TCIWTFY - Part 2 Chapter 96

As she opened the door and stepped Inside, a strange stench, like a mixture of damp moss and iron, assaulted her nose.

The interior was quite spacious.

The once deserted streets were now filled with people, as if Medea had come to visit them.

On one wall of the store were weapons, and on the other wall were rows of stuffed heads of demons.

"..."

All eyes were on the three people entering.

This is a harsh land of extraterritoriality, without any governing country or laws.

It was a place where the law of the jungle was in place, with the strong preying on the weak and the weak preying on the strong.

Medea, who is wearing thick robes but appears to be small in stature, and Tom and Neril, who are relatively thin.

The unpleasant glances, as if snickering or observing them, continued until Medea passed them and reached the counter.

"Come in. What would you like to get me?"

The grim-looking man sitting at the counter stood up and rubbed his hands.

A large man with oily hair and a hint of mercenary origins.

The eyes were filled with black pupils that barely showed the whites of the sclera, giving them a sly and eerie appearance.

"Do you have lime powder mixed with three-legged henbane juice and dried fire ants, blue poison ivy, and luna digitalis?"

The shop owner raised his eyebrows in surprise at the words spilling out from under the hood.

"If you don't have henbane, belladonna will do."

"Looking at you, you don't seem to be from here, but how come you're all familiar with all the local specialties? And only with unusual mutant poisonous plants?"

"Just tell me whether it exists or not."

"Of course, there is nothing in this neighborhood that does not pass through our house, whether it is grass or magic stone. How much do you need?"

The owner was meddling.

"Bring it all, right now."

A gold coin was held forward with a short answer command.

The master's greedy eyes glanced at her.

'It looks like you've got quite a bit of money, looking for rare poisonous plants... The guys behind you look sloppy, too.'

"This alone won't do. Luna Digitalis in particular is even harder to obtain, as it only grows on Moonlight Cliffs."

When Medea was about to give the owner one more gold coin in response to his complaint.

The sleeves of Medea's robe were suddenly pulled up.

"Hehehe. So pretty, so pretty. It's been a long time since I've seen such pure white hands. Are you married, Miss?"

He noticed that the other person was a woman by the hand exposed between her exposed sleeves and chuckled sinisterly.

"With hands this white and soft, you can't even cut off the neck of a low-level goblin."

The saliva on his beard fluttered.

"Is this your first time in the Swamp of Gluttony? It may look like this, but it's a nice place to live. It's quiet, and it's good for hiding... And it's hard to find..."

His cloudy black eyes scanned Medea's entire body sinisterly, as if examining the inside of her robe.

"How about it, let's get rid of the goons behind us and talk in a quiet place-"

At that moment.

Paat! 

The owner's words were cut off with a flash of light.

"I don't have time to keep up with the rhythm."

The sharp dagger cut off the sleeve the owner was holding, and at the same time, the hem of his clothes was pinned to the counter.

The gap between the owner's fingers and the spot where the dagger's handle was embedded so deeply that only the handle was visible was a sheet of paper.

If the blade had been even slightly twisted, two or three fingers would have been blown off.

He missed both the launch and the process.

Even the owner, who had been through a lot of rough terrain, only noticed a silver flash that passed by for a moment.

'Oh, you're a master...!'

His face turned pale..

"There is a saying among travelers who travel through the wilderness: Anyone who blocks my path is an enemy. Gouge out their eyes and cut off their feet to prepare for future trouble."

A low, dry voice rang out.

"How about that? Isn't something like a finger a bit too generous?"

The owner realized that he had messed with a powerful man who knew the unspoken rules of the rough terrain, so he apologized.

"Oh, my mistake! I didn't recognize you, warrior! I'm sorry! I'll prepare the powders you need right now!!"

"..."

However, even when he tried to turn his body, he couldn't easily pull his hand away from the dagger that had pierced his severed clothes.

The sharp blade seemed ready to cut through flesh and bone with the slightest movement. He trembled in fear.

"Just look at it once, please look at it. I won't even take your money! I'll just give it all to you, so please be generous..."

