Try again?

As I was looking around the store, the goods on display weren't what I was expecting them to be. Weapons of all kinds, pieces of armor here and there, though, all of it was on the lighter type. Leather and fabric mostly with small pieces of metal in between. No full-plate armor in sight, unfortunately. I was hoping to see one of those in person...

Other than that, I saw camping equipment of all sorts. Tents, sleeping bags, rucksacks, and so on. I didn't saw supplies though. But all in all, I was pretty sure that the shop was quite popular with the adventurers and their business.

Albert took from me just raw materials, but after seeing all of this, it was stupid to believe that he was selling them like that. No normal person was going to buy them. Unless the average person was a crafter, that was it. And I very much doubted that.

Most likely he had connections with people specialized in that field of work. Some kind of middle man between adventures and crafters.

” Lizza. ” Fiona muttered, grabbing my attention from a particular piece of something I wasn't able to grasp the use for.

” Hmm, what is it? Did you saw something interesting? ” I responded, turning back to her.

” Not really. But that seems to be Albert over there. ” she said, pointing at a man who seemed kind of lost in his world. Looking closely, it was indeed Albert.

” Ahh, yeah. Finally. Thanks, Fio. ”

”Mm. ”

He didn't notice us even after coming close enough to touch him if I wanted. In his defense, I approached his side so I wasn't right in from of his eyes. Eyes that seemed kind of drowsy and tired.

’Maybe he didn't sleep well last night...’

” Albert, are you alright? ” I asked, a bit of worry in my tone.

” Huh... uh, ohhh... ” he mumbled, startled, almost jumping on the spot. ” Miss Elizabeth. It's you. When have you... Actually, nevermind. Just now I was wondering if I should take a small detour to look after you at Sara’s place. How are you? Did all go well? ”

” Ehm, there was a little incident but all went good in the end... On the other hand, you don't look too good. I think a little nap would do miracles for you, judging by those bags under your eyes. ”

” I wish I could do that. I looked forward to a day off or two after coming back, but I had to visit a lot of people this morning since something unexpected appeared. ” he said, massaging the bridge of his nose.

” If you are that busy, we can speak tomorrow. Or when you are free. ” I said, trying to sound reasonable. Even though I was a bit of a letdown, he was still our only connection for resolving Fiona’s problem. And our lives were not on the line anymore. A day, or two, or even a few were not a problem if that meant we could get it over with safely. 

” Just let me know when to come back, or drop by Sara’s shop when you have time. There's no need to rush things like that. ”

” That's exactly the problem, Miss Elizabeth. We need to speed thing up since the guild... ” he stopped and looked straight at us. ” Actually, did you hear about the emergency quest? ”

” Hmm... oh, the emergency quest. Sara told us that the Adventures Guild announced about that not too long ago. I don't know the details though. ”

” So you heard about it. That thing messed up our plans quite a bit. ”

” Is that so? But isn't that... like... with the adventurers? ” I tried. Even though not even I was sure what I said. Luckily, Albert proved to be some kind of sage at deciphering gibberish.

” It does. But we are affected by it as well. ”

” How? ”

” I asked this morning to see if we can resolve Fiona’s... problem. Normally, it wouldn't be that much of a trouble, but the whole city is in a ruckus right now. Even the City Guards and the Knight Order is involved in this quest. ” 

That... that wasn't good. 

” What we do then, Albert? ” Fiona asked, stepping in the conversation for the first time. Even Albert looked a bit surprised.

I peeked at her. She wasn't showing it, but she must have been really concerned with that collar. Probably it didn't matter that the collar wasn't working anymore. If I was in her shoes I would have wanted to get rid of it as fast as possible as well.

” Well, that's why I wanted to get to you two as fast as possible. I managed to convinced someone to help. ”

” Thank you, Albert. ” I let out a sigh of relief. 

” Don't thank me yet. We have a single shot at it. Today, after this acquaintance of mine finishes with the work. ” 

” Today!? But we don't have the money—

” I also visited some friends around here and borrowed some money. ” he interrupted, raising a finger in front of me and showing a knowing smile. ” Just in case of someone having more materials for sale. ”

” You did? ”

” Yes, I did. ”

”...”

”....”

” But... this is good news then. Well get it over with today. Thank you, Albert. ”

And I really meant that. I wasn't sure if he saw right through me and I didn't care either. I didn't care even if we got less from the materials. It was worth it.

I turned around, grabbed one of Fiona’s hands, and smiled at her.

” We're going to get rid of it. ”

” Mm, thank you. ” she whispered back, squeezing my hand quite hard, though not enough to hurt.

