Loganel walked down the streets of Astalan at a pace way slower than usual. In his hands, he carried the neatly folded battle coat that he had bought a year ago from the elf twins. Although it wasn't particularly heavy, it still proved to be a challenging task for him to carry it and walk all the way to their store to have it upgraded with the materials that Mistivera had given him since he still hasn't recovered from the ritual to regenerate his arm.
As he walked, he thought back on the final word of warning that Mistivera had given him.
"I would recommend that you don't visit the Church anymore."
That was her warning to him. He was confused as to why it was so. Juliana rests in the Church, and Loganel felt that it was his obligation to go and visit her since she had sacrificed herself to save Loganel from a curse by an Elder Lich. However, Loganel knew from that serious expression on Mistivera's face to not challenge her warning.
I'm sorry, Juliana, he sighed.
The streets of Astalan had already gotten itself into the festive spirit as the year slowly crept to an end. Now, the majority of all buildings were decorated with bright colorful decorations such as ribbons and lights. In addition to that, everybody seemed to be in quite a good mood, which melted away all hints of coldness in the people's faces.
It was already in the afternoon, so the sun was already past halfway finished with its path across the sky above. Loganel looked up at the sky and thought of his party members.
They must be out of the city and on a hunt or doing some other quests they accepted from either the school or the Guild, he thought with a sad expression on his face.
Knowing that being frustrated wouldn't do him any good, he sped up his pace and continued towards the store ran by the elven twins.
Come to think of it, I still don't know the name of the store, Loganel thought as he neared the store's entrance. He then glanced up at the sign that hung from an iron bar that protruded from the wall over the door and read it. Edelweiss. Is this the name?
Loganel opened the door and entered, hearing the familiar chime of the bell signaling the arrival of a customer to the elven owners of the place. The layout of the store was as usual, with the elven brother Merian's workshop in the left corner and the elven sister Meriath's gorge behind that door that was located on the wall behind the counter.
"Hello," Merian greeted him with a smile.
"Hi," Loganel responded as he walked up to the counter and set the battle coat down on it.
"Your arm..." Merian frowned as he saw Loganel's left hand poking out through the fully filled left sleeve of his winter coat.
"He's here?" Meriath emerged from her forge and step foot into the store. Her facial expression wasn't relaxed at all, and instead, there was a look of stern seriousness.
"Hi, Meriath," Loganel almost stuttered upon seeing that frightening expression on her face.
She walked over to him in a brisk pace and rave onto his left arm.
"..." she sighed. "Take it off."
"What?" Loganel looked at her with a confused expression on his face.
"Take your coat and your shirt off," she said once again in a more commanding and demanding tone than before.
Loganel looked over at Merian for help, but Merian simply shrugged and shook his head. Without much choice, Loganel complied. He unbuttoned his winter coat and then laid it on the counter. Next, he pulled the thin sweater he wore underneath over his head and also set that on the counter. Finally, he stripped himself of his undershirt and laid that on the counter as well.
With a puzzled expression, Loganel glanced over at Meriath's facial expression. A frown appeared on her face as she approached Loganel and placed her cold fingers on Loganel's left chest in a way that she was barely touching him. Then, she slowly moved her fingers to where the stump of his left arm used to be and gently grabbed onto it.
"No scars or any signs of it being replaced physically..." she muttered. She then closed her eyes and sighed with a painful expression of reminiscence on her face. "What are you here for?"
"W-what?" Loganel was caught off guard by her sudden question. "I'm here to uh...upgrade my battle coat." Loganel looked in the direction of the counter and at his battle coat that was at the bottom of the clothing that he had stripped himself of.
"Is that so," Meriath turned and started for her forge. "Merian, get it done for him. And Loganel," she paused and looked over her shoulders at him. "Don't ever come back anymore."
Then, she slammed the door to her forge shut loudly behind he, causing the items on the display racks and shelves to rattle.
"W-what's the matter?" Loganel looked over at Merian, confused as to why she had reacted that way.
"She um...has a history with Demons," Merian explained with a bitter smile.
"What does that have to do with me?" Loganel then asked.
"Well..." Merian looked over at him with a troubled smile. "Only Demons can regenerate their limbs, you know? Well...maybe you won't since that is an esoteric fact."
