Someone suddenly jumped on to the front of the wagon!” I shouted as I pointed to the culprit.

“H-Huh?” Lin followed my finger while Ris poked her head out of the wagon. “I-Is he all right?”

“I’ll take a look!” Without waiting for any of us, Ris jumped off the wagon to check on that person.

“W-Wait, Ris! Lin, get to my seat!”

“R-Right!” I also jumped off to follow her, leaving Lin behind me with a confused look.

As I ran toward the fallen person, I could see Ris was already near him and tried to check for any sign of injury. I crouched down near them, waiting for her to say anything. As I wait, I noticed something near us. As I picked it up, it was a small box shape object wrapped in cloth. Is this his?

“…urgh…”

“Calm down, are you all right?” I couldn’t see the person’s face since he was wearing a rather thick cloak that covered the entire head section.

“W-Where am I? What am I doing here?” Well, aren’t you lost? Did you hit your head or something?

“You just jumped onto the front of our wagon.” I said that as short as possible. “What happened?”

“Wagon? Jump? O-Oh!” The person then lifted his body while Ris carefully support his body. “I w-was chasing my stuff that rolled onto the street and–WAAAHHH!” Suddenly he shouted. “W-Where is it? Where is it?”

“Huh? What?”

“My s-s-stuff! The box!” Oh! I then immediately showed him the object I picked up. “M-My precious!”

“Oh, so it i–UMPHHH!!!” I couldn’t finish my sentence as the person in question leaped onto my direction, pushing me onto the street while he was straddling me after hitting me right on the stomach. This guy must have knocked his head! Hard!

“O-Oh, you’re safe, my baby!” He then started caressing the object like it was really is his baby. “I’m glad you’re fine.”

“…I’m not…”

“H-Huh? E-E-Eh!?” He obviously heard my soft mumble he immediately looked onto me from his position. “W-What are you doing there?”

“You’re the one pushing me onto the ground!” I couldn’t keep my anger and shouted at him almost immediately after I heard his ridiculous question.

“I did–S-S-Sorry!” He jumped backward to distance himself from me. But that was a bad move. “OWW!”

“KYAAA!!!” Since Ris was still behind him, he knocked himself onto her and both of them yelped. He slammed the back of his head onto Ris’ forehead. Just from the rather loud thumping sound, I could already know that the pain was probably quite a lot. “W-Watch it!”

“S-S-Sorry!” With one hand holding the back of his head while another clutching the box-like object, he bowed his head several times while apologizing. While he was doing that, his hood slid backward and revealed a pair short copper brown hair and a feminine face….wait, wait, wait! He’s a girl? Oh dear! I’ve mistaken him, err, her for a man! Glad I didn’t say it out loud. “A-Are you all right?”

“Huh?” I looked at her with a rather surprised look. “Are you all right? You’re the one jumped out onto the front of our wagon.”

“O-Oh, thank you. I’m fine.” She looked at me with a rather worried expression. “I’m r-really sorry!”

“That’s fine. Just be careful next time.” I stood up while dusting my clothes. “Just to make sure, you’re not injured or anything, right?”

“Y-Yes, I’m f-fine.” Sheesh, this girl stuttered a lot too.

“If not, you can tell me.” Ris approached the girl. “I can heal you if you need it.”

“T-That’s okay. I’m fine, t-thank you.” She waved her free arm repeatedly with a quiet flustered face.

“…Okay.” Ris then looked at me. I gestured her to get onto the wagon first. She understood that and then climbed off onto the wagon.

“Well, see you then.” I waved onto the girl as I turned to face my wagon.

“A-Ah, y-yes. S-Sorry about that.” I waved again, telling her to don’t mention it.

As I walked onto the wagon, I immediately examined the wheel. As I finished checking each ones, I couldn’t help but gave a frown. The reason? Well…it seemed that one of the axel is slightly damaged. Although it might not be because of the previous accident, it might be just the trigger to it. Although it did not exactly make the wagon unable to move, it did give quite a risk in using this wagon in its current condition.

“What’s the matter, Zin?” I could hear Lin’s voice. As I turned around, I saw her standing near me with her hand rested on the hilt of her sabre. It’s good that she is in constant alert.

“Well, one of the axel is slightly damaged.” I scratched the back of my head. “Not that bad, but still quite bad.”

“So what now? Can someone repair it here?”

“Hmm…I doubt that. Instead of repair, it is much better to replace it altogether. But…”

“There isn’t any shop that sells those, right?” I could only give a wry smile to Lin’s question. “Just our luck!”

“Fortunately, we can still use the wagon and there is almost no load whatsoever. But still, there is a risk of it broke suddenly.” I shook my head at the horrible thought. “If that happened, we can still walk together while taking Altent with us.”

“Ugh…not such a good prospect there.”

“Uhm….e-excuse me…” Both Lin and I turned around to look at the new source of voice.

“Oh, you. What is it?” I tried to use my most polite tone, but it seemed that my frustration leaked somewhat into my voice, making it sounded rather cold. “Something’s the matter there?”

“Uhm…I’m s-sorry for eavesdropping, but I t-think I can help with your p-problem.”

“Really!?”

“Eeeek!!!!” The girl shrieked while distancing herself right after she heard Lin’s excited voice. She also covered her head as if Lin was trying to attack her.

Lin herself was surprised to see that the girl reacted that strongly and clearly confused at what to do. I won’t blame her, though. If being shouted at like that was enough to make her startled, talking with Lin will probably be impossible. Looking at them, I shook my head and tapped Lin’s shoulder to made her back off slightly while I will handle the talking. Although still confused, she did give a nod at me.

As I approached her, she peeked slightly at me.

“That would be very helpful there.” I smiled at her, trying to not scare her any further. “So there is somewhere where we can replace the part?”

“O-Oh, I guess not replacing, but f-fixing.”

“Fixing? That is wonderful!” That would probably be cheaper! Nice one there, shy girl! ”So, you know someone who can fix it?”

“Uhm, n-no.” W-What! Am I being taken for a fool here? “I m-mean, I’m the one that will fix it.”

“…Eh?”

“Uhm… I a-am a tinker. Inventor.” Tinker? You? “I’m good at machine. I t-think I am.”

“…Then…Okay” I hope she can do it. I really hope so. And Lin, don’t stared at her like that. You’re scaring her.

Author Note:

As I promised. New character!

Please give me comment and opinion for this story, or even critique so that I can improve my writing. Do tell me if you find something strange or wrong with the chapter. Thank you for reading!