Chapter 41: New Allies/Training Partners

As we got close to the area Farmi's name was on the board, we both kept an eye out for the brown hair, golden-eyed girl whose only about an inch or two taller than Verei.

But instead of seeing her, the first thing we catch is the loud sound of something metal slamming against wood only for a loud snarl to resound after. 

"Do you take me for a fool?!" rang out a female voice, "Just because you think my goods are overpriced doesn't mean they are! And if they were, so what?! Go buy from the dumbass selling them for cheap instead of wasting my time arguing about it!" 

"Squawk! Overpriced but fair! Distance taken into account! Squawk!" 

The argument was one thing, and the strange voice that squawked was another but the sound of the snarl we heard was that of a beast, something I remember Farmi once called 'her strength'. 

We both head towards the sound of an argument spotting Farmi behind a counter with what looks to be a riding crop in her hand.

The Riding Crop had two metal screws attached to the leather head of the riding crop, the rest of it being made of some form of leather.

And just on her left was a grey bird that was giving... someone(?) a stink eye while a wolf snarls at two men on the other side of the cart. 

There are three men currently part of this conversation, one a bodyguard with light brown hair with the darkest skin tone I've seen so far standing on Farmi's side of the cart.

He's keeping an eye on the other two, who are more wary of the beast that reacted after Emeri's riding crop hit the stand. 

"Alright break it up!" Emeri was quick in taking action and while Farmi was at first confused seeing a girl in normal attire step in, but when she saw me behind her, it told Farmi everything she needed to know. 

The unsatisfied customers, however, didn't. "She's selling a fruit for 10 gold each! Such a ludicrous price for a simple fruit just because it's from another country!" 

The fruit he mentions looks to be about the size of two apples with the shape of a pinecone. It's not the biggest fruit but I've never seen anything like it around here. Not even while looking between each of the carts on the way here. 

The Grey Bird suddenly makes a sound as it begins talking. "Squawk! If you don't like the price, buy from someone else!" 

Farmi scoffed at the customer. "As the bird said, if you don't like the price, find someone else to buy it from! But I doubt there would be anyone selling fruit like this seeing as it's a ten day's travel by carriage through Hugo Desert, further east than the Kingdom of Jiiruno. It would've long since spoiled had I not taken the time and money to get this preserved, even using an artifact specially made to keep anything inside sealed in preservation for a long journey." 

'The bird is talking! I mean, a preservation spell and a container-like artifact to keep fruit in its ripe condition is cool but I don't think I've ever seen a bird that speaks the human language before! Much less a bird with such beautiful silver feathers like those!' 

The second guy, who's burlier compared to the first, tries to argue. "So what if the bird said to look for more! This is about you over pricing a piece of fruit just because it isn't common!" 

"Squawk! That's how business works dumb ass! The harder it is to come by, the higher the price! Squawk!" 

The second guy seems ready to tear a wing off the talking bird, leading to the bodyguard taking a step forward from the cart to do his job. 

Emeri walks between them, agitated that her warning is being ignored. It's the first time I've seen her like this, her either smiling at me, grimacing at Lejer, on edge being around the princess, or using a calm demeanor in front of the common people.

"When a Keeper says to do something, it's best to listen! If it's really that important then save it for another time!" 

The moment they heard Keeper everyone took a closer look before noticing her ears. 

The bigger guy was the first to respond, "H-half Elf?! The Keeper of Hunt!" 

This caused the other to grow flustered, taking a step back, "F-fine. But we'll be back tomorrow!" Unsatisfied customer 1 pointed at Farmi while the other glared at the bird who made a mocking gesture at him, before they moved through the crowd. 

Floris looks past Emeri to me. "So, what did you guys need? You have another day before we head out." 

I walked up to the stall with a greeting smile. "Yes, I remember. Emeri was showing me around the Kingdom and this seemed like a great time to get to meet the other people I'll be traveling with." 

"Squawk! I'm Simad. Don't bully the bird!" 

Farmi waved the crop at Simad, "Shut up bird! She wants to meet the other bodyguards of the cart, not animals!" 

"Squawk! Bully alert, Bully alert!" 

I couldn't hold the giggle at the witty antics of the feathered creature. It seems to know what Farmi is going to say and sets her up so it can push her buttons.

Farmi clicks her tongue before gesturing to the bodyguard leaning against the Cart again. "This is Rikon, a Mercenary of the Jiiruno Kingdom who's been guarding my goods for the last month." 

He glances at me and gives me a nod as a greeting before returning to his vigilant watch. "The other who will be guarding the Cart with you stepped out for a minute to get us food, but she should be back any..." 

Just as she was about to finish, I heard something get slammed into the dirt behind me, a yelp coming out.

When I turned around, I saw Emeri grappling someone to the ground. It seems to be a woman with black hair and dark skin like others from the East, but she's currently panicked while grappled by Farmi.

That's when I noticed, in the girl's hand is something I recognized. 

I moved my hand, looking for the pouch I had on me a minute ago as I realized the thing in her hand was my pouch of gold coins given to me by the princess. 

"Quite bold of you to try to pickpocket someone next to a Keeper you brat!" Emeri's grip tightened, the Thief failing to get out of it.

Emeri caught a thief the moment she grabbed hold of my pouch, and she wasn't happy.

Not only was I the one being stolen from, but it was money given to me by the princess this thief had just attempted to steal right in front of her. 

Emeri has the thief in the dirt but just as she finishes the hold, the bodyguard, Rikon, attempts to axe-kick Emeri, who barely manages to block it with her arm.

Farmi is panicking by this development but keeps her mouth shut. 

Emeri glares at Rikon but Rikon shocks us with the words that came out. "I'm sorry, but please overlook what Varita has done." 

