Paul Auber was delighted to see Liza return safely from the dangerous forest. He hugged her tightly with teary eyes before turning to Eliot with his eyebrows raised.

“And who is this young man? Another adventurer?” he said.

“Not really, but he is stronger and more helpful than many of the ones I know.”

Liza then explained what had happened in the forest, with a few alterations to not scare the old man. Even if she was currently standing in front of him with good health, she knew he would freak out if he learned how close the situation had been.

They were now seated on chairs in the middle of the workshop, encompassed by the soothing smell of herbs.

“I see, how peculiar,” Paul pondered out loud. He then looked at Liza with a troubled face. “As you know, trauma, both physical and emotional, can drastically change a person and leave certain marks.”

Liza’s face clouded over for a brief moment.

“Yes, but... ELIOT STOP.”

At some point in the conversation the young man had gotten up and walked around the workshop. He was grabbing random herbs from the table and eating them. Liza sat him back on a chair and held his hand. She had discovered that when they were holding hands he became calmer and less prone to muck about.

“I am impressed he knew the edible ones,” said Paul without any hint of anger from having his stock reduced.

“Yeah… maybe… I am not sure he knew really.”

“Well, if that is the case he sure has an ‘adventurous’ disposition,” replied Paul flabbergasted.

“But going back to what we were saying before, do you have any ideas? He should be 15 to 20 years old, but he behaves like a child most of the time.”

“Hum…” Paul was lost in thought. “I think you should just care for him. It was all we di…” He stopped mid-sentence. “It is all you can do. He should recover in time.”

Liza knew it all too well. Having someone to care for you can sometimes be more helpful than any medicine or potion. She looked at Eliot with understanding eyes and squeezed her hand on his a bit more tightly.

Paul prepared a place for them to spend the night and cooked a delicious meal for dinner. His interest in plants and herbs were not limited to the medicinal ones, as such his dishes had a variety of spices giving it a unique flavor.

Eliot and Boro were beyond the moon from glee at such good food. The old man was startled at first with the sudden appearance of the serpent-like creature, but they soon became close friends through the bond of food.

They needed to wait for a couple of days before the scabbard and the bow were ready, so Liza helped in the shop. She made some concoctions, cleaned the place up and cooked when Paul was busy doing something else.

Her cooking wasn’t amazing, but it was alright, hence it really annoyed her when she looked at Eliot’s and Boro’s disappointed expression whenever they found out she would be making the food instead of Paul.

They, on the other hand, would help by bringing water from the well (although they had to be shown first how to do it). It was heavy work and even so, Eliot could easily carry a barrel filled with water to the brim.

But most of the time they would just go around town exploring and, whenever they did, Liza made sure to follow behind in secret to monitor the situation.

Today they were going towards the market. Eliot was walking ahead with Boro coiled around his arm. Liza was a few meters behind, skulking from building to building, trying to go unnoticed.

The people walking on the street had different reactions to Eliot and Boro. Some looked surprised, some looked scared and moved out of the way and some didn’t even care. They all looked weirdly at Liza though and grabbed their coin purses with an iron clasp.

She was starting to blush. All the attention and prying eyes were making her feel uncomfortable.

[Damn, stop looking at me. I am just making sure everything is ok. That is normal, completely normal.]

At that moment there was a shout. The owner of one stall was waving his hand furiously in the air.

“Hey, you can’t do that! You have to pay for it!”

It was a cured meat stall. Eliot had two hands full of beef jerky and was eating happily. He would finish it and then give Boro a handful as well.

Liza felt her spine shiver. She already knew what was going to happen and dreaded it with all her being. She started running towards the commotion with all her speed and thinking fast.

[Ok, I am going to shoot the owner in the leg. He will be mad, but it will save his life, so no complaining.]

The short and fat owner made his way around the stall and grabbed Eliot’s shirt and tried to shake him while screaming. Eliot stopped chewing and frowned. He could feel hostility.

“You better have money to pay for that you thief!”

Liza put her arm around her back and remembered she didn’t have a bow right now. She raised her speed to the maximum and made a flying tackle while screaming.

“ELIOT NOOOO!”

Eliot’s hand was already in the shape of a claw and he was swinging towards the fat man’s head. Liza collided with him mid swing. He didn’t even shake. She felt like she had tackled a wall and collapsed on the floor.

[Ouch! That freaking hurts! Is he made of iron?] Liza thought as she struggled to stand up.

Eliot stopped his hand a few centimeters away from the fat man’s skull. The disjointed air made a breeze, ruffling the jerky seller’s hair. He stopped shouting and released Eliot’s clothes, paralyzed in fear.

Liza hurriedly stood between them.

“I am terrible sorry sir, he is a bit disturbed. I will pay for what they have eaten, don’t worry,” said Liza as she hurriedly calculated the cost and gave it to the stall owner.

The man had recovered his movements, but he was still clearly shaken.

“Yes, of course. But you should be more careful with this brute, don’t let him wander around alone.”

Liza’s complexion darkened for an instant, before soon resuming her radiant smile.

“Why, of course sir! Have a good day.”

She then held Eliot’s hand and moved away from the market. She found an alleyway and went in. It was a narrow space with a few crates against one of the walls and a stray cat parading around like he owned the place. In a way, he probably did.

She sat Eliot in one of the crates before facing him and using her authoritative tone.

“That was bad Eliot. You can’t just kill people. I mean, you can, but you shouldn’t. We only kill those that deserve it. Like wild magical beasts, bandits, monsters, greedy adventurers… But especially bandits! When you find them, kill them all!”

Liza looked calm, but every time she mentioned bandits her eyes would burn with hatred.

“Also, you can’t just go picking up stuff like you did back in the forest. If you need something you have to pay for it. Like I did when we first arrived in town, remember? You need to use money, like these coins, see?”

She picked up a copper coin, a silver coin and her only gold coin and put it on his palm. After a lengthy lecture (and much repetition) she brought him back to the market.

All the vendors that watched the previous exchange had nervous smiles on their faces when they saw them approaching. Liza brought Eliot around many of the stalls and made him buy things.

She would grab his hand and make him point at something. Then she would give him the coins needed and make him pay to receive the item. It looked like she was controlling a life-size puppet.

It took Eliot a while, but he got the gist of it. In each new stall he would point at something himself and turn to Liza waiting for the money while smiling. He would then pay and get the item before handing it back to Liza.

He was enjoying himself. Liza was baffled. Before he was just grabbing things for free and could overpower anyone that complained. Now however, he was enjoying the act of making a transaction and paying. It was mystical how the human mind worked.

After an afternoon of buying food and ingredients they went back to the apothecary. Paul was surprised by the amount of things they brought back.

Liza just gave a tired smiled.

“Dinner is up to you today uncle.”

When they saw the old man going in the kitchen, Eliot jumped up and down and started to clap his hands while Boro danced excited in the air.

“Ah, really you guys. You don’t need to be THAT happy.”

After a raucous dinner, Liza used a large bucket and a piece of rug to shower. She then gave the task of cleaning the boys to Paul before going to bed.

While lying down in bed she could hear the surprised cry of her uncle following by an emotional “You have been through a lot young man, it is ok now… it is ok now.”

The next morning, Liza woke up early and went around making preparations. She picked up the bow and the scabbard, bought provisions for traveling and procured a rucksack and a bedroll for Eliot.

She had stayed in Sarton and its proximities for almost two weeks now, it was time to leave.