Side story 1, part 1: An interesting case

-Holia, 2nd of April, around noon-

A small cart was slowly moving about through the village, two horses stepping in rhythm on the hardened dirt underneath. The clacking sound was ringing in the air, uninterrupted by anything. In the driver's seat, a man was sitting, holding the reigns lightly, and taking his time to look around.

The sun beaming down lightly was compiling nicely with the slight wind that was racing alongside him and his cart.

He was wearing a large tunic of beige color, outfitted with a belt over his stomach, and long pants that almost covered the large boots on his feet. A coat with an exotic, carefully sewn pattern was resting on his shoulders. A wide hat was resting on the man's head, hiding his blond hair from view. However, considering that the hat was not made of straw but instead of some material, it was definitely not cheap. Actually, his entire outfit, while somewhat mundane-looking, was without doubt immaculate. This was an appearance that was rare in places like Holia, but not unheard of: a traveling merchant.

The man finally stopped the horses as he passed by a few houses. Stepping down from his position, he went by the horses and combed the hair on the back of their heads. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a large apple, which he proceeded to feed to his animals. A small smile appeared on his rather proportional face as he felt the horses ease up without much effort.

"Hello?" he heard from somewhere down the road.

His yellow eyes glistened as he turned toward the source of the voice. It was a boy, roughly 10 years old, dressed in some somewhat worn down clothes, looking at the man with his green eyes.

"Who are you, mister?" Maxim asked, standing somewhat idly at a comfortable distance.

"Hello!" the man answered cheerfully, taking his hat down and bowing slightly. "I am Velidan, a traveling merchant on the road! And who might you be, young fellow?" the man said.

He went by many names depending on the situation, but not many knew his real one: Joseph. Velidan was simply one of his aliases.

"I--" Maxim started saying but stopped before he finished another word. Instead, he looked slightly to his right, toward one of the nearby houses.

"Don't worry little man, I won't hurt you," Joseph said. Still, seeing that the kid wasn't very convinced to speak with him, he decided to do something else.

'A single <Suggestion> should do it.' he thought, carefully forming the sentences in his head and sending them toward the kid.

<Mister Velidan doesn't seem bad. Maybe he has something exotic I can get?!>

Joseph smiled, feeling the kid's mind consuming the bolt of psionic energy like a sponge would water. Indeed, young minds were trivial to manipulate. He watched as the boy's eyes widened momentarily.

However, contrary to what Psion expected, the kid bolted toward a nearby house and suddenly disappeared inside.

"???" Joseph raised an eyebrow but decided not to ponder too much. Juveniles were unpredictable, after all. At the end of the day, he wasn't here to play around with a child's mind anyway. He was here in search of information.

Without much waiting, he went to his cart, and opened its side, supporting it with a piece of wood from the back. Still seeing not a single soul in sight, he opened a few chests on the cart. Not wanting to waste a moment, he quickly took out some things, placing them on the supported surface serving as a table. The items he placed on display weren't that exciting but they weren't mundane, either: some pieces of jewelry, a few nice accessories, a dagger or two, and others.

Within a few minutes, the stand was ready, waiting for any curious customers to come around and have a look. Joseph took a small chair from his cart and sat down on it, waiting. It wasn't his first time as a traveling merchant, but it wasn't his favorite cover. He never liked sitting around doing nothing. But he knew he was the only one Cedric could rely on.

'If this were about anyone else, Cedric would've sent one of my students. But if it's for Cecilia, he'd only trust me.' he thought, feeling a glint of warm pride spread through his chest. It was a nice feeling, knowing that someone really relied on him. And knowing that he could trust Dolbacks with his life was just as good.

He had known the elder of the two for nearly thirty years by now. Joseph huffed lightly, a sense of his own age getting to him. He had seen Cedric back when he was still a small brat who did not know his place in the world. Watching over him was one of the favors he did for the old Dolback when he was still alive. When Cecilia was born, he also kept an eye on her. Though he did not share a family name with them both, most considered him a part of the Dolback family. In truth, he also felt that way.

...

Deciding to stop his pondering, Joseph leaned his back on the cart. He knew damn well that he'll have to sit around for some time before anyone came around. As much as he simply wanted to go around and ask people left and right about what he wanted, he knew it wasn't a wise choice. Nobody was very nice to people who snooped around.

'It's going to be a long day.' he sighed lightly to himself.

A couple of minutes passed, and the sense of emptiness started waning. A door opened somewhere to his right. Opening an eye, the man quickly looked toward a young woman who was just going outside, followed suit by the boy with whom Joseph had spoken before. A nice fitting dress was hugging her body, beige in color.

'Hmm, has a brother, check. Blond, check. Green eyes, check. Is she the one, then?' Joseph thought, quickly rising from his position.

