Our first priority would be to get Seralyn checked out and running again, literally. The elf still seemed in pain but not in any kind of danger. As much as I think she deserved to be put in her place, I wasn't the kind of person to take any joy out of this situation. I'd rather have her be healthy.

I had to admit our teamwork earlier had been phenomenal. We'd all leapt into action to make sure Seralyn got treatment within a minute. Despite not knowing each other for long, it seemed we would be able to make crucial decisions in record time. I smiled at the thought as we made our way through the village gate.

The stares we got never ceased to humor me. I'd gotten used to them by now and could simply smile in return. One would think they would get used to seeing weird sights from this even weirder creature but the gazes never seemed to hold any less amazement in them. Maybe it's because we kept pulling off weirder stunts every time. Who knows?

The large ''sac'' of lynxes was still dragged behind the cart as we found ourselves in the central square at the opening to the massive tree. Draco stepped out of the cart and took Seralyn in his arms as he carried her inside. The brunette had protested against it but was too weak to actually make a stand. Draco told us to continue to the guild, he would take care of things here.

And so, we ended up in front of the guild, turning more than a few heads as we stopped in front of the entrance, including the Lore keeper's.

She actually dropped her work and walked from behind her desk up to us, staring at the lynxes.

''One delivery to Dawnleaf Guild.'' I said with a chuckle.

''Oh my, that’s a delivery if I've ever seen one. You want to drop it off in the warehouse?'' She asked.

''Sure.'' I replied.

She walked back inside and entered the door at the back. In the meantime, Velariah had jumped out of the cart and was walking next to me as we made our way to the warehouse. The doors were already opened as we got there.

We walked inside and Velariah tried to slash the threads of silk but didn’t manage to cut through cleanly. It would seem either her sword had dulled, or the silk was stronger than the last time she tried to cut it. Maybe that was from all the omelets? I grinned. That would make sense in a way.

Velariah sighed as she pulled out her sword from the sticky mess and cut the threads one by one instead.

''While you're at it, can you cut me loose as well?''

''Just a sec.'' She said as she cut the last threads.

When she finally finished, she cut down the thread that bound the cart to my abdomen.

Ah, sweet relief.

I walked a few circles as I was freed from the pressure that had weighed down on my behind.

I asked the Lore keeper what she wanted as payment for borrowing the cart while she handed Velariah back the gold coin we had given before. She then asked what all the goods were that we brought with us. I told her we had about two crates of scorpion stringers, two crates of fertilizer that would ideally go to Valtheril, a crate of iron ore that was technically mine as we traded it for my silk from traders that were on their way to Dawnleaf and the lynxes.

She answered that one of the lynxes and five percent of the stingers would be plenty. The rest she would properly buy.

As it turned out, these lynxes were not a protected species and everyone was free to hunt them. it's just that, like the scorpions, they were so far away from the village that most adventurers didn't bother to go out for them.

She then asked me about the silk that bound the animals.

''do whatever you want with that.'' I answered.

She looked happy at my response. I reckoned she would sell it for a decent price to the archers. I actually didn't care as much, whatever made her happy, I guessed. Maybe I was simply too tired to care.

I hadn't really noticed before but I reckon running a marathon or two does that to one's body, even if it's half giant spider. The interesting part was that I wasn't hungry despite creating quite a bit of silk and travelling many miles.

From my experience so far, it seemed safe to assume that exhaustion only kicked in as soon as I stopped doing activities. I wasn't sure if that was some fancy survival mechanism, but I guess I should be thankful that I wouldn't simply drop down from fatigue when running from danger.

We then dumped the lynx corpses where we had deposited the Saibon Boar. I wondered what fifteen lynxes that were mostly intact would bring in, money wise. It was kind of neat to have a dump all establishment where you could get rid of pretty much all the things you ran into on your journey and even get paid for it. I didn’t plan on this lynx thing, but I wouldn’t shy away from the payment.

I could already hear the clinking of coins. I hoped we weren't going to be scammed, I had no idea what these things were actually worth. Maybe I should have checked beforehand.

Oh well, cash and go home I would guess. Although there was still the iron ore, I wasn't quite sure where to leave that.

''Velariah?'' I was sure to call her by her full name. I guess if I wanted respect myself, I should show her the same kind of respect.

''Hm?'' She said as we unloaded the crates from the cart.