Albert didn't say anything but his knowing smile didn't disappear for a second. It almost seemed to have grown even larger. But what was done, was done. I turned back to him after Fiona let go of my hand.

” I'll go and bring the materials. We’ll be back in no time, Albert. ”

” Please do. I'll be waiting for you here. ”

.

.

.

We quickly rushed back to grab the rucksack. Seeing us in a hurry, Sara asked if there was a problem. Since we didn't have much time, we just provided a  short, slightly altered version of a story, not mentioning the collar.

It was more of an act. Most of the materials were kept in my ring. But if we want to keep my ring a secret, it had to be done. 

Besides, it wasn't much of a core anyway. All we had to do was to take them out and pack the rucksack with the most valuable ones. Which proved to be almost all of them. 

We still had unprocessed carcasses since all the work was done by Fiona unit now. If I had to make an estimation, not even half of them was finished. I wasn't sure how much money we would have left after we pay but it was a good idea to work on the rest of the remaining materials starting from tomorrow.

As we arrived back to Albert, he guided us to a separate room somewhere in the back. He looked as tired as before but for some reason, his eyes were sparkling with excitement. Maybe he was curious to see whatever I had for him this time.

” Fio, let's take them out. ” I exclaimed, with a bit of pride in my voice. 

” Mm. ” 

” Please do, please do. ” Albert encouraged us, rubbing his hands in a stupidity iconic way. I almost let out a laugh at that.

” Ohh, Silver Wolf again. And so many of them. You wouldn't believe me if I said that I already sold all of what you gave me. From where did you take out that many... ” he stopped and looked at me. ” Ahh, I forgot that this is not my business. As long as the material is there, why should I care from where it came. ”

” Uhh... Yeah, I'll appreciate it if we let it like that. ” I replied with with a sigh of relief. 

That was a merchant for you... If the business was progressing smoothly, why should he be worried about the small details? 

Counting all of it, we got exactly 7 gold and 21 silver pieces. If converted, it was around 8 gold and 9 silver. Adding that to what we already had, our funds grew up to over 14 gold coins. If I were to roughly count the rest of unprocessed materials, I could double that amount. 

That, wasn't a small sum of money at all. I started to think that the amount of money you could earn from slaying and selling monsters was suspiciously profitable. But then I remembered how we carried all the carcasses and the whole dilemma became much clearer.

Not even mentioning the transportation problem, but also time spent traveling, time spent hunting and processing them on the spot, and the risks involving that. Supplies and equipment. Even with an enchanted rucksack, the weight of the materials was still there.

I just dumped everything in my ring without a care in the world. Even the processed materials we just sold were so heavy that I had them carried by Fiona again. It wasn't as big of a blow as last time but I wasn't comfortable letting her do all the hard work.

And after all that, the adventurers had to split the profit with the rest of the group since you couldn't do all of that alone. Well, technically, I had to share them with Fiona as well but that was beside the point.

Thinking about all of that, I couldn't help but take a glance at the small ring on my hand and acknowledge yet again how big of a cheat it really was.

’What an outrageous object.’

.

.

.

Since there was still time before we needed to go, we decided to help Albert sort and deposit the materials. He tried to refuse our help at first but after I insisted several times in a row he gave up. He did a lot for us so I wanted to help him too if I could.

As the sun started to settle down, Albert guided us around the city and we stopped in the back of a pretty big building where a man was waiting.

I didn't know the details but the place seemed to be quite important. I spotted what seemed to be guards patrolling around this section of the city far more frequently than before. I started to feel a little doubtful about all of this.

” Albert, for fuck sake... Why are you so late? ” the man said with an angry expression. 

” Didn't you said you'll be free after the sunset? ” 

” Whatever... They are the ones you told me? ” he said, pointing with his eyes at us.

” Yes. ”

” Follow me. We don't have much time. ” he started walking. ” I'm gonna be honest, Albert. These days... fucking hell man, a complete mess. I barely manage to smuggle something here and there. They're like hawks. Hawks. I can't move a thing anymore. Damn stupid quest and damn stupid wasps. ”

We quickly rushed after the grumbling man, entering the building through the backdoor. I knew that what we wanted to do was kind of shady, but as I listened to his complaints the situation truly clicked for me. If we were caught... 

Shaking my head, I decided to ignore it. It wasn't as if we could turn back anyway. 

After we walked through a small corridor, we entered a room that looked more like a deposit and he started to roam through seemingly random boxes taking out a lot of strange stuff. All the while still complaining nonstop. I was kind of impressed since he didn't repeat himself not even once.

