Chapter 38: Chapter 38 - Acquiring what’s needed

Inside the shop, Mila found herself between rows of stands displaying different fabrics and several mannequins displaying various dresses.

“Hello, young lady.” A woman in her thirties working on a dress greeted Mila. “Looking for a dress, are you?”

Mila glanced around once more. She quite liked what she saw. “Yes, for a date.”

The seamstress nodded. “My dresses do not come cheap, young lady.” She stated. “And they take time.”

That made sense. But Mila didn’t have much time. She wanted to take Isabel out tomorrow or the day after. It would be a bit sudden, but after the temple raid, the city will likely be abuzz and a mess.

But she didn’t want to give up just yet. “How much would it cost to order a custom-made dress in a day or two? A simple one would do.” Mila tried.

“It’s not a question of price, young lady.” The seamstress put the needle she was holding down. “It’s a question of time. I take pride in my work and won't rush it. Now, what are you looking for.”

Mila looked around once more. The dresses appeared to be well made. The selection was broad, but there was an issue.

“Then please show me something my size.” Mila looked into the seamstress’s eyes.

For a moment, the woman got taken aback, then she looked around and realised there was indeed nothing that would fit Mila as is. “That would be a bit-” The seamstress hesitated. “Say, can I talk with your parents?”

And there it was. For a moment, Mila considered searching for another shop, but the result would likely be the same. At the very least, the dresses here were very nice looking.

Mila dispassionately looked at the woman before talking. “I am an adult, and I have money.” She pulled out the coins and dropped a few on them on a counter. ”Now, please, can we move on to actually addressing the issue. I need a dress for a date.”

The following conversation was excruciating and slow. But in the end, Mila managed to talk the seamstress into modifying one of the deep green summer dresses to fit her diminutive stature.

It would still be on the longer side, with the hem reaching down to her ankle, and the fabric could be thicker, but it suited Mila.

Without much to flaunt in the ‘roundness’ department, Mila decided to make an appeal with her slenderness. So the dress made an emphasis on her shoulders and arms, which would be left bare.

The weather was slowly growing colder, but not to a point where it would look strange to wear the dress.

After agreeing on the pickup time, the seamstress suggested Mila add shoes to her planned outfit from a store next door.

As it turned out, it was a good idea. Both shops often made complimenting products to boost each other sales. Mila quickly found matching moccasins. They were comfortable and had the same green tone as the dress.

And off she was towards the…

Mila ignored Nordly’s annoying ex-teacher, who was currently harassed by a couple of thugs. She entered the store selling cosmetics.

The business was clearly booming. Most shelves were either empty or restocked while Mila explored the store. People kept pushing past her, making it difficult to navigate.

After twenty minutes of pushing and pulling, Mila finally found herself outside of the store with her new purchases in hand. It wasn’t much, but some foundation, perfume and shaving tools were enough. There was no point in going overboard.

Mila happily stepped back on the street and ignored the previous thugs pulling Nolman into an alley. The man barely resisted and seemed to be resigned to his fate.

Or she tried to ignore it. Up until Mila heard the two thugs mention the Obron family. She didn’t stop and instead pivoted towards the trio and started to trail.

It wasn’t particularly hard either. Neither of the men did as much as glance back. Mila smoothly gained of them while trying to discern their words between the street's bustle.

It was choppy, and it was clear the thuggish-looking men were demanding something of Nolman.

Mila stepped behind a large man carrying a bundle and finally caught more than a few scattered words.

What Mila learned made her furrow her brows. The thugs kindly asked what Nolman had seen in the Obron family’s compound.

And the ashole was just a step away from talking. Despite Nolman’s bravado during his little intrusion, he was now meek and stammered his words.

Mila could see why. These two thugs were blips on her inner mana radar. They were dangerous. Perhaps not to her, but to Nolman, they were.

Before Mila could learn anything else, they entered doors leading inside a walled complex.

That was the end of her short pursuit. Wherever those two wanted from Nolman couldn’t be beneficial for the Obron family.

Mila pretended to stumble and supported herself on the wall. She extended her senses as far as possible and found five more people with mana in their bodies.

One of them was above the rest. Mila narrowed her eyes. From the short excursions she had through the city, she knew this was unusual.

There just weren't that many people with noticeable mana levels. Most she had seen was amongst the Kingdom’s forces and the Temple people.

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This was an outlier. Mila noted the building and left. There was no need to invite any trouble by doing something rash. If need be, she could return during the night and see what she could find then.

It was troublesome to have possibly dangerous people interested in her temporary home. It had to be dealt with.

But for now, Mila headed back. She soon found herself in front of the Obron’s family drug store and walked in. Bazil had already returned and was politely speaking with a couple old ladies while his father was cleaning shelves.

The courtyard was empty, but there was a sound of singing coming from where Silinth’s room was.

From the same building, Galtron stumbled out and supported himself against the wall. After taking a few deep breaths, he once again started to move.

Mila walked closer to the clearly drunken man as her room was near Silinth’s. “Did they force you to drink as well?” She wondered.

“What?” The housekeeper blinked. “No- I mean, yes. Damn them.” He shook his fist at the sky.

