Chapter 27 - Ominous News

Loki entered the shop with a dispirited aura.

"Welcome!" Mr. Goodwill happily said, standing behind the counter with his usual hat and loose robe. "Oh, it's just you. Why are you back already, and where are the other two? Are they dead?"

"Why is everyone assuming they're dead? No, they aren't; they are at home resting!" Loki reprimanded, as he was currently in a cranky mood.

"Woah, no need to be angry; I'm just asking."

"Never mind that, I'm here to pay our debt."

The fat merchant rubbed his hands, and the smile on his face returned. "Oh, good sir, please come and sit with me!"

Loki had no energy to point out the sudden change in the merchant; he sauntered closer to him and sat on the chair the fat man pointed at. Taking a pouch from his pocket, he counted 21 silver coins and handed it to Mr. Goodwill.

The fat merchant received the coins with his two open palms, as if he were getting something from a god. The 21 coins glimmer in Mr. Goodwill's hand as he eyes them with longing.

"Oh, what an amazing creation of man!"

"Are you done?" Loki asked while fixing his appearance.

"Hahaha, is there something you need? Ah, that reminds me, do you have material to sell?"

Loki lingered; for some reason, he hated the idea of selling his things to the fat merchant. "Yeah, I do have some."

Mr. Goodwill's eyes sparked in curiosity, and he leaned his face closer to Loki. "What is it? Is it something rare?"

Uncomfortable, Loki pushed the huge face before him and took out the Sunshine Petals and the Kobold's Claw. "How much can you pay? Don't even think of scamming me; I know their market price."

That was what he said; in truth, he had no clue how much they were worth. Pandora mentioned the Sunshine Petals cost 10 silver, but that was just her speculation.

Mr. Goodwill looked at him like he was offended. "How could you say that to me? I never scam my customers; I'm a proper and well-mannered merchant!"

"Your words don't reassure me when you already took the items without buying them. Put them back first and tell me how much you can pay."

The fat man froze in the middle of lifting the Sunshine Petals and the Kobold's Claw. "What do you mean? I just want to inspect them!"

"Yeah, yeah, you can inspect them without touching them."

"Fine. I can give you 11 silver for both of them."

Loki didn't utter a word and kept staring at Mr. Goodwill.

The fat man scratched his head and awkwardly chuckled. "I'm just kidding; no need to look at me like that. Okay, for the sake of our long partnership, I will offer you 13 silver."

13 silver? Is that a good price? This is difficult to assess without prior knowledge. I should study market prices when I have time.

"Fine! Fine! You sure are hard to please. This is my final offer; if you don't like this, then you better find another place to sell." The merchant gave up. "15 silver, last offer!"

The sudden outburst of the fat man woke him up from his contemplation. He didn't know why the fat man raised his offer, but he wouldn't complain. "Deal."

The merchant's nervous face shone once again. "Here's the pay." Without waiting for Loki to take the coins, Mr. Goodwill grabbed the two items from the counter and hid them in the cabinet.

Why do I feel like I was taken advantage of again?

Loki ignored the feeling. He collected the coins and deposited them in his pouch.

"I will go now," Loki said, standing up.

"Thank you for the business. Oh, by the way, condolences about what happened to your hometown. I'm sure you know good people there. They don't deserve the incident that occurred.

Loki frowned. He had no idea what the merchant was talking about. "What do you mean? Did something happen to my hometown?"

Mr. Goodwill looked surprised. "You didn't know? Some unknown group massacred everyone from that town, leaving nothing but rubble and corpses."

Loki froze at where he stood. The news was like a hand that grabbed and tightly grasped his heart, resulting in his difficulty breathing. "A-are you sure? When did this happen?"

"Last week."

"I'm sorry, I need to go." Loki didn't wait for the merchant's reply and hurriedly walked out of the shop.

His heartbeat booms like a drum, thinking of what happened to Father Laryatt. How could he calm himself when he knew that there was a possibility of his last family being dead? He had to go home, back to his hometown.

With a worried heart, Loki hastened his steps. However, even with his pace, it took him several hours as he lost his way back to the inn.

Inside the inn.

Loki went straight to his room, wanting to talk to Leo about his predicament. Upon opening the door, he saw Leo and Pandora happily conversing.

"Oh, your back, where have you been?" Leo asked in concern.

"I went to Mr. Goodwill to pay our debt. But that isn't important right now; I have to return to my hometown."

"What? Why so sudden?"

"I heard some news that it was attacked by a random group. I need to check someone there; I had to make sure he is alive."

Leo sat up on the bed. "What!? I will come with you."

Pandora nodded in agreement. "I-I will come too."

Loki shook his head. "No, I need to do this alone. I don't want to bother you with my problem."

"What are you saying? We're friends; your problem is our problem too," Leo remarked.

Loki smiled, his racing heart calming down a little when he heard Leo's words. "I know, but not this time. Also, don't you need to cater to the inn? Just stay here; I promise I will return soon."

Leo and Pandora lingered; they were unwilling, but seeing Loki's serious face, they sighed and agreed.

"W-when are you leaving?" Pandora questioned.

"I would have liked to leave tonight, but I know it's dangerous, so I will leave early in the morning. Oh, by the way, I have our first coins." Loki grabbed the pouch from his pocket and handed it to Pandora. "I sold the Sunshine Petals and the Kobold's Claw for 15 silver; thus, we have 20 silver in that pouch. Both of you take 7 silver each, and the remaining is mine."

"S-Seven silver!" Leo exclaimed. "I have never earned that many coins in just a few days. Normally, it will have taken me 2 months or more to save that kind of coin!"

Pandora poured the contents onto the bed, producing a clanking sound as the coins hit each other as they fell.

"Wow. There are so many silver coins!" Leo widened his eyes.

Pandora calmly counted the coins and divided them into three groups; she seemed used to doing that. Soon, the silver coins had been separated: 2 had 7 silver, while the last only had 6.

"W-we're 1 silver short."

"That's fine; I will take the 6 silver," Loki suggested.

Pandora shook her head. "N-no, we should always keep fairness in our party, or it will become trouble in the future. How about putting the 2-excess silver as our party budget?"

Leo tilted his head. "Party budget? What is that?"

"I-it's a saving we can only use for our party, for example, buying things that our party needs."

Loki nodded in understanding. "That's a smart strategy. Okay, let's do that."

After a moment, the trio grabbed their share and deposited them in their own bags.

"I-I think I need to go home; it's pretty late." Pandora stood up.

"What? It's already so dark outside. How about you stay the night, so tomorrow we can see Loki off?" Leo suggested.

Pandora lingered; she seemed hesitant to accept the offer.

"Just stay here; this inn has plenty of room for you," Loki added.

Hearing her two members say the same thing, Pandora shyly nodded.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Come out; let's eat," Grandma said.

The three kids looked at each other, smiled, and simultaneously replied. "Coming!"

The next day, in front of the south gate of Vestia.

Three kids were conversing near the exit.

"Take care of yourself out there, and here, take my ration with you; I think you will need it better than I am." Leo passed a waterskin and bag full of bread and dried meat.

"T-take mine too." Pandora copied.

Loki smiled. "Thank you. I don't think I will stay there for long, but I accept it because it is from you guys."

"Don't forget to eat and sleep. And if you are not here after a week, I will go there myself whether you like it or not," Leo warned.

"Okay, okay. I will take my leave now. Take care of yourselves and don't do anything stupid."

With that, Loki waved goodbye while walking away from Leo and Pandora.