[190] 5. Shelter of the Nor (5)
Shirone tossed an elixir to the apothecary who owned the drone.
The apothecary caught it with both hands and trembled. He was so moved he could barely hold it.
Not a red, green, or yellow elixir—but a white elixir.
Shirone flipped his palm and said, "There. That settles it, right? Now hand the goods over to Kanya."
"You can't do this. That elixir has to be mine for the deal to stand."
"Then go and take it from him."
The apothecary's eyes flickered. He realized Shirone wasn't merely provoking him.
As if to drive the point home, Shirone looked back at the man fiddling with the elixir and asked, "So what're you gonna do? Give it back now?"
"Ah—no! I absolutely won't cancel the deal!"
The apothecary panicked and waved his hands.
Of course Mecha's drone was valuable—if it worked.
But the drone he'd sold was only worth a yellow elixir at best. Passing it off for a white elixir was a once-in-a-lifetime score.
"So? Are you going to brawl over it like a pair of heretics? Seems to be your specialty."
The apothecary's face hardened.
This was awkward. A merchant could get brazen with customers, but conflict between traders benefited no one. For lower-community vendors who sold daily necessities, it was even worse.
The apothecary scrutinized Shirone at last.
Pressuring people like this meant he had to be a Nor—and not an easy one.
Would he take just one and walk away? Trading Epines for a white elixir was the sort of bargain that would be talked about for years.
But it was a matter of pride. He couldn't accept that a citizen's will had prevailed.
"Fine. I won't sell. Keep your toy and be satisfied. You know what? You've crushed this young lady's hope."
The apothecary chose spite over profit. He gave up the money for the pleasure of victory.
A zero-point deal for any merchant, but if seeing the citizen cry was worth it to him, so be it.
Shirone realized the apothecary had lost the game.
"No. You have to sell the medicine. Otherwise you're breaking the contract."
"What? How am I breaking the contract?"
"You told me you'd sell the medicine if I brought all the elixirs I had. Kanya did that. Cancelling now is a breach. You know what happens when a trader loses credibility, don't you?"
Not just trouble—ruin. At minimum, you'd be driven from the community.
Still, a twinge of unfairness remained: Shirone was the one pushing the unfair angle.
"Say it straight. When I proposed the contract, you had two elixirs. And I bought the drone right after the deal was made, so I didn't violate anything."
"How would you even know when I bought the drone?"
The apothecary's pupils trembled. He'd lost his composure, but years of trading had sharpened his instincts.
He was on the losing side.
"I'd already arranged to buy the drone. I just hadn't handed over the elixirs. You're a merchant and you didn't check that? You're green. If you doubt me, check."
The apothecary ground his teeth. Things were unfolding exactly the way Shirone's instinct had predicted.
The merchant who'd sold the drone would side with Shirone at any cost. Proving a contract with Shirone would transfer ownership of the white elixir.
It happened all the time on the mainland. He'd taken advantage of monopolies himself, so he had no right to complain.
Why was he at a disadvantage? It should have been the other way around.
Going over it in his head, the apothecary realized Shirone must have known the drone's value was lower than expected. Shirone must have investigated somehow; otherwise this wouldn't be happening.
The merchant sided with Shirone because he'd made a profit several times greater.
A sound of admiration escaped him. Shirone had seen through the human nature of traders—skill that would work even among mainland merchants.
"So? We were the first to contract, weren't we?"
"Of course we were. Even before that girl screamed, there was a verbal agreement: receive the white elixir, hand over the drone."
Shirone confirmed it without being asked.
Now there was nowhere to retreat. If the vendor had cut a deal with someone else, it was his own fault for failing to check the buyer's limits.
Should he back down? One white elixir was an enormous haul, but pride mattered.
The apothecary played the basest card a trader could—he bared his wound.
"My mother was a citizen of Heaven. But she didn't receive the Ilhwa rite. Want to know why?"
When no one answered, he tapped his head and continued.
"She went insane. My father was murdered in Heaven by some lunatic who was obsessively in love with my mother. Do you know the sentence handed down? They reduced the murderer's lifespan by forty years. But he still had forty years left. My father was dead. My mother cursed that man for the rest of her life, hahaha. And absurdly, the date for the Ilhwa rite was set—with the same lunatic who killed my father."
Kanya's eyes wavered.
Shirone didn't grasp the implication of that fact, but everyone outside their party flinched.
"So my mother hanged herself. Because the number of ritual targets was reduced, I had to take the remaining punishment. That's why I fled to avoid the Law. You get it? I hate the citizens. They make me sick just to look at! Why would I sell you medicine?"
In short, he'd snapped and was daring everyone to die with him.
Shirone snorted.
Someone truly resolved to self-destruct doesn't bother explaining reasons. In a you-die-I-die scenario, the process doesn't matter.
He wanted an emotional victory, and Shirone had no intention of indulging him.
