Chapter 1652: Candy
Yalkost City was a set of ruined walls, with buildings both inside and outside of the walls. There were no limitations to where the city began and where it ended.
The outer edges of the city seemed to be filled with guards walking in and out, so security was not much of a matter either.
“Where will the two of you be staying?” the old woman asked as they got off from their carriage.
Ning helped her step off and said, “We’ll find ourselves a tavern.”
He could already see quite a few taverns right from where he was at the moment. Finding a place to stay for the night wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Then why don’t you come stay with me?” the old woman asked. “I stay alone anyway, so you two will be doing this old woman a favor.”
“We couldn’t, Grandma,” Shara said. “You have already helped us enough.”
“Then what’s a little bit more, huh? Just come to my place. You can stay there for however many days you will be staying in this city and then leave.”
Shara looked at Ning, wondering what he would choose.
Ning simply smiled. “If you insist, we will stay,” he said.
“Great!” she said and started walking. “Let’s go to my house before it gets too dark.”
The old woman’s house was on the outside of the city, down a small road that led to a brook. Past the wooden bridge was a secluded section of the city that appeared more so as a village.
With fields filled with bountiful golden wheat stalks and green crops growing all around, the feel Ning got from the city was so very different from everything he had come across now.
He could see the walls of the city on this side, just above that hill. The city was just there, and yet this section seemed so majestic on its own.
“Granny Usha!” a couple of the kids came running when they saw her. “You’re back!”
“Yes, I’m back,” the old woman said. “Why are you guys outside? It’s getting dark. Go back to your mother.”
“We were waiting for you,” one of the kids said.
“Did you bring the sweets?”
“Wally said you would forget it.”
“Shut up, Yenna.”
The old woman smiled as the kids gathered around her. “Yes, yes. I got you all the sweets.” She reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out a small pouch.
The eyes of all the kids opened wide in anticipation as she opened the pouch and began pulling out candies from within it.
She gave 3 to each kid, telling them to share it with their parents when they got home. They all nodded affirmatively, but they were not going to share.
They were going to eat it all.
“Here. You two have one too.” The old woman handed Ning and Shara two candies each.
Shara’s face brightened and she thanked the old woman. Ning thanked her as well and ate one of the candies.
It was mostly sugar with a bit of plum flavor to it. It was tasty, but Ning had had better before.
Shara, though, couldn’t help but be sad all of a sudden.
“What’s wrong, child? You can spit it out if you don’t like it,” the old woman said.
“No,” Shara said, unable to stop her tears. “It… it just reminded me of my grandmother. She used to get me sweets from the market just like these ones before she passed away.”
“Oh, child,” the old woman walked up to Shara and wrapped her arms around her, taking her into an embrace.
Shara sniffed a bit and wiped her tears with the elbow. “It’s alright,” she said. “It’s just a few tears. We should keep moving. How far away is your house?”
“Don’t worry about that,” the old woman said. “It’s that one right there, next to the giant mango tree.”
Both Shara and Ning looked and saw the mango tree, and the decently sized house next to it.
“Do you live alone?” Shara asked.
“Yes,” the old woman said. “I have no family, at least not blood-related ones. My husband died when we were still very young, so I couldn’t have any children. And I loved him too much to remarry.”
“Thanks to my job, I had enough money to not have to worry though, so I moved to this place and got a place for myself. I have been here for over 30 years since then.”
They arrived in front of the house as they talked, and Ning saw it more clearly. It was an old house, made of mud and wood. That didn’t mean much though since all houses were made of exactly that around this place.
However, this one still looked better than the ones around, as old as it may be.
“What did you do again?” Ning asked. “You mentioned something about working in the Spirit Department.”
“I am an Exorcist, so my job was hunting Vengeful spirits that were terrorizing the people. It’s a difficult job, finding and cleansing Vengeful spirits, but it made me quite the money.”
“Was that when you met the man you said had the same powers as Shara?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “One of those years anyway. I met the man before I met my husband, so it was a long time ago.”
“Could you try and remember his name or what his title was? That will be very helpful,” Ning said. “He may have a connection with Shara.”
“I will try to,” the old woman said. “But it was a long time ago, so I can’t be too certain you will find what you’re looking for.”
“Any help will do,” Ning said.
The old woman nodded. “Alright, come on in. It’s getting late.”
The woman invited Ning and Shara into her house and began making preparations for dinner.
The two youngsters helped the old woman with making dinner and when the sun went down, they lit up lanterns in the house, through the light of which they ate their dinner.
Once they were done, the old woman showed them where they would be sleeping, and they all quickly went to sleep.
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