Isekai For Hire Chapter 6: An Unexpected Quest

Read chapter 6 of Isekai For Hire by wk_rust on NovelPedia.

An Unexpected Quest It took Lorena two entire days of hunting, killing, and skinning from sunrise to sunset to get enough leather. Other than the occasional jab when a fight went sideways, Ren had been silent. It was honestly a bit of a relief—the constant commentary made fighting harder. But the silence felt wrong too. Empty. She shook the thought away; it was better not to dwell. She had given up on finding a river to bathe herself off in after the first day and was now used to the horrified stares she got as she entered Silvershire, covered in blood in the dark of night. The market was quiet, most people gone by now, but that didn’t stop the remaining people from giving her disapproving stares as she passed. “Oy. You. Blood Girl.” An older human woman called after Lorena as she passed her cart. First ‘The Voice’ and now ‘Blood Girl’? I really hate these nicknames. In my defense I didn’t call you Blood Girl. No, but you caused me to hear it. Why couldn’t you take my hearing too? Lorena turned and looked at the woman, a glistening bottle of clear liquid held in her hand. “Bottle of Cleansing. I’ll give you a discount. You clearly need it.” She approached the woman with a smile, then quickly returned her face to something more neutral. Smiling at people covered in blood probably wasn’t the brightest idea. Her interface supplied the details about the item as the woman held it up. Item: [Bottle of Mighty Cleansing] (1) Cleans even the toughest stains! “How much?” The woman stared at Lorena, mouth pinched in disgust. “For you, fifty silver. Normal price is one and a half gold but you’re bad for business walking around the market like that.” Lorena didn’t bother haggling and accepted the trade. She uncorked the bottle and smelt it, a sterile smell wafting out. Just drink it. If you die, well, you deserved it. She grimaced at Ren’s comment. “It won’t taste good but it’ll get you clean,” the woman said with a disapproving scowl at Lorena’s expression, returning to her work. The viscous liquid crawled down her throat, then her whole body heated. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the woman, the heat growing to a nearly unbearable level. “What—” Oh good. This is exactly what this living hell was missing. A lake of fire under my skin. But before it got to be too much the heat dissipated, along with all the gore and viscera that had coated her for the last several hours. “Oh, thanks,” Lorena said as she let out a breath. The woman grunted as she pushed a needle through a thick hide of leather. “Are you a leather worker?” The woman shot her an unimpressed stare, then returned to her work. Lorena pressed on. “I have gathered a decent amount of leather. Would you be interested in buying some off of me? I could also use some new armor made.” The woman didn’t look up from her sewing as she said, “Don’t buy crafting materials from strangers. Leads to dodgy quality goods.” Lorena’s jaw clenched. “And I don’t make deals with strangers either. You can pay the full price or go somewhere else.” Just then the woman’s eyes lit up and she stood. “Oy! I need more cleansers if you’ve got em.” Lorena turned to see Jade walking down the street. She looked up and gave Lorena thin smile, then approached the grumpy leatherworker. “For you Sadia, sure thing.” The two women bartered, rapid numbers and whispers flying back and forth until they landed on an acceptable price. Lorena went to slip away from them and find another leatherworker when Jade turned to her. “How have you been making out? Henry told me you ventured into the northern forest yesterday.” “Yeah, made it out in one piece thankfully.” “Didn’t meet any spiders then I guess?” I like her. She’s been helpful, at least. She’s better than you. Quick, switch bodies with her, I’d rather ride with her. Wouldn’t that just put her in my head instead of you? Or in addition to you? That’s fine. Anything is an improvement to this. Lorena chuckled, more to Ren’s comment than Jade’s joke. “No, just wolves.” S