"So—are you selling the medicine or not?"
"I'm not selling. I won't cough up the elixir either. I've decided—do what you want."
"Then we'll have to take it by force."
"Go ahead. But do you know what happens if you use violence? You'll never set foot in the community again. You'll spend your life wandering."
Shirone held out his hand. A photon condensed into a white sphere that vibrated in the air.
The apothecary recoiled. That kind of magic shouldn't be possible. Only those on the community's outskirts who had contracts with light spirits could do something like that.
"You… are you one of the borderfolk?"
"The Swirling Serpent was strong. Thanks to it I got three white elixirs."
Shirone showed no emotion.
And the apothecary knew this: mages became most brutal and cold when they suppressed their emotions.
"What elixir do you have in your body?"
Everyone knew the answer would decide whether the apothecary lived.
He wavered a long time. He'd come to the end of the road. Realizing he couldn't win, he raised his hand with a bitter smile.
"Nothing. There's no elixir in my body. So spare me."
Shirone fired the photon cannon. A streak of light brushed the tip of the apothecary's nose and slammed into a ruin pillar.
A thunderous crack split the stone.
The apothecary turned to Shirone, all laughter gone.
"Don't laugh. You might think I'm bluffing, but I mean it. I don't care about the Law or the community. If you pull another dirty trick, I won't forgive you next time."
"All right, fine. I get it. Calm down."
The apothecary finally understood how serious things were.
Shirone had shown maximum hostility without resorting to outright violence. In an officer's terms he'd drawn his blade; in a beast's terms he'd bared his fangs.
Seeing there would be no more concessions, the apothecary tossed an Epines vial to Kanya.
"Happy? The contract's over."
"One more thing. Apologize to Kanya."
"Why should I? You don't have the right to meddle in my personal feelings."
"But you have a painful past, don't you?"
"What does that have to do with apologizing?"
"I'm not telling you to fake an apology. Words without sincerity are worthless. But didn't you want someone to understand you? To know about your old wounds?"
Was that true? Me… still trapped?
The apothecary glanced at Kanya's pitying face. She'd said her mother was the one waiting for the Ilhwa rite.
Back then his mother had been out of her mind—screaming daily and harming herself. The fear she felt had been a far greater terror for him as a child.
"Tch, who cares about apologies?"
The apothecary snorted and packed up his stall. He shoved jars into his bag, rolled his blanket on top of his pack, then stood and tossed a violet potion to Kanya.
"This is called Korpin. A neuro-strengthening potion. I made a good sum, so consider this a bonus. It'll work with Epines. Though it'll probably feel pointless."
As he walked back toward the tent village he glanced at Shirone.
"And kid, everything I said was made up. You broke me fair and square, but if you can't even sense that, you'll get eaten alive on the mainland."
Arin sent a message through the mind channel.
- Shirone, should I check whether he was lying?
- No, it's fine.
Shirone watched the apothecary's retreating back with a hollow feeling.
Nor's Refuge.
A place where wanderers of Purgatory rest.
Perhaps what they briefly put down here isn't their tired bodies, but the wounds of their hearts.
The gaudy shopping trip had ended.
Shirone comforted Kanya, who couldn't hold back her tears. Lena hovered nearby, cheeks puffed in concern.
Amy's party began a meeting without Shirone.
The things they'd bought with three white elixirs were a fire spirit, a drone, and Epines.
Even if it had been the best move for the situation, they couldn't help feeling a little cheated. Tess, in particular, couldn't hide her guilt.
"I begged you to buy things, so I can't complain, but are you sure this was okay? There might've been stuff more useful for combat. And Epines—we paid an absurd price for it."
"What does it matter? If you need it, go hunting. Don't dwell on the past."
"Rian's right. And it's not just about money. Shirone used the elixirs most efficiently; that should be enough."
Comforted by Amy, Tess made a sorrowful face.
"No matter how efficient it was, the situation was a mess. I support Shirone's choice, but if the apothecary hadn't pulled that stunt we could've cut the drone cost by half."
Kanis sneered.
"Amy doesn't mean it like that. Shirone didn't lose out. He bought something you can't get even if you handed over all the white elixirs."
"What? The fire spirit was that expensive?"
"No. The most expensive thing was Epines."
Tess thought Kanis was joking.
But if you considered that they'd bought something usually purchasable with red elixirs using a white elixir, she felt like she'd woken up and burst out furious.
Rian asked, puzzled, "Why was Epines the most expensive? It's a common medicine."
"It normally is, but today the price was beyond imagination. More importantly, look at who owned it—Kanya and Lena. In other words, citizens of Heaven."
"Oh…"
"See now? It wasn't just Epines. Shirone bought a ticket to Heaven with a single white elixir."
Indeed.
Considering how remote any way into Heaven had been, this gave them a foothold. With Kanya's help, they might be able to get into Heaven.