19 Who's boy

Creak!

The crisp sound echoed through the air as an old and poorly maintained carriage slowly made its way along a forested road. The carriage trundled towards the end of the forest path, where it met the edge of a vast plain adorned with lush green grass. Beyond the expanse of the plain loomed a towering wall encircling a magnificent and sprawling city, its grandeur visible from the carriage's vantage point.

The scenery was truly beautiful. An old man, guiding the carriage and urging his horse forward, gazed towards the giant city visible on the horizon at the end of the plains. In the vast expanse of the plains, scattered with tiny flowers—some yellow, some blue—the landscape was enchanting to behold.

"Haa, never gets old," the old man uttered softly, his eyes taking in the picturesque scene before him.

The carriage continued its journey, the horses pulling it steadily as it veered off course, leaving the shelter of the forest behind and entering the open plains.

But at that moment..

"Growl!" A menacing sound reached the ears of the old man.

Startled, the man looked around, his eyes widening in alarm as he spotted the silhouette of a wolf-like creature swiftly approaching him from the forest.

"Oh my..." he gasped, his words trailing off as a giant wolf lunged out from the forest, crossing the road with lightning speed. In an instant, its jaws clamped onto the old man, dragging him away into the darkness of the forest.

"God damn it!" cursed a voice from the back of the wolf as another figure fell to the ground when the wolf darted across the road.

"No, don't do it!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, but...

The desperate cries of the old man mingled with the wild beast's growls reached my ears from the roadside.

"Neigh!"

The horses grew restless, attempting to bolt, but I grabbed hold of the reins, tugging firmly until they yielded to my command.

The disturbing sounds from the forest subsided, and after a few tense minutes, Absa emerged from the shadows. She had reverted to her human form, no trace of her feral state evident except for the blood trickling from her mouth.

"That was unnecessary. The man would have likely agreed to give us a lift to the city if we had just asked," I said as she approached. I should have spoken up sooner, but I didn't know what she was going to do until the last moment.

"Yeah right, then what about my hunger? Are we supposed to ask him to feed us too?" she retorted, prompting me to remain silent. There was no point in discussing what had already happened.

"But do skinshifters eat humans?" I asked, curious despite myself.

"We can eat anything, like most humans, but you, on the other hand, seem to have pretty good stamina. You haven't eaten anything all this time," Absa said, casting a curious glance in my direction.

Not only her even I found myself pondering my peculiar situation. Could it be that a witch had done something to me, rendering me immune to hunger? It was the only explanation I could conjure for now.

"Anyway, just get on. I managed to calm them down, but I have no idea how to ride them,"

I shifted from my seat, making room for Absa, and climbed up onto the carriage. She settled in beside me, taking the reins from my hand. Though I only saw them as ropes, I knew there was a more appropriate name for them.

"Usually, this is the man's job," Absa remarked with a hint of mockery as she urged the horse to move forward.

As the carriage rolled through the plains, I glanced back inside, only to find a large amount of dry sticks and logs filling the space. They were likely preparations for the upcoming winter, if such a season existed here. The sight tugged at my heartstrings, and I quickly turned my gaze back to the road ahead.

I harbored a lingering fear: what if Absa suddenly decided to turn on me and attempt to devour me? Because of this fear, I carefully positioned the potion the witch had given me in a place where I could grab it hastily if needed.

Despite Absa's continued urging, the horses never surpassed a certain speed, which slowed our journey. Amidst Absa's murmuring about what she planned to do to the horses when we reached the city, we rode through the beautiful plains, drawing closer to the towering city ahead.

"So, this is the city of Tintangal," I remarked, taking in the medieval-like surroundings, with old-looking buildings dotting the cityscape.

"Actually, the name of the city came from a giant ancient castle that existed here long before people began to live here," Absa added.

She guided the horse through the giant gate of the city, passing by a few people stationed at the gate, likely guards. Surprisingly, they didn't stop us or ask who we were as we entered.

"Nice guards," I commented as we entered the city.

"So, where do you want to go?" Absa asked again. Taking the map, I searched specifically for the place, and according to it, after riding through the city, we ended up in front of a quirky-looking building.