We were going to leave the two crates of stingers in the warehouse, together with the last two empty ones we still had. Velariah ended up buying the crates that contained the iron ore, sulfur and volcanic dirt. One silver wasn't too much to pay for something that would continue to be of use later on. Maybe we should actually buy a cart of our own someday... maybe make a few modifications too...

''What were you planning to do with this ore?'' I asked as I carried the crate outside.

The crate itself was quite heavy. Good thing I had four arms, Velariah even added the crate of sulfur on top of it and I was still able to carry it without too much of an issue. I would however, rather get rid of the heavy crate as soon as possible.

''We're gonna take it to Coldanus and have him make a sword.... that is, of course, if you're fine with that. It's your iron after all.''

Ouch, that stung.

She just put me in an extremely uncomfortable situation. I mean, she was right that technically it's mine, but I have no need for a different weapon right now. She could do with a better sword for sure.

Oh, and she pulled the puppy eyes again.

It's super effective.

''Fine, let's get you a proper sword.'' I sighed. ''This Coldanus guy better be as good as they say.''

We walked through the central plaza surrounding the tree on our way to the village's weaponsmith.

''Come to think of it, Velariah, is the reason the guy seems so pissy all the time because of his name?''

''What do you mean?'' She frowned.

Surely, she must have realized by now? I mean, she had been pronouncing his name as Col-danus all the time, but it wasn't hard to change that to something much more... triggering so to say.

''Cold-anus?'' I questioned.

I could see the metaphorical lightbulb turn on in her head as I looked her in the eyes.

No way...

You got to be kidding me...

She managed to keep a straight face but I knew she had never thought this a possibility. Maybe the guy was just unhappy with his name and that was how he turned out so sour? It wouldn't be an impossibility.

We walked up to the building that Velariah had previously entered alone. I could hear the sound of a hammer on metal coming from behind the building and I knew what that meant.

I'd actually have to meet the guy...

Velariah led the way through an alleyway that I barely fit through.

I handed her the crate of iron which she barely seemed to be able to carry and let her go first. I would hide in the shadows until Velariah had announced my presence.

''Sup Vel.'' I could hear a male voice as the hammering on iron continued.

''It's Lady Velariah for you Coldanus. And I have a commission.''

''For whom?'' The voice dryly said.

''For myself, I've got a crate of Dragon-blessed ore and would like a new sword.''

''Three gold.'' He instantly stated his price.

That seemed a bit much, considering she provided the material herself.

''Deal.'' Velariah answered optimistically.

Wait, that was cheap?

''Where's that spider friend of yours? I've heard a lot of things about it. I'd like to see it for myself.''

Whatever Valtheril did, it sure didn't seem to have fixed this guy's attitude. His prices perhaps, but this was still rude.

''Her name's Elania, and she's hiding to not scare the shit out of you. Some people are actually decent, you know?'' Velariah struck back.

Oof, she could hurt if she wanted to.

I walked in the open, feeling that was my cue and found a brawny elf looking at me from top to... toes? The smith had an expression that fit his attitude, a shaven face full of wrinkles and no smile in sight. His skin was darkened by ash and coal from his profession, the little that was exposed.

He wore a white shirt with a leather apron covering most of his front side. He was working on a dagger that was still red-hot. A round stone forge with bellows was positioned behind him. Several other weapon smithing necessities were positioned around the open space. A grindstone, several molds, containers with what looked like oils, loads of tools such as hammers, tongs and more, nails and pieces of leather scattered throughout.

I had no idea what everything was used for, but I was fascinated by the sheer number of tools that a blacksmith would have to worth with.

The smith hammered a few more times on the dagger before putting it in a bucket of water. What did they do that for anyway?

He inspected the blade and then picked up a pair of tongs and held the blade in the heat of the forge again.

Seriously, I had no idea what was going on, didn't he just cool it?

Whatever, he probably knows what he's doing.

He eyed me again, but didn't say a word.

''I'm Elania, nice to meet you.'' I said, breaking the awkward silence. ''You must be Col...danus, I've heard you make the best weapons in the area.''

I had almost screwed up his name. I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if I did. I dodged a bullet there.

''That's right.'' He turned to Velariah as he was heating the dagger. ''So, a sword, any specific wishes?''

''Two enchant slots would be great.'' Velariah spoke.

''With Dragon-blessed ore? Should be a breeze, could add a third for an extra gold.''

He really seemed fixated on the objects he created. I was expecting this to go worse.

Sure, he was rude and uncaring, but as long as he could make good weapons, who cared?

Velariah looked at me.

