Refusing Fate
When the Swordmaster enters enemy territory in order to buy tea he ends up meeting a woman that seems connected to him in a strange way.
"I see… Hmm… That is most unfortunate… Would you know of any other shop where I could find it?"
Normally, this very shop here in Hartschild carried exactly what he was looking for, but today the item had gone out of stock. And he had already been looking forward to this for well over a week. What a disappointment…
Especially since he shouldn’t even be here. Coming here carried a substantial risk for him after all. This was Shieldbearer territory - Enemy territory. Technically he could be recognised by a guard passing by any moment, and then he would be in trouble. Big trouble, to say the least.
After all, he was Nobotsuna Kamiizumi, commander of the first branch of the Eternian Army, the Black Blades - and thus an ally of the Swordbearers, the fraction that was at war with the Shieldbearers.
It was only thanks to the disguise that his dear subordinate Kikyo Konoe had prepared for him that he could be here. Granted, it had not been designed for this purpose, but the swordmaster appreciated that it still held it’s use despite the mission that it was prepared for failing all those years ago.
"Ah, that is good to hear, thank you very much for your kind help sir, I will check this store right away. Until next time then."
That was good news indeed. This other, smaller store apparently had the item in stock usually as well, and was likely the only store in Hartschild that would be able to sell him what he wanted at this time. Wonderful. He was already looking forward to that taste as he started to walk in the direction the shopkeep had indicated.
Still, no matter how delightful this taste was, none of his men (and women) would understand why their leader willingly entered enemy territory unarmed for it. So he simply refrained from telling them in the first place. After all, he was here, disguised with a rather simple cloak and a hood drawn deep into his face solely to buy an herb he had come to be very fond of as a tea ingredient: Eisenkraut.
Eisenkraut carried a slightly bitter taste, with a hint of a lemony aftertaste. It only grow here, on the continent of Eisen and curtesy of a certain salvemaker’s doing, it only grow in the southern part these days - The north’s ground had suffered too much from the poison spread by the overeager scientist.
So naturally, the Swordbearers didn’t hold any in stock, other than the Shieldbearers. One of their captured officers even had some on himself - which was how he had come into contact with the herb. And since he had quickly grown very fond of the taste, all that remained was to find a way to obtain more of it.
And that’s how the swordmaster started to sneak away from Starkfort from time to time and make his way to Hartschild in order to purchase the fine herb. Thankfully, the city guards did not recognize him, allowing him entrance without any problems. Still, in order to stay safe, he kept the cloak on at all times while in the city.
By now, Kamiizumi had reached the store. It was a rather small store and from the first look of it, also one that did not see many customers throughout a day. Right now it was empty as well - Save for a red haired woman that seemed quite bored. The owner most likely. Well then, hopefully she still had some Eisenkraut he could purchase…
Slowly and gentle, Nobotsuna Kamiizumi pushed the door to the store open and entered.
No, no, no. Don’t think about it. But it was difficult to think of anything else when business at the general store was so damned slow.
This is what I’ve been reduced to, she groaned inwardly. I should be traveling! Ah, but she had promised her ailing old mother to help with the store…and besides, the fear that setting out would inspire her unwanted prophetic powers again continued to linger in the back of her mind.
And in addition to that — I’m not young as I used to be, anyway. She was thirty-eight, not a sprightly twenty-one, and she probably didn’t have the stamina to trek across the world again.
Crystals, that was depressing.
Rosalyn looked up, relieved to hear the tiny chirp of a bell as a customer finally entered the store. He looked…seedy with his face covered up so much like that, but no matter! Anything to get her mind off of her depressing, pathetic life.
"Good afternoon, sir," she greeted politely with a nod of her head. "Are you looking for anything in particular today?"
"A good afternoon to you as well, Ma'am. I was sent to you in my search for some Eisenkraut... Do you have any in stock currently?"
The unarmed swordmaster spoke politely and very calm, while he calmly looked around the store. Seemed like it was a rather small, and as he had mused before, it was not that well frequented by customers. Had that been different before the war, perhaps? After all, a large number of potential customers had become tied up in its tides, and not just a few had even met their end - most of them curtesy of that unscrupulous scientist...
"Eisenkraut? Yes, actually." She pointed to the end along the south wall, "Should be near the top over there. The green boxes."