"Whoa, this looks like a place where a demon would stay," Absa remarked, peering at the little shop on the lower floor of the two-story building.

After stepping down from the carriage, I walked inside the shop, with Absa following closely behind.

Clink!

A little bell sounded as I entered. Inside the shop, I found a clean atmosphere, with most of the items resembling old, antique objects.

"Mmm, it's been a long time since a young customer like you arrived in my little place. Are you a new apprentice of someone I know?" Suddenly, an old lady appeared out of nowhere behind me, causing me to jump in fright.

"Wait, where is Absa?" I looked around frantically, but Absa was nowhere to be seen.

"An apprentice that doesn't even know the first thing about an ingredients shop, huh! Now I really need to know who your master is," the old lady said sternly.

"I think you're misunderstanding. I'm not an apprentice of anyone; I'm just here to get some ingredients," I explained.

"You do, for who?" the witch asked, her gaze falling upon the bag I was carrying, and she fell silent.

In the next moment, she walked past me.

"So, what ingredients do you want?" she asked, and I took out the paper that had the ingredients Ardía wanted and handed it to the old lady.

"Hmm, wait here for a bit. I'll get these things for you," the old lady said after examining the paper for a moment, then disappeared into the shop.

I slowly made my way toward a large table and sat in a little chair nearby. This area seemed to be where she conducted transactions, as there was a contraption resembling a calculator on the side of the table.

"Oh, shit! Ardía didn't give me any money to buy those things," as I remember it a wave of anxiety wash over me. What was I going to tell the lady when she came back?

Clin!

At that moment, I suddenly heard the sound of a glass. When I looked in that direction, I saw a glass cup floating through the air from one of the shelves in the shop. As the cup moved, a bunch of other things began to happen.

One of the cabinets suddenly opened, and some sweets flowed onto a plate. A kettle began to emit steam as it moved towards the table in front of me, followed by the plate full of sweets and the empty tea cup. Everything was perfectly placed in front of me, as if someone had done it by hand. Finally, the kettle soloily poured some hot-looking tea into the cup.

"Is this supposed to be for me?" I asked aloud, scanning the shop, but no one came into view.

I glanced back at the sweets and the cup of tea, feeling a dryness in my throat.

"Might as well,"

I lifted the tea cup and took a sip. It felt warm and invigorating, while the sweets tasted as if they were handcrafted by highly experienced chefs.

As I began to enjoy my impromptu tea time, I lost track of how much time had passed.

"Here you are, your ingredients, boy," the old lady's voice reached me as she walked out from one of the closed doors inside the shop. Hurriedly, I swallowed the sweet in my mouth and took a final sip from the tea before standing up and accepting the bag she gave me.

"Ugh, this might come as a surprise, but I don't have any money," I blurted out, the words coming out harsher than I intended, my heart pounding in my chest.

"No need for anything, we provide absolutely free items for your lineage," the lady replied firmly.

"Oh, okay," her response surprised me and eased my racing heart. I placed the giant bag into my smaller one. "Then, I hope you have a good day, lady," I said as I turned around to leave. However, at that moment, I suddenly stopped and turned back to the lady.

"You said that anything is free for me, right?" I asked, seeking clarification. She nodded in response.

"Why, is there anything else you want?" she inquired.

"Actually, there is," I replied, taking out the list of ingredients for the love potion that I had written and handing it to the lady.

"Do you have these ingredients here?"

The lady took the paper from my hand and examined it for a moment.

"Oh, ingredients for a love potion, and a forbidden one at that," she remarked with a hint of pride in her voice.

"So, you want all of these things right now?" she asked me.

"Yes, if you can, please. But there are some things that I still couldn't understand what they were, for example, what's that thing called 'beginning of a love'?" I asked her about one of the ingredient names listed in the love potion. Although I didn't know any of the ingredients used for it, from some names I could figure out that there might be plants and other items, but this particular thing didn't seem like something along those lines.

"Come with me," the old lady said, turning around and walking back toward the room she had emerged from.

As she said, I followed her.