''Is it okay?''

I didn’t get it.

''Why wouldn't it be?'' I asked with a frown. ''If you can get a good weapon from it, then sure, go for it.''

''Because I feel like you are the cause of most of the money, we are earning at the moment...'' She looked to the ground.

Was that... guilt?

''Velariah, you need a proper weapon, get the best you can get. I don't care about a gold more or less. Besides, how much are we going to cash in from the guild?''

''I believe the singers go for four silver each. I have no idea about the lynxes, to be honest. I guess they should be able to bring in a fair bit as well, there's a lot of meat, materials and hide to be harvested from them. Maybe the Lore keeper will even throw in a bit extra for the silk.'' The elf answered.

''Then go for it.''

Why did it feel like we were a married couple discussing our finances...?

''Thanks, El, you're the best!" She happily exclaimed.

Coldanus didn’t seem to care, he was too fixated on his work.

''El?''

''Oops, I mean Elania.'' She corrected herself.

Interesting...

I yawned and looked up to the sky. The now ever-familiar red glow had set in again. It was kind of weird to find Coldanus still working the forge. He probably had his reasons, though.

That left us with only two crates. I decided to take the dirt one as it seemed heavier. We took a bit of a detour to the treemender's oak to see how Draco and Seralyn fared.

When we arrived, they were both waiting outside the building. It seemed Seralyn was completely fine again.

Long live healing magic.

I asked what the exact effects of the potion was, since I wasn't quite sure. Velariah explained that potions worked slowly and from the inside of the body. The bandaging we did had been vital to a quick recovery. It would seem that traditional medical knowledge would not be completely misplaced in this world. No such thing as quick fix from near-death. The treemenders had fixed the rest of the wound after the potion's effects had expired.

Now the cocky elf had fallen back to her old self.

And she was hungry.

I sighed. I was tired.

Ultimately, I decided to join them at the guild.

The place wasn't even close to full. It seemed most people who were here for dinner had already left. The people that were left were mostly here for the alcohol. This meant that the menu didn't have many items on it remaining anymore, choice was little.

Good thing I wasn’t hungry.

I sat in silence as the others ate their food, the two crates of goods were placed on the floor next to me. I found myself leaning back and closing my eyes.

''Elania?'' Velariah's voice caused me to sit upright again.

''Huh?'' I looked around.

''Go home, Elania, you're drunk!'' Seralyn laughed.

Didn't sound like a terrible idea... I didn’t want to leave them behind, though.

''You should actually go home Elania. I'll go arrange payment with the Lore keeper and go home later. Elly will open the door for you.''

I looked at her, not sure what to do.

''Go already.'' She nodded to the exit.

''Thanks, Vel...''

''I'll forgive you this time because you’re tired.''

I put up a best a smile as I could before I started making my way to Velariah's mansion. It felt weird walking home without the elf and I started to feel a bit guilty. I quickly waved it away knowing that I'd done enough for the day. There was no reason to feel sorry for myself.

As I walked up to the door, I felt a shadow fall over me and felt a presence rush through the sky above me. I tilted my head to look up but found nothing there. Whatever it had been had already passed.

'What the hell was that?' I thought.

Please tell me that goblins didn't learn how to ride those ptra... Ptar... Flying dinosaurs... I was too tired to think.

I didn’t hear any screams so I assume it couldn't have been anything dangerous.

I knocked on the door and Elly soon opened the slider.

''Is Lady Velariah not with you?'' Elly asked.

''She will join later. She is having dinner at the guild. She sent me home because I'm dead tired from running for miles today.'' I answered.

Elly opened the door to let me in.

"Should I help you out of your armor miss Elania?''

''If you'd like, yes please.''

There was no way I was going to manage on my own.

The maid helped me out of the chest piece and put it on a stand. I thanked her before I walked off to the bathroom. When I entered the room, it looked like all the pillows had been rearranged into neatly stacked piles instead of the mountain that I slept in before. I walked up to a stack and could smell the scent of... I don't know. It smelled flowery and it wasn't roses. All I could do was conclude that they had been washed.

I still had the presence of mind to take off my shirt and hang it over the sink. I then threw all the pillows in a pile again and wondered if I should lock the door. I knew what was going to happen if I didn't. I had to admit I wasn't necessarily against the idea...

I decided to leave it unlocked and let myself drop in the pile before I clapped out the lights.

'Maybe I am actually looking forward to it?' I thought as I closed my eyes.