“So you are the boy who helped Fay,” the man said. Now that there wasn’t a door between us, his voice sounded like the rumbling of distant thunder. “I suppose I should thank you.”
“I don’t know why you would.” I squared my shoulders. “I didn’t help her for you. I helped her because I wanted to.”
“You’re awfully cheeky for a child.”
The man stood up more fully, allowing me to see that he was actually very large and imposing. I was rather tall for a seventeen-year-old. No one my age could match me in height. This man was at least a head and shoulders taller than I was.
“If you say you don’t need my thanks, then I won’t thank you,” the man said, his green eyes blazing.
“Father!” Fay snapped in shock.
“What?” Fay’s father shrugged. “If he doesn’t want my thanks, then I won’t thank him.” A cunning gleam entered his eyes as he stared at me. “Besides, you aren’t here to receive my thanks, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” I admitted.
“Fay told me you have some items you believe would help our Auction House come alive again.”
The man didn’t tell me to show him the items, but his meaning was clear enough.
I walked over to his desk, reached into the bag I was carrying, and began pulling items out one by one. As I did, he stared at the small bottles with the pills that I set on the desk, his eyes gleaming with unabashed interest. Seeing that I had his attention, I began explaining what each item was.
“This is a Tender Healing Pill. It can heal minor and serious injuries, including broken bones and stab wounds. It has its limitations. However, if you do not have someone with a water or light element with you, this can act as a great substitute. The one beside it is the Spiritual Booster Pill, which temporarily increases a person’s Spiritual Power to twice the amount he or she normally has. That one is the Temporary Enhancement Pill, which enhances a person’s physical abilities for a limited period of time. The Clarity Pill next to it gives someone the ability to see Spiritual Power. Of course, like everything else, it can only do so for a brief period of time before the effects expire. The last two are the Endurance Pill and the Elemental Pill. The Endurance Pill will increase your endurance, while the Elemental Pill will give you the ability to temporarily resist every element regardless of whether it is a naturally occurring element or one created from a Spiritual Technique. This will, in effect, dampen the amount of damage done by elemental techniques from both Demon Beasts and Spiritualists.”
I observed Fay’s father as I spoke about each item and had the pleasure of watching his eyes widen the longer I talked. He was practically salivating by the time I was done.
“These pills of yours are indeed quite useful.” His eyes flickered to my face. “If what you say about them is true.”
“I made five of each pill,” I said, gesturing to the bottles. “You can have someone use one of each to verify whether it’s true or not.”
“I’ll definitely do that.” He studied the pills some more before looking at me again. As he stared at my face, he reached out with a massive hand and stroked his beard. “It’s not that I do not trust you. You did save my daughter from her affliction. However, it is important to verify whether these pills work or not myself before auctioning them off.”
“Of course.” I nodded. “Seeing is believing. It’s better to know that something you’re going to sell works by seeing it with your own eyes. It will also help you sell it because you’ll believe in what you are selling.”
“You’re a smart kid,” the man rumbled. I didn’t roll my eyes, but that was only because I was inside of my seventeen-year-old self’s body. It wasn’t like I could blame him for calling me a kid. “However, you should know that just these pills aren’t going to be enough to rake in the big crowds. We need to advertise something that will catch the attention of the noble families.”
A smile worked itself onto my face. “I know, which is why I also have this.” I pulled out a goatskin scroll and handed it to Fay’s father. “This is an A-Rank Fire Technique: Five Finger Fire Whip. It creates a powerful whip of compressed fire that’s hot enough to melt through steel. A skilled Spiritualist can even change the density of the flame and the temperature so it doesn’t kill.”
As I explained the Spiritual Technique, the man read the runes that I had transcribed into the goatskin scroll. There was a fire in his eyes. I could tell he wanted this technique, but I didn’t think he wanted it for his Auction House.
I glanced at Fay, who felt my gaze. She looked back at me as I gestured toward her father with a nod. Fay turned her gaze to her dad, looked at his face, and then covered her mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles. She wasn’t quite successful. Fortunately, her father didn’t appear to have heard her.
“An A-Rank Spiritual Technique.” The man sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down. He slowly rolled the goatskin scroll back up. “If this is a true A-rank technique, it will definitely attract the attention of the nobles. People will be clawing each other’s throats out to get their hands on this.”
“That was my hope,” I admitted.
“This will certainly help my family out a great deal.” Fay’s father admitted. There was a frown on his face as he stared at the scroll. “But this is only a temporary solution. This scroll might be able to attract a large crowd, but after that, we’ll be back where we started.”
“Which is why I was also hoping you’d enter a deal with the Alchemist Association after the successful auction,” I said.
“Oh?” The man raised an eyebrow.
Taking a deep breath, I kept myself from breaking out into a cold sweat and continued. “The reason I wanted you to auction these pills off is because that will help advertise their usefulness. Once people realize how useful these pills are, I plan on having the Alchemist Association release them into the market. However, if we want to keep up a steady supply, we’ll need to have groups constantly heading into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to gather ingredients, and we will also need someone who can help distribute and sell these products.”
