Aetheria's Enigma: The Lost Traveler

Chapter V

I walk into a shop a few doors down that has an anvil on its sign. A large man standing behind the counter looks me up and down as I enter.

He smirks. "You're the guy, aren't you?" He points to a wanted poster on the wall.

"Does it matter if I am?" I walk up to the counter

"Depends. I heard what happened yesterday, but I want to know why you did it. Some say you attacked him. Some say he provoked you. But everyone seems to come to the same conclusion that you are the one who deserves to be punished." He puts his hands on the counter and leans towards me. "I only sell to people I can trust. So tell me what really happened."

I don't want to deal with this. "He disrespected my partner. I gave him a chance to walk away. He didn't, so I broke his arm."

"There were a lot of witnesses, why didn't you just wait for the guards?" He looks me dead in the eyes. "Why did you run?"

I still don't know why I ran. I felt like I was in the right when it happened. It wasn't until I talked to Kaori that I understood why we ran. I have to think of something. That answer won't make much sense to someone who knows the culture in this world. "I defended a demi. Who were the guards gonna believe?"

He laughs. "That's all I needed to hear. What do you need?"

"Seriously? Why did that convince you?"

"I just wanted to know if the rumors were true. People said you were defending a nekojin. I just wanted to confirm it. My family has supported the demis for decades. Providing weapons and armor in the underground. If you're helping them, you're a friend of the Ironclad family. The name's Cedric." He reaches his hand across the counter.

I shake his hand. "William. Before we talk weapons, I only have 400 Aetheos."

He hesitates when he hears my name, and with a much calmer voice than before, he says "Tell me what you need, and you can pay me later."

I'm a little suspicious of what's going on now. First Elijah seems to know who I am, and now this guy. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. "I need a shortsword for the girl, and two knives for me."

"I'll find a good sword for her." He points to a shelf of knives on the wall. "Pick what you like."

His demeanor has definitely changed since he heard my name. "Thanks." I walk over to the shelf. I just need a simple combat knife. 6-inch blade. I scan the shelf for the right size, but one knife catches my eye. It's a little larger than I'd like, but it reminds me of a knife Tyler gave me when I got back from overseas. I grab it and turn to Cedric. "You got another one like this?"

He looks at it for a second and shakes his head. "No, but I can have another ready tomorrow morning." He walks back to the counter with a sword for Kaori. "You can pay me for all of it then. And because you're a friend of the family, We'll call it an even 2000 Aetheos."

I don't even know how much the bounty I took will pay. I pull out the bounty and set it on the counter. "Mind telling me how much this is going to pay. I can't read."

"Really? You seem like a smart guy." He looks at the bounty. "You sure you can handle this? These bandits have been at it for months."

"Just tell me how much."

"10000 Aetheos for all 5 of them or 1000 each." He shakes his head. "Look, You seem like a strong guy, and a smart one too. Are you sure you can handle this?"

I grab the bounty, sword, and knife "I have a bounty of 20 Gold on my head. They clearly think I'm more of a threat than these guys." I walk to the door. "I'll be back in the morning for my other knife." I walk out before he can respond.