Chapter 9: Am I really just a herb gatherer?
"Just give him the list, Papa."
" And don't you dare lie to me... I know you've been writing it since last night."
"Don't be so stubborn!"
Mr. Miller looked from his daughter's determined face to Adrian's hopeful one. He let out a long, disgruntled sigh, his broad shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Fine. Fine."
He turned and rummaged inside his pocket, producing a rolled-up piece of parchment. Which he begrudgingly handed over to Adrian.
"This is what we need."
" Be sure to get everything thing on that list, I don't want any excuses you hear me?"
" Like my daughter said, we're in urgent need of those medicinal herbs... If you conclude that you can't complete the job, hurry on back so I can find someone more capable."
Adrian's fingers closed around the parchment. He unrolled it quickly, his eyes scanning the list.
It was long, but he recognized every plant on it.
He looked up, a wide, genuine smile spreading across his face. "I can get all of this," he said, his voice filled with a certainty that surprised even him. "I'll be sure to hand it over to you before the day is over."
His reply stunned both of them into silence.
"T-Today?" Mr. Miller stammered.
But Adrian was already moving, tucking the precious list into his pocket.
"Before sunset! I promise!" he called over his shoulder, already breaking into a run through the thick snow.
He didn't hear Mr. Miller's grumbled, "There's no way. I refuse to believe he can get that many before dark."
Amy rolled her eyes at her father's remark.
"Well, if he fails, you can just go out and get them yourself. Like you said, we don't need his help, right?
****
Adrian died take long before leaving the edge of the village. The forest seemed less terrifying this time around, probably because his mind was on the amount of profit he would make after completing this job.
Unlike last time, this time, He took a wide, careful detour, making absolutely sure his path didn't even come close to the clearing where his life had ended and bizarrely begun again.
After making sure of that, he got to work, His body moved as if programmed, his eyes scanning the frozen ground, pulling back snow-laden branches, his fingers digging into the cold earth to retrieve roots and clusters of leaves.
He worked and worked and worked, finding herb after herb after herb, until a faint layer of frost dusted his own skin and his fingers were numb and stiff.
But he had done it. One by one, he had finally found every herb on the list, carefully placing the last one into his large wicker basket.
When the last tuft of herbs was nestled inside, he felt a surge of pure triumph. He stuffed the now-crumpled list into his pocket and, with a grunt of effort, hefted the heavy, overflowing basket onto his back. It was packed tight with hundreds of stems and leaves, if sold it would take in enough money to feed him through the winter, but to him, it was a lifeline for his mother.
He adjusted the weight, took a deep breath of the cold air, and turned to begin the trek home. Just as his foot left the ground for the first step, he stopped in his tracks.
His ears twitched all of a sudden and his eyes instinctively glanced around but he didn't see anything.
' This is getting out of hand... I can't keep living in fear like this." Adrian said to himself but his spine shivered the next moment when he heard the same sound again.
It wasn't an animal sound. But was a high, sharp, chattering cackle that came from nowhere and everywhere at once.
Then another joined it, and a third, a chorus of nasty, gleeful laughter echoing through the silent pines.
Adrian froze, his blood turning to ice in his veins. His pupils dilated, his heart seizing in his chest when he saw the originators of those cackling voices.
From behind the thick trunks of three nearby pine trees, 3 figures emerged. They were short, green, and bore human like appearances with messy hair, though with some differences.
They were Female goblins, their skin the color of rotten moss, the three of them slowly approached him from 3 separate directions.
They wore crude outfits of fur, with bones braided into their long, pointed ears and strung around their necks. Their feet were clawed, their fingers ended in sharp, dirty nails, and when they grinned, they revealed rows of needle-like fangs.
Each one of them held a rusty, jagged dagger, and their eyes held a crazed, hungry light as they looked right at him.
Instead of still being frightened, Adrian couldn't help but smirk when he got a closer look at his would be aggressors.
After facing that terrifying monster girl, these goblins, barely taller than his waist, didn't seem to spark the same kind of fear in his heart. He couldn't help but compare their short, slim frames to her terrifying, powerful presence, and the difference made him feel a bit conceited.
Although they weren't lacking in the asset department, that wasn't what he was paying attention to at the moment. Instead it was something else that left him secretly feeling worried.
He wasn't really wary of them, not of their size or their strength, but his eyes kept drifting back to the weapons in their hands, those rusted, blood stained daggers that looked like they had seen too much blood yet have never been cleaned in their lifetimes.
" I don't see any reason for us to get on each other's nerves. Forgive me if I've unknowingly stepped onto your land's, if it's ok with you, I was just about to leave... I'd rather not get entangled here, I'm sure non of us want that kind of scenario." Adrian warned, yet deep down he felt like someone who had just f*cked himself over.