“Hm?” Arthur looked over his shoulder at the door only to see someone clad in a black veil. His features were covered and so was most of his body, but purely from his build and height, Arthur knew that he was a man. But, not just a man, but quite the big of a man.
He was very tall and muscular even with his veil covering most of his body. He also had this powerful presence that Arthur couldn’t ignore. It didn’t take that much thinking to know that whoever this man was, he was way stronger than Arthur.
‘He isn’t a player, this is an NPC.’ Arthur’s eyes squinted for a second before he turned around and pretended as if nothing happened. Although the man looked quite suspicious, the boy didn’t want to say or do anything purely because he felt uncomfortable.
The man seemed to look at Arthur before he stepped forward. When he got close, he asked Arthur in a deep voice. “Who are you?”
“…” The boy frowned and turned around to look at him. Then, he replied. “None of your business.”
‘The hell with that attitude, man? Who the hell asks someone for their name like that? Learn some manners.’ Arthur rolled his eyes.
“…” The man went silent as if he didn’t expect such a hostile response. The tension in the shop grew rather quickly between the two. Standing there between them would’ve made anyone cringe visibly.
It felt as if something was about to happen. However, at that moment, the door opened and Nina walked in. “Hm?” Seeing the new silhouette in the room, she raised an eyebrow. “Grandpa? When did you arrive?”
‘Grandpa? This is her grandpa?’ Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“Just now. Take this.” Pulling the bag off his shoulder, the old man handed it to Nina before he walked over the counter and sat on the chair. Arthur’s expression turned completely blank.
‘Did I just insult… the grandfather of the owner of the shop? You idiot, Arthur! You absolute moron!’ He cursed in his head. ‘I just insulted her grandfather! Would Nina get angry and trigger the quest to fail?! My scrolls!’
Feeling a little bit panicked, he tried to open his mouth and speak. ‘I have to apologize before he tells her or I’m screwed!’
“Uh…”
“Sorry, Arthur. This is my Grandpa, Miro. He had been out for a few days in the forest gathering some material. Grandpa, this is Arthur, he is a new client of ours.”
“A client?” The man squinted his eyes. “Is that so?”
“Y-Yeah, sir. I’m now a loyal customer of this amazing establishment. Such a service and quality products. I rate them 10/10.” The boy lifted his thumbs up trying not to make it shake.
“…” The old man didn’t say a word to him and turned to Nina. “Did anything happen?”
“Of course, I was actually about to tell you. Arthur had just brought me a Fetus Orc’s eye. Isn’t he amazing?” She said as she showed him the eye. The old man picked it up, looked at it, and then at Arthur.
“Did you do that yourself, kid?”
“Yeah…” Arthur nodded.
“… You’re one of those gifted folks, aren’t you?”
“I think so.”
“Impressive, boy. You should’ve not been strong enough to kill it.”
“He is really impressive, isn’t he? I was about to give him his reward.” Nina clapped her hands. “Here, Arthur. Your three scrolls. Keep the third one for when you leave the shop. It’s a surprise.”
Taking the three scrolls, Arthur nodded his head and put them in his inventory to check later. “Well, before I leave, can I ask you something?”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“The fetus had also given me two other things. It gave me its skin, and also its umbilical cord.” He said as he pulled both items out. “Do you know how much they go for? I’m intending to sell them if possible.”
The grandfather and his granddaughter stared at the two items on the table silently for a few seconds. Neither uttered a single word. The atmosphere inside the place seemed to shift again as if something weird happened.
‘Why are they silent? Did I do something bad?’ Arthur instantly felt a little worried. He didn’t know what these items could do, especially the umbilical cord which was the one he suspected to be very special.
“You’ve got its umbilical cord?” The grandfather was the first to snap out of his shock. His tone had grown deeper. “I haven’t seen this in a very long time. You’ve come across something really rare, kid. This is far from something you should be selling.”
“Grandpa?”
“What are you saying, old man?”
“This umbilical cord as far as I can remember is used to make a particular potion. It’s one of the essential components of it. But, Fetus Orcs are too hard to come by, and it’s even harder to find its umbilical cord intact as they rip it apart when they come out of the womb. What a rare find.”
“What kind of potion is that?” Arthur asked.
“It’s a potion that heals all ailments no matter how strong they are. However, this is but one of many items that are required to create this potion. I believe you should keep it for when you might find the other ones.”
“A potion that can heal all ailments, huh?” The boy muttered. ‘No gonna lie, that does sound very powerful. A potion like that could change many things. I don’t know what kind of ailments this world could inflict on me, but I’m sure they won’t be a nice experience. I guess I will keep it till I learn more about this potion-making science.’
Although Arthur knew this was perhaps something that might take a very long time or even never happen, but he was ready to invest in it. He wasn’t in need of money and something like this sounds too expensive to be sold in a beginner village.
“What about the skin?”
“That… I don’t think it has any use.” Nina replied. “It should get you a few dozen silvers.”
“Hm, that’s not too bad.”
“If you want, I can sell it for you. I know the people here so I can get you a pretty good price.” The woman said.
“You would? I would be very grateful.”
“No problem, Arthur~”
Saying that, Nina took the skin away and kept the cord for Arthur to store again. With that, the boy believed his business was done there for the day and was about to excuse himself. However, the old man stopped him.
“Say, kid. What is your goal in this world?”
“My goal?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect such a deep question out of nowhere and especially not from this seemingly cold man.
“Everyone in this world has a goal, whether it’s living your mundane life or reaching the highest of peaks. I wonder what is yours?”
“…” The boy and the old man stared at each other for a good few seconds. Then, Arthur shifted his vision and started walking away.
“I have no grandiose desire like that and I don’t believe that everyone has a purpose. However, if I have to go with your words, my biggest goal is… to just have fun. Life is too short and I have already lost most of it for one reason or another. Now, I just want to live whatever is left for me, as happy as I can. That is what I want.” In the end, the boy smiled calmly at the old man.
It was a smile mixed with many emotions. However, the old man could read them all very clearly on the boy’s face.
A//N: Hand me all your PS!