Only then, as if she had been waiting, did Medea retrieve the dagger.

The onlookers turned their heads as soon as they saw the results of the bloody law of the jungle. Then, they quickly left the scene as if they were afraid of sparks flying.

'You little shits, whenever you're going to get incited...!'

The owner swallowed his anger and took out the poisonous herbs that Medea had mentioned.

"Is this all there is to Luna Digitalis?"

Medea picked up a pouch of digitalis leaves.

It is a poisonous plant that causes paralysis, but it can also be used as a medicinal herb, so the more, the better.

"That, that's all. Really, as I said, this can only be found at Moonlight Cliff, so it's hard to come by- Ah!"

The trembling owner's eyes caught sight of an old herbalist coming into the store carrying a bundle of grass.

"Hey, old man! Any more Luna Digitalis? Huh? Someone special is looking for them!"

"It's not the full moon yet, so there's no such thing-"

"Isn't there something you've set aside before?! Even in your group? Why didn't you prepare it in advance?"

The anxious owner snatched the sack of grass from the old man and shouted at him.

The numerous herbs in the sack were scattered messily on the floor.

"Stop it. It's fine if it's not there."

Medea dropped three or four gold coins on the floor and passed the owner.

It was then that the old man who had been picking up herbs that had fallen on the ground raised his head.

The moment he saw Medea's face under the hem of her hood from the angle of his kneeling position, the old man froze.

Squeak.

The store's door was closed.

"Ha, damn it. I almost became a cripple because I touched something wrong. I got lucky today, and my business failed!"

The old man stared blankly in front of him as if he had lost his mind, seemingly unaware of the owner's repeated grumbling as he picked up the gold coins.

"Th... That can't be... tha t can't be, that can't be... How the child ot could Venus... Unbe alive..." 

"What? Old man. What are you mumbling to yourself? What are you doing? Why don't you hurry up and clean up?"

Just as a fox runs wild in a den after a tiger has left, the owner of the inn shouted at the old man as if he had never bowed down before when Medea disappeared.

"Where did that guy come from earlier? Where did she say she was going?"

"Do you know? I opened my mouth to find out and almost got my hand blown off- Hey! Where are you going?"

The old man ran out in a hurry without even packing his bags. However, when he left the store, he had already lost sight of her.

***

"Your Highness, I have also obtained the remaining items you mentioned."

Neril and Tom each had a thick bundle on their shoulders.

The three people who finished preparing turned to the inn where Gallo would be.

As they were walking down the street, they passed a chapel that was almost falling apart.

Beneath the gray exterior walls, which looked as if they had not been maintained for a long time, stood a faded statue of a goddess.

Medea stopped walking.

Then, she took out a gold coin and placed it at the feet of the goddess statue.

"I think it would be better to pray for everyone's safe return."

"Yes, I will do that."

However, Medea's gaze, which was actually taking off her robe and praying, was not focused on the statue of the goddess.

It wasn't like her, but for some reason, she felt uncomfortable looking straight at the face of the statue.

She was afraid that God would not approve of her actions, such as going against the oracle and trying to kill the evil dragon herself.

So she's afraid her heart will weaken.

"Let's go."

When Medea turned again, there was a sound of urgent, dragging footsteps on the floor.

"Three, Selene..."

An old man she had never seen before stood before Medea. Neril and Tom stepped forward sharply.

"What's going on?"

"Chief, maybe not. You're just making a fuss now."

Even the man who had been supporting the old man with a nervous expression stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Medea's face.

"Uh, how really..."

"Look, that's right! It's that child! How could I forget this face? I've spent my whole life ruminating on the stupidity of our tribe for not recognizing the true Priestess!"

"I think you've got the wrong person. Neril, take care of the travel expenses."

Medea soon recognized the old herbalist as the one she had seen in the shop earlier.

Even for an old man living a difficult life in a rough village, her cold-hearted personality was not good.

"...Child of Selene, you have your mother's eyes just like mine."

What stopped Medea in her tracks as she was about to pass by and nod to Neril to hand her a gold coin was the name that came out of the old man.

A name that no one had heard for a long time.

It was her mother's name.

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