Arad left the private room with Aella, walking into the guild hall where Jack awaited them. “Finished registering the quest, and the payment is in the guild’s account.”
Arad nodded, “Thank you, I’m going to meet someone. You two can head back to the inn.”
Aella and Jack stared at each other.
Jack was the first to speak, “You won’t check the money with the guild? I might have stolen some.” Hearing Jack’s words, Arad shook his head, “I know you didn’t. I know you’re more honest than you look,” Arad smiled.
Jack laughed.
“Arad, can I go with you?” Aella tugged to his side, her ears drooping. “Of course, I will go deliver the wolves.” He smiled.
Jack stretched his arms, “Then have fun. I also have something to take care of tonight. so I might be late.” Jack smiled, pulling Arad to the side. “I managed to get Lydia down. Can I take a few silver coins for drinks?” he whispered.
“Good for you.” Arad gave him a thumbs up, “Take a gold coin and search for a nice place.”
Jack stared at Arad with a smirk, “You want me to find it so you can use it later?” he giggled.
“A quiet place where no one can hear you is best. You understand well,” Arad and Jack bumped fists.
“YEAH! I’m going on a manly mission,” Jack roared, his eyes burning.
As all the adventurers stared at him, Jack left the guild with a smile on his face.
Arad and Aella went out, walking across the city’s busy streets, “Are we heading to Lyla?” Aella asked, looking at Arad’s face from the side.
Arad nodded, “She asked me before to find her some wolve materials. I’m going to deliver what we hunted.”
Aella smiled, “Mira should be there as well. I did want to speak with her about the bow.”
As Arad and Aella approached Lyla’s shop, they found it closed. Lyla stood cleaning in front of the door.
“Why is she closed?” Arad mumbled, “Probably something happened. Let’s ask her,” Aella said with a worried face.
The two approached Lyla, “Hello, did something happen?” Arad asked immediately.
Lyla looked at him, confused. “Isn’t it Arad and Aella as well? Welcome.” she smiled.
Aella approached her, “Why are you closed? Did something happen?”
Lyla looked at her, confused, “Ah! Today is my day off. I need to rest every once in a while.” She smiled, looking back at the closed door. She then shifted her eyes back at Arad, “I can smell it in you,” She smiled, “You came here for business.”
Arad laughed, “You’re right,”
“Is it the wolves I wanted? Or something else?” Lyla smiled, and Arad replied, “How did you guess?”
“I can tell when someone is excited about something. This is the first time you are bringing me something, and deep you’re worried about the legality of it.” Lyla patted his shoulder, “I did more deals than you can imagine. I can tell what people are thinking from a glance.”
“That’s amazing,” Aella said, smiling.
Lyla smirked, “If I wanted to push a deal, I would leverage on your fear and say something like. the guards are looking around for wolves’ parts. Taking them now might be a bit too risky.” She laughed, “I will then try to make you wait, increasing your fear of being caught and then getting a discount to take the goods off you immediately.”
“Is that so?” Arad smiled, “Can we get inside so I can offload your goods?”
“Of course, come in.” Lyla opened the door to her house, and they climbed to the upper floor where she lived with her daughter Mira.
“The shop is downstairs,” Arad said, pointing down.
“I have a store room here. We would drop the load there.” Lyla smiled.
“You aren’t asking me where I keep everything?” Arad smiled.
“A magical pocket of some sort, I presume.” Lyla looked at him, “It’s not normal for a low-rank adventurer to have, but I have a good eye for people. I can feel you’re special,”
“Thank you,” for some reason, Arad could trust her more than anyone else. She gave him a weird sense of calmness.
As they went up, Aella spotted Mira clipping her nails in the corner using a giant scissor. She only wore a tank top and short pants that barely reached half of her toned thighs.
“Mira!” Aella waved her hand, rushing toward her with a smile.
Mira looked up, surprised, “Aella! What brought you here and Arad in the back as well,” she waved her hand to him,
“The bow you made is amazing!” Aella said with her eyes sparkling, “It went BAM! BAM! Like a crossbow!” She explained with an excited face.
Mira smiled, “I’m glad you liked it, just give me a moment here,” She continued to clip her nails. She can’t stop in the middle.
Arad headed with Lyla to the storage room to drop off the wolves’ materials. Thud! Thud! He extended his hand, and the parts fell out of nowhere.
“Ho! It’s amazing. To be able to store things in thin air like this.” She crouched, inspecting the fur and fangs. “They are all of amazing quality…but.” She stopped.
“Is there something wrong?” Arad stared at her, worried.
“The way they were butchered reminds me of Alcott. Did he help you?” Lyla said with a smile.
“He did teach me how to do it. And helped with them as well.” Arad smiled, looking down.
Lyla smiled, “I knew it. Only that idiot uses knives like that. A few years ago, I had him bring me parts just like you now,” She looked up, “My husband used to await him each week,”
“Used?” Arad asked.
“My husband fought in the war and got wounded so badly that he got bedridden. He died a few years ago.” Lyla stood, “But off with the sad talk, you’re already here. Why won’t you two stay for dinner? You can even spend the night here.”
Arad shook his head, “No, I won’t bother you.”
Lyla patted his back, “You aren’t a bother,” she approached him, whispering in his ear, “To be honest, my instincts are screaming that you will become a great man in the future.” ｂｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
Arad started to feel weirded out, “Why?”
“Can you spend some time with Mira? Till now, you and Aella are the only people she spoke with like this.” Lyla smiled, “She used to be engrossed in her work. But since you first showed up at her shop, her eyes had been sparkling with life.”
“Isn’t that just because Aella is testing her new bow?” Arad immediately thought of the reason. Mira had a dream of making a metallic bow, and Aella was the only one to accept her idea.
BAM! Lyla smacked him on the back, “My instincts as a mother are telling me to keep you around. Go ahead and relax. I will cook something delicious for you tonight.”
Lyla headed toward the kitchen and Mira stood, “I’m coming to help,”
“No need, you entertain the gusts,” Lyla replied to her daughter, “We can’t leave them alone, can we?”
Mira sighed, scratching her head, “You’re right,” she turned toward Aella and then looked at Arad, “Come here,”
Arad approached her, sitting on the couch, staring at her and smiling. “How was your last trip?” Mira asked.
Arad shook his head, “It wasn’t easy. We ended up fighting a griffon. That thing was a true monster,”
“I heard they are strong. Their talons could bend steel,” Mira replied.
“I won’t say it’s that bad,” Aella added, shaking her hand, “But they are strong and fast,”
The three of them chatted for a while before Arad managed to ask, “Why are you wearing so few clothes?” He stared at Mira.
Mira looked at herself, her chest slightly showing up from under the tank top.
She looked at Arad for a moment. And then looked back at herself, “Sorry, can you excuse me for a moment?” She stood and left for her room. And quickly returning with a more decent set of clothes.
Mira wore a long sleeve white shirt and baggy pants, covering her whole body better than she was before.
“Sorry about that. I don’t usually wear that much inside the house.” She scratched her cheek.
“I thought you would react more,” Aella stared at her.
Mira giggled, “Crying about it will just embarrass me even more. It was my mistake, so I had to take it to heart.”
Arad shook his head, “We barged here without an invitation.”
“It isn’t your mistake,” Mira shook her head, “Mom, did you do it on purpose?”
Lyla poked her head out of the kitchen, “You changed your clothes? What a shame,”
Mira grabbed the nearest pillow, throwing it at her. Lyla laughed, “Sorry! Sorry! I was trying to help you a bit,” She ran back into the kitchen.
“Sorry for my mother’s attitude,” Mira sighed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Arad shook his head.