"Don't eat too fast, you'll choke Lia. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Oh, I couldn't really find any clothes that I wanted to wear, so I'm going to go out to see if there's anything else that's interesting. Like, something related to Aether or swords!"
"Even if you eat fast, you're not gonna go alone, you know that right?"
"Yeah yeah."
While striking down a pea on my plate, I had only processed what he said a few seconds later.
.
.
.
"Eh?"
A few hours later, he and I went to several different shops, including clothes, books, weapons, and after leaving store after store, we exited one that contained weapons of all kinds, though not interesting at all.
In the corner of my eye as we exited, a traffic of civilians soon crowded the area around us, Dad tried to keep us together but it was too much and we slowly separated.
"Lia! Stay put! I'll come to you right now- AH! He-hey! Can't you guys see I'm trying to get through here?!"
Dad slowly got swept away and during the commotion I slowly slipped away, it couldn't be all that bad right? I was a Queen in my past life! What was all that anyway? A random large bunch who conveniently separated us?
It did seem rather odd, but I paid no attention to it and went off on my own. While my eyes looked around for anything interesting, something caught my eye, within a secluded alleyway, a run-down shop could be seen at the end.
Interesting? Yes, sketchy? Definitely. Nevertheless I sprinted down, the bottom corners of the walls had already grown large patches of mould, random creatures I had no idea hid themselves away, and the sudden sound of metal beneath my feet seemed to be a manhole probably connecting to sewage.
Alas the store was in front of me, the wooden floorboards leading to the store creaked, the name sign, 'Bobby's Runes!' appearing to want to fall however held on by one last nail, and the glass cracked windows were blurry enough that you couldn't see in. Reaching for the door, I plummeted onto my back as a large body forcibly pushed me back.
A tall figure, their cloak hid most of if not all their features, their facial features were darkened by the cloak and the fact that barely any light shone inside. In spite of that, one obvious feature was the large axe strapped to their back.
"Hey kid, watch where you're going." They droned, it was unsettling, and everything about them felt menacing.
"Ah.. Sorry sorry."
"Next time you won't be so lucky." They walked off, the smell of blood caught my attention but it was best not to pry. I did not want to meet that that person ever again.
I speedily moved to the side of the doorway, without looking back they walked past me and exited the alley. I was lucky they didn't decide to change their mind.
I walked into the shop, the wooden floorboards still creaked every time I stepped and the shelves were almost on the verge of collapsing even with the items still on display.
"Welcome! Welcome! Ah? What's this, a kid?" A man that looked to be in his mid thirties, a green and gold hair worn above his blonde hair, a chin stubble, and an unusually high pitched voice not fit for a thirty year old man.
"Could you appraise this for me?"
"Scram kid, it's probably just some random accessory-"
His eyes widened as he stopped speaking, grabbing the ring with his lanky fingers, his other arm reaching behind him which held some type of lens that made his pure-gold eye increasingly bigger.
"Where the hell did you get your tiny little hands on this?!?"
"I got it as a gift."
"Kid.. I have no idea what these runes say!" Snickering loudly, he grabbed my pinkie again, "Yeah sorry kid, guess I don't know, HAHA!"
"Um.. Bobby? Are you not an artificer?" I was confused, though if his shop was this run-down, it was expected that it probably wasn't all that great.
"Well aren't you like 10-?"
"12."
"Right, like that makes it any better. Just cause I'm a low-level artificer doesn't mean I'm not right?"
"You're pretty bad at it then so called artificer."
"How about selling me this ring-"
"No."
"Not even for 1500 gold-"
"NO. Wait, 1500 gold?"
"I mean, 15 gold! 15 15 15!"
"Were you just trying to scam me? You low-level, old, deformed, sacrificial goblin-looking, likely to be a malnourished, nail-biting degenerate, and a poor scammer on top of all that."
"Agh!? B-but.. You're just a kid! Who taught you all of that.."
"Now. Tell me, 1500 gold? I need the details now chump." He sat in sullen, his face became pouty, and it was now known that I was the boss around here.
"Well.. The ring is actually something that I had originally stolen. It was originally for King's son and daughter, though I only stole one, well that seemed to have gone into your hands."
"So, you knew that I was lying about it being a gift? And hold on, the son and daughter of the King?"
"Ah yep, though it seems the ring is bonded to you anyway, so I can't take it off. And yes, it was for the son and daughter. Thought it'd fetch for a high price and then I just had to bump into- Oh!" He lightly hit his palm with his fist, "So you were the one I bumped into! And with your cranky father, it all makes sense now!" It was also at that point that I realised it was him that bumped into me, but I moved on quickly, persisting with knowing the ring's purpose.
"Get on with it chump."
"Alright alright! Stop with the nicknames, just Bob will do! Anyway, the rings' were supposed to be a present for his children for their birthdays, supposedly the rings' had a special function to it, but no one really knows."
"Is that all?"
"Yes yes! That's all don't hurt me!" It felt like this was all an act but I paid no mind to it.
Sighing as I looked around, I saw something labelled, 'communication pens'.
"How do I use this?"
"Oh communication pens? Easy, just think of the person and their name and write on a piece of paper and it'll always manifest within a day! One of my coolest inventions for sure!"
"I'll buy one, whenever I write to you, you better reply back."
"Of course of course! Pleasure doing business! Just ahem- 35 gold."
"Hm?"
"I mean 5 gold! A discount for you of course!"
"You're so considerate! Maybe I won't insult you the next time we meet! Haha!"
"I hope so! Haha!" A light chuckle from both of us let out, and the door behind was still left open.
"Well, I'll send a message if need be, remember to send one asap, bye bye Bob!"
"Have a nice day! ■"
"What was that?" I couldn't quite catch what he said at the end, as I turned around, a slight smile was on his face before he shook his head.
"Nothing, don't forget that you're father is looking for you."
"Ah, thanks for reminding me."
I completely forgot that I had snuck away from Dad. I sprinted out and a few minutes later.. Dad was quite clearly infuriated.
"Lia, where were you?! I told you to stay still!"
"Sorry, I.."
My Dad grabbed on my shoulders, his eyes filled with concern and fear. I could tell that he was genuinely worried, and my heart throbbed painfully at it. I panicked, unable to think of an excuse.
"Just.. Please. Please don't do that again. Okay?" Worry overtook his face, hugging me tightly.
"I won't."
I got let off easily, but I probably wouldn't be let off so easily the next time.