“Will Hanna not be disappointed to see you like this?” Mila asked.

“Nah, she said it’s fine. Haven’t had a free day in ages.” Galtron dismissed her worries, then hiccuped.

“Oh, are they back?”

“Came back then complained about the singing.” Galtron almost fell. “Couldn’t stop it. Morn is wasted. Silinth’s too.”

“Great.” Mila sighed. The singing was getting on her nerves. “What about Isabel?”

“In her room? Maybe?”

“And Andrew?”

“Oh, I know that.” Galtron clapped. “They went out to prepare Nordly for something.”

Mila had a suspicion she didn’t want to know what that ‘something’ was and that it would involve her. “Well, carry on.” She didn’t take more of the man’s time.

“Oh yeah, we need more booze.” The housekeeper remembered and then started to stagger towards where the kitchen was.

Upon entering the building, the singing grew louder. Mila couldn’t even make out what language they were using. The noise was more aking to a cat’s mating call than something a human could make.

After dropping her stuff, Mila hesitated in front of Isabel’s room. She wanted to see what Isabel had done to herself, but after another moment, she decided that it had to wait.

There was a more urgent matter. After glancing at Isabel’s room one last time, Mila walked to where Hanna should be.

And Mila was right. Hanna was once again holed up in her workroom.

It took a good while of knocking until the woman finally opened the doors. Hanna blinked while studying Mila. “What?” She yawned.

“I have a couple of things to discuss with you.” Mila started to push inside the room.

Hanna yawned again. “Sure! Why don’t you come right in.” She murmured after Mila had entered.

“I apologise for interrupting your sleep.” Mila was genuinely sorry about it. Hanna had been hard at work for the longest time.

Instead of replying, Hanna headed back to her table and fell on her chair. She found another vial of liquid and swirled it, looking at it wistfully. “What did you want?” She was blunt.

“For starters, there seems to be a group of people interested in this compound. I saw Nordly’s old teacher being pulled inside a building while he was questioned.” Mila informed.

Hanna didn’t look impressed. “Happens from time to time.” She shrugged. “I’ll inform guards. Just tell me which building it was.”

After giving the basic directions, Mila could not help but warn again. “They were quite dangerous.” She looked at the indifferent woman. “Are you sure it will be enough?”

“Meh, just some dregs that try to steal our products. Nothing serious.”

“I’ll repeat - they were dangerous.” Mila looked into her eyes.

Hanna blinked. “How would you-” She wanted to ask. “How dangerous?” Her demeanour finally changed.

“Not enough to threaten Silinth, obviously, but as for the rest of us?” Mila shook her head. “Dangerous.”

“I see.” Hanna opened one of the table drawers and pulled out some papers. “And you will not tell me how you found out?” After a moment of silence, she continued. “I’ll need to get this note to the guards.” She started to write. “Can you get Galtron-”

“I don’t-”

“Yeah, don’t say it.” Hanna stopped Mila. “I forgot. And I don’t want to go to that booz-den again.”

“They are very loud,” Mila added.

“Let them be.” Hanna sighed. “At this rate… Yeah, let them be.” She repeated. “I’ll just have Nordly carry the letter.”

“Galtron told me he is out together with Andrew and Kefo.” Mila frowned, remembering what it could entail.

“Of course, then, Bazil.” Hanna got up.

“Before you go, I had another thing to ask.” Mila stopped her.

“What is it?” Hanna looked at her as if she was an omen of bad news.

“In a couple of days, we will enact our plan,” Mila revealed. Hanna had been clued in as it was possible they would need her help. She was a capable healer, after all.

“I see.” Hanna nodded. “And?”

“There are likely to be quite a few dangerous people there.” Mila continued. “It may come down to an exchange of blows. And to increase our chances, I wanted to ask if you had any fast-acting poisons I could apply on a dagger?” She was direct.

Hanna looked at her with interest. “I may have.” She allowed. “Are you sure you are ready to use something so deadly?”

Mila revealed a toothy smile. “I would not worry about it.” There was no shred of insecurity to be found in her expression. “I just need it to be strong. I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I have seen what the Temple’s fighters can do.”

Hanna’s expression turned thoughtful. “I don’t have anything on hand.” She admitted. “But it shouldn’t be too hard to mix up something.” Her glance landed on a particular shelf.

“I would appreciate your help.” Mila slightly bowed. “It would certainly increase our chances.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Hanna nodded. “It will take a day or two. Should be ready for the night.” She thoughtfully added.

“Oh,” Mila pretended to remember. “There was something else.” She did her best to appear innocent. “I think Bazil is two-timing his girlfriend.”

“What?” Hanna’s voice was dangerously low.

“I think he said something about changing them every week?” Mila put a finger on her lips. “He certainly was happy to ditch me in the middle of the road to flirt with some passing girls.”

“I see, I see.” Hanna nodded while her fingers flexed. “I have not talked with my son about proper manners in some time.” She stiffly moved towards the doors. “I guess it’s time to… Refresh his memory.”

Mila allowed a small, victorious smile. Bazil deserved it.

In addition, the poison would do wonders if Mila got a chance to kill Silinth.