Side Story:
Lahki’s Merchant Diary Pt. 1
A lone horse pulled a cart down a darkened road in Diento. The sun had set, and night cloaked the land.
A young man in his twenties with curly brown hair hummed to himself as he sat in the driver’s seat, holding the reins. Though dressed nicely, he didn’t give off an air of wealth. A quick look at the crates stacked in the back his cart suggested this young man was a merchant. In addition to his leather armor, he carried a simple sword at his waist and small shield on his back. He was on his way to stay the night at his usual inn in Diento.
As the inn came into view, a muscular man with short blond hair standing out front waved toward the cart, as if he’d been waiting for its arrival.
He shot the driver a warm smile. “You’re late, Lahki. Did you bring any goods to sell?”
The young merchant known as Lahki responded quickly, suggesting that the two were friends. “Evening, Behl. Actually, I got a bunch more than I expected!”
The other man, Behl, had the massive body of a fighter. His face registered surprise at Lahki’s words. “No way! Rea and I were jus’ talkin’ about how all the stores would already be closed.”
Lahki looked around. “Where is Rea, anyway?”
“Heh, already back in the room, kicking her feet up.”
Lahki parked the cart in front of the inn’s entrance and unleashed his horse. After leaving his steed with the inn’s stable hand, he pulled his bags out from the back. The inn locked carts inside a garage overnight to reduce the risk of theft, but it was still a wise idea to bring valuables into your room with you.
Lahki struggled with a particularly heavy bag. Behl reached out and picked it up for him.
“This is pretty heavy. You sure you bought weapons?”
“The weapon’s shop was closed, just like you said. But I happened to run across a wandering mercenary selling weapons of his own. So I bought them off him.”
The two walked past the counter downstairs and made their way to the second floor. Lahki almost always stayed in the same room.
Lahki knocked on the door and waited for the woman inside to respond. “Rea, can we come in?”
After getting permission to enter, Lahki and Behl entered.
The room was in the corner of the building and barely had enough space to contain the three beds crammed into it. A woman sat on the bed farthest from the door.
She’d taken off her armor, and her chestnut-colored hair hung loose past her shoulders instead of being tied up in its usual ponytail. Despite her boyish attire, she gave an impression of femininity.
Rea’s face perked up as soon as she saw Behl and the heavy bag he was carrying.
“Whoa! You got the weapons?”
“Well, actually…” Lahki repeated the story he’d told Behl earlier.
“A mercenary, huh? So, what type of weapons didja buy?”
“I was wondering about that, too.” Behl dropped the bag on the ground and began pulling out its contents. After he’d drawn every single one of the swords out of its sheath, he gasped in surprise.
“They’re all pretty impressive. Each sword must’ve cost you twenty-five gold coins, yeah? I’m surprised you could afford to buy ’em all.”
“Look at this one! Isn’t it great? It’s totally different from all the rest.”
Behl and Rea both gasped when they saw the sword Lahki was holding.
“They’ll each sell for around thirty gold coins. The one Rea’s got’ll give us another sixty, maybe even a hundred.”
Behl spoke in hushed tones. “How’d you buy all these…?”
Lahki scratched his head in embarrassment and leaned in closer, keeping his voice low as he recounted his story.
“Wha?! No way!”
The two could hardly keep quiet. Lahki quickly put his hands over their mouths.
“Are you serious? You bought all of this for 150 gold coins?”
“That’s amazing, Lahki! We should make at least double that in profit if we can sell ’em all. Did the mercenary have any idea how much they were worth?”
Lahki shook his head. “He claimed he was a traveling mercenary, but it seemed like he was some sort of noble knight. I don’t think he was hurting for money. More than anything, I think he just wanted to lighten his load.”
Behl looked at the sword hanging from his own waist and let out a sigh, as if he could feel the difference in social standing.
“Must be nice for swords as expensive as these to be nothing more than a bother to you…”
Lahki, noticing his friend’s reaction, got caught up in the excitement of the moment.
“Listen, Behl, pick out whichever one you want. I’ll give you one for free!”
“Wait, are you sure about that? I mean, that’d be amazing, but…” Even as Behl said this, he was already excitedly looking over the swords before him.
“Of course! You’re always such a great bodyguard. Plus, if you have a better weapon, I’ll be even safer in my travels.”
Behl reached for one of the blades, similar in appearance to the sword he currently wore.
“Are you sure that’s the one you want?”
“Yup! It’s best to stick with what you’re used to.”
Behl clipped the new sword to his waist, smiling brightly as he checked the feel of it.
Lahki and Rea exchanged glances and laughed.
“Well, I think it’s time we get some shut-eye. Sorry, Rea, for always making you stay here with us guys.”
Lahki looked truly apologetic as he said this, but Rea didn’t seem to care in the least. She simply waved her hand and dropped back onto her bed.
“No reason to make a fuss about it now. It’s always been like this. I’m just happy to have three beds.”
“Even if we only had two, we’d let you have your own! Lahki and I would just double up!” Behl looked up from adjusting his new sword to tease his two friends.
“Hey, I’m a refined young lady! I thought that was obvious!”
“Hmm…where is this refined lady you speak of?” Behl looked around the room with exaggerated confusion, glancing straight past Rea. This kind of banter was common between the two of them.
“All right, all right! Listen, it’s getting late. Let’s clean this stuff up and get to bed!”
Lahki spoke in a well-practiced tone. He was used to breaking the two of them up. After putting the weapons away, he extinguished the lamp and climbed into bed.
“Tomorrow, we head to Luvierte.”
“Roger that, boss.”
“G’night, Lahki!”