12 A very "hands on" cut

On a country road that takes people home, to the place where they belong, a rather bizarre sight can be seen, a carriage was going forward yet no horse was pulling it, instead, at the bottom of it, 2 hands touched the ground now and then before the earth launched the carriage forward.

The carriage was made out of plain wood, rimmed by steel, with only 1 door to enter or exit, it stood at a height of 3 meters, excluding the wheels, and was decently sized, within this carriage resides none other than Adam.

He has been "driving" the carriage for a whole day now, from last night up until today, that is at the very least 7 continuous hours of nonstop power usage, although he did stop using the philosopher's stone after getting one kilometer away from Mereoleona, he still lost about 2 souls for that, how unlucky.

As he was driving Adam felt a shiver go up to his spine as he made the carriage go forward, he looked back in the direction of the forest, a feeling of doom sweep over him before he shook his head with a grim expression.

'Get rid of unnecessary thoughts.' He thought to himself as he continued going forwards, the woman is in all likelihood going to follow after him so he has no choice other than to hurry upon his journey.

Yet still, his thoughts could not be restrained, they kept escaping, asking him what if's and whatnot, to quiet them down he decided to do the only thing he knew that could help him, sing.

"There once was a ship that put to sea and the name of that ship was the Billy o' tea.

The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down bellow me bully boys blow.

Soon may the wellerman come..." And thus he sang, he sang until his lungs gave out, in hopes of drowning out the unnecessary thoughts that were rummaging around in his head.

However, after some time spent just mindlessly singing and using alchemy he could no longer take it, boredom came over him, and he decided to check out how close he was to the village he was headed off to.

To his surprise, upon poking his head out thru the door he saw that the village was decently close, he could see its outlines already, with his current speed he should arrive within 15 minutes, something that made him very happy.

Even more so it seems that a man was also coming in his direction, driving a wooden cart of hay which is being pulled by horses, great, his luck is phenomenal today.

Adam waited there, resting for a few moments as the man came closer and closer, finally, when they were so close they could see each other's faces Adam spoke out.

The man turned out to be old, really really old, at least 70 years of age, with tanned wrinkled skin which he probably got from his long days working in the fields, he was wearing simple clothes as well as a straw hat to cover himself at least slightly from the heat.

"Excuse me, mister, are you perhaps from that village?" Donning the best smile he could muster, combined with the most harmless expression, which is not easy since he always looks angry, and his body is massive, Adam asked the old man.

The old man faced Adam as he asks this question, slapping his horses with their reigns they immediately stopped in their tracks, and the man eyed Adam with a bit of suspicion before he answered back.

"Ay youngster? Well, yes I am, something yer wanna know?" The old man said, having a noticeable accent to his voice, it wasn't exactly a thick accent, but still present enough to notice.

The man didn't even ask Adam about his carriage, nor how he got here, nor why there was a trail of earth and rock behind him, when you live in a magical world long enough the unusual becomes the norm.

"That village of yours, does it sell lumber? Or horses?" Adam asked, if he can buy himself some wood then he can repair the carriage and if he can get the horses then he won't have to use alchemy to move.

The man looked over at his carriage and saw that it was missing its horses, which made him question how he came this far but he wasn't interested enough to ask so he just nodded.

"Timber? Why yes we do, we take it all from a nearby forest, best timber in the region might I add. As for horses, you might have to search a little for those, but some of the old-timers such as myself should be willing to sell." The old man said after thinking about it for a moment, although he doesn't know personally anyone that sells horses, some of the people in the village should be interested in selling.

Adam narrowed his eyes, how troublesome, that's a lot more work he'd have to do, he eyed the old man's wagon and horses with a dangerous glint before shaking off those thoughts, the village people would most likely recognize the horses and then he would be in trouble, probably have to kill them all, too much trouble for too little reward.

"Thank you for the help old-timer, I'll be on my way then," Adam said as the old man tipped him his hat and struck the horses with the reigns making them move forward, the two went their merry ways.

Releasing a labored sigh Adam went back to work using alchemy to move, he can't wait for the moment he finally gets those damn horses and no longer has to do this.

As expected he arrived in the village within 15 minutes, his arrival was noticed by several people, it's not easy to miss Adam's carriage, most of them gave him strange looks, with that said they soon turned back ane focused on their own business.

Not minding nor noticing the stares Adam got out of the carriage thru the hole at the bottom, easier than going thru the door, and upon exiting it he stood up to his full height, looking around himself.

There's a bar to the right with a shabby sign hanging up top, a small barbershop to the left with slow business, and various residential buildings all around, this is a pretty big village, he must admit, closer to a town.

Information gathering comes first, and no other place is as good for information as a bar, that's where the whole village along with every traveler comes, so the patriots or the barman is guaranteed to have some information.

Cracking his bones Adam walked over to the bar entrance, it reminded him of those old western type saloons, which is strange considering this is supposed to be a medieval setting, but who is he to judge?

