Chương 47: Chapter 44

Chael was there to greet her again. It was like she waited for Sobelle to finish her morning routine to talk to her and get the day started, it was quite unnerving in a way. Chael didn't seem like the type to stalk someone but Sobelle couldn't help but feel that this was what was happening, and she felt guilty for thinking like this because she was sure that Chael didn't do any harm by doing this.

"Are you ready? I wanna make more traps today and just do more work in general." Chael was eager to work, and that was all there was to this. Sobelle couldn't believe that she assumed that the merchant stalked her.

"I planned a lot of things ahead of our meeting so I think that we should follow them!"

"Okay?" Sobelle wasn't quite sure if she trusted what Chael planned. Why would one even plan their days? Didn't a repetitive daily schedule get you used to doing things already? That was how Sobelle did it.

"Good! So I think that—" Chael stopped when she noticed Sobelle staring at the sharp, green ears hanging above some of the kilns.

"I sold some of the ears you gave me last night, I told them that it brought them luck and made the Goblins more fearful of the village."

"You did?" Sobelle hadn't even thought about using the ears as charms before. Did any spirit out there even respond to charms made using greenskins? None did so as far as she was aware.

"And they bought it?"

"They did, yes, unfortunately, what little Levs I earned were taken by my father to buy my brother the ale he's been craving nightly so all of our profits were lost to him." Chael's explanation felt far too convenient and Sobelle felt that was a lie but she let it go. How much coin could she have gotten from ears anyway? Not a lot.

"But that's fine! Because I'll be hiding all the other Levs we earn from now on, and also, I think it would be good if you kept it inside the room the chief gave you."

"I can do that." This way, Sobelle would also know how much money she got. As much as she acted indifferent to the coins Chael earned, she was actually curious about the amount.

"Just give them to me and I'll keep them safe."

"Right! So, where was I? Ah right, I think we need to check the rivers first, as it was closer to the village and not to mention, the fish we caught would be far easier to carry compared to everything else." Chael stopped talking and frowned. She looked forward, inhaled, then let the air out of her lungs in the same breath. Her face was all smiles afterwards.

"Hi Thetras!" Sobelle hadn't noticed the large boy because she was too busy thinking about where she would find a boar. She also found his presence to be a bad distraction that she did not need at this very moment, she had things to do and Thetras stopping them was not productive. And what did he want anyway? They never talked beyond cutting wood.

"Chael, Sobelle." The large boy nodded at the two of them. He then focused on Chael and Sobelle realized that he wasn't here for her but the merchant.

"Did you consider what I said to you last night? I promise you that nothing bad will happen, I will protect you."

"Sorry Thetras but I don't think it is a good idea for a man and woman who have yet to be wed to sleep under the same roof. We are not family as well, so there was no good reason for us to stick together like this." Chael's response gave Sobelle the context she needed to figure out what was going on between the two of them.

"I understand. I won't push you into doing it if you do not want to." Thetras looked disappointed but was clearly holding it back. He smiled at Sobelle, "it was nice talking to you, Sobelle." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. They didn't talk though? Sobelle couldn't point this out because Thetras walked away before she could open her mouth.

When it was just the two of them, Sobelle turned to Chael and shot her a playful grin, which the merchant did not take lightly. Chael groaned.

"Do not even say anything." All the women in the village would have taken the chance to be in the same house as Thetras without hesitation so that made Sobelle wonder if Chael had someone else in another village.

"He has been talking to me constantly and would not stop doing so, everywhere I go, he follows. It is unbearable."

"Really?" Sobelle couldn't help but think that Chael did the same thing to her too. The merchant had quite literally invaded Sobelle's personal space and made herself comfortable in the camp Sobelle made for herself.

"Why would you find that annoying? Thetras' attention is something all the women in the village want you know?"

"E-even you?" Chael sounded so cautious when asking that Sobelle felt she had ulterior motives. She sighed when Sobelle shook her head, "I see, can I ask you why you wouldn't want to be with him?"

"Because I'm not meant to be a wife who sits in her house all day! I'm going to be a mercenary who protects Estora, and eventually? I'll turn into a knight with her own title."

"Well your dream is good." Chael hadn't dared to deny Sobelle's desire to become a knight this time around. Was she trying to avoid another heated argument? She smiled brightly.

"I think you should follow it, every other distraction is completely irrelevant."

"Yes, that is what I am planning on doing." Sobelle already said that she'd do it, what was Chael trying to prove by repeating in it and supporting her? She didn't even need the merchant's support for this.

"What else would I be if not a mercenary? I don't want anything else but that." After that little interaction, the two of them left to continue following the day Chael planned and Sobelle found it interesting that not only were they going through the same motions anyone in their right mind would have done; they were also just following a standard schedule that didn't need to be planned at all. Sobelle knapped a stone knife for Chael when they got back to camp, and the merchant used this to gut fishes and make rope.

The latter of which, she was surprisingly good at. Sobelle hadn't really thought about why merchants would need to learn how to make rope but realized that it was a necessary skill for everyone to learn in hindsight. Making rope in general was just useful, wasn't it? The threads were used in so many things that Sobelle felt the need to carry some of it on a daily basis, she was sure that she'd need them eventually and so wanted to have some rope ready for when she did.

The two of them opened their fresh water catch from the underside and spread them out, they then exposed the fish to smoke so that they'd last longer. As this happened, Sobelle helped Chael with making rope and the two of them silently worked on creating several threads made using dead wood and plant fiber. Sobelle's [Flow State] made the work so much quicker and she was like a machine that easily tied loose strands of wood into rope.

Eventually, Sobelle stood up to check the traps that she set up yesterday as well as to hunt another boar.

"I'll be here." Chael told her while checking the hardened pottery.

"We have containers now so all our stuff will finally be preserved! And they won't get eaten by wandering animals."

"That's good." Sobelle had learned how to use vases to store smoked meat, which made them last even longer and she knew that it needed to be packed in order to be truly effective.

"I'll hunt another boar and see if we can fill several vases."

"I'm sure that what we have now is good enough." Chael argued and Sobelle believed her. She nodded along and the merchant did the same, "I'll make more to accommodate the extra meat you'll be hunting."

"Do that." The spear in Sobelle's hand felt light while she walked to the forest. She couldn't help but think that the relationship between her and Chael was weird and unnatural, or was that only in her mind? It felt like the two of them were wedded. Everything they did together was something either close relatives or husband and wives did, never did two friends and peers make rope together. Nor did they live in a camp that only they knew about.

That last one was especially the kind of thing that ticked Sobelle off the most. She wasn't a romantic, and she never believed herself to be, but sharing such a deep secret with Chael was something only lovers did wasn't it? Did Chael notice any of that? She wasn't weird for thinking any of this was she? She hoped not.