The Saint Enjoys a Day Out

Merlin secured them a home. He took a trip down to visit Carrolly and Mrs. Ruth and tell them about his new home. Mrs. Carrolly and Mrs. Ruth told Merlin they couldn’t get his money out today so they set an appointment for the following day.

After he settled things with them he met back up with the girls at the Inn where he paid for them to stay another night.

Cate wanted to do some shopping and Lila wanted to head to Renee’s to play with Sherwin on his day off. It still wasn’t quite noon yet and Merlin was nervous about letting his sisters go off by themselves. Looks-wise they were in their late teen to early twenties like him but mentally they were still children. He trusted them but you really shouldn’t let children wander too far unsupervised particularly in an unfamiliar place.

He decided they would go do some shopping first and then hit up Renee’s together. As luck would have it the fashion district was just a few blocks away from the Inn they were staying. It was technically separate from the entertainment district but only just barely.

They went into a store called Jolly’s which sold women’s undergarments. They girls had been wearing their underwear from when they were kids until now and it was starting to get painful for them. Merlin wished they’d said something sooner. He decided not to go in with them but lent them his whole purse. He knew it would be expensive, he told them to get properly fitted.

He remembered one of his tutors would just sit and talk with him while playing games on some sort of handheld magical device, she said her focus was social studies but it didn’t feel like she was teaching him anything useful and wondered why the church had felt it was an important course for him, but now he understood.

It took over 20 minutes but Lila and Cate finally walked out of the store. They had awkward smiles and red faces, like the time Mei invited Lila over for girl talk. Girls lived in a really stimulating world.

“H-how do we look?” Even if I hadn’t been looking for differences I still would have noticed. Now, that they were wearing fitted bras and not the borrowed ones their breasts were much more pronounced and well rounded. Lila who wasn’t quite as endowed still managed to stand out with the new underwear. It was an all-around improvement for both of them.

“You both look so incredible!” I gave them a thumbs up.

“Thank you.” Lila whispered while turning her head away. She handed him the money back, “Thank…you…” the purse felt a lot lighter than it had before. The bags they were carrying couldn’t have fit more than 3 or 4 sets each.

“How much did you spend?” I asked gulping.

“It was 350 per set and we got 8 sets each. So it was 2800 malba.” All of the square and triangle malba were gone.

“We c-can take the extra sets b-back if you want?” Cate was sweet to be concerned. It hurt to see it disappear like that but then Merlin remembered he had more money in his savings than the economy of the whole country. Still, this was all he could spend at the moment and it was painful to see his purse get so light so fast.

“No, it’s okay, I gave the money to you to spend. You did nothing wrong.” He patted her head.

“Now, how about we keep shopping!”

We ended up going to three other stores. Two were clothing stores. The first store was a dressmaker. He wanted them to have nice clothes in case they ever had to go to a formal event. The lady who ran the shop was very enthusiastic with her measuring. Merlin had to step out as there was more moaning than there ought to have been with this sort of thing. After measurements they picked out materials and designs and patterns. The finals total for the dresses came out to 3200 malba.

The second one was for casual wear and swimsuits. Their outfits came out to 1600 for 10 outfits.

The final stop was a blacksmith shop.

Unlike the other shops they’d visited this one was a bit out of the way and in a residential area. The dressmaker’s brother-in-law ran it.

The building was grey in contrast to the bright white of almost every other building. We approached the door which was almost as big as the whole house. Merlin and girls gulped collectively and entered.

The door way even heavier than Merlin had been anticipating, he actually had to use a bit of force to get in. On the other side of the door was a open room with a forge in the enter and a chunk of ceiling missing for ventilation. The door slammed shut behind him before Lila or Cate could enter.

“Hey! Are you coming in?” He yelled.

The door opened slightly then shut again. He could hear Lila and Cate struggling to push it open.

“It’s a test of strength.” A low rumbling voice came from behind Merlin. He turned around. A man only about half the size of the house both in height and width stood behind him. He wielded an intimidating looking hammer three times bigger than Merlin.

“I don’t allow weaklings to enter my shop let alone wield my treasures.” He waddled over to the forge and sat down on a large stone chair.

“I am the great blacksmith Kelso of the Hendrix School. State your business.”

He spoke slowly and with purpose. His voice and body rattled the room. He wasn’t even using battle aura and Merlin could tell he was strong, probably on the same level as the Guild Master, actually this guy was definitely stronger.