“Which is where my family comes in.” Fay’s father nodded as he figured out where I was going with this. “You’d have us act as distributors and sell them. Boy, were you aware that our family owns several merchant stalls?”
I glanced at Fay, who gave me a shrug, and then looked at her father. “I did not. Fay didn’t mention that to me. I only know that you own the Auction House and are the patron for a few clothiers.”
“If all we had was the Auction House and those few clothing stores, our family would have lost its noble status a long time ago,” he said. “Aside from having a group of Spiritualists who travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to gather monster cores and ingredients, we also have a group dedicated to selling various products. That said, most of what we sell is barely enough to keep us afloat.”
“In that case, I think there is plenty of room for all of us to help each other out,” I said. “You’ll want to get in touch with Feinrea Kuunis of the Alchemist Association to work out the details of the selling and distribution aspects. She’ll be the one in charge of creating the pills once I’m satisfied that she and her people can create them to my standards.”
“It certainly seems that we can indeed help each other out. Should these pills do as you’ve told me, I’ll be sure to get in contact with this Feinrea woman you’ve spoken of.” Fay’s father nodded before finally stretching out his hand. “My name is Stelys Valstine. It will be a pleasure working with you.”
“Eryk Veiger. The pleasure is all mine, Lord Valstine.” I shook the man’s hand and noticed how truly massive his hands were. His hand completely engulfed mine as we shook.
“Before you go, I have a question for you,” Stelys said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“What do you think of my daughter? She’s pretty cute, right?”
“Father!” Fay shouted with a face that looked ready to explode.
After speaking with Stelys Valstine, Fay and I found ourselves back in front of the gate. The young guard who’d let us in was still there. He glanced at Fay when she appeared, but then he looked away as though afraid he’d be discovered if he kept looking. He still occasionally peeked at her, though.
“I’m sorry about my father,” Fay said.
“Don’t worry about it.” Shaking my head, I offered her a conciliatory smile. “I think he’s just being a parent… I think.” I didn’t have parents, so I wouldn’t actually know. Shaking my head to dispel that thought, I looked back at the mansion. “That said, I thought you were currently being married off as Grant Leucht’s Second Wife.”
“I already told you: Nothing is set in stone yet.” Fay crossed her arms and huffed. “The Leucht Family is currently trying to pressure my father into marrying me off. He’s doing what he can to stall them from pushing the issue, but they’re making it very difficult for him. I heard from one of the elders that the Leucht Family has hired some thugs to harass our stalls. We’ve been forced to divert our Spiritualists to the stalls to protect them. However, this means they aren’t going into the Demon Beast Mountain Range anymore.”
“I can see how that would be a problem,” I said.
“It’s more than just a problem.” Fay frowned at me. “Because of how powerful the Leucht Family is, we don’t dare slight them despite being harassed. What’s more, we can’t actually prove they’re the ones sending those thugs to harass us since we have no evidence.”
I cupped a hand to my chin and thought about what she was saying. It sounded to me like the Leucht Family was secretly hiring people to harass the Valstine Family’s stalls, and then coming up to offer their “protection” in exchange for agreeing to marry Fay off as Grant Leucht’s Second Wife.
“Has Grant Leucht talked to you at all?” I asked. “I think he’s in your class, right?”
“Not yet.” Fay shook her head. “He’s looked at me a few times, but we haven’t spoken. I think he’s focusing most of his attention on Princess Kari. There’s been a rumor that the Leucht Family is trying to arrange a marriage between them as well.”
“Which explains why they want you as his Second Wife.”
“Exactly.”
I rubbed my jaw and frowned. This situation was different from what I remembered, but I also didn’t meet Fay in my previous life. For all I knew, she had died of Spiritual Poisoning, which had caused the marriage between her and Grant Leucht to fall through.
I said my goodbyes to Fay and left, though I headed toward the Alchemist Association instead of my residence. I needed to inform Feinrea about my meeting with Stelys. There was also the fact that I needed to teach her how to create the Elemental Pill.
As I walked, I thought about Fay and Kari’s situation. The Leucht Family was trying to force Fay into marrying their heir as his Second Wife, and they were apparently negotiating with the Astralia Royal Family to try and convince them to have Kari wed that same heir and be his First Wife. I wasn’t sure what they were planning. It didn’t seem like a political maneuver. Having Fay as a Second Wife wouldn’t grant them any more political power than they already had, nor could they offer anything of monetary value, especially since the Auction House was currently not performing well. It seemed almost like the Leucht Family was indulging in their heir’s lecherous desire to have a beautiful woman on each arm.
Fay and Kari. Both of them were gorgeous in their own right. Kari was a classic beauty with an elegant demeanor and fair features that put the princesses spoken of in tales of yore to shame, while Fay was a firebrand who I would have best described as seductive, though she herself didn’t seem to realize her own charm. Both of them had their good points. I could honestly see why someone would want them.
