18 Crescent Light Forge
Vance was standing quite far from Melva, waiting for her to shoot her arrow at him. He was not wearing any armour, leaving himself vulnerable against arrows. She was beyond confused with his behaviour. What was in his mind when he asked her to shoot him? Did he have a death wish? Or was he underestimating her skill in archery, thinking that she would never hit him?
On the other hand, Melva was concerned about his life because all this time she had been hunting, she had never missed. Not even once. It was an odd thing she had discovered about herself that she didn't dare to tell other people, for she feared that she would be seen as more of a freak that she had already appeared to them.
It was something unexplainable, indeed. How could someone never miss a target in all their life? No human could be that perfect, unless she was not. And it was something she dreaded to think about. She preferred to keep it at the back of her mind, pretending that she never realised it in the first place. She made herself think that she was only very fortunate during every shot.
"Are you being serious, Your Grace?" asked Melva to make sure she understood him. In other words, she was asking him if he was ready to get hurt. Not that she cared if he did. He had asked for it himself, therefore it was his own mistake if something went against his expectation.
"Yes! Do it!" yelled Vance as he was quite far from her.
Melva didn't see the point of doing this, but she was not going to refuse a chance to shoot the irritating werewolf. Even a scratch would be satisfying enough. Actually, she was glad to finally have an opportunity to let out her pent up stress. She believed she would feel better after this.
She was bringing two sets of bows and arrows, one made of wood and one made of silver. Normally, she would use the wooden one, however, now that she had the opportunity to try both, she would. She was curious about what differences they would make.
Firstly, she chose to shoot with the bow she was used to. She placed the silver one down and lifted up the wooden one, taking one arrow from its paired quiver. She took a deep breath before she started aiming.
She pulled her bowstring and as soon as her eyes locked on his chest where his heart was, she let go of her hold and sent the arrow straight to her target. The arrow was fast and precise, yet Vance easily caught it with one hand, causing her to gape at him in disbelief. People wouldn't normally catch flying arrows like that. It must be because he was not a human.
"Try the other one," said Vance calmly as though he had not just caught a flying arrow with his bare hand. He tilted his head to one side and threw away the arrow, looking disappointed at her display of archery.
Melva, who took it as an insult, angrily dropped the wooden bow and snatched the silver one. Without warning, she picked up a silver arrow and directly let go of it as soon as she pulled the bowstring. Vance was totally caught off guard, narrowly escaping the arrow after spontaneously turning into a wolf. It still grazed his wolf fur. His pitiful clothes were torn apart on the ground because of his sudden shift.
She couldn't hold back her widening grin as she saw how flustered Vance was that he even shifted into wolf without any preparation, costing his own clothes in the process. This was beyond satisfying. As expected, she felt very great and the stressful day was immediately forgotten.
"I will take this one," announced Melva smugly as she walked back towards the shop to return the wooden set to the display case and wait for the owner to come back and pay for the silver set.
The idea of leaving the wolf and his wretched clothes brought a smile to her face. He deserved that for constantly humiliating her. Now it was her turn to humiliate him.
Vance was now probably going back to the carriage to ask Mr. Horgan for some spare clothes. In the meantime, she went back inside the shop to take a better look at the other weapons as she had been focusing merely on bows and arrows. She did so after returning the wooden set back into its display case and holding the silver set to pay for it.
There were various kinds of weapons she found inside the display cases. Some of which she had no idea how they worked, as she had never seen anyone using them before. Some others were beautifully crafted and her eyes were attracted to a couple of silver daggers which had the crescent moon symbol carved on them. They were elegant and she found herself eager to own them and learn how to fight with daggers.
After discovering that she was in danger of being hunted by other werewolves who wanted to overthrow Vance from his position as an alpha, Melva felt the need to learn how to protect herself in every way possible. She knew how to use bows and arrows, but what if the attacker sneaked from behind her? Sooner or later, she had to learn how to fight in close range.
"These are our prized daggers, milady," said a woman who was standing behind her. Melva flinched in shock because she hadn't realised she was there. "Would you like to have a closer look at them?"
Melva nodded rather enthusiastically. The woman chuckled at her expression and took the daggers out of the display case. Melva tried moving them around the moment she handed them to her. They were light, so it must be very easy to use them. She only needed to learn how.
As if knowing what Melva was thinking, the woman nodded and offered a smile. "They are so light that you will find them rather easy to use, milady. And the carvings are special as there are only a pair of it made by our blacksmith. You cannot find them anywhere else."
Vance had changed his clothes and returned to the shop, standing next to Melva to look closely at the daggers in her hand. "How much are the daggers and the silver bow set?"
The woman gasped as she saw the man who was standing next to Melva. "Oh, my apologies, Your Grace. I didn't see you come in. The silver bow set is 500 coins, but I'm afraid the daggers are quite expensive as they are one of a kind. The owner cannot let them be sold for under 10,000 coins."
Melva yelped in shock at the unbelievable price. She could sell deer meat at the marketplace for about 500 coins, so she found the price of the bow set suitable as deer meat was the most expensive kind of meat. However, 10,000 coins for a weapon's price was unheard of. She could probably purchase a house in Ichorhold with that money.
"I am fine with only the bow set," said Melva hurriedly to Vance, not wanting to waste so much money for only a pair of daggers. There must be many other daggers with more reasonable prices.
"I will take them," said Vance without hesitation, ignoring Melva's words, causing her to widen her eyes in disbelief.
The woman's face lit up and she squealed in joy. "Are you sure, Your Grace? Thank you for choosing our shop. Please, let me call the owner." She took the silver bow set and the daggers to pack them in two big wooden boxes before slipping into the back door of the shop.
"Can you afford losing that much fortune, Your Grace?" asked Melva incredulously at his lavish way of spending money. He could spend that much money for doing something better, or generously donating for the poor.
Vance snickered mischievously. "I think you are underestimating my fortune, Melva. I am a duke. This barely costs me anything. Besides, I am going to make you owe me one. Don't think you can have those luxurious daggers without expecting me to ask something in return one day."
Of course. This man was far from generous. He must have an ulterior motive for doing anything out of character. It was her fault for thinking that he must only be keeping his promise to buy her weapons.
"Well, well. The most popular couple of the day graced us with their presence." A beautiful lady, looking probably in her late twenties or early thirties, wearing an extravagant clothing which Melva guessed was a coat made from polar bear skin. She must have applied lip colour on her lips because they were very noticeably red, like blood. "When is the big day?"
"Rosetta," greeted Vance, tight-lipped. "We are here not to idly chatter, but to buy some weapons for Lady Melva."
"So I have heard." Rosetta was smirking condescendingly at Melva. "Little girl, I hope you will not get hurt from playing with toys you should not play with."
Melva gritted her teeth in irritation at her infuriating insult, but still managed a fake smile. "Thank you for the concern, Ma'am. I will be very careful to not let my arrow accidentally hit your heart."
Vance burst into laughter beside her.
