Eyes of destiny

Negotiation

Edo, still stunned by Leni’s skills, began analyzing the situation. She had made a basic negotiation mistake—declaring that price didn’t matter! Rule number one: you always need to haggle wisely before arriving at a final price. Is she really over sixty? Right, now there’s no chance of getting any discount… If only he’d warned her to keep quiet before. Now it was too late—he’d just have to try and salvage the situation.

Disheartened, Edo turned to the shopkeeper, attempting to start a conversation, but the merchant behind the counter was quicker.

“I always enjoy when you visit, Leni,” he said warmly. “You’re my favorite customer, but I’m afraid I have some bad news. Despite having one of the largest magic shops in the capital, this may sound strange since it's one of the most essential magical resources, but right now, I don’t have any magic crystals in stock.”

A look of surprise appeared on Leni’s face. Even for Edo, who had begun to understand the nature of these goods, it seemed strange that such an important item was unavailable.

“How is that possible?” the sorceress asked with a hint of disbelief. “You always had plenty of crystals. What happened?”

The shopkeeper sighed and answered in a serious tone:

“The delivery was supposed to arrive last night, but it didn’t. As you know, to the east of the capital lies the Misty Forest, which has recently become dangerous. My goods are usually imported from the land of demons, Serot, located east of Ero. Because of the threats, the suppliers have started avoiding the forest, which extends the delivery time by three days, but I can’t afford such delays. I’ve hired warriors to guard my shipments through the forest—for half a year, everything went smoothly. But now, when I ordered more crystals than usual, something went wrong.”

After a moment of silence, Leni responded:

“Can’t you just go and check for yourself? You’re quite powerful, after all.”

The shopkeeper shook his head regretfully.

“Unfortunately, today I have an appointment with a young noble couple who want to buy a wand for their talented son. As you know, nobles can be demanding and picky, especially when it comes to expensive purchases. If it weren’t for that, I’d go check the shipment myself, but I have to stay here.”

Leni frowned and replied with slight irritation:

“Emil, don’t you think that’s a bit unprofessional? You should care about your employees’ well-being rather than leaving them on their own.”

Emil responded in a cold tone:

“They’re not my employees. They’re mercenaries—hired to protect the goods. If they couldn’t do the job, that’s not my concern.”

Leni, despite her frustration, nodded, understanding his position. Edo, observing the exchange, came up with an idea. After a brief moment of awkward silence, he broke it:

“What if we find your shipment in the forest? Would we get a discount? Or maybe a few crystals for free?”

Emil looked at Edo with amusement but replied jokingly:

“And what would I gain, you rascal? I could go there myself and check it out as soon as I'm done with the nobles.”

But Edo didn’t intend to give up. He wanted Leni, to whom he owed a debt, to get the best outcome possible.

“Every moment counts, right?” he insisted. “You’re not the only one with a shop like this in the capital, are you? If your mercenaries fell or ran away, and the shipment is indeed lying on the main road in the forest, a competitor could take it before you even get there.”

Emil glared at Edo but soon softened his gaze. He nodded.

“You’ve got a point, boy. There’s nothing worse than a competitor trying to push you out of business. Fine, so be it. If you find my shipment, you can take a few crystals for yourselves.”

Edo quietly clenched his fist in a victory gesture, while Leni could hardly believe he’d managed to persuade the shopkeeper. After a moment, slightly embarrassed, she addressed Emil.

“Thank you, Emil. This really means a lot to us.”

Emil just waved his hand.

“That’s enough gratitude, or my ears will wither! Off you go, before I change my mind!”

A moment later, Edo and Leni left Emil’s shop. The sorceress looked at the young man gratefully.

“Edo, thank you. I knew your presence would help me handle this deal better.”

Edo, slightly irritated, shrugged.

“Yeah… If he had the crystals in stock, I wouldn’t have gotten anything—it was pure luck that the shipment hadn’t arrived,” he thought.

Suddenly, Leni looked at him seriously.

“Thanks, Edo, but I’ll go to the forest alone. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

The young man raised his voice in response.

“No, no way! Why do you think I bargained? So you could go there by yourself? I’m going with you, end of discussion!”

However, a thought flashed through his mind: *What in the actual fuck am I getting myself into? I have no experience fighting monsters. But something tells me I need to help her or something bad is gonna happen. This strange power that lets me see the future where I die might come in handy. I should test if it works; I’ve never used it outside of battle, but I need to use it on Leni. I won’t use the left eye’s power, which traps me in the vision of my death—I’ll use the right eye to check if it works. If the right eye works, the left should as well.

Edo focused and looked at Leni through his right eye. After a moment, he saw text appear above her head:

~| Chance of death– less than 1% |~

~| Cause – insufficient percentage to determine a direct cause |~

“It works,” he thought, though the sensation accompanying the vision was unsettling. *It’s disturbing that everyone has a minimal chance of causing my death. Hopefully, I’ll rarely need to use this power. Most likely, I can't even use the left eye because the chance of death is too low, probably close to 0%, preventing it from indicating a direct cause.

Leni, noticing his strange behavior, looked at him with concern.

“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.

Edo snapped out of his thoughts.

“Of course. So, how are we getting to that forest? Surely not on foot?”

Leni snorted slightly, amused.

“Of course not on foot! The forest is thirty-five kilometers from the capital. We’ll rent horses, as we don’t have time to return to the castle for my own.”

She headed toward the nearest stable but noticed Edo standing still, looking a bit worried. She turned and asked:

“What’s wrong?”

The young man looked at her, a little embarrassed.

“There’s one problem… I don’t know how to ride a horse.”