The insides were a mess. A disorganized clutter that he had to carefully navigate. There was a desk for business but no one was sitting at it.
"Hello?" No answer at first but as he tried again, "He-"
"Coming. Just a minute," The voice was a masculine one, and a bit on the rough side.
Heron waited, and soon the owner of the small shop had emerged from a back room. The man looked rather strong, though he was missing an arm at the shoulder. "What can I help ya with?" He said, leaning on the counter. "Ya have somethin' in particular or are ya just browsing."
"What kind of store is this anyway? Its-"
"Varied, different things I picked up in different places over the years." The man said, "Or that other people bring me."
This man was probably a former adventurer which meant the things in this shop probably came from either Nix'Ryl, Dormiz, or various monster strongholds that would pop up in a very annoying manner across all the kingdoms except Carendlus.
Heron nodded and decided to look around. He might be able to find something interesting. It really was a garbled mess, there were all sorts of things.
Weapons, trinkets of all sorts, old pottery. Some of it would only be valuable to a collector. Or a museum. Even the weapons, half of them were broken, though there were some in pretty good condition. Three of them were even magical, one of which Heron could not tell what it did.
He actually found himself drawn to it though. It was a wooden blade, vines wrapped its handle. The cross guard and the very tip of the sword was edged in some sort of bone like material. "What is this?"
"Ah, that, it's a very interesting sword isn't it? From Nix'Ryl. I think it has some sort of preservation magic on it, but I never did find anyone who could tell me for sure. And the idiot I got it off of wouldn't have been able to really know either."
"Who gave it to you?" Heron asked curiously, wondering why the shopkeeper called him an idiot.
"Some kid. He sold it to me for a bunch of useless shiny rocks and some weeds. He also sold me those books right there. Unfortunately, they aren't old and aren't really what sells."
Heron stared at the man, not sure what to say. How could the man be so blasé over books written in Nix'Ryl? They were so rare that they would be invaluable. At the very least he could probably have sold them to a Carendlus researcher and made some good money.
Heron picked up the five books and asked, "How much for the books?"
"One gold each. Or three together." The man grinned, "They aren't worth too much though I'm afraid."
"How about the sword?" Heron glanced at the sword. He had no idea why he found it drawing him so, but it did.
"Two thousand." The man said.
A fair price for an unknown magic sword. Even a very mildly enchanted sword would run for a thousand. Heron was glad the man didn't overcharge, at least for the knowledge and guessing he had.
So he fished out the coins for the purchase, emptying most of his pocket money he had. The emergency funds his father had given him were almost completely emptied now. But while it was a bit of a gamble, a magical sword, which he could not identify, was probably worth it.
He walked out, carrying his new wooden magical sword and the five books. He stopped short in the street when he saw a frantic Elswyth searching for him.
"There you are!" She walked over, "Where'd you go? Why are you carrying books? Why do I feel like I should not be surprised?"
"Sorry. I just saw an interesting looking store and wanted to check it out." Heron was a bit apologetic, but not much. He was still a bit annoyed she had left him and told him to stay in the first place. He wasn't a dog!
"Well. Here. Eat." She shoved his lunch at him with a sigh, "And please don't run off again, you scared me."
"I didn't mean to. I thought I'd be out before you came back."
She just tched at him but she didn't press it any further. The two of them ate in silence for a while.
When they were down, Elswyth pulled him along and they continued doing their sightseeing until it grew dark. They must have been very lucky as there were no incidents on their return back even though it was already dusk.