Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Chapter 39

The shopkeeper looked toward the crowd. Several people were now listening carefully. After a moment, he sighed and began gathering the medicine. "I’ll sell you what I can."

"I’ll take it."

The crowd followed them from one shop to another, and with every purchase, the whispers became louder. At the clothing stall, Ingrid bought ten complete sets of clothing for herself and ten complete sets for Lysander. She also bought twenty pairs of socks, twenty sets of underwear, four pairs of shoes, four pairs of boots, six blankets, six towels, four raincoats, and two thick coats for each of them.

The clothing merchant stared at the mountain of clothes piled on his counter. "Are you sure you want all of these?"

"Yes. And please, don’t ask me any more questions, I’m tired of talking."

At the household supply shop, she bought twenty bars of soap, ten bottles of shampoo, ten bottles of body wash, ten tubes of toothpaste, twenty toothbrushes, twenty rolls of cloth, ten sewing kits, twenty candles, ten lanterns, twenty boxes of matches, five coils of rope, four buckets, four cooking pots, two frying pans, ten plates, ten cups, ten spoons, ten forks, and several other basic cooking utensils.

By then, the crowd had become large enough that people were standing along the road simply to watch her shop. By the time she finished buying everything she wanted, the cart Lysander brought, along with a new one they bought were completely packed. The first cart was loaded with food, medicine, clothes, cooking supplies, and household items, while the second was filled with water, weapons, extra food, and the things that could not fit on the first one. The amount of supplies was so large that several merchants had stopped working just to watch the two carts leave.

As Ingrid and Lysander started leaving the market, the crowd followed them for a while, whispering among themselves. Some people looked impressed, others looked worried, and a few looked genuinely frightened by how seriously Ingrid seemed to be preparing for the future.

High above the market, the man from the merchant guild stood on the balcony of the watchtower and watched the entire scene. His eyes followed the two overflowing carts as they slowly disappeared down the road.

One of the guards standing beside him looked down at the crowd. "Sir, should we stop her?"

The man did not answer immediately. He remembered the way Ingrid had spoken inside his office, the way she had immediately understood why he was spending his money instead of hoarding it, and the way she had challenged his decision to destroy the village without showing even the slightest fear.

"She’s the woman who sold me the Star Glow Herbs," he finally said.

The guard looked surprised. "The same woman?"

"Yes."

The man continued watching as Ingrid and Lysander disappeared farther down the road. "She bought enough supplies to survive for months."

The guard frowned. "Do you think she knows what’s coming?"

The man remained silent, his dark eyes staring at her but he didn’t answer. He watched her until she fully disappeared down the road.

Down below, Ingrid had no idea that she was being watched. She and Lysander continued toward her home, with the two heavily loaded carts moving slowly behind them. After they had traveled halfway, Ingrid finally found a quiet enough place to stop and began transferring the supplies into her system space. The three pouches containing her remaining gold coins disappeared into the system space as well. She had spent almost seven thousand gold coins on everything she bought. She was still left with a lot of money.

When she finished, only the supplies that could not fit remained on the carts. Ingrid looked at the much smaller pile and smiled with satisfaction.

"That’s much better."

Lysander looked at the remaining supplies before turning toward her. "You really bought enough things to supply a small settlement."

Ingrid shrugged. "I’d rather be called excessive than unprepared and besides who knows how many people will come with us."

Lysander leaned slightly on the cart, "You’re still willing to save people after what they did to you and how much they bullied you?"

"Well... I can’t just let them die because of that. Even though they bullied me, they’re others who still stood up for me. Not all of them deserve to die." Ingrid looked up and saw Lysander staring at her, "Don’t look at me like that. I’m not kind but I’m not that wicked either."

Lysander studied her for a moment before pushing himself away from the cart. "You’re a good person, Ingrid. You don’t have to keep pretending otherwise." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Ingrid rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, he stepped closer to her. He reached out and caught a loose strand of her hair, taking it and slowly twirling it around his fingers while his purple eyes stayed fixed on her face. His veil still covered the lower half of his face, but she could see the slight curve in his eyes, and it immediately made her suspicious.

"What?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. The way he was looking at her felt like he wanted to devour her.

"Nothing, Ingrid."

The way he said her name made her cheeks warm. She tried to look away, but Lysander gently tugged the strand of hair between his fingers, drawing her attention back to him. He leaned closer, slowly enough that she could see exactly what he was doing, and her heart suddenly started beating much faster.

"Ingrid," he murmured her name again, this time, it was breathier than the last. She swallowed and looked up at him.

Lysander stopped just before their faces touched, close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin. For one brief second, Ingrid genuinely thought he was going to kiss her, and the thought sent a rush of heat straight to her face. Then his eyes curved with amusement.

Ingrid immediately pushed him away. "Stop flirting with me!"

Lysander laughed softly, clearly pleased with himself, while Ingrid turned around and hurried away with her burning face hidden from him.

"Ingrid."

She kept walking.

"Ingrid, you’re going to fall if you keep on walking like that." he called again, his voice carrying that same teasing amusement.

She walked faster, refusing to look back. Behind her, Lysander chuckled softly, and the sound only made her cheeks burn even more.

Using the memories left behind by the original Ingrid, she knew exactly which path would take her home without passing through the main part of the village. Her small hut stood at the very edge of the village, far away from the homes of most of the Beastmen.

The shortcut was narrow and partly covered by tall grass, but Ingrid remembered the path clearly enough to follow it without hesitation. She slowed down when the familiar shape of the trees appeared ahead, expecting to see her small hut waiting quietly in the distance.

Instead, she stopped and her entire body went still as she stared ahead. In front of her, where her little hut usually stood, there wasn’t any little house from the memories there. Instead, what she saw was debris.

Her house had been destroyed.