"What's that?" the stranger asked, eyeing the elevator next to the stall.

The Merchant smiled, having hoped that the stranger would notice it in the midst of his shopping spree.

"Oh that? That's nothin', mate-" he began, waving it away before cackling mischievously. "Nothin' the best shooting range one can find in these parts! What kind of arms dealer would I be if I didn't allow my customers to try out the guns they buy?"

The stranger inspected his silver pistol, undoubtedly admiring the craftsmanship the Merchant placed into improving it. A laser sight was fitted under the barrel of the gun, allowing for the user to blow off heads with better precision. A new set of extended magazines carried more bullets, allowing the user to fill up said heads with more bullets before having to reload. An ergonomic reloading mechanism shortened delay in between sessions of blowing off said heads. Lastly, a collection of anti-personnel 9x19mm rounds, more effective at blowing off said heads, replaced the standard ammunition the stranger previously used.

The Merchant could sense the stranger's eagerness to pull the trigger on his masterpiece. He was counting on it.

"I take it you're satisfied with the quality of your gun?" he asked.

The stranger nodded.

"It's almost as good as the ones from Gun Shop Kendo back home."

The Merchant grinned then, walking over to the elevator and pulling its old doors open. He stepped in and beckoned the stranger over. The stranger hesitated for a moment.

"Must you be so paranoid, mate?" the Merchant groaned. "I know your trigger finger is itching to try out your gun!"

The stranger sighed before stepping into the elevator. With that, the Merchant shut the doors and their descent began.

The Merchant clapped as the stranger blew the head off the last pirate-shaped target in the range. The man's skill with his handgun spoke for itself. Of the dozen or so targets that he'd been challenged with, none of them escaped without a bullet to the head.

"Not bad, right?" the stranger said, placing his gun on the table as he took a short break.

"Better than the two or three drooling idiots who've come down before you, mate," the Merchant said, shaking his head. "You blow off heads like a man on a mission!" The stranger chuckled, the first time the Merchant had seen him do so. "Did I say something funny?"

"No," the stranger replied. "It's just that you're more right than you know."

The Merchant stroked his chin in thought. He supposed he'd never asked the stranger his purpose for being here, but a good salesman never pries too heavily into the affairs of his customers. That, and the stranger didn't seem to be the talkative type. On the other hand, the Merchant thought, the stranger seemed to get into scraps a lot more often than his other customers did. If he wanted to keep their business relationship going for as long as possible, perhaps learning a little about the stranger's needs would help.

"Mind if I ask you something then, stranger?" the Merchant asked.

The stranger looked up, ready to receive the Merchant's question.

"You're not here for gold, seeing as you spend all your money on my fine selection of weapons. You're not here for revenge, you're not the ugly and angry type who threatens to kill me every time I talk. If I were to wager a guess," he said, scanning the stranger's stone faced expression, "you're looking for someone."

The stranger nodded in response, picking up his gun again and preparing for another round of shooting.

"Ah!," the Merchant said. "Is it a woman you're seeking?"

"It's not like that," the stranger said, letting loose a few rounds into the head of a moving target.

"But it is a woman you're after." The silence told the merchant all he needed to know. "How lovely! This reminds me of when I was a wee lad, when I fancied a girl from a village I often traded at. It took me about several months of preparation before I could open my mouth around her."

"How'd that go?" the stranger inquired.

The Merchant sighed.

"You see, I wasn't the good looking bloke I am today," he said smugly, "so when I offered her my sharpest knife at the time in exchange for her hand in marriage, she screamed bloody murder, ran into her home, and locked the door!"

"That-" the stranger began, eyes narrowed, before stopping. "Never mind, keep going."

"Well, I waited outside for a few hours until a young lad not much older than her came to the house. He was her brother, I'd assumed, and he checked in on her. Not long after, the man burst out the door with a shotgun and began shooting at me as if I'd done something to offend him. '¡Deja a mi esposa en paz!' he'd yelled."

"Jesus Christ."

"Oh, he wasn't there to save me that day," the Merchant continued. "The man had me cornered not long after, with the barrel of his shotgun against my head. That was when I remembered I still had a present to give the young lass and stuck the man with my knife."

The stranger missed a shot then before nailing a target with his next one, looking at the Merchant out of the corner of his eye. The Merchant sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he finished his tale.

"I thought it'd be a waste to leave the bloke's shotgun there so I borrowed it. I borrowed his diamond ring too, since he wouldn't be needing it anymore, I figured. I tried to offer the knife to the lass but she fainted in response to the smallest sight of blood. I figured that was a 'no' so I left then. The next time I went back to that village, every bloke, lass, and animal tried to kill me!"

The stranger, now finished shooting, shifted uncomfortably as the Merchant continued.

"I spent a long time thinking about that day," the Merchant said sadly. "About what I did wrong and how I could make up for it."

"I suppose that's a start," the stranger muttered under his breath.

"I should've brought this!" the Merchant said triumphantly, bringing a scoped rifle out from his coat and plopping it in front of the stranger. "A Springfield M1903 rifle, fitted with a 2x magnifying scope for deadly accuracy, on the house."

The stranger stood stunned for a moment before opening his mouth.

"You're serious?"

"As serious as a pirate about his booty, mate," the Merchant responded, shoving the rifle into the stranger's hands. "Consider it your reward for your stupendous accuracy."

The stranger inspected the rifle, admiring the old classic, before raising it and blowing the head off of a target.

"Nice." With that, the stranger walked back to the elevator, stopping just as he was about to enter. "That story you just told me," he said. "Was it true?"

"Of course not, mate!" the Merchant replied, laughing heartily. "Do I look like a bloody psychopath to you?"

The stranger exhaled a sigh of relief and entered the elevator.

"Thanks for the rifle," he said as the doors closed.

"No mate," the Merchant responded. "Thank you for your continued business."

The doors to the elevator shut, and the Merchant was left to his thoughts once more. Taking off his glove, he eyed the ring on his finger, the diamond shining brilliantly against the purple flame he stood by. He fiddled with it as memories of an accompanying ring, memories of another lifetime, came flooding back to him.

"I wish you the best of luck in finding that special someone, stranger."