ᑭᖇᗴᑕIOᑌՏ

Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ

   Y/n, the owner of (S/n) was doing his usual routine of cleaning before he opens the store. He grabbed a wipe from the wooden box under the counter, which had a soft material. He carefully wiped the dust down of his hard wooden desk[?], 'cause that thing was expensive as heck. He bought it from the best joiner in the town for a hella high price, just to put his precious books on it, along with a few swords and bows. They were needed in the war, and Y/n made a lot of money by selling them twice as much as he bought them for. That's what you would call a good business choice.

   The war started 1 month ago, when the humans had enough of their land, and set their feet on to the land of elves. They wanted to increase their borders by taking away properties from hardworking farmers who didn't have anything to defend themself's against swords.

   And since then, every city which was still under the control of Fayra, the Queen of Elves, was protected with highly trained guards. Some people thought that this was overrated protection just because of humans, but the ones who have witnessed the brutality of humans were still afraid to come out of their hidden place.

   (S/n) was quiet close to the borders, so obviously Y/n was worried that the humans might raid their town one day, when the guards are lacking. Every time he thought of that goosebumps appeared on his hand, that's why his sleeping schedule got messed up.

   Over 2 weeks into that, he kinda got used to the lack of sleep and pushed his concerns out of the way to continue his daily routine of selling things.

   Y/n woke up from his thoughts and started to concentrate on the cleaning. It didn't take a long time to finish, as he was half way done with it by the time he had woken up.

   -I think I'm done..-he mumbled to himself.

   He grabbed the keys from his pocket, and walked to the front door. His hands were shaking a little bit from fear, which came from the terrifying rumors that spread around the place, and the stories that the adventurers that came here for weapons told him didn't help either.

   'Fuck the rumors, they can't be true, can they?'-he thought as he opened the lock on the door.

   Y/n opened the door, squeezing his eyes from the sudden dazzling sunlight. Maybe he was being born into the wrong race, because he could simply go to be a vampire!

   He stepped outside, examining the landscape wich was covered with big, and old trees. It was a habit, and even the war couldn't take it away from him.

   A couple of minutes later he headed back into the store, because he was feeling paranoid out there. It was like something had their eyes on him, but Y/n had a feeling that it was one of the guards, looking out for him to be safe.

   He stood behind the counter, waiting for quests, while reading a book to fill the time.

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   The door opened with a creaky sound following it. Heavy footsteps were heard, and Y/n placed down the book he was previously reading.

   -Good morning sir, how can I help you?-Y/n greeted him with a smile on his face to look friendlier.

   The man seemed to be a bit taller than Y/n, and he wore a hooded cloak, plus a completely black mask to cover his face. He was gave off a weird vibe to Y/n, who gulped.

   It wasn't an uncommon thing that adventurers hid their faces behind masks, but there was something suspicious about that one man, he just couldn't tell what.

   The stranger seemed to stare at Y/n for a couple of moments, and then turned to the different swords that were placed on the wall and shelves.

   Y/n tried his best to smile at the man, but he was kind of a black hole which sniffed fake smiles and kindness into it.

   The man lifted a sharp, double-edged sword from a shelf, and started examining it while with his leather-gloved hands.

   He suddenly turned towards the boy behind the counter with the sword in his grip. This act freaked Y/n out, and he was pretty sure that this guy would charge at him.

   The man instead just calmly walked up to the counter, and carefully placed down the sword in front of Y/n.

   -How much for it?-the man asked with a deep, rusty voice. Y/n got goosebumps immediately.

   -20 gold coins-his throat dried at that moment.

   The strange man seemed to stare at the sword, probably questioning whether he should buy it or not.

   -Sir, is the price too high or-the sound of a fabric sac full of coins landing on the counter interrupted Y/n.

   Y/n looked into it, and there was sitting the double of what the original price was.

   The man seeing Y/n's confused face, just lifted up the sword lazily and kept it next to himself.

   -So it is a deal or not?-he asked with a bored tone.

   -Sir, I'm afraid I can't accept that, that's too much mone-he got interrupted again.

   -It's just a tip for your hard work sweetie.

   Since Y/n wasn't used to this type of words, his face got a shade darker, but he kept resisting to accept the tip.

   -No, really. Please take back at least 10 coins, it just makes me feel bad that I have this- he handed over the said quantity hoping that the stranger wasn't serious.

   -Nah, I ain't gonna do that darling. It's all yours.-as he said the last sentence, he left the store.

   Y/n hurried after him, but as he got out of the store, the man had vanished. Y/n was looking around for his shop, and even walked closer to the creepy trees. There was no sign of the man.

   -Strange..-he mumbled it, while hurrying back to the store, wanting to get rid of that paranoid feeling.

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Words: 1037
2021. dec. 13.