Business with a full mouth

Asher arrived within an hour of running. He did not want to waste more time on this. Cynthia was often cryptic with her lessons. But she always left clues to solve any problem she gave. If she allowed the use of the shop during the week, Asher had to form his core, then one of the books that told him how he was here.

Asher looked through the books on the shelf and found nothing. He scratched his chin as he thought. "If I were Cynthia and wanted to hide something, I would hide it in the enchantment workshop." It was the only room that Asher was not allowed to due to the danger of the magical items. Asher checked the workshop and looked through the desk drawers until he found a small black book with a pouch attached.

Inside the pouch were a few coins and a note that read, 'Be sure to eat something before attempting.' Cynthia wrote the message as it had hearts on it. Asher sighed. "This looks like one of those cutsie notes a girl from an anime would leave their crush." Asher put the pouch aside before picking up the book.

It was fragile compared to the grimoires that lined the walls downstairs. Asher looked at the first page, which was flowery and filled with hearts. In the corner, there was even a chibi drawing of Cynthia. The title read, 'Amazing Cynthia Super Lovely Guide to Core Formation.' Asher slammed the book shut with an annoyed look on his face.

"This is Cynthia we are talking about. Of course, she would not take this seriously." Asher was more annoyed than grateful. He tossed the book over his shoulder as it disappeared into his inventory. He took the money and left the shop. This morning, he was not ready to deal with Cynthia's silliness.

He walked to the main street. There were people dressed in white all over the place, more than likely a family of soldiers that had left with his father. Asher made sure not to dress in white. After all, Veras did not have any family in the army. As he walked past the cathedral, he pulled up his hood and hid behind, filled with flowers.

He spotted his stepmother and twin at the steps of the cathedral. His outfit was lovely and better than what a commoner would wear. However, it was not so flashy that it would catch anyone's attention. So he talked with the vendor about the sweetest smells and other things about them. Asher should have just left, but he saw them talking to the priest, and something felt off.

He moved to a position where he thought he would be close enough to hear their conversation. Asher had gotten to know several townspeople due to his work at the guild. The vendor was happy to help Asher pick the fresh-cut flowers. "You got my best ones; I guarantee it."

"Thank you, Miss." Asher pulled out the small pouch. He didn't want to buy these, but if it kept his family away, it was a small sacrifice.

"Oh, no need." The woman waved away the money. "It is on the house since I have you to thank for finding my cat beast." Asher took various jobs around the city, including one that had him chasing a cat-like monster called a cat beast. Cat beasts were not much bigger than a house cat, but they had the wind element that made them extremely fast. Asher chased the thing for a whole day.

"Are you sure?" Asher felt bad just getting these for free.

"Of course, it is no problem. That damn cat keeps getting out. The whole reason I contract it was to keep the house rodent free, but all it does is lazily lay about." The elderly woman complained. "You help me a lot so that it will be on the house this time."

"Must be difficult." Asher looked back to see if they had finally left. Unfortunately, they were still talking to the priest on the steps. 'Please leave already.' Asher was happy they didn't notice him yet, but he could not guarantee they would not see him if he got closer.

"So, Who is the lucky lady?" The woman teased Asher.

"Hmmm...Oh, there isn't any girl." Asher said, blushing. He felt awkward when the subject of his love life came up.

"Oh," She nodded as she understood. "Well, that must be one lucky gentleman to catch your eye. Young love is always so wonderful, and I will light a candle in the cathedral for you love birds." She laughed blissfully.

"It's not that either. I am only ten, after all." Asher's face went beat red. 'Did I just get outed by this random lady?'

"True, but that does not mean that you shouldn't be looking. After all, you are a young man; soon enough, you will marry age, and it is best to meet while you're still young. I met my husband when I was 11, and we married as soon as we were old enough." She smiled as she remembered her past. "These flowers are from the same garden we planted after getting married. I have been tending to it ever since. Oh, Hubert, rest your soul."

'I feel like I learned more than I should have about this woman.' Unfortunately, Asher could not make out a single word, and he could read the lips, and the words 'Dukedom' and 'Heir' came out of the priest's mouth. Asher did not want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed that they were trying to get the priest to give the go-ahead to remove Asher's title.