"Hello, hello, fine lady!" he bowed lightly. "Come and have a look at my wares!" with a smile plastered on his face, he looked over at Crystal and quickly confirmed his suspicions. 'Seems like just a Classless. A few <Suggestions> and she'll sing all I need.' he thought with a bit of contentedness. It seemed this job was going to only take minutes.

<Maybe I can have a look at what he's selling. Traveling merchants are a rarity around here.>

A slight surge of Willpower swirled around in Joseph's chest as he felt the <Suggestion> leave the grasp of his mind and travel toward the woman's. However, what immediately perplexed him was, that he didn't feel her mind. Actually, the entire spell was just… blocked?

'What…?' he froze for a moment, processing what just happened. 'It didn't connect? No, it didn't even reach her?!' he frowned ever so slightly, seeing how Crystal and her brother came a bit closer, taking a look at the shiny objects on display. 'No, don't be shaken. Let's try again.' he thought, calming his spirit. Perhaps there was something wrong with how he did it.

However, as he fired a second <Suggestion>, Joseph could only confirm that there was something around the woman's mind, protecting her from his influence.

'A psionic barrier?' he thought, shocked. For a short moment, he kept on watching Crystal, who didn't seem to even feel his psionic magic bouncing off, visibly interested in some kind of necklace. In the meantime, her brother was curiously looking at other items.

Joseph looked around. It seemed that his presence was starting to become evident in the village as he saw a few people stick out their heads through doors and windows, and some even started going out, seemingly readying themselves to approach his cart. It looked like he wouldn't be able to get what he wanted, not immediately at least.

-25 minutes later-

Joseph was sitting in his chair, glimpsing at how people were looking with somewhat dreamy eyes at his wares. A few of them had already bought what caught their eyes and were dispersing around while the others filled in their places.

He was talking with a few customers every now and again, trying to pick up some small talk, but he did every now and again look toward that blond woman, who seemed to constantly glance at one of the accessories. Finally deciding that he wasn't going to get a better chance, he began a conversation, "I see your attention is picked by that necklace, fine lady?" he asked, coming slightly closer.

"…?" Crystal suddenly stepped back, as if she were caught doing something she shouldn't. "S-Sorry."

"Oh, but don't be. These wares are exceptional, after all," he put on a nice smile. "Of course, for a price, they can also be yours."

"…what is this necklace?" she asked, looking back at the silver chain that was holding a few small gemstones in it.

"Oh, this necklace," Joseph lifted the accessory a little. "It's an accessory made in Dulal, one of the cities in the Chis Empire. It's a place known for its high-quality accessory-making. I think I still have a pair of rings that went together with this necklace… if you'd like to see them?"

"…if you insist, mister Velidan," Crystal only nodded lightly, seemingly agreeing. However, her gaze betrayed that she wasn't too... convinced, much like she wasn't interested.

"Very well, then," the man quickly reached into a box on his cart and took two platinum rings from inside. Both of them had small, refined geodes on them, one shining with brilliant opal in green-blue color while the other seemed more monochromatic, taking on a reddish hue. "Spectacular, aren't they? I'm sure they'll pair nicely with this necklace, no?"

"…I see…" Crystal said slowly, but her gaze easily betrayed that she wasn't too interested. "How much is just the necklace?" she asked, taking a small step back. She took a hand into her bag and took out a small pouch with money.

"The necklace alone will be only 25 gold. However, for an extra 20, I can also give you these rings, if you're interested?"

"No, but thank you," she put on a tiny smile, pulling out the required amount.

'…strange...' Joseph thought, accepting the money. Not wanting to waste his chance, he asked, "Please excuse me, but this town is Holia, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct," Crystal nodded and then raised an eyebrow. "But why do you ask?"

"Well, I had a colleague once who said he used to live in Holia. Perhaps you'll recognize his name, Travis? I think his surname was Salliv?"

"Travis?" Crystal's eyes widened ever so slightly at the mention of the man. "He used to live here, years ago. But who are you to ask this? What is your connection to him?"

"As you already know, my name is Velidan. I used to work with Travis in Silvana a few years back. He did tell me a few things about where he lived. I assume you must be miss Crystal, then?"

"…did he mention me?"

"Well, he did mention a beautiful young woman with such a name. Seeing you in person, I assumed it must've been you."

"…I see," the woman nodded lightly, but Joseph easily noticed how her cheeks were beginning to redden.

"Anyway, I'm pleased to have met you, miss Crystal. If you meet him, please send my regards."

"Of course, mister Velidan," Crystal smiled gently, getting a better hold of the necklace she'd bought.

Without much waiting, she said her goodbyes to Joseph, and within a few seconds was already walking away, soon going into her house.

Still, even though the man had turned around and looked over the other customers, he constantly kept the blond woman in front of his mind.

'...she has a psionic barrier and can feel mana in items... is she a Psion?' he pondered momentarily. 'Something feels off. That barrier felt really strong. A Psion that powerful wouldn't be so young... I need to search for more information.'