That said, forcing them into this sort of arrangement was cruel, and I wouldn’t stand for it. Kari was the woman I loved. While I had only met Fay a little over one month ago, I was quickly growing to respect and admire her. There was no way I’d let either of them be forced into something they didn’t want.
I had no idea why or how I had been sent back into the past. However, I was here, now, and that meant I had a chance to make things right, so that was exactly what I was going to do.
Chapter 6
The Auction House
Nights in the desert were cold. Given how hot it was during the day, I felt it was only natural to assume it was hot all the time, but that wasn’t the case. When the sun went down, the temperature dropped to the point where my body broke out in goosebumps. I thought I might freeze to death.
“Let’s stop here for the night,” Zane commanded his people. Everyone responded with an enthusiastic shout. He then turned to us. “You two said you wanted to help, right? You can help us set up the tents.”
Tents were made from a type of leather hide that was thick and rough. According to Zane, it was the hide of a Sand Crawler, which were giant worms big enough to eat humans. They traveled through the desert, attacking anything that moved. We’d run into one of them ourselves. It had swallowed several of our companions before we managed to escape from it.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about sleeping in the hide of a beast that had eaten my comrades whole, though I knew we didn’t have much choice. In either event, it sealed in heat better than other materials like wool or cotton, which meant people wouldn’t freeze to death when they slept in it, so I guess I couldn’t complain. Apparently, there had been cases of people dying from hypothermia in the Endless Desert.
Kari and I set up our own tent. It was a small tent for two and shaped like a triangle that was taller than it was wide. It was an ugly brown color and it smelled kind of bad, but neither Kari nor I complained. According to Zane, this tent had belonged to a member of their caravan, but he’d been killed last year during a bandit attack.
After setting up our tent, Zane placed Kari and I in charge of cooking. There were a lot of ingredients that I didn’t recognize. Some of them made me want to vomit. The people who lived in the desert ate whatever they could find, including bugs and these little mice that burrowed beneath the sand. After having eaten this food for several days, I would say that someone definitely needed an acquired taste to appreciate it.
I was still a long way from acquiring a taste for it.
We did what we could, cooking the mixture of mice and grasshoppers in a large skillet and adding the few ingredients this caravan took with them. A really spicy powder called curry powder seemed to be the primary ingredient used to spice up this dish. If nothing else, the intense heat burned my tongue so badly it numbed my ability to taste the mice and grasshoppers.
Everyone sat around the fire after dinner. A moleskin flask filled with wine was passed around. Kari and I declined. Given how much we’d suffered from dehydration, both of us were leery of drinking anything that would further dry us up.
The two of us sat snuggled together, not quite participating in the conversations happening around us. No one had outright told us we couldn’t stay with them. Everyone spoke with us politely and seemed welcoming. At the same time, I believe we both felt like outsiders.
While I was sitting there, staring into the fire, my ears suddenly twitched as a noise attracted my attention. It sounded like something was shifting across the ground. However, it was very soft. Were it not for my good hearing, I would have missed it for sure.
I stretched out with my senses, trying to feel out where the noise had come from. This feeling was getting closer. It was almost like…
My mind flashed a warning as I leapt to my feet and shouted at Zane. “Behind you!”
Zane turned around just in time to see a figure leap out of the sand, which also meant he had the time to leap backward, dodging a powerful attack. Sand rose from the ground as the figure landed. This person was covered in a black outfit and carried a gleaming silver blade that had purple liquid dripping along the edge. Was that poison?
“It’s the Red Scorpions!” someone shouted.
As if their scream had been a signal, several more figures clad in black burst from the sand like the Sand Sharks that had taken the lives of several of my comrades. It looked like they had been hiding underneath the sand. Each of them was clad in black from head to toe, with only their eyes visible, and they all had those curved blades with poison dripping from them.
The caravan didn’t panic. Everyone pulled the weapons from their waists and prepared for battle. It seemed Zane and the others were quite experienced with danger.
As the battle began, I sensed movement behind us. Kari must have also sensed it. The two of us spun around, lifted our legs, and slammed our heels into the chest of a figure who’d leapt out from the sand. His sword had been raised to strike us, but he couldn’t bring it down in time. Our feet crushed his ribcage with a loud snapping sound. Then he was launched backwards, rolling along the sands before coming to a stop.
“We should help the others,” Kari said.
“Right. Are you gonna grab your ranseur?” I asked.
She shook her head. “There’s no time. Let’s go.”
Kari was right. While it was clear that the caravan had some experience in fending off attackers, they were obviously not trained combatants. What’s more, these strange figures in black clothing seemed to specialize in stealth attacks. They would disappear into the sand, then pop out when people least expected it. One of the people from the caravan had already gone down. Blood pooled out of his slit throat as he lay there twitching.
With Kari by my side, the two of us rushed toward the nearest person. It was Zane. He was fighting with a similarly curved blade as his enemies. I guess it was a standard weapon around here. He was fighting two people at once, and while he’d avoided getting cut so far, he was also being pushed back.
“I’ve got the one on the left. You take the right,” Kari said.
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 2 Page 10