BXBX NOVEL Chapter 53
When he opened the door there were people outside just about to knock on the door.
“I came to deliver the goods from the butcher shop, please confirm everything is ok before signing it”
Said a bulky man as he handed Dylan a piece of paper with a list of everything they got out of the wolves Anne killed near the mine. Since he was just an employee he handed the paper to Ryu who proceeded to check the products.
Pelts were piled outside, and there were some boxes containing wolf meat and a small bag with fangs. After checking everything he signed it and the bulky man retreated. He feared the butcher would have made a poor job considering how Rudd treated him at his store, but he turned out to be a professional and the pelts were of high quality.
“We came to deliver the goods from the blacksmith”
Two men spoke at the same time, they looked like siblings.
.....
“I didn’t ask anything to the blacksmith”
Ryu looked behind him to see if the girls were behind it, but everyone shrugged.
“There was a request sent to the blacksmith along with more than enough funds for it with this note”
Said one of them as he handed him a piece of paper that said:
‘Please deliver this to the tavern as soon as possible and hand this letter to the cook. Ryu, what you asked for was impossible for us, but this should help’
Ryu had requested beer and cider to Hiraku, he had more than enough food to keep the tavern running the whole winter, but they were in dire need of beer. If they ran out of beer no one would bother coming to the tavern until spring and that would certainly kill the business. Even more if they consider that some people already paid for their weekly subscription to the tavern, and they wouldn’t be happy if the tavern didn’t provide them something to drink.
“Along with the note came several pages of very specific instructions on how to build this contraption, but it said that those were meant for the blacksmith and he should keep them. The blacksmith sends his regards, he said it was hell to make it and he hopes to try whatever food needs this kind of cooking pot to be prepared”
The crate was so heavy he couldn’t lift it, Anne and Helena helped him carry it inside. When they opened it they noticed it was, indeed, a cooking pot. It looked like an ordinary cooking pot, except for its huge size.
Distiller: designed to produce alcohol.
Ryu was both astonished and ecstatic, when he opened the lid he noticed there were other containers inside of it with copper pipes attached. He wanted to ensemble his new toy as soon as possible, but Rina had other plans.
“Ryu, we need to buy supplies today, do you want to come with me?”
“Hey, you sound like a nagging wife already”
He mocked her and both laughed to their hearts content. Seeing this, Anne could do nothing but sigh, much to her dismay, they did look cute as a couple.
“Anne, are you ok?”
Helena asks concerned
“Yes, I’m just... nevermind. What should we do now that they’re outside?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’ll be busy making uniforms for those two”
Helena smiled squinting her eyes pointing behind her. Eiri and Kairi were standing behind Helena, the whole time they’ve done nothing but stand and stare at everyone. When Anne wanted to notice, Helena was nowhere to be seen, leaving her alone with the silent duo.
“Rina, why go out all of a sudden?”
Ryu asked her as they walked among the crowd.
“Didn’t you notice?”
Ryu took a second to look around him, and it was completely crowded with people, most of them were carrying bags.
“There’s a lot people, is there a reason behind it?”
When he looked at Rina he saw her looking at the sky, he took a long second to take a good look at her cleavage before lifting his head. There was a subtle light in the sky, it looked like a line of sorts.
“Does it have a meaning?”
“Yeah, it means the freeze is here. Tonight people will confine themselves in their houses or at the refuge so everyone goes to the stores in order to get supplies. Food’s price is tripled so only merchants can afford to buy some, the less fortunate go from house to house begging for anything people can spare. The mayor provides a single bag with supplies to everyone, but since the caravan didn’t come this year my guess is it won’t be enough”
“If food price is tripled why are we heading out then?”
“Because everything else is cheaper. Every merchant will be selling almost at cost today, in order to get as much money as they can to go buy food later, that’s why I’m telling you we need to hurry”
Rina said grabbing his hand and walking faster. Making way in the crowd was difficult for them since they both were skinny and everyone was in a hurry but it was, in a weird way, fun too.
Once they got to the carpenter he was outside calling for clients, but no one wanted to go inside, everyone was desperate. Now that Ryu knew the reason behind the amount of people outside it was hard for him to miss that everyone looked troubled.
“Good morning miss Rina, I’ve been expecting you since the other night”
“You mean the night when people destroyed my place? uh?”
Rina knew how to handle men inside the tavern, but Ryu didn’t expect her to be the same outside.
“Are you here to buy new furniture? I’ll give you a good deal”
Both got inside the shop, last time Ryu got inside it was by mistake and the storekeeper didn’t even greet them. Now he was following them everywhere explaining details about his products while rubbing his both hands together. He was a thin man with a long mustache dressed in fine clothes and, like most merchants, he had a smile frozen in his face the whole time.
“What do you think about this one Ryu?”
Rina said as she pulled him closer to her, she wanted him to take a look at a table, but all he could care about in that moment was the soft feeling on his elbow as it bounced against her bosom.
“That’s a fine piece, if I say so myself, the carpenters paid special attention to it’s appearance. I’m sure it’d look nice at your tavern Miss Rina”
“It’s not my tavern anymore, it’s his”
Rina said pointing at Ryu, who stared at the merchant in the eye making sure he remembers how he treated him last time. When the merchant realized this, he started sweating buckets.
“Actually, we’re looking for something specific. We need eight tables for four people and three for six. We also need six dressers, a desk, four low tables and six, no, make it ten shelves. I don’t care of the looks, only about the price. Also, everything must be delivered today.”
The merchant’s eyes started glowing intensely and showed Ryu the choices he had that met his requirements. When they made a deal, the merchant called for help and four men came from behind the counter and went back after receiving instructions.
“Everything will be delivered today at noon”
Ryu didn’t even bother saying goodbye, he just paid and left with Rina.
“Now I get the feeling you’re the one in a hurry Ryu”
“As a matter of fact, I am. If we’re going to be confined during two weeks we need to buy a lot of things”
Now instead of Rina pulling his arm to walk faster, Ryu dragged Rina as if she was a kite he wanted to fly. Ryu went on a spending spree and got all kinds of fabrics, some tools and utensils, glass bottles of different sizes, firewood, nails and cleaning supplies. Also, he noticed that there were people selling their stuff on the streets or exchanging it for food, so he finally got to buy some elemental stones for himself.
Rina was flabbergasted by all the stuff they got, let alone the money he spent, she didn’t even know he had that much. Since they couldn’t carry most of the stuff they asked for everything to be delivered at the tavern and they simply carried a small bag each, mostly with elemental stones.
When they reached the tavern doors it was night dark already, and the formerly subtle lights, were now shinning bright in all shades of purple.
Rina and Ryu were both standing just outside the tavern, watching the deserted street. If it wasn’t for the amount of footprints in the snow it’d be impossible to tell that it was so crowded earlier.
“Ryu, I know the girls and I made a deal, but if you’re not ok with it we can just be friends. I don’t really know how I feel yet, but I have a lot of fun with you even when doing stuff I’m used to. If you just want to be friends, I’ll be ok with that too you know?”
Rina said as she looked at him in the eye. Since she was always upbeat and a bit lightheaded whenever she got serious about something she looked like a different person.
“I don’t know how I feel either, but... let’s figure it out together”
Ryu said as he reached for her hand, and they both stared at the southern lights for a few minutes in complete silence.