Stray

Chapter 205: Jeweler from the Capital

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Oliver began to bemuse about the strange horse.
Since the first battle, the black horse would look at him with extremely deep eyes from time to time, making his hair stand up.

But now it wasn’t a good time to think about this problem.

People were fleeing Doru, the capital of Alban.

Marshal Gallagher and his troops were about to arrive in the capital, and no one wanted to know how terrible the chaos will be there.
War was always a carnival of refugees and bandits.
People with small property had already made plans to evacuate Doru with their valuables and fled to nearby cities.

However, this was only a distraction from the goals of unscrupulous people.
Robbery and theft were rampant.
Although the army tried to suppress it, no one had much energy to worry about these small details when the confrontation between the two armies was outside the city.

Oliver was very happy to take on this thankless task.

After all, this war was inevitable.
He and Nemo were more inclined to minimize the casualties of the war than to win quickly and decisively.

At this point, they had indeed fully demonstrated their position.
According to the information returned by Cat Whiskers, Oliver personally had no good feelings for Prince Eldric, but taking sides doesn’t mean he has the right to point the blade at his opponent’s throat.

At this point, Ann had amazing tacit understanding with them.
The female warrior didn’t ask for Tumbleweed to be further involved in the dispute.
The rebel soldiers were divided into three groups, and the two other members of Tumbleweed were likely escorting their army to join Ann’s and Gallagher’s.

Until today, Ann had only let them move freely to prevent the war from ending in a destructive manner.
At the same time, she asked Jesse’s and Adrian’s group to pay attention to Willard’s recent movements to prevent them from trying to profit from the chaos.

“I’m going to deal with the bone jade bombs in the storage room.” After the two men escorted the civilians for most of the day, Nemo made this proposal.
“Ann and the others are about to enter the city.
There’s always a hidden danger with those things near the palace.”

Oliver recognized Nemo’s expression.
Every time Nemo was faced with raw carrots in his dinner, he would always show such a look— His lover obviously didn’t like the prince’s dangerous collection in the storage room.

However, raw carrots were fine, but he couldn’t help Nemo eat the bone jade bombs, so Oliver could only nod readily.
“Be careful and safe.”

Seeing that the sun was about to set, the night was several times more dangerous than usual.
Most of the citizens knew this.
After escorting the civilians through the woods, his work today would be over.

The bandits who were thwarted in the middle of the road couldn’t be regarded as accidents.
The leader of Tumbleweed would skillfully tie them up and pile them in one place.
At that time, soldiers who specializes in handling disputes would drag them away and lock them up.

It was just that it was a bit boring to do this job alone.

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This thought only lasted for half a minute— A round figure sneaked into the edge of the woods, looked left and right, and moved forward on tiptoe.

Too obvious.

Oliver couldn’t help laughing when he thought about how he and Nemo were fleeing mindlessly through the Border Forest.
It wasn’t dark yet, there weren’t many wild beasts, and there were few bandits left.
It would be reasonable to leave him alone, but out of some strange feelings, he still pulled the reins in his hand and led the horse forward.

“You can ride a horse,” he said to the old man who was almost as round as a ball.

The obese old man was panting forward, carrying only a small cloth bag in his hand, as if he was going to be exhausted and would collapse to the ground in the next second.
The old man even put on a patched linen shirt to hide his eyes and ears, but it was a pity that his too large figure and the smell of expensive perfume completely betrayed him.

The old man was obviously taken aback by the sudden appearance of the young man.

“I have no money!” the old man yelled, and cross his arms across his chest, putting on a defensive posture.
After looking at the young man for a few seconds, he changed his position, as if he had woken up from a dream, and pulled out a short useless knife at his waist.

“I just want to give you a ride.” Oliver shook his head.
“The capital is going to be completely closed at this time.
You should be the last one— There is a refuge cave in the middle of the forest.
Someone is burning medicine there.
I will send you there.”

The old man panted and looked at Oliver suspiciously, his sweeping gaze finally stopped on his eyes.
Oliver began to be thankful that the Rests in Peace was inserted into the ukulele behind him, making him look less suspicious.”

“Okay,” the fat old man snorted noncommittedly and hesitantly put down the knife.
“You seem to… Forget it, okay, okay.”

It took a lot of effort for the old man to get on the saddle.
Even the horse bared its teeth and neighed with great dissatisfaction.
Oliver had to go up and soothed it multiple times.

“Oh, thank you, young man.” The tight string loosened, and the fat old man collapsed on the back of the horse.
“It’s not peaceful lately.”

“Yes,” Oliver responded with a good temper.
The old man was obviously not completely at ease with him, and his eyes would dart to the corners of his eyes from time to time.
As the sky got darker, this frequency gradually increased.

“Actually, I really don’t have anything valuable,” the old man panted for a long time but still muttered in a low voice.
“I don’t think you look like an impulsive type, so let me just say it.
I just went back to pick up some paperwork.
They are no use to you at all… When I get to the refuge, I can find someone from my family and give you a reward, so…”

“You really don’t have to worry.” Glancing at the shiny sweat on the man’s forehead, Oliver didn’t get angry about the old man’s subtext, but instead joked.
“Seriously, do I look that scary?”

The old man laughed dryly.

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“What do you do?” Seeing that the other party was sweating profusely, Oliver simply took the initiative to chat so that the old man wouldn’t faint because of excessive tension— Although he didn’t know why the other party suddenly started to be nervous again.
“I… Well, my family runs an inn.
If you ask me, you look like a businessman.”

As soon as the voice fell, Oliver carefully released a trace of momentum, scaring away a subordinate demon who was snooping in the dark.

“A jeweler,” the old man said shivering, shaking the cloth bag in his hand vigorously.
“These materials are just old orders, and there is no real gold in them— Ouch!”