"..." Loganel remained mute as he comprehended what Merian had said.
I'm...a Demon now? His body tended up. I had my doubts before when Holy magic started stinging me, but...I'm a Demon now? Is it because of that ritual?
"Don't worry," Merian smiled, hoping to get Loganel to relax. "We won't report you to the Church. That is," he then looked sadly down at the floor, "my sister's way of trying to help you. It is her kindness that is preventing her from slaying you then and there."
"Did something happen?" Loganel frowned as he began putting on the clothing that he had stripped out of earlier.
"Well..." Merian glanced over his shoulder and at the closed door that led to the forge. Then, he leaned towards Loganel and whispered. "It's about her husband and my brother-in-law. He was um...how do I say it...taken by Demons."
"Taken?"
"Yeah," Merian said as he took the battle coat Loganel had brought to be upgraded over to his workshop. "What materials?"
"Here," Loganel summoned the pouch from his storage ring and handed it to Merian.
Merian untied the string that closed the lips of the pouch and peered in at the contents.
"Wow..." he exclaimed as he gently reached in and produced a thin dark blood red crystal that was almost the color of darkness. "Dragon scales huh?"
"That's a dragon scale?" Loganel exclaimed.
"You didn't know?" Merian continued to stare at the dragon scale. "This is worth a lot. Like a lot."
"So...how much will it be to use that to fully upgrade the coat?"
"I would say maybe five Gold," Merian places the dragon scale back in its pouch. "It's quite difficult to handle. And just so you know that I'm
Not trying to cheat you or anything, this scale will probably sell for twenty Gold or more."
"I know you won't cheat me."
"This is a nice material to have. With this, I can completely revamp your coat," he said. "Since you've grown in the head, I think the size needs a slight adjustment as well?"
"Yeah," Loganel nodded. "It was getting a bit tight."
"Alright," Merian said. "You can either leave it here with me and pick it up tomorrow morning or you can wait. It probably won't take the whole day."
"I think I will wait," Loganel decided. "It's not like I have much to do otherwise."
"It's up to you," Merian immediately started his working process. He took out a measuring tape and begin measuring Loganel's body. Once he was done, he went back to his workshop and jotted down the measurements in his notebook. "You can have a seat in that chair over there," he said without looking up from his notebook.
"You were saying that Marian's husband was taken by Demons earlier..."
"Not as in kidnapped," Merian sighed. "He left voluntarily with them. It was probably like what...sixty years ago? It's been quite a while since then. Well anyways, he joined this band of Demons who preached of peace and coexistence with the other races."
Loganel's interest was peaked by that statement.
"And...he asked if my sister wanna go with him," Merian continued. "The thing is, that was when our village was recently ransacked by Demons and when we had lost our parents and almost everyone in the village. My sister could not forgive the Demons for that, even if the band of Demons her husband joined wasn't the ones who had destroyed our village. Well...after that, they parted ways and my sister and I began wandering the world in search of a place to settle down. She still loves her husband, although it's been a while since she had last seen him."
"I never knew..." Loganel stared at the floor before him, feeling a great sorrow that he had made Meriath recall memories that she had wanted to keep locked away in the depths of her heart and never for it to see the light of day.
***
After a few hours, Merian had finished with the improvements and alterations of the battle coat. He had made the dragon scales through enchantment, leather-like. He wove it into a fabric, and and replaced much of the original cloth of the battle coat. Through his skillful weaving skills and elven magic, he had made the coat appear to be a single piece and unlike a coat that was pieced together with different fabrics.
"This should do," he said as he took a step back and admired his work as it rest on a armor stand. "Try it on."
Loganel walked up to the armor stand and retrieved the coat. He then brought his arms through it and equipped it. The coat was now the perfect size with the tails of the coat reaching all the way to his legs like they used to a year ago. The color scheme and design of the coat had also changed somewhat. Although the main color was still black, the few embroidery patterns were now red. In addition, the coat just seemed all in all more sturdier and more protective.
"It's great," Loganel observed. "Thank you."
He then summoned five Gold from his ring and handed them to Merian.
"Loganel," Merian said as he walked Loganel to the door of the store. "...I think it would be best if you don't stop by ever again."
"I know..." Loganel nodded with a heavy sadness and guilt weighing down on his conscience.
Author's Note:
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