Chapter 36 - Store

"What are those?" Geraldine pointed out to the small black jars that were placed on the cabinet at the very bottom, away from people's eyes.

The woman followed where Geraldine points her finger and saw where she's pointing at and her eyes widen, "Oh, that's jars contains some dangerous chemicals inside and it's very poisonous if handled incorrectly," she explained while rubbing both of her hands and went to the other side where some potions are displayed.

"This one can keep you stay warm on a cold night," The woman took out a small red stone from the jar and handed it to Geraldine and instantly felt the heat increasing into her body, warming her up.

"Interesting, please give me three pieces of these stones and also those jars you said that contain poisonous chemicals inside," Geraldine said and cocked her head to the side.

Upon hearing what she said, the woman became worried and was a bit hesitant to grab the poisonous jars. She wears thick gloves as she took them out from the cabinet and put it inside the paper bag, "How many do you want to purchase?"

"Hmm, five jars will do," Geraldine slightly nodded her head and looked at the other stuff around here that can be useful to her journey.

"We're not supposed to sell this dangerous thing. My husband just did this as an experiment when he accidentally gathered these poisonous plants, mistaking it as the medicinal one," The woman sighs as she remembered that day it happened, "Good thing, I was able to differentiate it but he didn't want me to throw this away and I'm surprised that you take interest in these things," The woman squinted her eyes towards Geraldine.

"Don't worry, I won't use it to harm a human being," Geraldine said as she knows the way the woman looked suspicious towards her especially when she's covering her face, "If what you said is true and that stuff is really poisonous then I'll buy it all," She said and takes out her pouch that contains gold and silver coins.

The woman was stunned but followed what her customer ask and take the remaining five jars and put them in separate bags.

"Also, I would like to buy dried meat and vegetables you sell," Geraldine said and point to the shelves full of dried foods.

After the store owner followed what she wanted to buy, Geraldine was about to go away when the woman stopped her, "Miss, we have several rooms available to stay for the night and food for dinner."

When Geraldine heard about it, she stopped in her tracks and look at the woman who looks quite desperate to let her stay. She also thought that she hasn't rested comfortably for days and somehow wants to relax her mind even if it's for a short time, "Sure, give me a room that is comfortable to sleep in."

The woman's face light up upon hearing that her customer agreed to stay, "Sure! Let me get you the keys and show you to your room so that you can rest early. I'm Salle, the store owner, and outside is my husband, Homir and we owned this store for travelers to lounge and relax before continuing their journey."

Geraldine nodded her head as she didn't want to converse with Salle any longer as she didn't trust her very much, "Here's your room," Salle opened the door and gives Geraldine the key, "Have a great stay!"

"Thank you," Geraldine entered the room and instantly close the door as she didn't want to talk to Salle anymore. Looking inside the room, it was simple but cozy, there's a single bed and a table with a chair on the side and a huge window that you can see the nature, overall, it was peaceful.

She goes towards the bed and flopped herself over the soft mattress as her eyes started to get heavy, Geraldine didn't realize that she had fallen asleep. Night came in, a knock on the door startled Geraldine from her sleep and Salle's voice could be heard outside.

"Miss, I've prepared your dinner!"

Geraldine sits up as she rubbed her face, "Coming," She stands up with a grunt and went to the door, Salle's smile greeted her as soon as she opened the door. Then handed her a bowl of potato soup and 3 pieces of bread, "Enjoy your meal."

After Geraldine thanked her, she closed the door using her foot and put the food on the table and looked at it for a couple more minutes, and went ahead and took a sniff, smelling something weird mixed on the soup.

"Hmm, so they're plotting something else huh," She chuckled and stretched her neck as she was still sleepy. She found out that the soup they gave her contains sleeping pills and all Geraldine could do is laugh at it.

"They must have taken interest in my coins huh," Geraldine takes out her pouch and remembered how Salle looked at it with her eyes twinkling seeing multiple gold coins inside.

Then Geraldine remembered her horse that was tied in front of their store, "Oh, sh*t! I forgot about him," She immediately went out of her room and run outside, it was already dark, and saw Homir pulling her horse away.

"Hey!" She called out and approached Homir, "Where are you taking my horse?"

When Homir saw her, the look of horror was visible on his face, "I- I was ju-just putting yo-your horse in the sh-shed," He trembled and point at the sky, "I-it's ni-night haha."

Geraldine cocked her head to the side and nodded, that's when she realized that she didn't have the hood of her cloak covering her face and Homir sees her red eyes glaring at him which explains why he's trembling in fear, after all, red eyes are very rare eye color.

"Tell me where's the shed, I'll take my horse there," Geraldine grabbed the rope on Homir's hand and waited for him to point out the directions.

"Over there."