A Single Wish

Northern was silent for a few moments.

The weight of his stillness pressed down on the air like an imminent annihilation.

Seeing it, the shopkeeper nearly broke out of his skin. He scrambled forward, groveling at Northern's feet.

"I swear! I'm not lying—I'm not trying to trick you!" he cried. "It was right there! I had it on my tongue—I swear it just… left."

His usual assured tone had crumbled into shameless desperation.

Northern cast an indifferent glance at him, then sighed, stepping back and pulling his foot away from the man's grasp.

Straightening, he looked down at him again and asked,

"I presume your claim of having reached the Northern Continent was a fluke—something to enthrall me."

The shopkeeper's head jerked up.

"What?! No! Not at all, Sir Drifter!! I swear it wasn't!"

His words spilled out quickly, frantic.