"Oh, are we heading back already?" the ignorant source of the young man Luke's dilemma stood up, clumsily wearing her boots before approaching him.
Luke passed her more than half of the prey he had tied nicely together. "Carry this."
She compared what he was offering her and what was in his hand. "Why are you giving me the fat ones?"
"Weight to build muscles," he said in a no-nonsense tone.
Pursing her lips, she walked behind him once more to cross the river. "I don't need muscles—"
"Say that again when you can beat them up on your own."
Oriana rolled her eyes. 'What do you know? My one magic spell and I could have dealt with all of them. I am being generous to those scums.'
As they reached the entrance of the village, Oriana realized it was late in the afternoon. The sun would set in about an hour or so, which also reminded her of the nightmares. Her knife!
'Damn, how did I forget? I have to meet that brat in the tavern.'
She passed Luke everything she was carrying. "Can you bring this home for me? You can pass them to Grandpa. I need to attend an urgent matter in the city."
Oriana ran away without waiting for him to respond.
Luke looked at her retreating figure in confusion. The city, not the town? The town where the villagers sell their goods was merely half an hour away. Meanwhile, Jerusha City was three hours away on foot. Luke didn't know that Oriana had a secret shortcut cutting through the mountain, which allowed her to reach the other end of the forest within an hour. The other end of this path led to the forest near the Wimark Estate.
When Luke entered the village, he saw a stranger talking to his younger sister. It was a man wearing mercenary clothes.
"...he is so beautiful, I am going to marry him soon," he heard his sister say.
"Who are you?"
With a stormy expression, Luke marched straight towards them, placing himself between Rina and the man. His sister shivered, as if she was caught doing something wrong.
"B-Brother, this mister, he's asking how one can join the village..."
Luke observed the robust man who was wearing hunting clothes, but from the way he was standing, to how composed he was despite Luke's size, he could tell he was not an ordinary man.
"I heard you talking about Orian," Luke said as he looked into the man's eyes.
"Oh? I just heard of him from some townsfolk on my way here. We heard he sells high-quality herbs, and my master is interested in making a contract with Orian the Herbalist to supply our new store."
"Let me know who your master is and I will inform Orian."
The man smiled. "Of course. My master's name is Bert Loyset, and he has just opened a new medicine shop in the city. He wishes to have a chance to coordinate with Mister Orian before he returns to the capital."
"Do we look for this Bert Loyset or a shopkeeper? What is the name of the shop?" Luke asked, not trusting the man.
"Uhm, before I answer, may I ask how you know Mister Orian?" the man asked.
"He is my cousin."
"Cousin? Then his parents—"
"He has no parents so he has been living with us since he was a child," Luke informed, not willing to tell anything real about Oriana to a stranger.
"Oh, that's sad to know," the man asked. "How old is he? I mean this little girl was talking about marrying him so I was just..."
Luke looked at his sister Rina who didn't dare look at him. 'I wish I could just dig a hole and bury myself there.'
"My sister has been betrothed to Orian when they were just kids," Luke replied and said further, "To buy herbs from him, I am sure your master does not need to know about the seller's family."
"Ah, of course, I was just being curious on my own as this little girl praised him a lot."
"Well, you got your answers," Luke snapped.
"Yes, thank you so much. I will take a leave then," the man left while Luke continued to glare at him till he disappeared from his sight. His glare then landed at his sister.
"Brother, I was trying to fool him too! I found that man suspicious as well. I didn't tell him anything of value about Orian," Rina tried to clear herself as she was smart enough to understand her brother found that man suspicious and she could use the same excuse for what nonsense she had said.
Luke simply looked down at his pouting sister before turning to head home. The poor girl quietly followed her brother, not willing to make even the slightest sound.