Chapter 53: Flame-haired
"Sell?!" Eldrad exclaimed. He could not fathom the idea of using such a heavenly creature for something so mundane and worldly.
"Indeed, Eldrad. Do not fret, people of Tunish. Rokku is a kind soul, and he is nice to look at. Remember, he is a person just like you, so do not go wandering into his space and touching him without his consent. I am speaking to you children in particular."
The crowd was convinced. Rokku was harmless, and according to Eldrad, he brought luck. This prompted more of the people to linger and buy something from the stall. Almost everyone got something, whether a wineskin of milk or some of Ren’s vegetables.
Onova was part of the exercise too. Ren had initially thought he might let the young woman go, but he soon realized that Rokku would need an assistant, someone who understood the cues of the Tunish people far better than he did.
Two hours in, and they had sold everything they brought. The women at the neighboring stalls watched Ren’s success with envy, wondering what exactly made his produce so irresistible. Ren would not tell, of course, but he was considerate about it. He knew he had an unfair advantage because of the relic, and so once he finished selling his own, he would buy some vegetables from them, if only to feed his livestock.
What Ren did not notice, and neither did Rokku nor Onova, was that three men had been watching from a far corner between two huts. The narrow gap and the shadow pooling there from the angle kept them mostly hidden. One of them had slipped away earlier and returned with two wineskins of the blue milk.
They drank in silence.
"This is the milk alright. And that makes the man Ren." One of them studied the stall from the shadow. "He also has a spirit animal with him. Lord Uvamin is going to find that very interesting. We need more intel. Where does the milk come from? And why does he buy milk from the other stalls when his is clearly better?"
They would need to trail him further and find out how he produced it, then report everything back to their masters. There were six of them in total. The other three were scattered across the market, blending in and keeping watch on other things, one of which was Erigald and his wine house.
The spies had folded themselves into Tunish without difficulty. They spoke Maldrinaeh with the same local dialect and dressed just like the villagers, save for the hoods they wore. Nobody suspected a thing.
Ren and his team packed up what remained, the bottles, the wooden boxes, and the leftover wineskins.
"Let me come with you, Sir Ren. I want to see your home!" Onova called out. She had heard enough about his house to know it looked nothing like the huts of Tunish, and she very much wanted to see it for herself. It was something worth bragging about, and at this point, the people of Tunish all admired Ren.
"Some other time, Onova. I will be the one to invite you. Do not worry."
She pouted. It was the same answer he had been giving her every time she asked.
Ren and Rokku left Onova behind. They would work together again tomorrow, but until then, he had training and responsibilities waiting. The spies, skilled at what they had been hired for, trailed the two without drawing a single glance from anyone around them.
As Ren’s house came into view on the slope of the mountain, he spotted a figure near his cows. Someone was patting them. He picked up his pace, mana already stirring in him, thinking it was another case of someone coming to his home to pilfer or cause trouble. Then he caught the red hair and relaxed immediately.
"Elizabeth. What are you doing here?"
Erigald’s assistant. Hot-tempered, freckled, and red-haired.
"Can I not visit sometime?"
Ren paused for a moment. "You can. It is just a little surprising. I do not get many visitors."
"I reckoned that." Her voice climbed a pitch as her eyes found Rokku. She walked straight toward him, barely pausing to consider personal space. "He is so pretty." She began running her hands through his feathers.
Ren went inside to drop the boxes, then came back out to find Elizabeth mid-conversation with a Rokku who was visibly indifferent to the topic at hand.
"I was just telling Rokku how much our customers love the wine we make from your berries and apples. We are making so much money, Ren. You bring luck, just as Eldrad said you would."
Ren scratched his head. He had nothing to say to that. Then Elizabeth turned to face him, stepped closer, eyes on his, and before Ren could register what was happening, she kissed him. She pulled back and giggled.
"I have gotten what I wanted. Bye!"
She laughed all the way down the mountain.
Ren stood there smiling. He had not expected that. He liked Elizabeth, but he had never made any moves. She had always seemed absorbed in her work, and for his part, he had gods to appease and animals and crops to tend to. There had not seemed to be much room for anything else.
"Her hair is like fire, Master Ren. She carries a large amount of mana within her." Rokku observed.
Ren had picked that up with his Mana Sense long ago and felt it from her even earlier, but regardless, Elizabeth was certainly not a cultivator. She was far too sweet and soft to walk that path.
He was still talking to Rokku when his expression shifted. He dropped his voice to a low whisper. "Someone is watching us."
A rustling came from the bushes nearby, and he knew instantly it was one of them moving. Ren wasted no time. He charged his fist and drove a mana projectile straight into the brush.
The bush burst into flame. The target rolled clear and came into view. It was not just one person watching. It was three.