A nod followes in thankful fashion along a simple “Thank you” before the man proceeds to walk to the southern wall of the store in order to check the shelve the woman pointed out. Hmm… a green box… a green box… ah, there!
With a gentle motion the man tries to get the box out from some other boxes - and of course it happens as it must: The box above the green one decides to slip out of the shelve as well, unguided by any hand.
Trying to catch it with just the one free hand proves to be in vain, and so the box crashes to the ground, leaving Kamiizumi to look at it quite perplexed.
Rosalyn had drifted off into daydreaming once more, pondering whether or not she could even afford nowadays. The shop wasn’t doing very well anyway, and…
She was jolted out of her daydream when she heard the box clatter and she peered over in the customer’s direction. Oh…he’d dropped a box?
She stifled a little laugh behind her palm, “Don’t worry about it.”
The man couldn’t just do that. He had thrown that box down from the shelf and naturally that meant he now had to clean it up - Anything else would be impolite towards the lady running this shop.
And so, the man kneels down and starts to pick up the items that had spilled from the box, placing them inside again. Unfortunately it seems that some of them broke due to the fall - He would be sure to pay for them.
He was persistent, though. That was kind of him. Rosalyn shook her head. But that kindness wouldn’t get rid of the broken bits of glass on the floor. She sighed and grabbed a broom and dustpan from behind the counter, coming around it to approach the mess.
"Here, if you’re going to insist, at least do it properly, " She leaned down to hand him the cleaning equipment, inadvertently getting close enough and at just the right angle to see his face beneath the hood and —
Him! Rosalyn let out a little peep and dropped the broom and dustpan before skittering back a few steps, knocking into a display herself and sending even more small boxes tumbling to the floor. No, no! It can’t be him! He’s not supposed to — !! But it was. Even as brief a glance as she had gotten at his face, she knew him to be the man from her dream sketch. But what did that mean?
No, no! She wouldn’t — she couldn’t possibly dwell on it!
"O-Oh, excuse me," she turned around and swept up the boxes from the floor, putting them back where they belonged — sort of — at a frantic pace before retreating behind the counter.
Just get him out of the store, she told herself, keeping her back to him and her head low. The color had drained from her face and she clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. He’ll probably think I’m strange for such a reaction and want to leave, anyway. That’s it, yes, just hurry him out of the store.
"U-Um — I’m about — to close up shop soon, so please. If that’s all you need," she said to him over her shoulder, and then went back to staring at the wall.
The swordmaster is naturally quite surprise when suddenly the woman gets so flustered and seems to be panicking. He has no idea what might have happened just now, and is thus left to wonder just what it is that got the calm lady so worked up. Perplexed, he looks over to the lady and the boxes she knocked down, only hastily cleaned up with a fair number of the contents still lying around broken.
And now, the woman wants him to leave the store all of a sudden, with the mess still lying around and the Eisenkraut unpaid for? No, he could not do that. His honour forbids it. And his curiosity for what sparked this reaction adds further fuel to the fire urging him not to simply up and leave.
"No, please, M’lady, I’m afraid I cannot do so. Please, allow me to help you clean this up… It’s the least I can do seeing that you’re not feeling well."
And while he speaks, not even awaiting her reply, he reaches for the broom that the woman dropped next to his feet. If she really wanted for him to leave all that urgently, she’d surely not just watch and let him clean.
"I…" He needed to leave. But she didn’t want to start an argument with him, either. “Very well, if you insist.”
He’d probably want to pay for his purchase too, wouldn’t he? Damn his manners. She adjusted her hair absently and continued to avert her eyes, but muttered, “And…it’ll be 40 PG, when you’re done.”
Hmm… interesting. Now that he had displayed the will to tidy up the mess he caused, she suddenly stopped to push him to leave. Had she perhaps…? Yes… come to think of it… She had lost her composure just as she had bowed down next to him. Most likely she had seen his face… He couldn’t rule out that she had recognised him, even if it seemed unlikely.
By now, the unarmed swordmaster had finished cleaning the first spot and moved to the second one. Taking care of the fallen and broken items there, he directed some words to the shopkeep.
"You seem quite nervous, M’lady… Did your eyes see something that frightened you, per chance?"