“Master Kelso, my name is Merlin and the two girls out there are my sisters. We are a newly formed adventuring party.”

“Interesting, you are already this powerful and yet not even C-Rank. I commend you, please continue.”

“Yes. I’m looking for armor and weapons that would aide us in the journey we’re about to undertake. I’m very concerned about my sisters well-being and safety and so something with strong defensive capabilities would be-”

“Ah, I see.” He stroked his beard, “You are strong of body but weak of heart. I will not forge you anything. Not yet.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It is difficult to journey into the unknown with those you hold dear, I understand as much, but you must also trust in their strength even more than your own.”

“That is true, but why-”

“When all three of you are able to cross through my threshold, only then will I consider forging you anything. Only then.”

Merlin was frustrated by Kelso’s answer but he had to respect his wishes as this was his shop and he could choose and impose his own conditions as he saw fit. Merlin knew they had to get stronger, but he’d never been told he also needed to get stronger. It was a slap in the face he hadn’t seen coming.

“Please leave here and do not return until then.” He struck the bottom of his hammer against the ground causing the ground to rumble.

“Sorry for bothering you.” Merlin bowed and left.

Outside Cate was laying against Lila’s stomach on leaning against the steps up to the door.

“You’re back.” Lila looked up at Merlin. Cate hurriedly stood at attention.

“We tried and we t-tried to get in b-but it was just too heavy.” Cate cried.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It seems like we’re going to have to come back here another time unless you want to try a different place?”

“The dressmaker was s-so nice.” She wanted to support a friend of a friend essentially which was a nice sentiment.

“I don’t know, I felt kind of violated.” She shuddered at the memory, the Madame had been particularly handsy with Lila.

“We’ve got time before we leave the city, we’ll try again later.”

They both nodded. Merlin felt as though he’d been issued a challenge. He didn’t know how to get stronger than he already was but he would try, and the girls had more potential for growth than he did. There was little doubt in his mind they’d be able to open those doors one day.

“Now, to Renee’s” Lila and Cate both raised their fists.

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“You again!” Sherwin paused his crochet and looked up in disgust at Cate and Lila as they walked through the door.

Lila and Cate however were beaming at the boy.

“W-what are you making?”

“It’s-”

“That looks so cute!”

“Well, it’s-”

“C-can you teach me?”

“I want to learn too”

“I-”

The girls bombarded him with questions. There was no one else around aside from Renee who stood at the counter reading a book.

“Where’s your other employee?”

“She came in and said something came up, I try not to pry into their personal lives. Brie has been here for almost three years and has never missed a day, so I let her have the day. It’s slow anyway.”

She put down her book.

“He’s actually been looking forward to today, you know.” Talking about Sherwin.

“Really”

“I can tell, he just had a different energy about him after your visit.”

Merlin and Renee smiled as they looked at their families having fun together.

The serene scene was interrupted as a bell rang and a man ran into the shop out of breath.

“Welcome-”

“Lord Payne and Prince Fellhurst have usurped the throne! It was a coup. He’s being crowned one of the five kings.” After delivering the news he ran out of the shop and presumably to the next one.

“That doesn’t sound good. Renee?”

Renee stared into the distance paralyzed by the news.

“Mrs. Renee?” Cate ran up to the counter.

Renee shook herself out of it.

“I think I have to close shop for the day.”

It was clear that something was happening in this country and it seemed like Renee was particularly bothered by it.

“I’ll explain another time. It’s nothing for you to worry about. Sherwin, can you recall your brothers?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“You three should get back to your inn and turn in for the day. It’ll start getting rowdy pretty soon.”

“Is the prince n-not a good person?” Cate asked.

“I couldn’t say. The company he keeps however are not what you would call moral people, so I would guess not. His supporters are a very loud, rambunctious minority. I’m sorry to have to cut your visit short.”

“Are you sure you don’t want is to stay here and protect the shop?”

“My golems are plenty capable. I don’t want to put any of you in danger.”

“My brothers and I are competent fighters. You need not worry. We will protect the mistress.”

“Alright.” It was clear that whatever was happening, Mrs. Renee didn’t want us involved.

We said out goodbyes and proceeded back to the Inn. Merlin decided he would ask Mrs. Carrolly and Ruth about the situation tomorrow.

They made it back without incident, ate an early dinner, played some games and then turned in for the night.

