EWH Chapter 47

“By the way, where are we going now? The direction Remberton is waiting isn’t this way, is it?”

Stopping at the entrance of the alley, Lamiya tilted his head.

“Shouldn’t we go that way?”

Lamiya pointed with his fingertip in the opposite direction from where Azar was headed. Azar gave a hollow laugh as if asking what was so obvious.

“I’m going to pick up the medicine I ordered during the day.”

“Ah, right! We were so focused on searching for the person that we forgot our original purpose!”

At that, Lamiya slapped his clenched fist against his open palm, exaggeratedly expressing surprise as if he had just realized it.

“That’s how it is. I’ll quickly stop by the villa before it gets any later. I’m worried about him, after all.”

“Speni said we can rest assured since his fever broke by the time we left…”

“But I didn’t see him wake up with my own eyes, and since I brought him, I should take responsibility until the end, don’t you think?”

Azar shrugged and chuckled. Fortunately, his fever had gone down, relieving one worry, but he couldn’t help but still be concerned. So originally, he hadn’t planned to stay in the village for this long. But when the child suddenly clung to them crying, they couldn’t ignore him.

‘I’ll just stop by briefly, see his face, and come back.’

If he rode a horse swiftly, it wouldn’t take very long. If he went straight this way, received the medicine, handed it over to Speni, and just checked if Nathan was awake before returning, he wouldn’t be late to search for Luce’s brother. The darkening sky, looking like it could pour at any moment, was a bit worrisome, but…

“In that case, I’ll go see Remberton. I wonder if that guy can even take good care of the child. What if he makes the child cry? I’ve never looked after a child either…! Plus, that guy’s face is the problem! With those sharply slanted eyes and every word he utters always being so harsh!”

Lamiya’s imitation of Remberton was quite amusing, making Azar burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry too much. Remi will do fine too. Despite how he looks, he has two younger siblings. You know how much he lets his siblings win whenever he goes to the mansion, right?”

“Ah, those mischievous twins? But their personalities are completely different from Luce’s. Luce is like a newborn puppy, but those kids are little rascals. That’s not letting them win, that’s being beaten by them!”

Lamiya gave a scathing assessment, probably thinking of Remberton’s siblings. Certainly, there was some truth to that.

“Ah, at times like this, we need Ali. We should have left Remberton at the villa and brought Ali instead.”

“Then it would have been difficult for Nathan.”

“That’s also true.”

Lamiya readily agreed, as that was also a valid point. Of course, Remberton had a rough personality and was often misunderstood because of it, but he wasn’t someone impossible to deal with. However, that was only the impression of those who had known him for a long time. In the eyes of those who were practically strangers, he wasn’t exactly a pleasant person.

So Lamiya thought it would be somewhat challenging for the extremely frail Nathan to endure Remberton’s temper. Thinking that way, he was nodding his head vigorously inwardly when Azar lightly waved his hand at him.

“Anyway, see you later.”

“Yeah! You better come back soon!”

With that, the two of them dashed off in different directions. Thanks to his hasty steps, Azar quickly arrived at the apothecary, but what awaited him wasn’t exactly good news.

Bang!

“What do you mean by that?”

Azar unconsciously slammed the counter and raised his voice. However, the old man sitting inside the counter, puffing away at a cigarette, merely glanced at Azar and waved his hand dismissively, as if it were bothersome.

“Oh my, I’m telling you. That medicinal herb isn’t available today, alright? Come back tomorrow afternoon!”

“Didn’t you clearly say to come this afternoon when I asked in the morning? Didn’t you say it’s not a herb that sells well, so it’s left in the mountains?”

“Hmph, did I say that? I’m getting old, so my memory isn’t what it used to be…”

The old man, who had briefly closed his eyes as if pondering, slyly opened one eye and quickly scanned the boy standing in front of him from top to bottom. Shabby clothes that didn’t fit his body, loose and worn out in places, as if he didn’t even have money to buy clothes; unkempt, messy black hair; darkly tanned skin as if he had been doing manual labor under the sun. Seeing the appearance of a common street urchin, the old man clicked his tongue with a “tsk.”

“You don’t look like you can properly pay for the herbs anyway, so off with you!”

“What?”

At those words, Azar’s eyes widened. The old man flinched momentarily upon meeting the chilling green eyes. However, he soon twisted his head, struggling to stand up, embarrassed that he had been intimidated by a kid half his age.

“Oh dear, I don’t know, I don’t know! Anyway, if you understand, leave! Didn’t I tell you guys to only bring in people with money?! Every single one of you does such shoddy work!”

