Kinzie looked over at Kayn with a dumbfounded expression on her face as she stuttered her words, "Ka-Shin, how come my great grandfather is here?"
While Kayn was inwardly giggling about his rewards and how Kinzie had called Rowen 'Papi', Kinzie's question brought him out of his thoughts.
"Well, you see, the elder over there was one of the people I rescued from the camp. He and I made a couple of deals and now I'm here to receive my commission and reward. Nothing more nothing less." Kayn stated with an expressionless voice as if he really had no shame.
Kinzie looked at Kayn with incredulity before opening her mouth again, "And if you knew my great grandfather was here, why didn't you bring him to me sooner?"
"Well, if he wasn't your great grandfather and was actually someone looking for you to kill you or something, how would you feel about me bringing over an assassin while you couldn't move? So, in order to protect you I waited until you were fully healed and after asking you about him in detail. All is well that ends well, right?"
Kayn's explanation was logical so neither one of the two elves could argue against him even if he was shameless. After all, for Kinzie, if it turned out to be an imposter or assassin of some kind, she would have been doomed. Since Kayn brought them together in the end, it wasn't worth it to get upset with him when he was thinking of her safety.
As for Rowen, he understood that despite his dislike of the person named Shin, he did indeed consider his granddaughter's safety first, so that was a plus in his book.
Since it seemed a bit of the awkward atmosphere had settled, Rowen decided to speak up. "Well, you cheated me, but I'm a man of my word. I'll write down everything about the spells and technique you need to know, I will not teach you face-to-face though. When we get to Myrem, just get the parchment for me and it will be yours.
As for the mask, it's finished. The abilities are a bit different than what you were wanting, but your request was a bit odd to start with. I just ended up putting in the best enchantments and inscriptions I could think of to suit your purpose. Of course, I expect you to pay me before I hand it over."
"Oh? What were you able to enchant into the mask then?" Kayn couldn't help but ask as he was very curious about what abilities his new mask would have. However, he was also concerned with its comfort, so he really just wanted to try it on. Not to mention use Analyze on it!
"First things first, it has the self-adhere function so its comfort is guaranteed, nor will it fall off. There are small loop areas around the top perimeter where a hood can latch to it if you get a customized hood to work with it.
"As for the distract effect as you called it, that's the bit that is different. Luckily for you, the beast had a core stone, so rather than distracting people away from you, the enchant is more of a presence dampener. People won't be able to notice you easily while you are in the shadows or darkness, and creepily enough all they should remember is the eyes and smile of the mask if they do see you."
'Amazing! This is more than what I expected, I'll have to pay Rowen generously for this work!'
Kayn had gained over 100 gold coins if he added up all of the bronze and silver coins in addition to the gold coins in the chest. The money from the chest was probably going to go to the main overseers of the camp, but Kayn just so happened to loot it first.
"How much would you typically charge for something like this?" Kayn asked since he wanted to compensate the old elf fairly.
"Since you provided the materials, more or less anyway, I would typically charge around 20 gold coins for something like this. As it is a custom work and has a very specific function much more, at least 60 or 70. If I'm being honest, if it had the simpler enchantment that you originally wanted it would probably be cheaper." Rowen replied without much thought.
Kayn was flabbergasted, he hadn't really seen anyone selling enchanted gear before, so he didn't know the astronomical price difference between them and regular gear. Kayn was expecting to pay around 5 gold for it, since a regular unenchanted mask made of C-class materials would be around 50 silver coins. A plain old iron sword could even go for as cheap at 15 copper coins. Quality of material, style, and enchantments surely made a huge difference in price.
This just shows how difficult it was to really start off poor and try and move your way up the ladder while having to upgrade your gear constantly.
An iron sword could kill a low rank beast and regular animals or humans, remembering humans are the standard, but something of better quality would be required for D-class beasts and above. Even mages of the first rank could mostly withstand a normal human's sword attack without dying instantly unless it hits a vital area.
Kayn typically left most of his money at Elder Loren's place, but since he had gone from one mission to the next and collected so much money, it was easy for Kayn to pay Rowen the required amount.
Kayn turned around to open his bag and pulled out a small chest. When Rowen saw this chest, his eyes opened wide and he couldn't help but mock, "Paying an artisan with their own money is bad taste young man."
Kayn's eyes widened a bit, that was until he realized that even if this did used to belong to Rowen, he was the one who re-stole it, so technically it belonged to him. Plus, who's to say that the slavers didn't put more money in it?
"Seeing as how I was the one who set you free and liberated the slavers of their funds, I do believe this belongs to me." Getting this far in his speech Kinzie gave Kayn a look that told him she wouldn't forgive him for his shamelessness if he didn't give her great grandfather his money back.
"However," Kayn held up his finger to Kinzie before she could speak, "I will take 25 gold from this chest and give you the rest including the chest. I'm sure they added some money to it before it got handed off to their big shots anyway. That leaves you with more than 75 gold coins between the copper and silver, I would say that is fair compensation for everything I've done for you."