At that moment, something suddenly swooped down from the air.
A broad-billed crow snatched the cloth bag that was dangling in the old man’s hand and quickly flew into the trees.

Oliver reacted faster.
He picked up a stone from the ground and hit the wide-mouthed thief almost in the next second.
The broad-billed crow let out an angry caw and dropped the bag causing parchment in the bag to instantly scatter everywhere.

“The Tristan’s?” Oliver picked up the parchment on the ground— The fat old man didn’t lie, it did have a beautiful design drawing on it, and customer information was attached to the picture.
Recognizing the famous mark, Oliver raised his eyebrows.

The Tristan Family, jewelers, were a wealthy family.
Most of the jewelry of the Alban royal family came from the craftsman in the Tristan family, thus there were many customers who they couldn’t afford to offend.
No wonder the old man wanted to bring this pile of things out of the city.

“I’m just a shop steward!” the fat old man shouted hurriedly, covering the horse like a deflated water bag.

“Praise Zenni, I’m not from Master Tristan’s family.
This is just a worthless piece of information.
The oldest one, I just missed it.
Believe me, it won’t even fetch a few coins, but if it’s lost, my job will be… You, no, please…”

He was so nervous that he almost said something unfavorable.

“You are the best jewelers.” Oliver’s thoughts drifted in a different direction for a while.

“Yes, we are.
You see, we cater to the people, sir.
We…”

“Then are you still taking business now?”

“…What?” The fat old man didn’t react for a while.

“Every city has one of your stores, so… You’re going to another store to stay for a while, right? You don’t plan to close the store for the time being.”

“Not planning, not planning…” The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead, and the horror on his face turned into doubt.

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“How much does it cost to design a pair of wedding rings?” Oliver asked in a low voice, clenching the reins in his palm.

The question almost came out of his mouth by himself.
After realizing what he had asked, Oliver turned his face— He could feel a burst of heat on his cheeks suddenly ignited.

“This, it depends on the materials you choose, the construction period, and the designated level of craftsmanship—” The fat old man replied subconsciously, a little confused as to why this simple-dressed young man suddenly talked to himself about business.

“I will provide the gems myself.
If the remaining materials are the best, how much will it cost?”

“If you provide the gems and we help cut them, let me think… If there’s no urgent requirement for the construction period and no designated craftsman, then it will be about three thousand gold coins.”

Oliver gasped.
He simply calculated the money he got from Ann’s mission and found that this crazy idea would almost immediately return him to a state of poverty.

But if the money was gone, he could earn it again.
This pair of rings would be bought sooner or later, so he wouldn’t really be shaken by it.
Tumbleweed’s luck hadn’t been very good lately.
Instead of pinning his hope on the uncertain future, Oliver would rather take them with him sooner— Even if he hid them from Nemo for the time being, it would give him more peace of mind.

“If you don’t have special needs, you can order from other stores.
After all, we are a shop for nobles.
As long as your heart is there, I think your girlfriend will understand too.” Misunderstanding his cold breath, the fat old man tremblingly advised.

“Boyfriend.” Oliver corrected patiently as his mind was still spinning quickly.

The fat old man choked.
“Uh, you should also be Alban yourself, young man.
Not to be rude, but Zenni doesn’t recognize such a marriage, and no church will be willing to hold a wedding for you.
You know things like wedding rings…”

“Oh, I think he would be fine with it,” Oliver replied vaguely, putting on the parchment paper he picked up back into the cloth bag.
“It’s okay with us, but for you guys… Will the Tristan Family refuse such an order because of faith?”

“No, but…”

“Then I want to order a pair.
It’s not that there are any special needs, I just want to give him the best.” Oliver scratched his head embarrassedly.

The fat old man stared at the other person suspiciously for a while and found that he wasn’t pretending to be shy.
The other party was at least a person who had three thousand gold coins, which made him raised his head and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Goodness, your horse is a military horse.
I thought… I’m really sorry, young sir.
I apologize for my attitude just now.”

“Don’t take it to heart.” Oliver was still immersed in his impulsive decision.

“Okay, sir, you have to leave your name.
There should be blank lambskin paper in that cloth bag.
I will prepare a reservation contract for you in a while.”

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The fat old man straightened his waist and obediently changed his attitude.

“When we arrive at the refuge later, you have to provide me with some necessary information.
If there’s no portrait, we will design it based on your description of your lover.
If you can, you can also give me the gems first.
When I get to the other shop, I’ll arrange a craftsman for you as soon as possible.”

“Okay, how long will it take?”

“It usually takes one and a half months.” The fat old man wiped his face indiscriminately with his sleeves, and hugged cloth bag in his arms.
“God knows what the situation will be at that time, but don’t worry.
Garland also has our stores, and we’ll never renege on our contract.”

“I see.” Oliver gritted his teeth.

“At that time, you can find any of our stores to pay, and just show the contract.
For the sake of your help, the situation is special, so I won’t ask you for a deposit.
You see, in fact, the current information is usually stored in magic stones.
If it weren’t for these things being so old…”

He casually took out a piece of paper from the cloth bag and shook it.
“We still keep orders from more than 20 years ago.
Sometimes customers will come and say they don’t want it anymore, but the boss just asked us to keep them anyways and we have to take strict care of it.
God knows how easy these things could be forgotten as it really doesn’t make any sense.”

Oliver glanced at the piece of paper casually, and his head, which was slightly hot, instantly became cold.
He recognized the design and the name.

A beautiful pendant design with a familiar name written next to it…

Flint Lopez.

The author has something to say：

Father and son think the same√

I… I think I need to clarify first; Ollie doesn’t plan to use bone jade as a gemstone (……

Kinky Thoughts:

Kyaaaaaaaaaa~~~~