“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Grenil asked incredulously from his place beside Alex.

  Alex didn’t look up from what he was doing. He sat on the edge of the bed with Duran propped against the headboard, one hand steadying him while the other pressed a small cut on his own forearm to Duran’s lips. Dark blood welled sluggishly, faintly glowing with mana. He’d just finished retelling the battle against the variant to the old man.

  “What?” he defended himself. “It’s not my fault the guild master got blasted into another dimension by a super goblin blowing itself up and wiping out a large chunk of the forest. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Grenil was not impressed. “I understand all that, but could you please explain how any of those things led to you getting detained by the guild? And why are you free now if that’s the case?” The man leaned back. “You didn’t break out of prison, did you? I don’t want to flee another country as soon as we got here.”

  “I was getting there, and no, I didn’t break out of prison, relax.” Alex rolled his eyes. “As I was saying, after all that shit went down, me and Remus, the gold rank, had to finish off the rest of the goblins. When that was finally done, we headed back to the city. Oh, this is also where I discovered that clouds stop the sun from burning me to a crisp.”

  “So, you’re saying that you misjudged the time and almost got caught by the sun out in the open, only surviving through a stroke of good luck?” The old shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. “Did I get that right?”

  Alex froze. “Uh… maybe?”

  “I thought so.” Grenil smiled wryly. “How did this lead to your imprisonment?”

  “Oh, right, that.” Alex jumped at the opportunity to shift the topic. “Well, when we finally got back from finishing off the goblins, we obviously had to report everything at the guild. I let Remus do it since he’s much more experienced with these things than I am. Next thing I know, there’s a guild enforcer asking me to come with him for questioning.”

  “But why?” the old man tilted his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong this time.”

  “That’s what I was thinking!” Alex agreed. “Of course, I still went with them, since resisting seemed like a bad idea. When they finally-“

  Alex’s story was interrupted by a groan. The two of them were startled for a moment, then they looked down at the ghoul lying on the bed.

  “Duran? You good?” Alex asked tentatively.

  The mans vacant eyes roamed around the room for a bit before settling on Alex’s face. He nodded.

  Alex exchanged a worried look with Grenil. “Hey, buddy, can you say something? Anything.”

  Duran seemed lost for a second before opening his mouth. “I… I’m ok.” His eyes slid over Grenil like he wasn’t there.

  A spike of alarm shot through Akex.

  “Hey, Grenil?” He spoke to the old man without taking his eyes off of Duran. “Could you please ask him something, or tell him to do something?”

  Grenil nodded, leaning forward slightly and raising a hand. “Duran,” he said, voice firm. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

  Duran didn’t react. He kept looking at Alex, eyes unfocused but fixed. His breathing was steady, his posture slack, hands resting uselessly at his sides.

  Grenil’s frown deepened. “Duran.”

  Nothing.

  A chill crept up Alex’s spine. He swallowed and tried again. “Duran. Look at Grenil.”

  Duran’s eyes flicked briefly, then drifted over to the old man.

  Grenil straightened slowly. “That’s… not good.”

  Alex’s jaw tightened. “Try again.”

  “What?”

  “Try talking to him again.” He elaborated. “Maybe now that he’s looking at you…”

  Grenil shrugged, then repeated his earlier question.

  Duran frowned, then tentatively answered. “Four.”

  The two of them let out a sigh of relief.

  “Ok, it’s not completely over.” Alex said. “He can still perceive and react to the outside world, just in a limited capacity. Only when I tell him to.”

  He got up and started pacing around the room, sending distressed glances at his friend. “If it’s not a problem of his physical senses, it’s gotta be something to do with the mind. Maybe even his soul, if such a thing exists.” He stopped pacing and glanced at Grenil. “Do you know if there are any mind or soul mages around?”

  “In this city?” the old man asked in confusion.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Well, that too, but I meant in general.” Alex replied. “Does that sort of magic exist, and if so, do you know where to find it?”

  “That… Sorry. I’m not sure.” The old man shrugged. “I can confirm that at least magic that interferes with the mind is real, but I can only speculate about the soul. You should definitely ask someone more knowledgeable than me about this stuff. I’m just an old shopkeeper.”

  “Right. Of course you are.” Alex didn’t even pretend to believe him. Although initially that’s what he believed, Grenil had shown knowledge of far too many things he had no right knowing.

  “In that case, I’ll take a quick nap and then probably head to the guild.” He decided. “I still need to collect the reward for the goblin mission, and I can ask around about mind magic stuff while I’m there.”

  Grenil and Duran both nodded. Throwing one last glance at the ghoul, Alex left the room.

  Alex stepped out into the street and let the door swing shut behind him.

  The city was awake in that muted, overcast way that only happened when the sun was hidden. Clouds hung low and thick, turning the light grey and flat, softening shadows and dulling colours. People moved through the streets—shopkeepers opening shutters, porters hauling crates, pedestrians wandering in and out of various establishments.

  Now that he could see them during the day, Alex realised that some of the stores lining the street were rather… unconventional. While most of the buildings along the street were inns, bakeries, or tailors no different from those he’d see back on earth, these few stood out immediately.

  'Darcy's Demonic Discounts', 'Herb Land', 'Monster Slaying Goods'; these were the most eye-catching ones.