Rowen was speechless for a minute, but after he heard the amount of money in the chest, he immediately agreed to Kayn's conditions. He had only brought around 50 gold coins with him on this trip, so the extra was just a bonus! He had successfully scammed the little bastard who tried to scam him!
Rowen handed the mask over to Kayn in exchange for the chest and they each placed their items into their respective bags. Kayn didn't want to remove his current mask or Analyze his new one in front of Rowen, so he was ready to leave and get back to Myrem.
…
Kayn, Kinzie, and Rowen arrived in the area where they had left the previous slaves a few days before, only to find that there were only about 7 left and all of them were humans. The beastkin all left as they probably knew their way home and wanted to be reunited with their families.
The group of 10 then departed without much banter in order to start their walk back to Myrem. Kayn had to travel in round about ways to get there since he was tracking the slavers from the attack point. Since he could just follow a road now, the trip should only take about half a week or five days.
Along the way Rowen asked Kinzie if she would want to accompany him on his travels for a while and learn his craft, or at least keep an old man company. He didn't know if she had the knack to be an enchanter, but she could certainly try! Plus, he felt that being by his side and making the proper preparations, unlike this last time, he would be able to protect himself and her.
Kinzie looked excited at this prospect, but also a bit troubled since she glanced over at Kayn showing a touch of hesitation on her face. She had grown to trust Kayn more than most people even with the fake identity thing, and having him around had drastically improved her strength since he was always helping her to improve.
Kayn noticed her glance and look of hesitation. He had been listening in on their conversation, thus he decided now was a good time to tell Kinzie his plans.
"You should go with him Kinzie. Being an enchanter is an illustrious career, plus unless you're helpless like that old man you should be safe in towns and while traveling. Especially so if you continue working on your skills and bow abilities. I also have a design in mind so you can fight in close range and not break your bow again," Kayn winked.
"Also, I'm planning to head back home to be with my family that I haven't seen in a while, so you should spend some time with family too."
Even though Kayn had just slightly insulted Rowen, he looked past those words since he appreciated that the scary kid was agreeing with him to have Kinzie follow him.
It took almost the rest of the trip before Kinzie relented and agreed to her great grandfather's request. Although she liked to spend time with Kayn and go on missions with him, she knew that it would be rude of her to ask him if she could follow him to his home. She could only hope that one day they would meet again.
Once they entered into Myrem, Kayn took the people who had followed him to the local authorities before explaining the situation. Surprisingly he was rewarded with 2 gold coins for dealing with the slavers.
Kayn couldn't help but change his plans for his return trip home. If he could hunt down bandit and slaver groups on his way back, wouldn't he make a fortune from both the loot and rewards?
The now group of three walked to where Kinzie stayed and she provided Rowen with parchment and a pen since he still had something to give to Kayn apparently.
After Rowen finished writing what he needed to, he gave the rolled-up papers to Kayn after tying them with a string. "Now, these skills are not easy to master nor to learn. What I will warn you of is the part you were interested in, as it is the most difficult. You will need someone you trust with your life to help you. Also, thank you for saving Kinzie not just once, but twice."
Kayn received the scroll of papers and gave Rowen a slight bow, "Thank you for upholding your end of the bargain, Enchanter Rowen." Kayn then turned to look at Kinzie so he could say his goodbyes to her.
Surprisingly, she suddenly jumped at him and gave him a big hug. Since both were wearing only a worn-out shirt, he could feel her chest squishing up against his. It wasn't like this was the first time he felt a woman's breasts, but it still lit up a fire in him since he was a growing teenager now.
'Hmmm B-cup, probably close to C?' Kayn couldn't help but think to himself. He had already seen her naked, but he always avoided touching any sensitive or private areas. He also looked only as necessary and because he is a healer, he had a to have a professional mindset. However, now that his mind was free of burden, how could he not let his lust take over just a little? He honestly found Kinzie very attractive.
Shaking his head away from such thoughts, he returned Kinzie's hug as he could tell she was crying onto his shoulder a bit. Kayn slightly pushed her away and reached into his bag pulling out a crystal and putting it into her hand.
"You've probably seen or have one of these for yourself, but it's a communication crystal. I have the other, so when you want to talk, you can always call me. If I'm available I'll answer. Otherwise, these have the option of keeping a message for a couple of days, so just say what you'd like and I'll reply when I can."
Kinzie looked at Kayn with a small smile on her face even if she was still tearing up at having to say goodbye to her only friend.
"Bye Kinz, and old man, you better take care of her, she has a talent for getting into trouble." Kayn smiled as he grinned behind his mask.
"Bah, leave it to me brat. Since this little one seems attached to you, try not to die. Otherwise, I'm sure she'll somehow reverse haunt you." Rowen could only taunt the scary kid that seemed to be on amicable or better terms with his great granddaughter.
Kayn waved and turned around to leave the residence to return to his own room so he could prepare for his journey home. When he heard a voice behind his back, a smile appeared under his mask.
"Bye Shin! We will meet again, I promise!"