I felt my footsteps halt when the Duchess invited me to step into the fae forest. The light from the evening market made her pointed ears stand out even more.
The more attention I paid, the more I felt like I could tell that the Duchess was not human.
'So, this world had supernatural creatures like fae's? Did I…already meet them and not notice? Surely I am not that incompetent?'
Inside my mind, I kept panicking, but my face showed none of that.
Years of being a therapist meant that you needed to learn how to mask your feelings to not make the patients feel like they made a mistake when they were telling you their fucked stories.
I admit I was quite proud of the mask I had formed.
'Wait…if I follow the logic, am I even human now? My ears are also pointy. Am I a fae as well? Or something else?'
Now this was a question I wanted to get answered. Who…or rather…what was I? And my only hope was the system.
'Let's focus on what I need to do for now and then come back to the situation at hand.'
The Duchess walked at a pace that was not too fast, nor too slow. I was easily able to keep up and I looked around for anything that caught my eyes.
But rather than seeing herbs, I kept seeing…things…I did not recognize.
"Ah, shopkeeper, come here. Looks like we are in luck. This shop has the World Tree's fruit in stock. I heard that the World Tree only grows around 100 every year. Would you like to buy one?"
The Duchess asked me and I felt nervous. But then curiosity got the best of me and I looked at the golden coloured fruit in front of me.
It reminded me of a golden apple in many ways, from the shape to smell. But there were a lot of differences as well that told me that this was a completely different fruit.
"Are you surprised to see the fruit of the World Tree? Don't worry, it's not a scam but a real thing. This fruit will never rot and it will heal the most fatal wounds as well. So, would you like to buy it?"
The fae running the stall asked me as she looked at my interested expression and I felt tempted to grab the fruit.
Creature or not, I was sure that I would still bleed and get hurt if I was ever in danger. So having a life-saving item on hand was not a bad idea.
However, what worried me was something else.
'Would I be able to afford something this precious? I doubt I would be able to buy it using money.'
The golden fruit tempted me a lot and I finally decided to ask for the price.
"How much is it for?"
I asked the fae and she let out a chuckle.
"Well, it depends. What are you willing to exchange for it? Don't say money because it is useless to me. And don't lie and try to hand off any fake treasure to me. We fae can tell if someone is lying to us."
The fae told me and I felt like I was in a bind.
I could open my store and grab something cheap to exchange for it. But I wanted to save my faith points as well.
"Shopkeeper, do you want me to—"
"Alright, I have just the thing for you."
I spoke at the same time the Duchess did and she quietened down to allow me to speak.
Now I just felt a little awkward speaking first. But the Duchess was a good sport about being interrupted and allowed me to go first.
"You can speak first, shopkeeper."
The fae at the stall seemed very interested to see the relationship between me and the Duchess but she turned her attention toward the small bottle I brought out.
"I would like to exchange the World Tree's fruit for this medicine. You can treat Juan…I mean, yellow curse with it. This bottle should be enough to treat around a dozen or so people. So, are you interested?"
I asked the fae and she suddenly looked surprised.
She hesitantly took the bottle I offered before she examined it and handed it back to me.
"Yellow Fever has a 100% fatality rate. Are you sure you want to give this medicine to me? You will be exchanging a chance to save one life for a chance to save 12."
The fae asked me in a curious voice. She sounded genuinely curious and I immediately wanted to tell her that I had more I could make.
But I was not going to undersell my product's value like that.
"That's a separate topic. So miss, do we have a deal?"
I asked the fae and she hesitated before she decided to take the deal.
"Yeah, sure. I feel like I can make a lot of profit with this, so I will sell you the World Tree's fruit."
She told me and I felt satisfied.
Now I had a cheat that could save me in extreme conditions. The elf shopkeeper looked excited to see my interest as well and she immediately brought out more stuff for me to see.
"Now that we have made a deal, I can show you stuff a human would be interested in. Here, why don't you take a look? Unlike the special items, you can buy these as long as you have money."
There was too much stuff, but the elf shopkeeper's smile told me that I would get ripped off no matter what I bought next.
So I decided to back off before I had a chance to be caught.
"No, it's fine. I do not need anything else."
I told the elf shopkeeper and she pouted at the missed opportunity.
"Are you sure? Are you truly sure about this? You won't likely get another chance like this again in your life, you know?"
The elf asked me, trying to trick me once more.
But little did she realize that I was shameless as well and I was not going to fall for her trick.
"Yeah, I am sure. Now, if you would excuse me. I need to check other stalls as well."
The elf shopkeeper made an almost annoyed face when she heard that I had to go to other stalls.
But she was also good at controlling her facial expressions and did not let me see her disappointment.
"Ah, I see. In that case, I wish you the best of luck. And come back if you change your mind about buying something. I will be waiting for you."
The shopkeeper told me and I headed toward the Duchess before I could be scammed anymore out of my money.
The Duchess looked at my haul and raised her eyebrows. But she did not ask me any more questions.
"Shall we head deeper now? I am sure you would want to see some more special stuff."
The Duchess asked me and I had no choice but to nod and go along with her.
I was worried about my wallet at this point, but I was even more worried about losing the Duchess's favor.