'I thought it was weird that witch was coming to pray. I don't the devil would ever pray to God.' Asher snorted under his breath. "Thank you for the Flowers. They are lovely."

Before the flowers could reply, a voice cut through the plaza. "Veras. Veras Loki." Asher flinched at the voice. The last thing you wanted while spying on your backstabbing family was someone to shout your fake name. Asher turned to find a bright pink hair man walking towards him. "How have you been, Veras? How fortunate I was thinking of you."

Strange hair color was not what was abnormal about the man. Humans with old hair would be typical among people that had nonhuman heritage. Like half-elf, half-human could be born with blonde, brown, or black from their human half or green or blue from the elf half. These traits could also skip generations or remain hidden in a bloodline. What was odd was that Asher knew this person; last time, he had dark brown hair.

It took a moment for Asher to recognize the man coming to greet him. "El." Asher had to pull up his data in his system to remember who this was. Elden came running up to Asher and gave him a one-sided hug. Asher could not stop staring at the bright pink hair. "I am sorry if this seems rude, but what the fuck did you do to your hair?"

"Oh. I was testing a potion. It is a hair ointment that uses illusions to change your hair color, and I have to test the product before I sell it." He kindly replied.

"I guess that makes sense. If the ointment has unknown side effects, that would be bad." Asher brushed himself off as El let go of him. The man was acting overly familiar with him, and Asher could not think why. A thought popped into his head. Could he have figured out that he was a duke? That would explain the change in attitude. He began to panic as thoughts rushed through his head.

"Exactly," El exclaimed. "I cannot be selling shotty merchandise. Anyway, where are you heading? Do you have time to talk? I have a proposition if you're interested."

"I was going to grab something to eat. What kind of proposition were you thinking about?" Asher was weary of El. If he did know something, it would make business in town much harder, and he could not allow further difficulties to interfere with his magic study.

"Fantastic," El exclaimed as he pushed Asher along. "We can talk further about our arrangement in private. All the best business is done with a full mouth." El laughed at his joke, and half dragged Asher to the high-end district.

This was the closest district to the manor, which sat outside the city. It had fewer buildings but a more fancy and expensive appearance. Primarily merchants and lower-tier nobles spent their time here. In this district, you would be hard-pressed to find a shop selling anything under five gold. The cobblestone street turned into a well-paved road.

El leads Asher into one of the buildings. It was a sizeable extravagant manor with a picture of a snake-like creature on the outside sign. The words 'Serpent's treasure' was written in large letters on the front sign. Inside it was an expensive-looking restaurant. The two of them were led into a private room in the back of the shop.

"Are you going to tell me what this offer you were talking about?" Asher did not want to waste too much time on this, and he tried to find out what the man knew and get on with his life. If El knew his identity, it would be impossible for him to keep it secret for much longer.

As El was about to speak, the waitress returned with food piles. The food was loaded onto a small wooden boat full of seafood: lobster, Fish, and even sushi. Looking at the spread, Asher could not help but drool over how good it looked.

Asher took a piece of Fish and dipped it in. It slides down his throat with such ease. The juice dripped down his chin. Asher enjoyed every single moment. It felt like every part of him was refreshing. The taste was the best thing he had ever tasted in either of his lives. Before too much longer, the entire buffet had disappeared into the two men's stomachs.

Asher patted his full stomach. "That was amazing. I never tasted food that good before." Asher felt like if he ate anymore, his stomach would burst.

"I am good friends with the owner. He is a top-notch chef, one of the best in town." El sipped on a glass of wine as he enjoyed the whole feeling. "He is a refugee from the northern continent, and I heard they had some special way of cooking. He is easily one of the top 5 chefs in the city."

"Now that you have fattened me up, what deal did you want to make?" Asher had to admit this was well beyond anything he could afford. He couldn't understand what circumstance would lead to getting a free feast like this.

"Right now that we have had our fill, it is on to business." El set down his class. His face became serious in an instant. "As you might know, the spirit festival is next month, and I have many matters I want you to join a dungeon team."

Asher's eyes went wide. This might have been worse than if his identity had been exposed. Dungeons were not places he should ever go as a recently awakened mage.