Fairy Tale Assassin - Chapter 19

When in Rome

Chapter 19

With a small bagful of parchment spells, we walked out of the store. During our training, we discovered spell scrolls come from specially prepared untanned skins of the Hellhound. It seems the beasts of legend like Cerberus and Garmr have plenty of cousins. The black hellhounds come from the abyss to terrify and kill humans. Witches and warlocks have guilds hunt these creatures for their skins and body parts. Because of the cost, the scrolls’ size compares to half of a postage card in my old world. When wound up with their seal in place, the scrolls are no thicker than a pen. Most of the time, just popping the seal activates the spell.

While we sorted through the various bins, we soon discovered the prices were too expensive for us to purchase the best scrolls. Seriously, invisibility scroll costs more than what a hundred contracts would bring us for gathering alchemy supplies. Plus, there were only a few powerful scrolls available. Our shopping to me there were only a few people who could make such spells and even fewer with access to those hellhound parchments. If you’re planning on doing magic in this world, bring plenty of gold. Still, the experience gave me some ideas.

“Look at this!” Ruby showed me something that looked like a hollow metal rod.

When I got closer, she showed me how it worked. It was a type of wand where you can store the spells inside. A device inside the wand snips the seal open, so the wand looks and acts like a magician’s wand. However, it’s more of a one-shot affair since you have to unscrew on end, then insert another scroll before using it again. I didn’t bother getting one for myself since I already had an idea in my head for something different which would be faster.

We came out with several scrolls for limited invisibility, silence, diversions, and other types useful for an assassin. Also, we found spell scrolls which removed the smell on your body and clothing for a limited time. I grabbed that since we were heading out into the wilderness. Rosemary’s warning about werewolves caught my attention, and I knew they hunted by smell.

“Covan, look at this!” Ruby’s urgent tone brought me out of my thoughts.

Following her pointing finger, I looked over to the wall on the side of a building which flashed announcements and advertising like a billboard. However, since this world doesn’t seem to know about electricity yet, I’m confident that magic is involved. A chill ran down my back when I saw Gilbert’s ugly face on the screen with one hundred gold below his picture. Ruby glanced at me with a worried expression. However, I ignored it while waiting for the next screen. I half expected to see my picture up on the billboard. Instead, it was a picture of the king and queen welcoming some dignitaries.

“Let’s find Rampion and Sorrell,” I put on my best unworried face.

We found our two new comrades in a tavern which was near one of the guild’s entrances. The brother and sister sat at a table in the back. The half empty mugs on the table told us they waited for a while. After catching up, Ruby told them about our next contracts. Their expressions grew dark at the implications of the unknown special contract.

“It appears the snake comes out of the grass again,” Sorrell said. “I’ll talk with those in the guild. Maybe they can give you more information.”

“We appreciate the help,” I replied. “We’re going to focus on the first contract tomorrow. It’s an easy one for gathering items like Daphnewert, Moonseed, Fogshade, and the like. Standard stuff for Rosemary and she told us where to look.”

“So, did you find a place for all of us?” Ruby’s eyes almost twinkled with curiosity.

Sorrell smiled and glanced at her brother.

“Come, we’ll show you!”

Half a block away, we turned down a street. Shops inside narrow brick buildings lined both sides of the road. We stopped between a hatmaker and leather merchant, then went up wooden stairs between two buildings. At the top, doors on each side led into the second floor.

“Take your pick,” Sorrell told us. “The merchant who owns the shops below saved enough to get his family into a big house near the noble district. He’s an ex-guild member, and he was happy to rent these out to us.”

“That’s excellent news,” I replied while Ruby immediately opened the door on our right.

We followed her inside to find a single room. No furniture was in there, and the only item of interest was a small counter with a type of sink under a window. A round iron stove sat on bricks next to the counter. I assumed the area as the cooking. Despite being around this realm for a while, the primitive nature still surprised me.

“How do you get water?” I asked.

“Common well for the neighborhood is down the street. There’s a latrine behind the building.” Rampion finally spoke.

“All the comforts of home,” I grumbled under my breath as I went to the window.

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