The Devil's Betrothed-Chapter 27: Where Were You?

When Oriana left the inn, she was sobered up enough to take full control of her body. She had asked an errand boy for a glass of water before departing. Though she suffered from a slight headache, she could walk with no trouble anymore.

To go back to her village, she chose to take a detour, worried that Arlan’s interest in the ’pretty boy’ entailed having his men follow her home.

As it was quite early in the morning, the marketplace was yet to become crowded. The shop owners and storekeepers were busy opening their businesses, and at most, servants were sweeping the storefronts.

Oriana found herself slowing down when she found a group of suspicious people lingering on the alley in front of her.

She was about to avoid them and circle around them, but she changed her mind when she recognized one of them. It was a fellow herb collector whose name she forgot, but they were passing acquaintances. That man once helped her acquire a rare herb she needed for her Grandpa’s medicinal concoctions.

’Why is he with shady people? Could he be in trouble?’

They were whispering among themselves. When she saw them leaving, Oriana decided to follow them against her better judgment. She told herself she would call for help and not personally intervene if that herb collector was indeed being maltreated.

The group of men reached the rear of what appeared to be a small inn and entered the backdoor. Tiptoeing, Oriana approached the rear of the inn, searching for a nook or cranny that could hide her slender figure.

She found one and peeked at the situation inside. Though she could not see their faces clearly, she heard those men talking to a man who seemed to be their leader.

"Is it true that Oisin was murdered?"

"Yes, master. Their entire faction is annihilated. Everyone, even those not present in their hideout, was killed. There was no witness and the city guards merely did a cursory investigation before closing the case."

’Killed? Oisin...?’ Oriana tried to remember. ’Isn’t that the scary pig who is into smuggling goods? Who did he clash with to get killed?’

The leader then signaled another man to stay, while he dismissed the rest.

"What should we do now, Ron?" the leader asked the man next to him. Compared to earlier, he was speaking more formally, as if the man called Ron was not a subordinate but a person with a similar status to him. "Our next order was supposedly transfering that batch Oisin will be bringing from Selve. Without him, Master Finn has no one to coordinate with to bring a huge batch of black nightshade. Can you find a suitable replacement? We need a merchant whose ship will pass by Azures Island in two weeks.

The name of herb made her widen her eyes. ’’Black nightshade! the one I need to treat grandpa?’

’Finally, I am hearing news about it! The reason we moved near to Jerusha is precisely because the black market in this border city is flourishing!’

The more Oriana listened, the less her excitement grew.

They were no longer selling black nightshade!

A very important customer had swallowed all available rare herbs from the black markets not only of Jerusha, but throughout the kingdom. Since those goods were already paid in advance by that customer, she would not be able to get even a single stalk, even if she were to offer a higher than black market price.

"...Don’t worry, Mark. I will leave tomorrow. I will get there on time and find a new merchant to coordinate with," Ron replied.

"Before leaving, meet me here at the same time," Mark instructed. "I have some important things to give to you which will help you get work done easily."

’Tomorrow morning?’ Oriana thought. ’The black nightshade is harvested from Azures island? I don’t know where that is but I can ask along the way. I need to get a ship leaving Selve Port before this man arrives. This might be my last chance to get that herb.

’First, I must find out who the seller is. I do not need much. I don’t mind even if it’s no longer fresh. Maybe I can buy five or six stalks. That would last Grandpa six months worth of medicine.’

Oriana listened into their conversation for a while more as she devised her plan. As she was about to leave...

Crack!

She stepped on a random branch that broke under her feet.

"Who’s there?" the man called Ron shouted.

’Damn it,’ she cursed and immediately ran away from there. She even used her magic which stirred the air around, causing dust to fly up.

Mark and Ron rushed out of the cabin, only to be welcomed by the strong gust of wind mixed with dust, dried leaves and small twigs.

Both closed their eyes and held their arms in front of their heads to protect themselves.

"Seems like it was just the wind."

"Hmm."

After all, to most humans, concepts like people capable of controlling wind were nothing more than a bard’s tale.

Oriana returned to her village. Even before she could enter the fence of her cabin, she was stopped by a no-nonsense voice.

"Where have you been the entire night, Orian?"

It was the voice of a person she had always been wary of, even more than her own Grandpa.

She put a smile on her face and looked at her good friend. "Good morning, Luke. Are you out chopping wood today—"

"Where were you?" he asked as he walked towards her.