Volume 4 Chapter 40: The Wither At The Market
(Lori)
At the city gate of Vanos, there were numerous members of the Elven race streaming out of the city, and at the same time, countless carriages and travelers formed long queues, waiting for clearance procedures.
At the end of this line, there was a young girl with all her limbs wrapped in black cloth, and a black headscarf covering her head. On her back, she carried a huge leather bag.
"Alright, Miss Lori, you may enter the city now," a soldier said to Lori at the city gate. She then removed her hand from the Appraisal Stone.
The stone slab had no effect on me, an undead like me. It's truly a high-level slab. It took tens of thousands of magical points just to display the data... In any case, it's great that no abnormalities were detected.
Thinking this, she stepped into Vanos. The houses were densely packed, and the crowd was bustling.
She had hardly ever been to such a place... It was so lively, unlike her own lonely and isolated little house.
Having lived in seclusion for so long, Lori had always yearned for the warmth of people. Being in a bustling market like this, the immense emptiness in her heart seemed to be filled a little.
"Crunch, crunch." "Thud, thud." Two bandage-wrapped spheres floating beside her made these sounds. These two were Little Skelle and Little Skull who disguised themself as a Wind Spirit summons, after all, she couldn't really bring two skulls into the city.
At this moment, the two bandage-wrapped spheres were excited about the snacks being sold by the vendors nearby. If Lori hadn't reached out and pulled their bandages, they might have already flown into the pile of food to indulge themselves.
"We can purchase the Sugar Rice Ball later. Right now, I need to buy some [Aromatic Water Drop Grass] and [Rejuvenating Grass] first," Lori responded to the requests of her two pets. She walked over to a herbal stall in the market and began negotiating prices.
As expected, the worry that Lori had came true after inquiring.
"Is [Aromatic Water Drop Grass] really priced so high?" she questioned the expensive price of the rare herb with blue leaves displayed on the vendor's table.
"Well, young lady, recently there have been many incidents due to the disturbance caused by the monsters, and coupled with the fact that the original source, Braatio, is no longer maintaining its neutrality, the prices have tripled. There's nothing to be done about it. Six gold coins are six gold coins; I can't lower it any further."
"...Then I'll go check elsewhere."
Lori turned away and wandered around the market for a while. Eventually, she found herself back in front of the same vendor.
All the herbal stalls had raised their prices... This left Lori feeling quite helpless.
[Aromatic Water Drop Grass] was a herb that, when burned and soaked in water, produced a special fragrance. It had a calming and sleep-inducing effect, and it was also quite effective in treating bodily injuries.
It was also Angi's favorite plant. When Angi had rescued Lori, her body had suffered permanent damage, and Lori didn't know how much time Angi had left. At the very least... for her remaining days, Lori wanted to make her comfortable.
However, on this trip, Lori only had three gold coins with her. She had earned that money by chopping wood for two months and selling two bear pelts, and from the times she has been away from the civilizations, the market prices had been fluctuating greatly recently.
"Sorry, young miss."
"It's okay." In the end, Lori could only leave the market disappointed.
What should she do?
She couldn't find a way to quickly get to the Braatio Empire now... and there wasn't enough time left. She had just nine days until her next consciousness seizure. She needed to prepare quickly.
In these days, the voice of the White-Eyed Man would occasionally resound in her head, and at times she would even experience hallucinations. This seizure could be particularly fierce, and she wouldn't have the luxury to run off to the Braatio Empire.
How could she make so much money in such a short time? Lost in her thoughts, Lori suddenly froze.
As if fate had a plan, at this very moment, Lori heard the words [Miracle Water]
It was a special skill innate to Lori: [Area Detection]. In other words, besides having extraordinary vision, she also had extraordinary hearing.
This ability allowed her to make early preparations against anything that might harm her.
So Lori ran towards the direction she sensed, unable to give up any hope at this point.
There, she saw citizens being evacuated by soldiers.
So Lori jumped onto a rooftop, observing the situation.
The soldiers had formed some kind of perimeter and were driving the people inside the circle outward, as if they were trying to seal off a certain area.
Then, Lori noticed the source of the earlier sound... It was hard not to notice, as a continuous stream of explosions emanated from that building that was shaking and about to collapse.
Chaotic fluctuations of magic energy continued to radiate from the almost collapsing building, suggesting a fierce battle was underway.
Boom!!!
The next moment, Lori was startled. A lightning bolt suddenly appeared, striking the building from top to bottom. Smoke and dust began to spread, making it impossible to see clearly.
Just as Lori was thinking of getting closer, she saw a figure rush out of the cloud of dust and escape to the street below.
It was [Hidden Shadow Technique], and Lori immediately recognized it. She immersed her body in the shadows, using them as a medium for escape.
This was a rare advanced dark-element magic, allowing swift movement regardless of many obstacles. Its effectiveness depended on the user's magical power, making it a great choice for fleeing.
But Lori was even more powerful, beyond the realm of saints.
So she seized the opportunity and jumped off the building, reaching into the shadow and "grabbing" a person out.
"Tell me about [Miracle Water]..." Lori didn't waste any words and began to interrogate.
"My Lord priest... Long live..." The black-clothed man trembled all over as he was pulled out, frothing at the mouth.
He poisoned himself.
... Lori felt a momentary pang of guilt, but quickly suppressed it.
"I'm sorry, but this is for Angi..."
[Miracle Water], a name that had spread across the eastern countries in recent months. It was said to be a proof of blessings, a miraculous healing substance.
With that, Angi might have a chance to recover.
For this, Lori extended her hand towards the corpse and cast a spell she had always avoided.
"oooo, oooo, oo——[Creation of Advanced Undead]." Black mist flowed out from the bandages wrapped around her hand, enveloping the body of the black-clothed man.
This spell would, after selecting a suitable body, would turn the chosen body into a minion of the caster. It was the most sinister blasphemy that can be done to the living. When she had killed the Severed Wing Gale Dragon, she had refrained from using it on the dragon, even though she wanted to know their plans.
But now, it was for her foster mother.
A few seconds later, the black-clothed man, now tainted by the pollution of death, stood up again. This time, he spilled all the information.
"...Walson..." Murmured Lori to herself as she drew her blade and cut the newly risen undead into two pieces.
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