” The one with the collar. Take the hood off and stay there. ” he finally said, pointing at a chair. 

” Fio, don't worry. I'll be right here. ” I reassured her, squeezing her hand one last time. Thinking back to it, I wasn't even sure when we started holding hands...

” Mm. ” she nodded to me and took off her hood. The man wasn't surprised at all about her being a beastkin. Albert probably told him about it, or it wasn't that unusual for beastkins to be in this situation. It made sense since the slavery was legal in the neighborhood country.

He grabbed whatever he needed and started to look at the collar from all angles. As he touched the collar to take a closer look, his brows furrowed instantly. 

” How the hell did you wrecked the collar to such a degree? ” he exclaimed, handling the collar a lot rougher than before. Judging by Fiona’s complexion, she wasn't enjoying it that much but she kept quiet.

” The collar was supposed to activate if we let it like that. I had no choice but to stop it somehow. ” I finally said, fearing that Fiona would do something to him if he continued like that. 

” Yeah, I can see that now, but seriously... I didn't saw one wrecked to this degree till now. Bloody hell, you are lucky that the collar is low quality and we can take it down forcefully. Everything is messed up for a standard procedure. ”

” Oh. ”

” Big oh, indeed. If it was high quality and you did this to it, you’ll have had to find someone far more skilled than me to take it out safely. ” he said, grabbing yet another small thing that resembled a... pen? ” Anyway. I'm not going to do it without at least 10 gold coins. I assume that Albert told you already. I'm risking my job here so not a copper less. ”

I put my hand in my pocket and pretended to take out 10 gold coins. There wasn't a point in complaining about the price. If we could get rid of the damn thing, I didn't care too much anymore. 

” Ohooo, straight to the point. I already like you. If everyone was like you... ” he chirped, the grumbling man from before completely gone. His agitation and the bad mood seemed to have vanished altogether in an instant as the clanking sound of money reverberated in his breast pocket. 

With the payment done and a smile on his face, He attached some of the devices to the collar and started to work with them. I wasn't sure what he was really doing and to be honest, I was a little scared as the devices started to glow while the collar was making cracking noises. 

It was Fiona’s life there we were speaking about and I was quite agitated. I still managed to stay quiet since he seemed to be concentrated on his work.

In the end, the side part of the collar undone with a loud clang. He took the collar and put it aside as he started to pack all the things back from where he took them. 

” That’s all. Now, hurry up and leave. ” he said and prompted us to get out of there. He followed shortly after us and closed the door. 

” Thanks for helping us. ” I said as we parted with him. He just nodded and turned back to leave. He seemed quite tired so I assumed that what he did wasn't as easy as it looked.

” With this, I think that we managed to get rid of the problem, Miss Elizabeth. ” Albert finally said after the man left.

” Yeah. Thank you very much for all, Albert. And don't deny it, I know that without a connection like you, we wouldn't have had such an easy time getting rid of it. ”

” No problem. We are business partners after all. ” he said and started laughing in his usual way. He stayed silent the whole process so it was reassuring seeing him like that. 

”One last question, Albert. Not that it matters anymore, but who was he? I had a suspicion that what we just did was more that just a bit illegal. ” 

” Yeah... I forgot to tell you since we hurried the whole thing. He's part of the city guards. As I said before, slavery isn't allowed in this country. The single exception is for prisoners and criminals. Unless you had connections on the black market, you can't find someone proficient in that area elsewhere. At least, I don't know any. ”

He was right. The guards were people too. I doubted that there was something that could not be resolved for the correct sum of money. 

Since we barely bribed a guard moments earlier, I wasn't in measure to complain about such a thing either. Fair or unfair, money made this world go around as much as my own was. On a second thought, I wasn't sure if this world was doing that. The going around thing. Or if it was round. With all the fantasy-ish and magic stuff going on here... yeah.

But all in all, I was glad that the problem was finally resolved and we managed to moved forward.

*cough* *cough* 

” If we were done, Miss Elizabeth, I still have some business nearly. I assume that there's no problem if we were to part here for the moment. ”

” Oh, yeah, yeah... Do not worry about that. ” I said a bit embarrassed. It seemed that I was lost in thoughts again. I extended my hand. ” Then, we'll part here, Albert. ”

We shook hands and parted shortly after.

But since in this world, it was normal to stay awake in either one of the two moons phases, I assumed that it was too soon to go back.

Our current location wasn't far from the river that crossed the city either. Having nothing else to do, we decided that it was a good opportunity to take a look at it.