Not All Meetings are Wonderful

Once Connie and her group arrived at the store, they were greeted by a swarm of people crowding in front of the store.

"We are out of pills!!" They could hear the voice of Bertus calling out from inside the store.

"I've been lining up for hours!!" a bearded man yelled out.

"Don't you yell at me, Monroe! I delivered you when you were a babe!!" Ethel said, waving a measuring stick at him.

"What happened here?"

"Oh, Milady! The pills are selling well. To well! Everyone here is looking to buy some."

"They are, are they?" she stepped on an empty crate and said. "Everyone, please calm down. It is now closing time for our store. Please do come early tomorrow. We only have limited amount to sell! So come early."

"Who are you?!" a customer asked.

"I am Cornelia Asterium Steelheart! The new owner of the store! !"

"Rest assured. Tomorrow we will have some for sale. For now please return to your homes."

Connie's strong, charismatic voice and calmness successfully pacified the crowd and they began to disperse.

Ethel approached her as she jumped down from the crate.

"That was madness. I have never seen a crowd like that," Ethel said. "And that was because this big oaf did something stupid."

"What did he do?" Illumca asked.

"This stupid thing had the bright idea of showing how it works but slicing open his own palm with a knife then swallowed one of the pills."

"That was too extreme!" Illumca exclaimed in surprise. "Why'd you do that?"

"Some of them said that the product is fake and that we are frauds. How can such accusations be directed towards the Milady's store?! That is why I did what I needed to do. Show them what it can do."

"And your first thought is slicing your own palm?" Martell asked with interest. This was the first time he ever met someone so foolish that it went past being foolish and straight up to being almost genius.

"Well, I thought about slicing my wrist but that's too drastic," only then did the man realized the new addition to his mistress's entourage. "Oh, and who is this?"

"This is my new slave, Martell."

She then introduced them one by one. Martell gave them a big smile as he bowed towards them.

"A good find!" Bertus said cheerfully at the practiced gesture. "It is very hard to find educated slaves. You can always come to me for help, little boy."

"Thank you!"

As he was being fawned upon by Bertus, Connie looked around to find the little bundle of greed only to find out that she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Sen?"

"Ah, I let her go home about an hour ago. She needed to cook for her mother, she said."

"Her health has always been poor, that woman," Ethel commented. "She often suffers from cold. Perhaps you can see her sometime? I can only alleviate the symptoms, but when it comes to taking out the root…" the old woman sighed at her own helplessness. "the little one would very much appreciate it."

"Hmm," Connie noncommittally nodded, then patted her stomach. "What's for dinner? We will have an early day tomorrow."

"Ah, I'll get dinner ready. I made some soup! Chock full of nice and hearty potatoes" Bertus said with a flourish. Just a day and he had already commandeered the kitchen.

After they had dinner, it was time to sleep. Bertus returned to the mansion while the others made ready for the bedroom.

"Where should I sleep?" the beastfolk boy asked.

"Take Illumca's bed for now."

"I don't want to sleep in the same room as him!"

"You'll sleep in my room. I won't have you be out of sorts tomorrow."

"There is only a small bed in your room," Illumca said with a hopeful look and a squeeze of her hand.

"You can take the bed. I am going to cultivate until morning. It is a nice moonlit night tonight. A good time for it."

"Oh."

With the suddenly sullen Illumca, Connie went to her room, leaving Martell alone.

As he entered Illumca's room, the perpetual innocent smile upon his face was gone and he slumped at one corner of the room. He hugged his knees to his chest and fell asleep just like that.

That night, no one in Windlepoons Concotions noticed that some cutleries were missing.

The next day, the three of them, Connie, Illumca, and Martell rode their wagon towards the dungeon. It would be much faster for Connie to just tow the others like sacks of potatoes and ran there, but it was a nice day for a ride and she opted for a leisure trip, lounging on the wagon while popping some random herbs and flowers into her mouth.

Martell saw this behavior and wanted to ask, yet found that the more he asked her questions, the more questions he had. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Illumca stopped the wagon with a jolt.

"Look, is that the dungeon that the guild told us about?"

"Ooh, that was a rough stop."

"Sorry, I'll do better after some practice."

The blonde-haired girl jumped down the wagon, followed by Martel who descended clumsily onto the ground.

"Oh, is that it?" Martell pointed at a large tomb-like structure in the distance. Right at the edge of a mountain.

"Looks like it. Let's hurry."

They got on the wagon and followed the trail down. As they got off the main road, the earth turned rather dusty and windy.

When they arrived at the structure, they found that it was not the desolate place that they expected. There were a few parties of hunters there, all of whom seemed to have some experience under their belts.

As the three rolled past the groups, their eyes glanced at them briefly before returning to their own matters.

Not long after, Connie found the man that he was looking for, standing off to the side while drinking from a copper mug by the fire with a large bundle by his side.

"Nick."

The man took a brief look at Connie's entourage and said. "Well, I guess my warning didn't matter to you, milady."