'Making a request to let the thief go after his attempt to kick her in the head failed?'

Emeri's answer was obvious. "She attempted theft in front of a Keeper. The victim is a close friend of this Keeper. And the item stolen is a gift from the princess herself. If that doesn't scream imprisonment, what does?!" 

Rikon grunts, "Sounds more like boosted charges for personal reasons." 

Emeri seems to be struggling as her arm is being strained under the added pressure getting placed on it by Rikon's leg. 

Despite that, I can tell his goal isn't to win but to give the thief a chance to get out of Emeri's grasp.

But while step one is working and Emeri is being pressured, I doubt step two will be so easy. And his provocations only add more fuel to the fire. 

He can act tough, but this situation is completely against them. Even if he gets Emeri off, they're in the center of the district and will need to escape through a gate guarded by knights with Emeri giving chase. 

Rikon and the thief are already recognized by the board, Emeri just needs to get the word out and all the knights can identify them, especially since these two are tied to a name we know.

'The thief messed up and Rikon threw himself in harm's way to get her out...' 

I probably shouldn't care this much about people I just met, one of them even having just stolen something off me but... 

'This situation could be an opportunity...' 

--------

After bringing the Frozen Sapphire to the Adventurer's guild training room, we ended up running into the 'Griffon's Folly' party once again, who chose to help me train up the Sapphires to overcome their weak points.

'Probably a thank you for taking care of the variants before they dealt any real damage.'

'Or an apology for being relieved they didn't have to face it themselves.' 

I take a give a long sigh because of those thoughts, choosing to think positively that they are helping out while parrying Jikani's machete.

Speaking of a good note, I seem to be capable of fighting while my other is on the move now.

'Maybe the poison was a good thing?'

'Doubt it, this was definitely because of the constant battles.'

The current conditions of the Sapphires is that Jikani sparring with me using her secondary weapon of choice, a machete.

We're using her real one this time as I want her to get used to swinging it, and the risk of damage is currently low as she's not capable of landing a hit on me, even when I'm focused on my other searching through the market.

Though Jikani is an archer who will be using bows often, her weakness is the situation where she runs out of arrows. So if she's able to at least fight against me using a slow weapon, then she passed the first test.

'But she might need to find something else she's capable of considering how unlikely she will reach the minimum.'

Floris is working to build up his stamina by jogging around the training room while being watched over by Gin, caster of the Griffin's Folly. This will be the first step for him to overcome the log-like stance he takes in combat.

'Though it'll take a long time to reach the minimum, starting this early will do wonders and he doesn't have to use up mana to do it either.' 

The last is Sapheir, who needs to work on his movement as well as his ability to strike.

In the last fight, the assassin got past him, and though I can't fault him for facing off against an enemy faster than him, improvements in his speed without losing strength in his swings can help him get quick kills, thinning out some of the large crowds while making himself out to be a threat while still keeping his position as a Vanguard. Which is why I asked Gradon for a favor. 

"Come on kid! You can do better than that!" 

Sapheir is breathing heavily, though it's understandable considering the amount of physical exhaustion he got despite only making a single step closer than last time. 

Sapheir returns back to position as he gets ready to rush in again. He manages to dodge the arrow from the first guy, and parry the second strike of a dagger with his shield, but is struck on his side by the spearman before he could even make it to the same spot he made before, the fifth step forward.

The strike blew the wind out of Sapheir's sails, forcing him to take another break to catch his breath. 

Unfortunately, after he finishes his next break, he ends up voicing his doubts. Not on the training method I chose for him, but on himself. 

"I understand I'm... working on my speed, evasion, and striking power, but I think this is too much for me." 

I take my eyes off Jikani for a second, her taking that as a chance to strike only for my parry to launch her Machete into the dirt, putting a halt on the dejected Jikani's training.

"What do you mean? This training works on everything you need. You just have to keep practicing and you'll eventually improve." 

Sapheir looks like he can't tell if he should laugh or cry as he repeats the goal of the lesson. "I'm supposed to bypass three members of the Griffon's Folly, a B-rank group AND strike Gradon's shield hard enough to get me a passing grade despite still being just a C-rank... A full rank below every one of them. But how am I supposed to get past three of them?" 

The instructor watching over Floris, Gin the Griffon's Wings, speaks up. "Honestly, I agree with Sapheir. Even as a B-rank myself, I doubt any of us could complete that training, and we are B-ranks." 

The three instructors of Sapheir, Yirm the Griffon's Talon, Falin the Griffon's Beak, and Hyrn the Griffon's feathers, nod in agreement with the judgment made by their party member. 

I gave an exasperated groan when the trainers also questioned the training as well before telling Jikani to give me a minute while I head over. "Alright fine, I'll show you it's possible. Gin, let Floris train himself while you train Jikani in my stead." 

I walk over to Sapheir and collect his weapon, using what he does. The Griffon's Folly all have mixed feelings ranging from surprised and concerned to humored by my proposal.

Gradon was the only person with a hardened expression. 

Gin shrugs as he stops leaning against the wall and proceeds to grab a padded staff to start training Jikani. 

The other adventurers in the room get rowdy as another betting pool starts.

But out of the corner of my eye, I see Floris slow down for only a second before deciding to continue his jog.

'Glad to see he's taking his training seriously.' 

'He won't improve if he doesn't.'

Since we have more of a crowd, I go ahead and repeat the rules. "Same rules, only one strike at a time! Gradon judges the power of the strike and getting hit means I lose the limb, the chest, and the back acting as instant defeat! The start is when I cross the line set." 

With everyone reminded of what the rules are, I prepare to complete the training I gave to Sapheir and prove to the trainers more than to Sapheir himself that this training is possible.