An Immortal's Retirement: To Achieve Peace [Volume One Finished]

Three dragons and a dog played in the pond.

Though if you asked the dog, he would say that he was just chasing some rather strange looking worms.

The forest air was cool and the wind rustled through the leaves and Tob chased after something that only it could see. Nai couldn't see them for some reason. He hadn't bothered to ask why. Nai was a person after all, even if she did smell like an animal for some reason, she had the definitive shape of a human.

And humans just missed things. Tob could smell the flavor of stew a person had last night off their errant farts. He could even tell them the spice mix.

Humans however, would bite through bread not knowing it had already gone moldy.

So Tob ran, chasing the worms into the forest and jumping about as he did so.

The dragons played with the dog, floating above him, then beneath, then behind, laughing at every snap and silly little turn the brown black dog attempted. They were having fun.

They were each a different color. One was fat and red, the other blue and skinny and the last one was green and short. And they did not have wings. They weren't those types of dragons.

"Fatty Red, why does this beast get to leave so often? Isn't he limited like us?"

"No Little Green, he's a dog. His kind are like beasts who aren't beasts. They're too much like man for us to call them beasts."

"Wrong," said the blue dragon. "He isn't one of us, he's just a mortal beast who happened to awaken his qi."

Little green tapped Tob's nose lightly before flying up and over his head, getting the dog to stand up on its hind legs to reach for him.

Then he dived down and through the dog's legs and poked him on the tummy.

Tob fell onto his back, rolled over and barked.

The dragons laughed and the somewhat intelligent dog chased after them, carefree and alive.

Somewhere, his owner stalked.

********

Mackie Roblind Vest was the best merchant to have ever lived and if you said otherwise you'd be wrong. At least that's what Mackie would tell you.

It was a strange business, telling people that you were the best merchant to have ever lived. In Mackie's mind, that was a threat. Being a good merchant didn't mean you had good wares or good prices, but that you had a good amount of money.

But there was no such thing as a good amount of money. That was a myth. It was like having a good amount of life or a good amount of freedom. Sure there was an amount that was satisfying, but you could always use more.

That was the way Mackie saw it.

So to Mackie, being a good merchant meant always having money and always having even more money on the way.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mackie emptied out his wallet onto the counter.

Well, it was the village wallet, and he was giving them the exact change and savings he'd gather from buying and trading out in the greater region.

But he had been out for a few months and during that time he had used the chane, then earned it back many fold, but Chin let him keep those profits. That was their deal.

But now Mackie was thinking even bigger. He had ideas.

There was now a constant stream of cultivators, merchants, people, and most importantly, trade coming through the town. Mackie's job had been traditionally important. While bulk orders of certain necessities could be placed via light towers, certain delicate needs needed to be purchased by an expert barginer.

He bought small but important medicine that the alchemist would use. Expensive herbs and potions, books and valuables. He told other small-time merchants of his small town and explained to them how to join the caravans to traverse the Great Desert Strip during the rainy seasons.

He would buy expensive spices and herbs and travel all throughout the region, sometimes for months at a time. A few years ago, he was out for a whole, having made enough money to gather his own caravan and came marching in with an exotic assortment of goods. Seeds and beasts from the Hidden Viper, books from the Flower Sword, and ale from the Raging River.

But that was all changing now, the focal point was about to shift. Everyone would be coming here. He wouldn't have to wander anymore. He wouldn't have to search for the medicine the old lady alchemist requested.

He was becoming unimportant.

Mackie smiled. He liked that. He always came back to the village, because that was where his people were and his people needed him.

Now, they didn't.

This was his last turn in, his last emptying of the wallet.

And was he ever grateful?

As a village native and a personal employee of Chin, he was able to cut some rather lucrative deals. First, he had bought some property in cultivator town. He had constructed a stall near the center of the place and he had bought out a few pieces of land on its outskirts. But his most important purchases were, of course, the ones no one knew about.

He bought up a good chunk of the main street between cultivator town and Oasis Village, along with several other small areas; areas that Mackie felt would be worth something once everything got bigger.

Chin still thought the division between Oasis village and cultivator town would last. The two places were technically a few miles away from each other and had very distinct economies. Cultivator Town served cultivators. It served the powerful people that came here for their many reasons.

And while Oasis Village fed and cleaned those people, the separation was there only in name. Anyone with a decent eye could see how the people of the Oasis Sect stayed within Oasis Village. People knew the immortal wandered there.

It was only a matter of time before the two fused and became one, and when that happened, the few miles of road that went from Oasis Village to Cultivator Town would become the most lucrative spot within the valley and Mackie could only dream of the income.

Mackie closed the door and went outside. Things had changed a lot in his absence, which was strange because his home was the one place that didn't change at all. But now it was different. It was a new, budding metropolis.

"Mackei," Medin said to him as he left Chin's house. "Won't you stay for a snack?"

"Oh no, Miss. I've eaten."

That was the only response you could give to Medin Chin. If you said, I couldn't impose, she would make you impose. If you said, I haven't got the time, she would say health is more important than a schedule. If you said anything other than, I've eaten, you would find yourself at a dining chair, groaning as your belly grew ever bigger.

But the limits of the human stomach were something even Medin couldn't conquer.

"Well, that's good then. Tell me, have you seen a baby crawling around?"

"A baby?"

"Yes, small, fair skinned, wears a headband, maybe with a dog?"

"N-- no. Has someone lost their child? Should we get Chin? The whole village can help look if someone's lost a--"

"No, no. She'll be fine. I'm sure she's hiding somewhere. Just let me know if you see her."

"The baby?"

"Yes.

Mackie looked around, waiting for Medin to explain the joke. But when the older woman just turned and walked back into the kitchen, he was left puzzled.

"A baby?" He asked himself.

Somewhere hidden from view, a small little baby laughed.

And as Mackie left the building, a baby with the stealth of the night followed in his footsteps.