Chapter 163: Eye of Cauli (1)
"Who are you people?" Zella’s grandmother asked as her eyes tore into the two unknown people in her shop.
"Grandma! Grandpa! You’re back!" Zella chirped, rushing forward and throwing her arms around the old woman. "These are my new friends! They’re researchers!"
The grandmother, Hestra, raised a skeptical eyebrow, her gaze not leaving Riku and Sherry. "Friends? Zella, we leave you alone for half a day, and you’ve already made friends with a battle-mage who looks like he’s wanted in three different vassal states?"
"They’re very nice!" Zella insisted. "And they’re looking for a very specific, very rare artifact for their important research! And," she leaned in and whispered loudly, "they have the most amazing treats!"
The grandfather, Gror, finally looked up from his chamber pot. He saw the chocolate smudges near Zella’s mouth. "Treats, you say? Zella, how can you be so careless? What did we teach you about strangers?"
Riku stepped forward, offering a polite, disarming smile. "Apologies for the intrusion, ma’am, sir. My name is Riku, and this is my associate, Sherry. As your granddaughter said, we are researchers. We are tracking a faint magical signature, and our search has led us here."
"A light-magic signature," Sherry added, her tone flat and professional.
Hestra snorted, unconvinced. "And what makes you think we’d have such useless junk in our shop?"
"Grandma, please!" Zella pleaded. "They’re going to help us dig up the entire shop to find it! This will really help us sort the products, and maybe they will give us more of that choco-thing!"
The old couple exchanged a look. It seemed that their granddaughter was completely smitten by this duo.
"Fine," Hestra grumbled. "However, don’t think that you can take it away for free. You will have to pay us accordingly."