Finally, he said in a calm tone.
"I'll take that…"
Noroi pointed to a bow resting on one of the shop's wall shelves ,a wooden bow whose edges shimmered with polished, gleaming metal. An elegant carving of a wolf adorned its body, blending perfectly with its balanced shape, while its thick black string stretched taut.
The ogre's eyes fell on the bow Noroi had indicated, and he nodded in clear approval before saying in a rough, admiring tone.
"You've got excellent taste, kid."
The ogre turned around, his muscular, gleaming back flexing with every movement, and walked toward the shelf to carefully take down the bow, despite the firmness of his large hands.
He brought it back to the counter in front of Noroi, then picked up fifteen wooden arrows with sharp iron tips from a nearby table, along with a wooden quiver that had a solid iron base and a sturdy brown leather strap attached to it.
The ogre returned to Noroi, displaying everything on the table before him. He placed both hands on his hips before saying.
"Your total will be sixteen coins."
Noroi nodded, then reached back to the bag hanging from his shoulder, pulled out sixteen coins, and handed them to the blue ogre.
The ogre smiled cheerfully as he counted his coins and said.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Noroi grabbed the bow, then turned to the two who had been standing there from the start, watching what he was doing.
Yamika approached him with curiosity, running her fingers along the bow.
"This is really nice. Why did you bring it? Did your toy stop working?"
"It's not for me,"
Noroi said, pushing the bow toward Haruki, waiting for the other boy to take it.
Haruki's eyes widened in shock , he had never held a weapon before, nor had he ever expected Noroi to buy one for him in the first place.
He slowly reached out, wrapping his fingers around the bow's grip, his eyes sparkling with admiration at how beautiful it looked in his hand.
"Wow, it's really beautiful,"
Haruki murmured softly, his voice filled with awe as he traced the elegant golden carving and ran his fingers along the string, feeling its strength.
He looked back up at Noroi, eyes shining with wonder.
"Thank you!"
Noroi turned away without responding to Haruki's thanks, not uttering a single word, and began walking off through the crowded marketplace filled with creatures of all kinds.
Yamika and Haruki followed closely behind, walking side by side in a straight line, having no idea where Noroi was taking them after everything they had already been through on this journey.
Yamika's eyes fell on Haruki beside her , he was still staring at the bow in his hands, his joyful expression hidden behind the mask. She nudged him with her elbow, making his body jolt sideways from the force, but she managed to get his attention.
When he looked at her, she said with a faintly mocking tone.
"Pretty impressed with your weapon, huh?"
Haruki nodded several times with excitement, hugging the bow to his chest like a child who had just received a new toy on his birthday.
Following Noroi's lead, they exited the marketplace entirely and returned to the vast Meryl Forest. As soon as the market disappeared behind them, the three of them removed their masks at the same time, and the breeze of the setting sun brushed against their sweaty faces.
Yamika ran her fingers through her orange hair, pushing it back and freeing it from the hood of her leather cloak.
Haruki quickly sped up his pace to catch up with Noroi, walking beside him and leaning forward until his face was close to Noroi's, the dumb grin never leaving his expression as he asked.
"So, where are we going?"
Noroi looked at him with a disgusted expression, then placed his hand on Haruki's forehead and pushed him away, saying in a cold tone.
"I don't know."
Haruki gasped dramatically, his hand flying to his mouth in disbelief that the genius of the group had just said he didn't know.
He placed his hand under his chin, his lips curling into a focused frown as he tried to come up with a solution. All the gears in his brain began turning at once in an attempt to find a plan.
For a moment, he felt like his mind was about to overheat when he couldn't come up with an idea, but before giving up, a light bulb of inspiration lit up above his head. Hope returned to his face as his smile widened and he exclaimed excitedly.
"What if we summon Seraphine?!"
Yamika tilted her head in confusion at Haruki's enthusiastic suggestion, narrowing her eyes as she tried to remember who he was talking about, then said hesitantly.
"You mean that transparent woman?"
Haruki's face lit up completely. He clenched both fists together and shook them with excitement in response to Yamika's question.
"Yes! Yes! We can contact her through the gem!"
"I threw it away."
"You did WHAT?!!"
Haruki shouted in shock, completely unprepared for Yamika's indifference toward throwing away their only means of contact with someone they knew in this world, someone who might have the information they needed to escape it.
Yamika frowned, the corner of her upper lip curling upward in defiance as she puffed out her chest with clear pride, saying with irritation and arrogance.
"I don't need some blonde woman telling me what to do!"
Haruki disapproved of Yamika's dismissive attitude toward Seraphine, but decided not to argue with her and instead focus on his own idea.
"Well, good thing I kept the stone right here,"
he said confidently.
He slipped his hand into his pocket to check for the stone, but then…
He froze. The color drained from his face as his hands began frantically patting over his body in panic. Then, with utter despair, he dropped to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest and muttering weakly.
"I lost it…"
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Thank you for reading! If this moment touched you even a little , please consider adding it to your library.💐