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LESTER:

I parried the knights blades, two at the same time, of course. Lord Payne was watching so it wouldn’t do to hold back. I was getting up there in age so my movements were not as refined as they once were and my hits not as powerful. Despite those handicaps I could still deal with this talentless cannon fodder without issue. I cut their necks with a single stroke.

“Very good, Lester. I’d heard you were something special in your youth. What a shame, I would have liked to have fought you then.”

“It’s true. I was a B-rank in my prime. Still, you are far stronger now than I was back then. If you’d stayed with the guild you would almost certainly have attained A-rank.”

“True enough, what a shame.”

I tossed aside knights in gaudy gleaming armor as though they were balls of yarn. Lord Payne followed behind along with two guards bringing up the rear. The prince waited patiently outside the castle along with a crowd of supporters awaiting the king’s head.

It was important that Lord Payne be the one to finish the king. It was a formality but it wouldn’t due for the new king to have the blood of the old on his hands, especially considering how well liked King Fellhurst was.

As we approached the King’s chambers we came face to face with a large man in bulbous armor. It was a peculiar, custom design. I notice the mark of Hendrix on the steel boots. The armor itself had it’s own battle aura.

“You are Sir Trot, are you not?” I asked the bulbous man. His head bobbed slightly.

“It is an honor to cross blades with someone of your reputation.” Sir Trot did not move or say a word yet I understood his intent. We were traitors to the crown and did not deserve acknowledgment.

“Very well. Let’s begin.”

I activated my battle aura and swung my blade which had been passed down in my family for generations. It sparked against Sir Trot’s armor but did not leave a mark. The Hendrix School was a renowned line of crafters, it dealt in prodigies and every product was of the highest quality. They did not do mass produced junk, every piece of armor was tailored to the individual using unique materials and enchantments. They also did not light their forge for anyone they deemed to be weak.

Hendrix who founded the school nearly 50 years ago was revered as a Demi-God by his students. It was rumored he had strength on par with an S-rank. I would personally never want to fight such a man, but Lord Payne would relish it.

I continued slashing away at the armor meanwhile Sir Trot just stood there and took it. The armor began to glow brighter with every hit. I jumped into the air and attempted to slide my blade through the gap between his shoulder plates and helmet. Just then he drew his head and legs in and the hole sealed itself. He was now a giant silver ball. I landed on the ball, pushed off and sheathed my sword.

I could not damage this person.

“What a shame. You did your best, Lester. Not to worry, I will take over from here.”

I bowed and retreated. I hurried the guards all the way back to the stairs. Then went back to support my lord.

Lord Payne’s mustache twitched upward as he broke into an enormous grin. “It is a shame that the great Sir Trot would have to fall here, but it seems ordained. I apologize, truly.” Lord Payne did not brandish a sword, instead he pounded his gauntlets together. His nickname was the Gentleman Brawler. He summoned as much battle aura as he had at his disposal. It was so intense that it became visible. Red energy crackled in the air around him. His gauntlets as it happened were also from a Hendrix School Craftsman and glowed gold amid the storm of red.

Gold was expensive so it was surprising when the craftsman suggested it as a material that Lord Payne said yes, but as soon as he put them on they became a part of him and miraculously with every fight the gauntlets themselves grew stronger and larger. It was a work fit to be called a sacred treasure.

“This is your last chance, Sir Trot. If you retreat, I promise to spare you.”

The silver ball gave no reply.

“What a shame.” Lord Payne disappeared and a deafening bang rang out. The exterior wall exploded from the force and the silver ball went flying forward. It was impossible for even Lester to tell what exactly happened. Suddenly the ball came flying back. Lord Payne met it with his fist. The shell cracked like an egg and his fist went through it. Lord Payne pulled out the man inside by the head and tossed him outside the castle. The surprisingly tiny man fell around 100 feet, landing with a splat.

“What a shame. It’s always difficult to lose a good fighter. He was loyal to the end, what a shame.” Lord Payne sighed as he looked down at the man shaped stain from on high.

He faced the door. It was time to end this. Lord Payne looked deadly serious, but I knew better. Despite how cool, calm, and focus he was acting, Lester knew that he had only one goal in mind. The Prince had derailed Lord Payne’s plans to see Renee this day and so he aimed to finish this as quickly as possible in order to get back to her.

“I’ll be there soon, Renee!” He shouted making his inside thoughts known to the world. He knocked down the door and entered the king’s chambers.