Azar was momentarily dumbfounded and at a loss for words upon seeing the old man lashing out at the innocent employees. What on earth was going on? This was an herbal shop for commoners. Yet he was discriminating against him, seeing his appearance as a poor commoner? It was so absurd that he couldn’t even speak. And maybe it was just his feeling, but something seemed a bit off.

‘Until this morning, he was gruff but doing business properly…’

When Azar had arrived in Centiar early in the morning and visited this shop, it was properly selling medicinal herbs to people. Two young children had passed by Azar, along with an elderly man and a young lady carrying a baby.

Moreover, when Azar had asked for the herb he needed, the old man, who was the shop owner, had told him that he didn’t have it at the moment and had to go pick it from the mountains, so he should come back around sunset. That’s why Azar had also agreed without much thought and left the shop. But for his attitude to change so drastically in half a day…

Ding-a-ling—

“Oh my, welcome!”

Just then, the bell attached to the shop door rang loudly, and people who somehow didn’t fit in with this place entered. As soon as he saw them, the old man standing inside the counter hurriedly ran to the entrance.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Come, come this way!”

Azar’s gaze was also naturally drawn there. Although their entire bodies were covered by robes reaching down to their feet, the difference was still evident. Their ingrained habits gave them away. Small gestures, posture and gait, the tone and words they uttered, the luxurious fabric peeking out from between the robes—all these made it easy to infer their identities.

‘One is a noble, and the other four are knights. Well-trained knights at that.’

Azar let his magically lengthened bangs fall messily, covering half of his face. Of course, there was no worry of this transformation magic being discovered, but it didn’t hurt to be careful since he still had to roam around more with this face.

“Ah, of course! As I said, I have a tight grip on this district. I’ve already contacted other places, so everything will be ready soon!”

“Then as scheduled, in a fortnight…”

However, one of them, who had been conversing with the old man, briefly glanced at Azar, who had been standing to the side the whole time. In that moment, Azar felt a sharp, keen gaze. The sensation made his skin tingle, and a chill ran down his spine. At that, Azar involuntarily flinched, and immediately, a roar of anger erupted from the old man.

“That bastard is still here! Can’t you hurry up and get lost?!”

“…You haven’t given me the herb I requested yet.”

“Oh, you really can’t understand, can you? Ah, what are you all doing? Drag him out!”

The old man barked at the boy who had been organizing herbs on the side. At that, the boy put down the medicine bottle he was holding, pouted his lips, and ran over to Azar. Then he grabbed Azar’s arm tightly and dragged him towards the door. It seemed he had grabbed quite strongly, but it had little effect on Azar. However, Azar pretended to be dragged along and shouted.

“Let go! I really need that herb today!”

He pretended to shake off the arm holding him, applying a bit of force, and frowned as if he had been wronged, raising his voice to sound angry.

‘The acting play I did with Laya really comes in handy at times like this. I hope it looks to others like I’m a pitiful person being dragged out without being able to buy the herb…’

Out of pure curiosity, he wanted to stay a bit longer and eavesdrop on their conversation, but he abandoned that thought due to the sharp gaze he had felt just a moment ago. He had no choice. From his experience, he had never had a good outcome from getting involved with those who displayed such a gaze. So the old man’s anger that erupted at the perfect timing was helpful. Thanks to that, he didn’t need to leave while receiving unwarranted suspicion.

However, it would be strange to meekly let himself be dragged out after being so stubborn until now, so he acted as if he had been wronged. It was understandable that they would display such tyranny. There must have been some deal between that noble and the shop owner, which is why the old man’s attitude had changed so drastically in half a day.

‘Well, did he pay more money and have him buy up all the stock?’

And the herb he needed to buy must have been mixed in there or something.

“Let go!”

“I’m sorry, please leave for now. Go on!”

At the boy’s placating words as he dragged him, Azar moved his steps outside the shop as if he had no choice. As soon as they stepped outside, the shop door slammed shut with a loud “bang!”

The boy who had been dragging Azar glanced at the door once and then swiftly turned around. “Follow me!” The boy, who had still been holding Azar’s arm, only stopped walking abruptly after entering a quiet alley a bit further away from the street where the apothecary was located.

“Ha! This is absurd.”

Azar, who had obediently followed the boy, finally shook off the arm that had been dragging him roughly and lamented. The boy’s hand was easily shaken off.

“What has Centiar come to?”

“It’s been like this for a while, but seeing you now, I guess you’re not from around here, huh?”

Since Azar’s appearance looked to be around the boy’s age, the boy spoke casually.