4: Unfamiliar Town, Unfamiliar Smells

 I shouldn't really have my doubts about this woman's sincerity. After all, if she had lied or had any ill intentions toward me, her head would have already be rolling across the floor.

I am curious as to how much help she would give me.

"Finding the person that could help us is kind of tricky to find."

"How so?"

Her shoulders slackened, an irritated look crossing her friend, "That annoying bastard thinks he can do whatever he wants with me. I'm sure he's already noticed that I've entered the town but won't come out unless something interests him."

He doesn't sound that bad, "Why, did you piss him off so much that he wouldn't even greet you?" I tease, bumping shoulders with her.

Tiana groaned miserably, "He's pissed that he didn't get an item that I sold a few years back." She motioned to her wagon, "It wasn't much of a sight at first but when the buyer had used mana on it, the piece of junk turned out to be a Grade A mana sword. I made a fortune as well as his ire."

A mana sword? "What's a mana sword?"

The gasp that Tiana did was concerning. I was worried that she might inhale some degree and choke on it with how harsh she gasped. "Have you been living under a rock?!"

"Uhh... maybe? Technically?"

She clenched her fist, eyes filled with comical rage, "I swear to my Goddess, if I ever find out whoever hurt you I will beat them to the ground."

I laugh half-heartedly, "I don't think that's a good idea, Tiana."

"R'they some kind of big shot or something?"

"Something like that."

"Then I'll give them a piece of my mind." Before I can tell her that it was a bad idea, she was already continuing to speak,

"A mana sword is made up of metal that's able to conduct mana much more effectively than a normal sword. Usually the metal that it's made up either has properties of mana crystals in them or they've been soaked in mana for such a long time that it adapted to the element overtime. The latter is probably what happened with the sword I sold, hence why it was so unassuming."

That sounds like the technologies in the tower. I haven't seen them use it as a sword though, mostly just methods of torture to see the limits of my body more than anything else.

"Is the metal used in anything other than a sword?"

She snorted, "If there is someone that decided to do so, they either have to be filthy rich or have their own smithy that's specialized for mana imbued metal. Oh! We're here!"

I look to the direction that we were going to and an anxious pit settled at the bottom of my stomach. The crowd at the front of the town could not hold a candle to the amount of people that were gathered in this area.

I don't think I've seen so many in one place in my life. Staring at them has got me feeling like there are ants crawling under my skin.

"Thankfully, the guy we're going to be contacting is someone that I've actually been wanting to talk to for some time now so I've prepared some items that are surely going to interest him."

I turn back to Tiana, mindful of how my mana was slightly getting swept up with my restlessness. I needed to calm myself if I didn't want to lose control. "Are you selling swords?"

"Some of them are. I work for a guild that deals with artifacts and old equipment that we appraise and improve to the best of our abilities then sell them to towns."

I couldn't stop myself from whimpering when we slowly stopped in front of a crowd of people. From the looks of it, the ones that were gathered around looked like they were expecting our arrival and was calling other people over.

Tiana jumped down the wagon. I hesitate. The crowd looked suffocating from this height, I don't know what I would do if I am suddenly in the middle of that.

"You can stay here if you want."

Her eyes were on my hands that I only now realized were trembling. I clenched my fists and willed them to stop moving as I asked, "Are you sure?"

"I can tell crowds aren't your thing. You can stay here and make sure that there aren't any bastards that would try to rob the products before I finish setting up shop." She put her hand on my own, gentle yet firm. "Can you do that for me?"

I can deal with robbers, "Yeah. You can leave it to me."

"Great!" With that, she turned to the crowd and greeted some of the near people with high fives.

Her voice boomed as she spoke in their native language. Her arms were flailing all over, gesturing here and there. I watch the crowd attentively, all of their attention was swept up by Tiana and her performance.

Those that laid eyes on her chose to stay for a few seconds that turned into minutes that turned into fully settling on her and watch what was about to go down.

The crowd was huge, but it didn't bother me as much anymore. I spread my senses all over the wagon, confident that no one would try to mess with Tiana's things, but my main senses were locked in on Tiana. I didn't understand what it was that she was saying but with how she delivered, I was captivated.

I wish I can understand what she was saying.

She talked for a couple more minutes before she turned toward the wagon and led the horse to one of the empty stands. She pulled on the cloth that covered the wagon, revealing a large amount of items hidden behind them.

"Thank you for guarding them." She told me quietly as if I had just done her a huge favor before she went back to performing for the crowd.

I was right in my earlier observations. This woman was dangerous. I don't think my heart can take the amount of sincerity that was oozing out of her.