女神归来的夏天

Chapter 147: The Frosts Wrath III

I let go of Sally so we can get a move on. She holds on to me a little longer, and let\'s go too. I look around the commercial district and see the other shops around. The fairy kingdom has many items not available in other places. So it\'s an amazing place to visit. I\'m the first player to see this place, and I\'ve concluded that its uniqueness will bring much attention from players once they all start returning.

Players will start arriving at different times, and it\'s going to be at least a year until most of the remaining humans from the earth are returned to their original continents. I wonder how the eastern hemisphere of the old earth is doing. The Chinese and Russians also have their cities and populations too. Anywhere with an internet connection will have to deal with the same issues that the players in old LA faced.

My best guess on who returns first comes down to how many people work together. So places on old earth that would suffer from conflict both religious and racial might take longer than ones that could put those differences aside. Bigger populations help too. The Chinese have the largest with over 6 billion in their country. I doubt they can get over the issues that the country suffers from, though. Many people hate the Chinese government, including its people.

We start walking to the military barracks since that\'s the best place to look for the potions I need. The overly friendly fairy back in that shop didn\'t tell me where the place was. "Why did she do that to you, Zern?" I hear a question out of nowhere, and I turn to Sally and see her downcasted eyes. She has grown fond of me in the very short time we\'ve known each other. I can\'t really say why, though. Yeah, I treat her differently, but that usually isn\'t enough for a woman to like you.

I don\'t have an answer for her too. That female fairy and most fairies in this kingdom have higher sexual needs and senses. So that\'s more than likely a common occurrence. "The best answer I can come up with is that it\'s the normal thing to do here. Since we are outsiders, we wouldn\'t understand the social constructs happening in this place. Be ready because it might happen to you. The fairies probably don\'t understand the concept of half-breed discrimination." As those words leave my mouth, she moves closer to me and grabs the bottom of my shirt.

She has probably already been looked at by both males and females. This place has things happening in it I never thought I\'d see. If anyone does try to force her to do anything, then I\'ll step in. If she gives consent, then I\'ll leave them be. I doubt that though, she is probably still too scared of anything like that. I don\'t blame her either. "You\'ll make sure nothing happens to me, right... I don\'t want to go through any of that again..." It Looks like she needs some backup.

I can help her with whatever, but when she gets her better class, I\'m not going to always be there. She needs to learn that defending herself will bring much more security to her mind than if I do. That way, she won\'t grow dependant on me. "Yeah, I\'ll make sure no one tries anything. We\'ll spend the night here in the city since it\'s getting later in the day. It\'s going to take several hours to clear the dungeon, and I don\'t want to start at night." I look at her, and she nods her head.

We make it to the military barracks and see some shops here and there. I land my eyes on a very subtle-looking door, and my instincts tell me that\'s what I\'m looking for. We make our way over, and I open the door. There are rows and rows of herbs and potions. I look to the man at the counter, and he sees us. This place doesn\'t have any of the stuff the other shop had. He waves us over, and we approach.

He puts away what he was looking at and relaxes against the counter. "You two don\'t look like the military. You need permission from another potions and herbs dealer if you are civilians." I pull out the envelope and hand it to the male fairy. Males have dragonfly wings, while females have butterfly wings. It\'s quite cool, in my opinion. That\'s why most of the military is male, with their fings, can move much faster. Women are allowed to serve, and some even do.

He opens the envelope and looks back at us. He closes his eyes and sighs. He rolls his wrist at me to hurry my order up. "I need potions that can help with extreme cold and ward off cold debuffs. Price isn\'t a problem." He stands up and walks into the back. We wait for a few minutes in silence, and he comes back out with five bottles. He places them on the counter, writes the price down on a piece of paper, and slides it to me.

It\'s 70 gold pieces for these potions, while spendy they are needed. I take out the exact amount of gold, and it comes out of my inventory with a decently sized bag. I place it on the counter, and he gives me a flabbergasted look. "I need to see if it\'s all here before you can take it. Give me 5 minutes, and once it\'s confirmed, you can have the potions." I nod my head, yes, and he takes the gold into the back.

I turn around and lean my back against the counter. I look at all the herbs that are only grown here in the fairy kingdom. Most of them are epic quality since they are locally grown, and you can only get them here. After we are done here, we find an inn and rest for the remainder of the evening and night. "Do you want to pick the inn, Sally? You have been around town more than I have, so you have seen more than me. Don\'t worry about the price, and pick the one you think the most comfortable will be." She nods her head and looks down to the ground.

She looks sad about something. I don\'t know why though, not really going to try and find out right now. She\'ll get over whatever problem she is having, and all I can do is help when she asks for it. "I\'m sorry, Zern..." I look at her confused, and she gives me an even sadder look. "You have to pay and take care of everything... I can\'t do anything to help contribute to expenses..." Being broke isn\'t something to be sad about. Most problems of the wealthy come from the very money they have.

I look down at her, and she looks up at me. I hold a neutral face as I think of how to respond. Sometimes not saying anything is the best option. So I don\'t say anything. She tries to say something and is interrupted as the man comes out from the back. "Everything is there. You can take the potions. Come back again if you need anything." I can see the greed in his eyes as he says that. You can count on one thing being in any thinking creature\'s heart.

I pick up the potions, place them in my inventory, and bid farewell to the seller. We walk out of the shop and stand on the pathway. I turn towards Sally and cross my arms. "Have you decided on an inn yet? I want to take a bath if possible." She nods her head with excitement and takes my hand. She pulls me while running to an inn with a very cozy look to it. I can hear laughter and cheers coming from the inside of the place. It must be one of the best places to stay.

We walk inside and see the party going on. I\'m not in the mood for dealing with any drunks, so I quickly approach the barkeep, and he looks at me as he cleans a glass. "What can I get you, young man? We a room with personal bath and food ready to be ordered at any time." This sounds good to me. I set down 4 gold pieces tell him I\'d like two rooms with personal baths. He grimaces slightly. "We only have one room available right now. It\'s only two gold pieces." I sigh and pay for it.

I turn to Sally and see her blushing face. I sigh and look back to the barkeep as he hands me the key and tells me where the room is. I make my way towards the room with Sally behind me and eventually make it. It\'s a big room with a single big bed. It looks like I have to sleep in a chair or on the floor. I make it to the bed and sit on it. It\'s very soft and relaxing. "I\'m glad that I don\'t have to sleep alone in this place tonight..." I hear Sally speak, and I silently nod my head. I\'m going to take a bath before we decide on any sleeping arangements.