  Curious, Alex wandered into the nearest one, ringing a little bell as he opened the door.

  The moment Alex stepped into Darcy’s Demonic Discounts, he was hit by a dense wall of smells—earthy herbs, sharp alchemical reagents, old leather, dried blood, and something faintly sulfurous underneath it all. The shop was narrow but deep, shelves lining every wall from floor to ceiling, each one crammed with jars, bundles, vials, and crates. Monster parts hung from hooks along the beams: claws, fangs, preserved eyes suspended in cloudy fluid, a severed tail that twitched faintly when he walked past it.

  Alex paused just inside the doorway and slowly looked around.

  “…Huh.”

  “Welcome! Feel free to look around, just don’t touch anything unless you know what you’re doing.” The voice came from deeper in the store.

  Alex shuffled between the aisle and turned, finding the counter where he expected it.

  The woman standing there—if she could be called that—was young. Or at least she looked young. Outrageously pretty, slender, with pointed ears peeking out from a mass of pale green hair tied into a messy braid, and bright eyes that practically glowed with enthusiasm. She wore a stained apron over simple clothes, sleeves rolled up, hands busy grinding something in a mortar.

  She beamed at him.

  Alex blinked.

  “…You’re Darcy?”

  “Yep!” She set the mortar aside and waved cheerfully. “Owner, alchemist, occasional hazard consultant. Let me know if you need help finding anything.”

  He stared at her.

  “Everything alright?” A flicker of concern passed through her eyes. “Do I have something on my face?”

  “Oh, no, sorry.” Alex snapped out of it. “It’s just that with the way the store is organised and the type of stuff you’re selling I was expecting someone more… old.” He winced at his phrasing.

  She laughed and waved away his concern. “Everyone does. You’re thinking of my grandmother. She retired and dumped the shop on me.”

  Alex made a sound of understanding and looked around.

  “Good for you, I guess.” He wandered closer to one of the shelves, inspecting a row of jars filled with eyeballs and various other unmentionables that looked suspiciously human sized.

  “You sell all this legally?” he asked hesitantly.

  “Mostly,” Darcy replied with a smile. “Anything that’s restricted is clearly marked. Anything that’s illegal is hidden better.”

  Alex glanced back at her and snorted. “Good to know.”

  She tilted her head, studying him openly now. “You look like an adventurer. New?”

  “Relatively,” Alex said, then looked down at his plain clothes. “What gave it away?”

  The young woman tapped her nose and winked at him. “That’s a trade secret. I gotta have some way of knowing who my potential customers are, don’t I?”

  “I guess.” Alex ignored the way having a pretty elf wink at him made him feel. “So do you only sell raw materials, or potions and stuff too?”

  “That depends.” Darcy tilted her head and studied him. “If you need to make something bleed, melt, or explode, I can probably make something useful out of it.”

  Alex paused at that, fingers brushing the edge of a crate labelled ground basilisk scale.

  “Do you ever deal with… less physical problems?” he asked carefully. “Mind stuff. Soul-adjacent things.”

  Darcy’s smile dimmed.

  “That’s a bit more difficult,” she said. “I dabble in stabilisers and restoratives, but true mind or soul work?” She shook her head. “That’s specialist territory. Priests, scholars, very old mages. And a lot of charlatans.”

  “Figures,” Alex muttered.

  She leaned forward on the counter, a concerned expression on her face. “Why? Looking for help, or just curious?”

  Alex hesitated, then shook his head. “Just wondering. Read something about soul strengthening helping with mana control.”

  “Oh, in that case I do have something.” Darcy said to Alex’s surprise. “It’s a neat little soul strengthening tonic, though it is rather… pricey. I don’t know if a new adventurer can afford it.”

  Still surprised that the bullshit he pulled out of his ass turned out to exist, Alex was a bit slow to react. “What? Oh, no, that’s ok. I’m really poor right now and I definitely can’t afford it. I’ll come back when I’ve advanced a couple of ranks and have a bit more spending money.”

  “Up to you.” The woman shrugged, then dazed him with another smile. “Well, if you ever find yourself in the need of reagents or potions, I’m your girl.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Alex said, already backing out the door. “See you later.”

  “See ya!” Darcy’s cheery voice came from inside the shop.

  He paused at the threshold and glanced back once more, taking in the shelves of bottled death and dried magic, then left with a smile.

  Stepping back out into the street, Alex let the door close behind him and resumed his walk toward the guild, his thoughts slowly shifting as a frown pulled at his features. A few minutes later, he stopped in the middle of the street, sending a wary glance back the way he came.

  “That was close…” He muttered as a shiver went down his spine.

  As soon as he’d stepped out of the shop, Alex had noticed that something was amiss, but it was only after walking half a block that he realised that he could feel his mana draining at an almost imperceptible rate. Alarmed, he’d tried to trace where it was going, and found that it was being drawn into his head, as if something there required healing.

  It wasn’t until now that he realised that his thoughts and emotions inside the shop had been… unnatural.

  Sure, the shopkeeper seemed relatively nice, but the way his guard had dropped almost instantly. How natural it had felt to trust her, to like her, to think—however briefly—that she was one of the nicest, most captivating people he’d met in this world.

  She was pretty.

  But not that pretty.

  Alex sent another unsettled glance behind him.

  ‘Fantasy world indeed.’