"T-This... is a heart, isn't it? And it's still... alive?"
"It's just the neural tissue moving. The main body is already dead. Because its neck was cut off."
At the customer's calm answer, the owner, who had clutched his startled chest, rolled his eyes and asked while holding his breath:
"...Did you cut it?"
"What? No. I'm just a person who sells things, so I can't do something like that. How could I catch such a ferocious creature? Anyway, does this pique your interest?"
The customer, who responded nonchalantly, tilted his head slightly and looked at the owner's face. Despite being much taller himself, he lowered his upper body and looked up with his arms crossed, showing skills that weren't those of someone who had done business only once or twice.
The owner swallowed hard and barely stood up, gripping the armrest of the wooden chair. With trembling hands, he pushed aside the ashtray and cup, then grasped the amulet hanging around his neck and held it forward.
"Interest?"
The strength of the pulsation and pressure was tremendous, enough to shake the counter each time the heart pumped. With this size, the main body must have been at least 200 feet. If its energy was this strong even after death, it must have been a violent creature that was even more difficult to handle when alive.
The owner chuckled as he mulled over the man's words. Honestly, he was tempted, but he didn't know what would happen if he kept such a thing in the store. Even now, wasn't it clamoring to devour the living despite being a mere ghost?
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept something like this."
"What?"
The golden eyes, which had been curved like half-moons until just now, widened.
"Why not?"
"If I keep such an evil item in the store, I'll be the first to be consumed. It's a loss to bring in troublesome ones that are difficult to dispose of."
"But you said you handle cursed items."
"Didn't you say this isn't a curse?"
"No—"
The customer, at a loss for words, opened and closed his mouth. Soon, he furrowed his brows and retorted:
"This is something you can't easily obtain. You'll regret it later? It's a dragon, albeit a young specimen, a fresh dragon just caught."
"I know that, how many years do you think I've been in this business—? But for an item of this caliber, just the cost of suppressing its energy is enormous. I need to get a sealing chest and put it in with amulets. Do you know how much all that costs?"
The owner firmly gestured for him to take it away, seemingly with no intention of buying it. By now, the blood that had leaked from the sack had spread across the entire table and flowed down to the floor. The sticky liquid, which emitted a fishy smell, raised its head from the floor as if it were alive.
The owner, who had moved away, took out a heavy axe half his height from behind the chair. Then he brought the axe blade down on the strange head that was solidifying on the blood.
The liquid, which had been writhing as if it had a will, made a splat sound and spread loosely.
"Ah, the floor is dirty now."
The owner, who looked at the blood-stained soles of his shoes, muttered while pretending to be distracted.
"Well... if there's more merit than the cost of cleaning the floor and sealing, I could consider it."
"...How much do you want?"
"The seller should know that, how would I, the buyer, know?"
The customer, with narrowed eyes, glanced at the owner before opening his mouth:
"...Ten large ones."
"Five."
"Isn't that too much? This should originally fetch at least twenty—"
"Then look elsewhere. Oh, by the way, you know that if something like this circulates in the black market, it'll immediately be caught by the Council, right? Seeing that you came all the way here, you don't seem to be in a righteous position either."
"...Come on, who's more righteous than me?"
The customer said this while looking back at the glass window behind him. Contrary to his statement, he seemed very conscious of the gazes around. Just then, the owner raised his index finger and waved his hand once, causing the tied curtains to untie at once and cover the entire window.
The customer, turning back to the front, asked with a displeased expression:
"Are you a mage?"
"My skills are too embarrassing to be called a mage. So, how much did you say?"
"...Eight, not a penny less."
"Seven."
"Oh, really—"
"Here, I'm being generous. How about seven and a half? In exchange, take a couple of items you like from the store. Our store is the most historic magic supply shop in Riverside."
The owner began showing his personal collection placed behind the counter one by one. There were various weapons embedded with brilliant jewels, a helmet shaped like the sun, and a gold bracelet engraved with ancient intaglio.
"This bracelet, as far as I know, is over a thousand years old, given by a king to a faithful knight along with his name. If you think about it, isn't it more valuable than what the customer brought?"
Though it was splendid, it wasn't particularly necessary from the perspective of someone who came to sell. When trading items, the side with less to lose takes the initiative, but from the beginning, he felt completely entangled.
When the golden eyebrows just twitched, the owner, who had been watching closely, delivered the final blow:
"If I don't buy this heart, you'll be in trouble, right? It doesn't seem like a situation where you can put it up for auction or register it as an official item after paying a brokerage fee."
"Ah, fine. Fine, give me eight and other items too. Not a penny less, really. I'd rather use it myself."
The customer retorted, pulling down the face mask connected to his turtleneck as if he was getting heated. Then, with a displeased expression, he took off his cap and brushed back his hair.
"Damn... it's too cheap."
At that moment, the owner, who had been smiling slyly, stared blankly at his face. Since what appeared was more than what he had expected just by looking at the eyes, he momentarily forgot how to react.