Upon hearing the creaking of the door the regular patrons turned to see who entered, the giant form of Adam was there to greet them.

They all eyed him suspiciously before going back to their drinks, just another traveler, a rarety in these parts but it's nothing outstandingly unusual.

Adam walked on over to the bar table and sat on one of the chairs, it gave a few cries of protest before settling down, the barman came over to him within seconds, not saying anything, just waiting for him to order.

"Pint of beer, also, do you know where I can buy lumber and horses in this village?" Adam said as he looked at the bartender, a mustached man with glasses, he also put down several more coins on the table than a pint of beer is worth.

The barman looked at him and nodded, sweeping up the coins with his hands to one of the pockets of his apron, he went off to the side and returned with a cold pint of beer before he began to speak.

"For the lumber, you should visit the lumber mill, at the center of town, as for the horses, I heard rumors that ol' Jake at the west edge of is willing to sell, the man is retiring, although at a massively inflated price." The barman said, paying no more attention to Adam, instead, he took out some wet glasses and dried them with wind magic.

Adam thanked the man before chugging down the pint in one gulp, he got up from the stool and walked out of the bar, his destination? The lumbermill at the center of town.

As he began walking he asked himself a funny question. How come the pint was cold? Most likely magic, but the bartender had wind magic, so how come the beer was cold? Does he have a helper with ice magic? Or water magic? Or maybe his magic is not wind magic? So many questions.

He barely even noticed he had arrived at the lumber mill, he only snapped out of it when his nose smelled the familiar scent of fresh wood, and his ears heard the sound of wood getting chopped and falling.

Snapping back to reality Adam saw a middle-aged man cutting up wood using some sort of metal magic, most likely iron or steel magic, but there are other options as well.

To his side stood some young men who were as well using magic to cut wood, noticeably, however, one young man was using wood magic to create wood to get chopped, interesting.

The men soon noticed the approaching Adam, they all stood up and looked towards Adam as he approached them, they even seemed a little on edge, but a wave of the older man's hand sent them back to work, so, now the middle-aged man and Adam stoop opposite of each other.

"Hello good sir, might you be the man who owns this place?" Adam asks, his tone amiable and his face pleasant, well, as pleasant as he can get it.

The man examined Adam from top to bottom, he seems to be searching for something but apparently, he didn't find it, he gave out a sigh of relief at that, before speaking out.

"Yes, that's me, why you ask?" The man asked as he casually wiped the sweat he built upon his face during the work with a towel that he has draped around his neck.

Adam looked around, he doesn't need a lot of wood to repair his carriage, he only has a human-sized hole in it after all, so while looking around he saw the wood they had just-chopped.

It was standard wood, chopped just recently and the amount was just right, he nodded happily at it before turning to speak with the man.

"If possible I wish to buy this recently chopped lumber of yours," Adam said, pointing at the wood that is currently on the ground, chopped up, although still in need of further processing.

The man raised an eyebrow, he has never had a customer this direct with their purchase, they usually make commissions or take some of the older wood, but hey, a customer is a customer, who is he to complain?

"Sure, that's about 8 yule." The man said, reducing the price quite a bit due to it being fresh wood still having its bark on it and everything.

"No problem," Adam said as he took some coins out of his pocket, in the meantime, the man ordered his helpers to round up all the wood.

"Here you go, and, may I ask a question?" Adam said as he handed the man the money, the man looked at him from the corner of his eyes before nodding.

"What's the difference between magic wood and natural wood? Why not just use magic wood?" Adam asked, it's something he is rather curious about, yet he doesn't have wood magic so he would not be able to answer it, asking help from a professional is the best option.

"Simple really, not many people have enough mana to constantly keep generating wood. And even if they do, magical wood just can't match up to the look, feel, and smell of real wood, that's something those nobles are picky about, it must be real wood." The man asked, just in time as the younger men came and delivered to wood to Adam.

Thanking the man for clarification, as well as the wood, Adam moved on, going back to the carriage and repairing it on the spot with alchemy, next up was going to buy the horses.

Now the bartender said that there's a man rumored to be selling his horses at the west edge of town, that in it of itself is not an issue, the issue is that Adam doesn't know where the west is.

He was always bad with directions, not like Zoro's level of bad, but if someone told him to go south, he'd ask where's the south, he barely passed geography in his past life.

Now sure, Father and Hoenheim managed to remedy that to a certain extent, but old habits die hard, thus he spent a good part of his time trying to find where west was.

Eventually, he just gave up and asked a bunch of people where this old man Jake character who is selling horses is supposed to reside.

It took him considerably less time to find the house that way than it did when he was just going around like a headless fly, so now he stood in front of a pretty nice house at the edge of town, knocking on its door.