He tries to be vague about this, for he still hopes he has not been recognized. After all, there were only so many shops where he could buy Eisenkraut, and if the word spread that the commander of the Eternian Black Blades regularly sneaked his way into Hartschild in order to purchase herbs for tea…
"W-What?" Oh, no. She had hoped he would just think her strange and hurry out! She couldn’t possibly explain… "No, of course not! I mean, I just…"
She drummed her fingertips atop the counter top nervously, once again not able to look at him as she spoke. Being ‘strange’ had not worked out for her, though. The man was too…genuine? Polite?
Some sort of version of the truth would work then, right? He seemed logical.
"You just look like someone I thought I’d seen before, that’s all. But you’re not." He was. She made the mistake of casting him a brief sidelong glance before returning to gaze at the wall, and it only confirmed for her that he wasthe man from her dream-drawing.
Aha. Someone she had seen before. Hmm… So it was entirely possible that she did recognize him. That was a problem… And the glance she shot him only furthered the impression that she did recognize him.
"I see… Well then… 40 PG you said, yes?"
Slowly he walked up to the counter and placed the money on it - more than the forty she mentioned, probably about seventy or so. He did not count it, as he was focusing on other things. What to do for example with this situation. Perhaps he should just… Yeah, it’s the best he can do right now, that way he’ll know for sure…
"So… What do you suppose will be waiting for me outside…? Five or six guards maybe?"
If she truly didn’t know him, then she’d be confused now. If she knew him after all, she’d certainly be quite shocked to hear these words. So now he just had to observe her reaction and hope it’d tell him what was up…
Unfortunately, Rosalyn was so distracted herself that she merely kept her focus on the man’s money, which he gave…far too much of. She frowned inwardly and counted it properly, only hearing the tail end of his question.
What, he was concerned about the security of Hartschild? What an odd thing to bring up. Although perhaps it was because she was reacting so frantic? Yes, that made sense.
It didn’t really matter, though, she needed him out. Forcing her anxious behavior out the proverbial door, she gave him a plastic, neutral shopkeep smile.
"Actually, there are eight guardsmen posted around this end of the city," she said politely, handing him his change. "So I feel very safe. That’s everything for you, yes? Please have a nice day."
That reaction certainly was not what he had expected, but alright. He’d just try to fo with it as it was, that was the best he could do right now anyway. The answer had simply been too vague combined with her distracted behaviour to be certain…
So he’d best just stay the nice customer and hope he wasn’t wrong. He didn’t fancy threatening her anyway.
"I see. Good to know that a lady like you can feel safe here despite the war. I pray it will stay that way."
And then, when she hands him the change, the unarmed swordmaster denies accepting it, instead gently closing her hand around it.
"Keep it. As at least a partial compensation for the broken items."
"Oh," Rosalyn made the mistake of looking down at her palm, and then at him, directly in the eyes for only a short moment. But, as her artist’s mind often did without prompting, she immediately noted every feature of his face: the crinkles by the corner of his eyes, the slope of his jaw—
NO NO NO NO NO NO STOP!
"Th-Thank you! That’s very—very, very kind — now leave. Please? Please. I have…things to attend to," she turned away almost violently, dipping her head down and busying herself with putting the money away and reorganizing boxes that did not need t be organized on the shelf behind her.
No matter what the man might have thought of her reaction, he eventually left the store, and Rosalyn gave an exaggerated sigh of relief as she slid to the floor to calm her pounding heart.
That’s it, she decided, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them tightly. I need to start saving again. I need to get out of Eisenberg.
The Eternian man left the store finally, just as the lady had wanted, in his hands the pouch with the Eisenkraut he purchased. Usually he was smiling when he left a store with this fine good, but today, he was rather worried.
Had he given himself away? It certainly was possible, and if he did, a trap might lie in wait for him the next time he returned to Eisenberg. But then again, he couldn’t be certain about it, for the woman seemed to have her thoughts occupied by another matter entirely. And that at the same time made him curious somewhat…
Perhaps it was time to assign a new task to Kikyo… A surveillance mission. With her skills, she’s surely be able to find out just what was actually going on here, he had no doubt of that.
The question was just, how would he explain having run into this woman?
He’d need to consider his words very carefully… - or to just be open with his dear subordinate. Yes, perhaps that was better. He’d just tell her about why he was here and how. Best tell the Ninja everything to avoid unpleasant surprises.
But he’d not tell her that somehow, he had found that shopkeep to be quite the beauty…
No, that part, he’d best keep for himself.