"They are not strangers," she said as she got down from the wagon. "They are my companions."

"And what a beautiful looking companion you have," Nick whistled. "Nice to meet you, miss. I'm Nick Brightburn."

Illumca's expression suddenly turned furious and she drew her blade with the full intent of killing him.

Nick sensed the killing intent and quickly drew back, stumbling over his bundle and fell head first.

"What the hell?!"

He saw Connie holding Illumca back. "Why did you do that?" she asked calmly.

"He – he was one of the men who hurt me back in the mansion!" she gritted her teeth so hard that her gum bled.

With an understanding smile, Connie caressed her head and put her forehead against hers. "That's okay. You are different now. I've given you power to fight against all those who harmed you," she gave her a reassuring smile and pushed her back gently so that she could see her face. "But we need him now. So, try to not get swallowed by your anger, okay?"

Connie was rather surprised by the disproportionate anger. Anger was fine, but to straight up trying to kill him? Perhaps her Dao has some effect on her judgment.

"…did he do something wrong?" Martell asked.

"Yes, he did. Let me introduce you, Nick. This is Illumca, my partner. And she was the sickly girl you kicked out of the mansion not more than a week ago."

Nick's expression was a mix of disbelief and confusion. His mouth moved yet now sound came out.

Finally, he took a deep breath and said. "Oh…Ooooh…b-but how? She was…" he had seen how she reacted upon seeing him, he wanted to say ugly, but he feared for his life. "…you know…how can she become so…beautiful? Did you get someone to heal her?"

Connie affirmed the answer with a nod, not wanting to spend much time explaining.

"Alright, okay, okay. I'm sorry for what I did. But it was all for the sake of the mission."

"The mission?!" The dark elf was about to advance once more with knives in hand. Connie held her collar and yanked her back.

"If you are just going to make this thing worse for yourself, might as well keep your silence, Nick."

"Okay, man. Sorry. Geez, what a depressing day," he turned his gaze towards Martell and the collar he was wearing. "And is this a Beastfolk your slave?"

"Yes. He is Martell. He's coming to fill the last place. Only parties with 4 people are allowed inside the dungeon."

Nick grimaced. "Yeah. That was an oversight from me. I used to know the guy guarding the place so we could've entered alone. Turns out that he was discharged for taking bribes."

"From you, I'd wager?"

Her answer was an awkward laugh. The middle-aged man then tried to change the topic by showing them what was inside his bundle. Inside was a well-worn full suit of armor and a large shield that was almost as big as his body.

"You haven't seen this before, right? These are all Paladin equipment. Help me put the armor on on, boy."

"Eeeh…" Martel turned to her mistress with a pleading look.

"Just help him wear the damn thing, else we are going to be stuck here. And Illumca is starting to sulk over there."

With a grumble, Martell helped Nick put on his armor.

Once he was fully equipped Nick actually looked much better. He had the look of a veteran. And judging from how he effortlessly move around that shield, he was stronger than he looked too.

"You can leave your wagon near the entrance. One of the guard will keep it for you for 5 bronze a day. I brought enough dried food and water to last us 2 days. Would have been 4 or 5 days if there aren't 4 of us."

"We won't need 4 days. A day is enough," Connie remarked.

"Says the girl who did not even finish the training dungeon."

She did not take that snide remark as offensive. "That was the old me. The stupid and inexperienced girl is now dead. You should know. I floored you."

"That did not count! I was not fully ready! And I did not have a full equipment!!" he said defensively.

"Does your big strong armor make you feel strong, Nick? Strong enough to beat a girl?" Illumca said, clinging to Connie's side with an annoyed look.

"Guh!"

While Nick was enduring the Illumca's hostility, Martell was enjoying the chaos with a wide smile just a few steps behind.

As the group arrived before the dungeon's entrance, Connie saw a familiar person standing with a well-equipped party of 4. Specifically, she recognized his quarterstaff and large body.

"Greetings, Master Kaihaku," Connie called out while clasping her fist before her chest.

The man turned to see them and returned the greeting by putting his right hand before his chest and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Lady Steelheart. May the Enlightened One's light shine upon you."

"Hello, Kaihaku."

"Nick! I thought you've retired?" Kaihaku said, a rare smile appeared on his face.

"This not going to be a regular thing. I'm just showing this girl the ropes on dungeon diving."

"Master Kaihaku. Do you know this people?" One of the people in the group, a handsome teenager with short black hair and black eyes inquired. Connie had never seen someone with those features ever since she arrived in this new world.

"Ah, yes. Let me introduce you," the bald monk stepped aside, letting a group of 4 people that he was speaking to come closer.

"This is -."

Kaihaku's words were cut off by the teenager's words. He was clad in white armor with a shield on his right and an impressive looking sword in the sheath tied to his belt.

The man with the shiny white armor then introduced himself with a dashing smile.

"My name is Sakagami Akira. I am this kingdom....Calendia's Hero."