Chereads / Chronicles of the Artisan Nomad / Chapter 7 - Chapter 6: The Puppeteer's Ambush

Chapter 7 - Chapter 6: The Puppeteer's Ambush

I glanced across the bar. I spot a person wrapped in a cloak. I can't make out their face, but their eyes are red. I almost feel like they are glowing. They aren't very tall, and it seems like their build is more suited for speed than to notable muscles. Their black hair is wildly flowing down to their shoulders as they watch me with glowing eyes. They radiated an aura of murder, but I had no idea why. Once I got my meal, I ate quickly, deciding to avoid any eye contact. I didn't care to see what plans the person across the bar had for me, so I think it would be best to leave quickly. A woman at the front desk gave me my room key, and I quickly paid for the room, including the meal.

I made my way up to my room. There is a bath to clean myself off after a long day's working out in the sun. I fill it myself with a water-rune-infused bucket. The water is cold, but it is soothing. The inn has some pleasant natural soap that I use. Once I get out of the bath refreshed, I begin counting my profits and sorting out my goods. I think I will probably need to restock some goods, but I did bring some raw materials I will use for crafting. I begin working the night away creating more products I can sell in the next city tomorrow. How this works is, I will need to spend a bit off the top each time to buy the materials I need for crafting. I would say about 100 or so mints should cover what I need to make more goods. I need stuff like dyes, simple weapons, clothes, wood, etc.

The products I was selling today were special rune weapons, my special buckets, special cups, dolls, and other more simple things like silverware sets. I plan to slowly convert my wares into rune items like weapons, or more helpful everyday items. For example, the refillable buckets, the dancing dolls, sleeping weapons, and more recently I have been working on selling my anti-magic smoke bombs. Anti-magic is extremely rare. These smoke bombs are my prized items. They are, for right now, my magnum opus. I call them null bombs, and I plan on selling them eventually, but they are hard to make. I need certain raw materials that aren't always easy to get, such as sunburst roots that create the smoke. 

Null bombs are created with light paper banded together with small seals. Each of these seals has a rune for anti-magic drawn on them. Usually, I also have to place small wicks on them because they won't normally explode without fire. The ones I threw at Holvick's fire were incomplete, but since it was fire magic they lit up anyway. The crushed sunburst roots act as the trigger the bombs need to cause small explosions, and because of their properties, they also leave exhaust in the air. The bomb is simple to make, but the roots aren't common. They aren't sold everywhere. They also cost a lot per root, so I try to use them sparingly. Ideally, I could try to eventually find a spot to gather them myself.

From the little leftover I had in my bag, I managed to make a couple more of these small bombs. I tuck them into my pocket. Since I have such a low amount I can make at a time, I will not be selling any of these null bombs even if they fetch an amazing price. These bombs are for my  protection. I am aware the world isn't always a nice place. I crafted a few more goods, then turned off the small candles in the room, read a little bit and then head to bed. It was about 8:00 pm now, which was still early for me, but I had nothing else to do, really better than to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow. I rest my head on the bed and it is rather comfortable, so I figured I should be able to get a long sleep.

That was the hope. At least I stayed up thinking about those guys at the market. The orange vials were filled with a mystery liquid. There was something wrong with this town, but I need to leave tomorrow. I am no hero. I did my part as a merchant. I never gave anyone those vials, so now I just need to move on. Part of me wanted to stay a bit longer to find out exactly what was going on, but I had no business being there. I was just a sales assistant, nothing more. I was very limited when it came to combat. I mean, yeah, I had my weapons like sleep-infused daggers, and I had my bombs, but all of that stuff was just for self-defense. I had virtually no real combat experience, and taking down Holvick was honestly a fluke. I could have died there 10 times, but I was lucky with him picking me up by the throat. He had thrown the fire directly at me. I was a goner.

Just as I am thinking that I see a small shadow scuttle on the floor, alert on my bed. I quickly sat up. The shadow quickly dashes over to me. I leap out of the way onto the floor just as the small shadow slashes where I have been sleeping. The pillow burst into a bunch of pieces. Had that been, my neck would have died instantly. I crawled on the ground attempting to get back on my feet in my pajamas. I am still in a haze as my mind thinks on auto-piolet. I grab a nearby wooden chair, which is light, and I throw it at the doll. The doll is small, about 1 foot in size. It is cloaked in a small fabric, so I can't make out its features. Its wooden arms and wooden legs look worn from age. Something that stands out is its hands have long pointed nails that look like daggers. The doll's giant claws slash the wooden chair into pieces like butter, but it buys me some time. I ran over to my bag. I fish out some of the bombs I just made and chuck them at the doll hoping that they are made of magic.

The doll momentarily halts, and rushes over to the desk where I left one of my daggers that I had last night. I quickly grab the doll now that it has fallen over. I don't know how long the bomb will be in effect, but I will try to break it if I can. Before I stab into it, I realize that the doll has small wires coming off of its body. This doll is being checked from a safe location. This doll is very curious. Better not to destroy it outright. After all, It is only a tool. I use my dagger to slash the wires connected to various parts of its body. Not wasting a second, this puppeteer must be close. I quickly followed the wires out of the room. I opened the door to see a person standing in front of it peeking through the cracks. They attempt to back away when they see me.

No way I would let them just run away after almost killing me. Once I opened the door, I saw them taking a fighting stance. It would seem they aren't done yet, they plan on taking my life into their own hands. I recognized the person was the same one in the bar earlier that was glaring at me and seemed to be some kind of assassin. Looking at them closer, they are somewhat smaller than expected, and from what I get of the features I can see they are fairly young. They charge ahead at full speed. I almost couldn't keep up before I knew it they were right next to me. They aim their dangers towards my throat. I block it with my hand. It barely stabs my wrist. The pain feels unimaginable. I let out a yell, "Ahh dammit!," but I grabbed their wrist in shock. They try to jump back.

I use all my strength to hold them in place as I tap them with the dagger I had brought with me from the room. I say the words with power, "Somniel!" The dagger glows faintly, and so does the S curved rune on the blade. The assassins' arms go limp as they collapse on the ground in front of me, collapsing with a sigh of relief. Blood pours from the wound on my hand, but I ignore it. For now, I am focusing on the person who collapsed at my feet. The immediate threat was dealt with, but what should I do now? Report them to the authorities? I sighed. Why do I have such crappy luck with people attacking me while I try to sleep? For now, I pick them up. They are surprisingly light. I put them on the bed in my room. I decided to treat my wounds with some first aid supplies in my bag. I knew how to at least close the wound. I took a sewing needle and began treating my wound on the desk. The pain was pretty decent as I self-stitched my wound. Luckily, the wound was a bit deep, but otherwise it didn't seem to hit anywhere super vital.

I decided to undress the assassin. I take off their clothes, but once I do, I notice a different face than I expected. Their face was softer than I would have thought it was a girl. From looking at her, I can conclude she is maybe a bit older than me. She is toned, seems like she has been honing her body for a long time, and she also has dozens of scars on her arms and legs. Her black hair is matted, and she reeks of blood, and something else which I assume is sweat. Something behind her head twitches as I decide to put her clothes back on. I can't undress a woman after all. Wait what? Something twitching behind her head? That doesn't make any sense. I pull down the black cloak covering her body a bit, and I spot a small pair of feathered black wings. Surprised, I backed away a bit. This person has black wings on their back can't say I have ever seen that before.