Far from having a skin disease, the soft facial lines harmonizing with a straight nose bridge, and the crooked lips revealing discomfort captivated the gaze to the extent that it was a waste to see in a dark place. It seemed odd to describe a man as beautiful, but he was truly an outstanding beauty to the extent that only that expression came to mind. The owner unconsciously opened his mouth and then pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling.
The bat-shaped lights decorating the store lit up. As the surroundings brightened, the customer, who had been tidying his hair, pressed his cap back down. This created a stark contrast between his lower face illuminated by light and his eyes shadowed by the brim.
Nevertheless, the golden eyes emitted their uniquely mysterious light as they stared at the owner and asked:
"What are you going to do?"
He had thought the personality wasn't entirely docile, and that, coupled with the sharp eyes and lips, exuded a strange charm. The owner couldn't take his eyes off him, but deliberately wagged his tongue as if contemplating.
However, his head was already nodding steadily as if enchanted.
"Alright, eight."
Leonardo's furrowed brow finally relaxed.
* * *
"By the way, is this really a dragon? Wow, in all my life, I never thought I'd see something like this."
The owner, who appeared from the warehouse at the back of the store carrying a large chest, placed it with a thud on the newspaper spread to absorb the blood. Then, after tightly securing the opening of the sack containing the heart, he lifted the heavy sack in that state and placed it inside the chest.
Next, he tore open a bag of salt and poured it generously over the sack, then began burying each sapphire-embedded amulet one by one.
Leonardo, who had been examining the gold bracelet at the round table in front of the counter, suddenly turned to look at him with a puzzled expression.
"What? Didn't you already know? I told you earlier it was a dragon. Don't tell me you beat down the price because you didn't believe that?"
"Huh, well. What kind of way is that to talk—? I'm saying it's my first time seeing something pulsating after only seeing shriveled ones. And when did I beat down the price? For an illegal trade, this is generous."
"...."
"Do you think stores that can readily give eight large ones are common? The customer must have come after doing research because of their own circumstances, right?"
With a spirit honed by business that couldn't be ignored, the owner made Leonardo speechless with every word. It wasn't this difficult to negotiate with other store owners, but here it was particularly hard to take the initiative. Leonardo turned his head away with an annoyed expression.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what the other said. The fact that the owner of a supply shop tucked away in a corner of this small town was actually a wealthy person, and that he secretly collected high-priced items. It was because he had researched in advance that he could present an extraordinary item like a dragon's heart from their first meeting.
Though it was regrettable to sell it cheaper than expected... he decided to put aside regrets since he had gained something additional.
Leonardo turned his eyes back to the table, ignoring the owner's muttering about not answering. He put down the gold bracelet he had been holding and drew a magic circle on high-quality parchment with a piece of charcoal without hesitation. Then he took a handful of Siculus mineral from a sack and placed it on the magic circle.
The mineral, which flashed brightly, crumbled like fine sand grains. The shop owner, who had been watching the customer's actions, asked casually:
"This dragon, you caught it, didn't you?"
Leonardo, who had been repeating the same action, paused. The owner seemed to have figured it out just from that and chuckled.
"Somehow, you didn't seem like an ordinary person to just be selling it. You seem like quite a strong mage."
"...."
"Did you process it too? It's not the work of someone who's done it only once or twice."
"Stop asking questions. Don't you know that secrecy is the life of such transactions? I'll just see it sealed and leave, so hurry up and finish the work."
"How kind of you, when you could just do it yourself. Your face is pretty, but your retorts are sharp."
"Why are you bringing that up now—"
"By the way, where did you sell the rest of the parts? If you haven't sold them yet, bring them to our store? I'll give you a similar price."
Leonardo sighed as he looked at the owner who only said what he wanted to say.
"I'm not selling the rest. I didn't catch it to sell in the first place."
"Is that so? Are you going to use it as medicine? This one is too toxic to be used as medicine. Unless it's used as an amulet to drive away evil spirits."
The owner said this while glancing at the navy blue handkerchief tied around Leonardo's neck. It didn't seem like something a grown man would choose for himself, and he guessed it might have been a gift from someone close.
"Or perhaps, did you give it as a gift to your lover? Things like scales would make nice accessories if shaved and crafted. It's the new year as well, and given its considerable value, your lover would be pleased."
At that moment, Leonardo's indifferent eyes suddenly froze in mid-air. At the same time, the owner, having detected the reaction of his potential customer, began talking non-stop from then on.
"Our store also has curse prevention amulets for couples, which are perfect gifts for this time of year. How about it? For you, I'll give a special half-price discount. You can't find this anywhere else."
From when they met, where they met, to saying that the other person must also be good-looking. The owner, contrary to his first impression, bombarded him with questions to the point where blood might come out of his ears. However, Leonardo, with his chin resting on the table, didn't readily respond.
He just covered his mouth with his hand and mulled over the words he had just heard.
'Lover?'
It was a surprisingly fresh word, as he hadn't thought to define the relationship in such an old-fashioned way. But along with it, a corner of his heart suddenly tickled. It was also quite embarrassing.
As one person reflexively came to mind, Leonardo barely erased the smile that almost spread across his eyes. However, he couldn't help the subtly raised corner of his mouth.
He touched his lips and rolled his eyes unnecessarily.