The atmosphere was silent as we both stared at each other. Awkwardly.
"Forget it. Anyway, I was trying to find this bookshop. My delivery man told me this town has a bookshop selling ancient books. Do you know any?" I ask while looking at his eye.
His red eye colour is like ruby—fiery brilliance.
"Oh! If you are trying to find that kind of shop, there is only one place; it takes ten minutes if we walk from here," he answers while putting his hand inside his coat pocket.
"Right," I reply.
"I will take you there, but put the coat first, Mr White," advised him, but by the way his voice sounded, it felt like a death sentence.
It smells like flesh, though. I thought after putting the fluffy coat on.
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The place he said would only take ten minutes to reach; honestly, it took longer than he stated. My mind was ready to fume about it.
His long legs could probably have made it in ten minutes. I was already panting, trying to keep up with him from behind. Perhaps when he was leading me to the cafe earlier, it was a little crowded, so I didn't notice the difference in our paces.
As soon as we arrived in front of the bookshop, my head turned to look at the sign above the shop.
'Mystical Bookshop'
That was what was written on the signboard. After a moment, I opened the shop entrance door after my breathing had steadied, all because of this tall man. His strides were so significant.
Ding!
The sound of a bell rang as the door of the shop opened.
As soon as I stepped into the shop,
"Welcome," greeted a young man sitting at the counter.
I gape around the shop as I abruptly ignore the shopkeeper.
From my point of view, there were about eighteen bookshelves arranged from the left to the right end of the shop, and there were only six people in the shop, including me and the tall man, Mr Roderick, who had just entered the shop.
However, I could not see the two servants anywhere.
"What can I do for you?" the man at the counter raised a question toward me.
"My apologies, he's not from here," told Mr Roderick to the shopkeeper who had greeted me.
"Oh, no wonder he didn't look here..." he said again, but when silent as soon as he turned his face at the tall man, Mr Roderick—perhaps scared.
Furthermore, they are talking in a words I don't understand.
"We'd like to look around for a moment." requested him after not getting a complete word from the shopkeeper.
"Okay," he replied curtly.
I turned my gaze towards the tall man after hearing his footsteps heading towards me.
"I can't find them," I said.
"Who?" he asked, looking perplexed again.
"My servants."
"Oh, you are planning on finding them here?" he assumed.
"Indeed."
"What if they're still in the carriage where you left the horses."
But my mind was already lost in my thoughts.
Thinking.
It would take forever if I were to find them first and then think of solving the food supply problem later.
"Mr Roderick, do you know where I can get food supplies around here? Besides the market," I questioned.
"Oh, is that what you meant when you said 'we're doomed' earlier?"
But I only dart at his face, waiting for his response.
"As far as I know, we don't store up for winter around here," he explains briefly. He quickly understood me.
While he was still talking, I took my eyes off him and walked toward one of the bookshelves with the sign 'language'.
"Why not?" I replied a few seconds later after he followed me from behind.
"...the people around here are more active during winter; they go hunting."
"Wouldn't there be snowstorms? Big Blizzard every year. There's a chance of it lasting at least three months if we're lucky." I responded while pulling one by one of the books to look at the title and pushing it after reading the text, which was not what I was looking for.
"That's how it is."
"...and they still go hunting during that time? Wouldn't it be better to stock up while it's still not snowing...instead of having no supplies for the whole winter? Specifically during a blizzard." I say while trying to dot my point at him.
"I don't see the problem," he says. He moved one step every time I drove one bookshelve over the other.
"What about you?"
He then silent; based on his expression, he was thinking or maybe trying to find a lie. Hunting during winter will have a lot of benefits; they can hunt a lot of animals—a winter animal, but the resiko was also high.
They can quickly die on a lot of possible occasions.
"Well, I have a proposal for it."
"What is it?"
"I can spare some food supply for you. If you're fine with that, it will not be complimentary." he clarified.
"How much would it cost?"
"Depends."
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Meanwhile, the temperatures around the town have already dropped to the point everyone's breath could be seen in soft clouds coming out of their mouths.
"Where do you think Mr White might be?" asked Mr Agastya, the chef boy to the handmaiden. Ms, Hazel.
"I reckon he might be in the fishy area." guessed her.
"Mr White would go to a place that smells like fish? Is he a cat?" the kitchen boy replied sarcastically.
"Don't say that; based on his habits these few days, I've seen that he likes to eat fish. He would always request fish in the middle of the night," she said while touching her chin. Thinking.
"Ms Hazel," called the chef boy.
"Yes?"
"Didn't the master always order snacks before this? Usually, he would come to the kitchen to ask for a side dish with his dinner," utter him, doubly.
He crosses his arm to warm up his body, as the atmosphere is already chilly.
"We wouldn't know when our tastes would change."
"You're very positive, Ms Hazel."
"Not every time."
"But I've wanted to go to the outhouse since earlier; why are so many people in this area?!" yells him, losing his patience while pushing his body at others to make a way out of the crowd as he walks, leaving the maid standing there.
"Perhaps it was a mistake to bring him along," whispered her, watching him go.
While they had been busy looking for Mr White since they arrived, they had also gotten lost amidst the crowd while passing through the town market area.
"I need to poop! Make a way." yelled the chef boy.
"Oh, my goodness." emphasised the maid while slapping her complexion with her palm gently after hearing him shouting.