An Old Friend

Ahli had finally reached the big road again. He knew where Drunken Boar is supposed to be located, however, as he divert too far from the street that he was familiar with, he knew that he had to find more information on how to reach it. He looked around if there are any places where he could get information from. A shop at the side of the road seemed okay to be asked, as there were no customers around by that time.

As Ahli entered the shop, he saw various kinds of dried fruits being displayed. Apparently, this is a sweets shop, however, Ahli found the situation to be odd, as this kind of shop usually was full of customers, or at least there was always a customer that came to it.

"Ah, hello there, young man. Welcome."

An old lady voice from behind the counter greeted Ahli with kindness. Judging from her appearance, with white hair starting to appear at the side of her head, Ahli took her for being still in her 50s or going to 60s. Her face showed remnants of her beautiful young look, even though those eyes were not what Ahli fond of, as they reminded him of a strict teacher he had back in middle school.

"What can I help you with? What kind of candied fruit do you want? We have various kinds and everyone always comes to us to buy. Even ours are the best for souvenirs."

The way the seller lady bragged somehow was irritating for Ahli to hear. It was not how she bragged, but the tone of her voice herself, as if she was better than everybody, higher in position compared to her lowly customers. Therefore, her kind words were heard with a different meaning when coming out of her mouth.

"Ah, no, actually I want to ask something."

"What? You are not buying any of the candied fruit or the dried fruits? Then, I have no business with you."

By how the lady rejected him on the spot, Ahli quickly understood why her shop was so lacking in customers. Her real personality is surely something that repels the customers, or even potential customer.

[Should I buy her fruits? Let me check on my money.]

"Hey, if you don't buy. Get out. Get out."

"Ah, yes, wait. How much are the dried fruits? And how much are the candied fruits?"

"Dried fruits are 1 silver per 100 gram. Candied 2 silver per 100 gram."

Ahli looked at the coins inside his pocket. Only three silver left with a couple of bronzes. It reduced quite an amount, and he could think of it because of the purchase of the black cloth.

"Can I have 100 grams of the dried fruits then?"

From the change in her facial expression, Ahli just knew that the seller lady was pissed beyond measure.

"Only 100 grams? What are you, huh? A child? Aah, young people nowadays!"

Even though she was upset, the seller lady still took Ahli's money and put the dried fruits into a bag made out of leaves. After she measured it on a balance scale, she gave it to Ahli partially throwing it at him.

"Ah, thank you. Also, can I ask how to get to Drunken Boar from here?"

Her eyes rolled the soon Ahli asked that.

"You only bought 100 grams and you wanted info huh? What do you think my place is huh? Information center? Just follow this road to the north and you find it. Lazy youngsters! Now get out!"

She technically and surely pushed Ahli out of her shop. Ahli was unable to process what just happened, however, he was quite the center of attention of everyone in front of the shop for a while. As soon as the lady went inside again, everyone was back minding their own business.

[In a sense, did she just help me? What a tsundere.]

As Ahli almost took a step, someone suddenly held his left shoulder and called his name.

"Ahli."

The voice sounded familiar and Ahli turned to see who was the one that stopped him.

"Mr. Granger? What are you doing here?"

"Ahli, they have taken Ecuti."

"What? Who? Who has taken Ecuti?"

"Them Ahli, the card mage." When Mr. Granger gripped Ahli's upper arm as he said so, Ahli could feel the seriousness of the matter when he felt the pressure he felt from the grip. He checked around the premises to find if there were any places for them to speak in secret. Ahli's eyes then caught a small alley between two shops. It was so small, and most times would only fit two people.

"Mr. Granger, follow me."

As they entered deep enough into the alley, Ahli checked once more if anybody was around to hear them. Then, he turned to Mr. Granger.

"Mr. Granger, tell me what happened."

"It was almost a week ago. A young man with his troops came to the village, asking about the incident with the bandits. The village chief put me and Ecuti in audience with him. I tried to trick him into going in another direction, however, he was not convinced. It was then he took Ecuti's hostage and told me to bring you to Dikar."

"Are you sure he is a card mage?"

"Yes, he used magical cards like you as well to summon a monster, a red cub with stripes of black."

Ahli got intrigued with the card mage and would like to know more about him. However, he knew that Mr. Granger surely was not in the right state of mind, and he needed to relax.

"I've been searching for you all over the town for many days. Where have you been?"

"I and Sharon were on an errand from the guild. A small quest in Cine. But, it took us more than a day or two because there were a lot of things happening."

"I see. Speaking of which, where's Lady Sharon?"

"We got separated a while ago because aside from your problem, we also have another problem at hand."

Ahli looked toward both ends of the alley and checked. Still, there was nobody in sight, even though people roaming could be seen on the main street.

"What's wrong?" Asked Mr. Granger.

"There are people following us. I don't know who they are. But, they have been anticipating us since we came back to the city."

"Are they troops of the card mage? The same men who came to the village?" Asked Mr. Granger nervously.

"Well, that would be the most possible thing. Why else do people follow us?"

Mr. Granger looked toward both ends of the alley as well, checking for any signs of any person coming or at least listening to them. Ahli could see how nervous he was, and thought to himself, that even the biggest man like Mr. Granger sure has their fear as well when it comes to family.

"In the meantime, how about we meet Sharon first? We doubt the people who are looking for us, know about our meeting place, so it would be safer over there."

Mr. Granger did not answer at first and it was clearly shown on his face, there were doubt and questions swirling in his head. But then, he answered, "Okay, then. Bring me there."

"Sure. Let's go then."

Ahli walked toward the other end of the alley and checked the street situation. As he saw it clear, he gave Mr. Granger a sign to come at him. They then walked on the street toward Drunken Boar, which is a couple of blocks left.