"Who is it?" An old and frail, yet surprisingly vigorous voice greeted Adam as he knocked on the door, preparing himself for what is to come he donned his best expression possible.

"Good day mister Jake, I have heard rumors that you are selling your horses and I am willing to buy," Adam said thru the door, not exactly knowing how to refer to Jake he decided to just used mister.

No response came back, instead, footsteps can be heard as seconds later the door opened up, in front of Adam standing a short hunchback old man.

The man was old, even older than the man he had seen on the road, his hair was completely white and he had a big beard, his statue is small, his hunchback made him even smaller, about 145 cm in Adam's assessment, truly short, he reminded him of that old master from Kill Bill.

The old man assessed Adam, he scoffed at what he saw, yet still, he was a potential customer, he might as well see what he is after.

"So, you want to buy my horses?" The old man asked, Adam, nodded, although, for some reason he had this feeling as if the old man in front of him is unbelievably grumpy, he can't tell why but he just gives him that vibe.

"Yes sir," Adam said, nodding along with his words, being nice costs him nothing and you never know where you can get by being nice.

"Sure, I'll sell, for 2000 yule." The old man said a sudden smug smirk appeared on his face as he said those words, there is no way that a young man like himself could afford so much money for just a few horses unless he is the som of a noble, and there is no reason for a noble to be in this region of the Clover kingdom.

"Deal," Adam said without even a second of hesitation, sure the price may be overblown, being about twice as much as what one would regularly pay, but that is not an issue for Adam.

First is because he sees money as nothing more than objects, you can't eat it, you can't sleep under it, money is objectively worthless to him, so using it is better than leaving it to sit somewhere in a corner, although if there's an opportunity to get more he won't say no.

The second is because he doesn't feel like arguing with this old man now, he's better of just paying the man.

And finally, it's because he is rich, he has raided several villages so far and collected all of the money from them, his wealth is in the tens of thousands by now.

The man on the other hand was stunned, his mouth hung loose as he found himself to be slackjawed, is it possible that someone is willing to pay so much for just 2 country horses? Is he insane? Or is his luck that good?

"Eh? Ah? Sure." It is only after a few seconds that he brought himself back to reality, he absentmindedly responded, while in his mind he was jumping from happiness.

"Great, can you bring them around to my carriage? I'll give you the money there." Adam asked, he didn't even have to wait for a response as not even a second later the old man nodded his head like a chicken pecking at the ground, it didn't even occur to him that Adam may be scamming him.

The old man went to the back of the house and brought out 2 horses, he told Adam to lead the way and so he did, the both of them arriving at the carriage where Adam paid the man.

Now Adam had everything he could ask for, he just needed to head out, his food was stocked up and he truly did have everything, yet as he looked around he noticed the barbershop.

'Hm, you know what? I'll go get a cut.' Adam thought as he looked at the barbershop, sure he may have cut his hair but that wasn't an exactly clean job, getting done by a professional will make him look much more professional.

He looked from the outside and indeed same as before there was only one more customer, it was a slow day it seems, his luck is amazing today, isn't it?

"Excuse me," Adam said as he popped his head thru the door, his voice drew the attention of several people but only the woman closest to him decided to approach him.

And it was no wonder, she practically had hearts in her eyes as she approached him, he immediately realized that his handsomeness bore fruit.

"How may I help you?~" She said, her voice more than a little inviting as she came very close to Adam, practically rubbing up against him, she should go to horny jail.

"I would like a cut, as short as possible on the sides, and shorten it just a little up top," Adam said, he never liked long hair on guys, it just doesn't fit together for him, even more so on the type of muscular body he has, it would just look strange.

"Fu fu fu, certainly customer. That will be 200 yule." She said as she caressed his muscles, she has no concept of personal space, does she? Still, Adam rook out a purse and threw it on a table, it made a heavy clank as it landed.

Everybody turned their heads, the piece had 500 yule, something they all realized upon looking at its size and the noise it made, immediately they all went into action.

They put him in the chair and began the process, they used magic as well as scissors and normal objects to give him a cut, it lasted no more than 30 minutes and he walked away happy, with a haircut somewhere between a crew cut and a fade.

Returning to his carriage Adam opened the door and laid himself in bed, looking up at the ceiling he began to plan.

The previous battle with Mereoleona showed him his downsides, mainly that his physical body is weak, and his claps are not fast enough, he will have to work on that.

There's also the fact that he will have less time to capture souls, so he will instead need to devote that time elsewhere, physical training and experimentation being obvious choices.

As for his third choice, it will be art, because alchemy, at its core, runs on the imagination of the user, if he can increase his imagination he can increase his potential and power.

With his regiment and goal set Adam went outside and stirred forward the horses, he directly went for the Magic knight exam for a few hundred meters before turning around.

His paranoia won't allow him to just go, he will make sure that Mereoleona doesn't catch him so he made a turn around the village, making sure to stay out of sight, before going in the opposite direction.