The Ruined Death Knight-Novel

"According to the map that Gerak gave, this should be one of the shops."

Taking his sight off the map, he was in front of a shop called [Handy Caster's].

The shop was completely built out of sturdy wood as a material with a teal color that was unique to all other shops nearby.

The shop had one large window which showed various items such as books and staffs with some other that I didn't know.

With this building being the single one with glass windows and color, it was as if a swan was pretending to be a group of ducks.

It was too different and beautiful to miss.

"After the other flops that I visited, this brings me the most expectation."

Putting the map away with several X on top of the circle that Gerak drew, I walked towards the inside of the shop.

*Ding Ding

'Hmm? They even have a bell at the door?'

Looking above my head there was indeed a bell.

'The other shops didn't gas ones, and looking all that stuff that I had no clue what they were made me think that after all the four hours of walking were now worth it.´

Staring like a curious child, Danzel couldn´t help but touch everything that he was curious about.

As he was engulfed by his own curiosity, a voice from behind made him flinch for a second.

"Knight at the door! Knight at the door!" 

Startled, he put the jar that he was holding away and turned around with this sword drawn, ready to the one behind him into two pieces.

What he saw though wasn´t what he was expecting.

"A crow..?"

Seeing a crow with few red feathers in the birdcage next to the door made Danzel feel awkward.

`I can't believe I drew Veren against a bird´ Embarrassed, he sheathed Veren back, pretending that it never happend.

"Old man! Old man! A knight drew the sword at me! He drew the sword at me!" The yells echoed through the room.

While Danzel was cursing the crow being so loud.

He heard some footsteps coming from back at the shop with a *Ting* every now and then.

Turning his head towards the sound he saw an old man walking towards him.

`The shop owner?´

The old man that I guessed was the owner, had a dark robe with brown symbols that seemed to glow and staff as tall as him in this left hand with the other hand being behind this back.

Though he had this back slightly crunched, these steps seemed to be steady with no signs of weakness that one would usually have at this age.

Walking towards me, he opened this mouth to say something but was shortly cut off by a certain bird.

"Old man! Old Man! He tried to kill me! kill me! He also tried to steal! steal" The crow opened both of these wings wide which made him look more dramatic.

Seeing the bird screaming around I couldn't help but curse at it.

`You damn drama queen of a bird! Who tried to kill you and steal you damn lier!´

My flared ethereal eyes were glued at the crow full of bloodlust. But I didn´t do anything since the owner of this place was in front of me.

The owner instead of blaming me turned this head towards the crow and then at me with the same expressionless face.

"Sigh... close that beak of yours in front of customers or else they will be no food for the day."

With a panicked expression on this face, the crow closed these wings and turned around pretending to be your everyday bird drinking some water.

`That shameless...´ Danzel wasn´t sure if he was supposed to laugh or cry at the sight of it.

Seeing that I was distracted, the old owner tapped this staff to the ground and looked straight at me.

*Ting

"You must be an adventurer...No, a mercenary perhaps? I take it you are a customer yes?" The old owner said with a low voice, but loud enough for me to hear.

I was slightly surprised by this appraisal, though I wasn´t really a mercenary I still pretended to be one among other people.

Which made me curious why he thought I was one.

"How did you know?" Danzel asked. with pure curiosity.

"Well, it isn´t a hard thing to guess. Someone at your strength should even be famous already, but the fact you don´t point towards being a mercenary that adventurer. Nevertheless, your equipment is far better than those adventurers with similar strength. Did that answer your question?" The old owner said indifferently.

"Yes..."

`I guess I should take my cloak next time I leave my hideout...´ Making a mental note in my head, I noticed something else in these words.

"I understood your reasoning, but how did you know my strength? In your eyes, I might as well be a rich noble pretending to be a knight, no?" Danzel said.

In response, the old owner just shrugged this shoulders.

"As the saying says, with age comes wisdom. And you aren´t the only mercenary coming to my shop." he showed a small smile.

"Now enough with that, you wouldn´t want to make an old man stand up to you young people right? Are you in search of something for coming to my shop?"

`He changed to the topic...´ Sighing internally, I started to explain things that I was in search of. 

"Hmm... a device that helps you keep track of time? A got a few of those over there." Walking away for a moment, the old owner bought out a circular green crystal with some metal parts.

"This is called a [Sun Timer], It can measure the time of the day and night."

Giving it to my hand, he explained how the [Sun Timer] worked, which wasn´t difficult to say the last.

The crystal showed an image similar to a sun clock inside the crystal which worked in the first twelve hours like a normal clock and the other twelve hours went backward.

The metal parts were able to close and open, which made it easy for you to hide your crystal from others, which in my opinion was quite a neat feature.

"Oh, that´s exactly what I was searching for. How much does it cost?" Danzel said while still looking at the [Sun Timer]

"The [Sun Timer] cost 15 gold coins, dear sir." 

Hearing that Danzel suddenly froze.

"Isn´t that too much for such a device?" Danzel asked doubtfully.

With a sigh coming out of this mount, the old owner looking to the said as if he was watching something in the distance.

"The [Sun Timer] original cost is about three to five gold coins..."

"Then..."

"But." He turned and looked at me directly into my eyes.

"That price would be only at the Arcana Kingdom which is in the war currently with the Berum kingdom. Dear customer, you should remember that magic items in this kingdom are strictly forbidden unless you got roots with nobility or the army himself."

Picking a book from the side, he said with a sad tone.

"This book over here was the first ones that I wrote and tried to sell here, but to sell it legally the army had to approve of this content and even change the content inside."

Looking at the old owner glancing at the book with pity in these eyes I finally realized something that I ignored.

`So that´s the other magic shops were more of a pharmacy that actually selling magic items such as this shop.´

Understanding that thought came another question in mind.

"If that were the case then, why are you shop allowed to sell magic items and the others not? Before I came here I visited the other recomment magic shops but none were like yours. Why?"

Putting the book back to this place, he looked back at me.

"It´s because of guys like you. Adventurers and Mercenaries aren´t will always be a part of society. And those who went the path of magic and still want to be free from duty need such items. Be it potions or magic staff, we offer everything other than knowledge. Well, at least the basics." He replied with a wry smile on this face.

"I see..." I nodded in understanding.

"Thanks for telling me such info, I am kinda new at this part," Danzel said

"It´s nothing worth mentioning." the old owner smiled at me.

"Well, since I am here and all. Is there something else that you would recommend for a mercenary to buy?" I asked while scratching the back of my neck armor.

"Depends on what you want dear customer. We offer various options and other handy magic consumables that can be of use in a battle. And if you are interested in magic we also sell some basic books." Looking me directly at my eyes he said.

"You interested?"