Ch 69 - Hal's realization

"Hmmm..." Every now and then, despite there having only been a few minutes, Mary looked back in the direction they had come from.

"Mary, what is it?"

"Eh? Me?! Nothing!"

"You don't have to always act this flustered, you know?" Bid sighed, "Ever since you and the girls started... bonding, you've become more airheaded."

"Is that so..." Mary subconsciously acknowledged it.

"Let her alone, man. She's just worried about leaving Ace alone with her friend, and getting a march stolen by our darting little daredevil."

"..."

The boys stop as they lose sight of her, only to see her frozen in place where a couple steps behind.

"Oi... Mary, the heck?" Hal calls her out, only to see her wake up from the trance-like state and take hurried steps forward.

"I guess she hadn't thought of that yet. Didn't expect that." Bid chuckles.

"And I didn't expect her to actually be into women..." Retorted him, still baffled.

"You know how religious people are... They shift gears like a rosmolen."

"Oh, well." Hal shrugged, trying to hide a smirk as Mary reached them.

"What are we doing now, again?" She asked as soon as she reached the two.

"Are you... Nevermind. We're gonna check if there's anything for us at the Guild and see if there's anything good. Then, as usual, see if the inn rooms are good for the night and meet the girls at the usual place to grab some food."

"Oh, right, thanks." Despite explaining to her, Hal did not fail to realize her attention was still somewhere else. 'Did that girl really manage to snatch the two of them this fast? What is this, witchcraft?!' A random ass thought floated inside his mind. Little did he know he was damn right. At least half so.

------

"Why did you bring me here?" Necro asked, taking a seat at a comfortable chair. The man, despite the familiarity of earlier, still seemed strictly professional. Necro studied his face, realizing this was not the eyes of the nice old man from before, but those of a seasoned merchant.

Gabor crossed his legs, sitting in front of her, across from a small coffee table. The two quilted chairs and the small wooden table were the only furniture in this large room. Large enough to be used as a warehouse.

"Of course, I would not let you use such a ring in front of the door, where everyone could see."

"I— How did you know!?" Necro was startled, but just for a split second, "Nevermind, it's seems reasonable."

"Precisely, what other way could you have carried anything else without any carriers and carts? Also, I remember your father having at least a couple of them. It sounds reasonable to fit his daughter with one in such a peril."

"I thank you for your subtlety. But I couldn't expect less from a Branch Head."

A subtle tension arose between the two. A slight battle of wits, if one could call it that way. Even the experienced merchant sweat, finding himself at even footing against one he sought to flatter and get a bargain. Time slowed down for a few minutes, before Necro broke the heavy silence.

"May I take the goods out?" She asked, smirking.

"But of course. I'll proceed to make an inventory of it as you take everything out." The man smile wryly, pulling a piece of parchment from beneath the table, together with ink and a small fountain pen.

'What am I to even do...' The man scratched his head as he read the contents of the never-ending list. 'What is up with this girl!?' He thought to himself, as he double-checked the hundreds of items and their quantities. Aside from the obvious things, it felt to him like someone had dropped an entire warehouse in the room. The sheer amount of stuff was unreal. And not only that, the quality of some of this stuff was... amazing to say the least. But what was racking his nerves, was the single barrel that was almost worth its weight in gold.

"So, here's the items you've shown. I've calculated the prices so far and... we're talking about sixteen bars of gold—"

"Huh? Where does that number even come from? We haven't negotiated, or rather, even assessed the goods yet."

"Gulp." He swallowed in silence as sweat started forming on his forehead. 'It can't be that she expects us to go through all of that piece by piece, right?' He thought, widening his eyes as he realized he'd have to deal with the abnormal girl in a serious negotiation.

"Now, shall we start going over the list of items?" The girl sat back down on one of the chairs, grinning from ear to ear.

'Oh god, please have mercy on my poor soul and let me not lose any money.' The battered man voiced a prayer inside his head, as he turned around to the girl, "Of course, dear. Let's get started—"

"Before that," she interrupted him. "Why don't we deal with the flies pestering our broth."

"What do you..." The merchant tried hard to understand what she meant, until she turned towards the door. A couple pairs of feet could be seen from the small gap beneath. "You..." he muttered, before yelling. "Get inside already you damn fools! The heck are you thinking?!"

With his words, the door swung open quickly, as two young boys stumbled inside.

"It had to be you two... Go and get some snacks and drinks for me and our customer." He said, with a dead serious tone.

"But pops! You said we were to never—"

"Did I stutter? I said go and get it. Don't make me mad and just do as I say!" He raised his tone, making the boys tense up and turn, leaving the room in a hurry while voicing out loud,

"YESSS"

"Sorry you had to witness such a shameful display," he apologized to Necro. "The youth these days is very... unpredictable."

"It's fine. I've seen my share of bratty children lately." Necro answered to him frankly, not realizing she sounded most definitely like a middle aged man.