Chapter 15 - A Girl Called Astrid

Knud Village - Evgnis District

A woman opened the door to the bar; from the look on her face, she was probably in her early twenties and wearing a black cloak covering her head to her knee. Her sudden appearance caught the attention of the other customers in the bar, not to mention that she wasn't wearing any shoes and walking barefoot. She went straight ahead to the bartender.

"Yes, Can I help you with something, madame?" the bartender respectfully bowed his head at the woman, knowing that someone like her was the type he used to deal with.

"Had you ever heard of this man?" She asked, placing a wanted poster on the table. "I heard that the last time he was spotted was in this place..." The bartender looked at her up and down before picking the wanted poster to look at it.

[Wanted - Duval the Mad Wizard]

It was a drawing of an old man who looked like he was in his middle sixties. He has a bald head and a scar on her left eye and looks akin to an old veteran soldier.

[Danger - A Rank]

[Price - 45,000 Gold]

[Dead or Alive]

"Duval? If I'm not wrong, that is the name of the man who lived at the Zuberg Village. But maybe I'm wrong about it because it's not like there is only 1 Duval in this world."

"Tell me more..."

"I'm sorry young lady, but that is the only thing that I know bout him; heck, I'm not even sure that he is the same Duval we are talking about..." The woman placed twenty gold coins on the table, making the bartender raised his eyebrows at her action.

"Tell me more, and I will give you twice the amount."

"Like I said, I don't know." He refuses to give any more information to the woman.

"Thrice the amount."

"I doubt you ever have that kind of money, especially with how you look like some prostitute that got kicked out of the business." everyone in the bar laughed at the bartender's joke.

"Ahahhahahaha, that was a good one, Man!"

"She does look like it!"

"She probably got that money from whoring herself!"

*Bam*

She placed eighty gold coins on the table, making the bartender's jaw drop at her along with the others in the bar. The woman looked him in the eyes before saying, "I quadruplet the amount, so you want it or not."

The bartender nodded his head. "Fine, let's go to the back." He said as he pointed his thumb at the door beside him before opening it with the woman following him right from behind.

"My name is Wan...How about you?" He gave a look at the woman, and much to his disappointment, the woman didn't even care to introduce herself to him.

"....."

"You know you should be more talkative, right? Also, telling me your name is a sign of friendship."

"...I'm not looking for a friend." That is what she said in response to him.

"Let's take a sit," Wan said as he led the woman towards a circle table inside the bar. It wasn't much decoration due to being filled with barrels and sacks of wheat. The woman took a sit across from Wan; she didn't smile or didn't frown, just waiting for him to start the conversation.

"Such great weather we have here..." Feeling awkward at his current position, this is the thing that comes out of his mouth. Heck, he thought she was just a regular customer he used to deal with, but she was definitely way different from the others.

"Get straight to the point..."

"Okay, Madam, did you hear about a commoner facing a noble in a duel three days ago in the nearby village?" She raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Did Duval somehow involved with that case?" That is an honest question that comes out of her mouth. She wonders how Duval managed to hide from the government when he clearly fights a noble in a duel in the public eye.

"No, Not really."

"Is that so? Then what a disappointment." the woman stood up from her chair, clearly having a bored expression on her pretty face. Taking back the money that she had promised to give to him.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm getting some intel about Duval; I don't want to waste my time on such stupid things."

"Wait! Although Duval isn't directly involved in that fight, he still plays a big role!" Before the woman can push the door open, she stops on her track and walks back toward Wan.

"Explain..." It was not a request but a demand; her eyes were glaring holes through his eyes, making him sweat nervously.

"Well, you see... The commoner may be the student of Duval!"

"Maybe? Only maybe then you are wasting my time again. You don't even know Duval yet think the commoner is somehow his student? Don't make a stupid joke like that."

"What if I told you that I have known Duval since I was a kid."

She sat down on the chair with her arm crossed under her breasts, which pushed it up, making it look way bigger than they already were. "I thought you didn't know Duval." She stated.

"Well, I just want to hide that info. The government system in the Ravdi Kingdom is unstable right now; they probably will torture me to get a piece of information regarding Duval even if I don't know much shit bout him...And probably will be sentenced to death due to being related to a criminal."

That is the current state of the Ravdi Kingdom, at least when being led by the oldest prince. Although he thinks the land under the fourth princess is tamer than the other princes, he still needs to be careful around here.

"Is that so? Then tell me about your relationship with Duval."

"Duval was my father figure and my teacher as well." A father figure? The woman blinked three times to process the information.

"Teacher in combat?"

"No, He is the one who teaches me how to read and count. Although I did love him then, finding out what he did to my family was freaking unforgivable."

"What did he do?"

"He changed my sister into a monster; according to him, it was for the greater good. Using my sister's and lizard's bodies, he tried to combine those two with alchemy to create the perfect human being."

"Is that so?" The woman said without any sadness in her tone that she was totally indifferent after hearing the story that he told. "Care to tell me more about the student you are talking about."

Wan wiped his tears with a handkerchief that he took from his pocket. After finishing wiping his tears, he looked straight into the woman's eyes.

"Her name is Anne...She is from Aram Village."

"Anne...I see."

That Duval student also uses the same first letter as her, A for Anne and A for Astrid. Her name is Astrid, the half-breed born from the love between two forbidden tribes, Natt and Sol. She was the exiled elf from the Dasos Kingdom. Her search for Duval is more complex than solely doing it for money...

She wants something more from him...

And only he can give that to her...