Vol 2 Chapter 10 (1/1)

“Thanks for hosting us for dinner We’re going to try and clear up any ain, provided that there isn’t any reason to” “Sorry for the coarseyou” “Likewise, and if you call that meal coarse, I will have to visit you for a proper meal!” Mikhal mounts the horse that was prepared by his cavalry, a rider hands hi froain soon” hiin da ka ka His horse whinnies softly, after he gives it a quick tap with his feet, before walking leisurely on the dirt road The lantern’s light sways in rhythm with the hoof steps, with the sides of the lantern hooded to avoid agitating the horse with its light As soon as the riders are out of sight, De’muel turns to Mak’ra “Gather everyone and the Captain, she can relay any information to the escorts later” “Okay, chances are, the apothecaries here are so unwanted within the Merchant Quarters Thoughts?” De’er brothers and sisters inside the crowded sales tent “Why don’t we just confront the “Because we are in foreign territory Actually, consider ourselves in hostile territory As we have seen, soree with that assessree “I e had brought more escorts to be honest A squad or two shouldn’t be a problem, but we don’t kno many troops they will come with the next tiht every tireement “Umm… I ah… think it’s more than the apof-thecaries, maybe aumm… Guild or maybe ah… the… umm… noble is involved” Everyone turns around to look at the youngest et her point across “Explain, Carna” “Bell-sensei taught us in the ‘Baggaged Traveler’ class that… um… if there are diffi-fi-thiculties across the chest, um… no, the board, that usually means soneone with power and inf-thluence are behind it” The lean, les her way through the explanation PA “Right! She did say that! And that if we encounter that, get away if we can, since we could be in danger” One of the youths ha under the protection of the King after all, we just need to be careful not to be caught off-guard and we should be fine” De’muel crosses his arms “But you have a point… since ere able to sell to Mikhal with no proble behind the scene within the Merchant Quarters” “De’muel-ni, why must we trade inside the Merchant Quarters?” Laum’s tail sways in curiousity “Because that’s where trade happens?” The bull-horned youth tilts his head and responds without ht “But what about the marketplace?” “The what?” “Thethe city, there was a marketplace for produce The Merchant Quarters is the ideal place to sell in large quantity or if you want higher quality But the o to for the day to day purchases At least that’s what that knight was saying during dinner” A few of the others nod as well “The senseis said they and other immortals shop at the Merchant Quarters” “U to the iives his a hand up to his face as he drops his head After a moment, he raises his head with a smile “That’s why you are all here, okay, let’s try the o check it out on our way to deliver the purchases” “What about those other stuff, nii-san?” “What other stuff, Kalmi?” “The earthnuts and their roots, they will keep for a while… but I don’t recall you trying to sell them to Sir Mikhal earlier Can we cook with it?” De’muel looks at Mak’ra, Mak’ra looks back at De’otten about them due to their other worries “Actually, we need to cook with thehts were licking their bowls clean after their second helping, like th-” “Like they never ate it before, even the potherbs they wanted seconds!” “Yeah, what Kalreement with his partner “Um… I think what they mean is um… ‘samples’” One of the other de because I haven’t seen theotten all about it to be honest Okay, you two are free to do what you think is best in order to pro else?” Everyone present looks at each other, seeing no further issues, De’ives out soet some rest Mak’ra, you and a few others will hold the fort The rest of you, we are going to go make our first delivery tomorrow and check out the marketplace, make sure you are well-rested and prepared Captain, please send soives a nod before exiting the tent, everyone follows her and exits shortly after The various tasks get completed one after another in quick succession as they try to et as much rest as possible Sammy pulls a cart into theopened, on the left, right, and further in the rear, are the escorts The cool, slightly clouded sky shi+fts froolden light, as the sun peeks over the mountains in the north The few pedestrians on the paved road simply roup of delance before returning to their work De’ the cart in an alleyway, letting soo of the barrels they were holding onto tightly and start getting the various things ready Captain Vera stands guard at the front of the alleyhile an escort stays in the back, the last escort is on thean eye out for the “sellers” “Sir, can I interest you in so Miss, what do you think about selling so new and delicious in your stall?” … “Mister! Hi! I’oods for sale that , Miss…” The various teenagers that were part of the “Baggaged Traveler” class start putting their training into practice Rick had previously taught them so froy, bluffs, and so forth Bell had spent quite a few days on lessons in regards to theory of sales, the , and persuasion Kun on the other hand taught thethings, how to entice soers approach the shopkeepers one by one, with little success The srant and earthy fills the air, mixed within it is a separate s and a board one of the shopkeeper he had convinced to try soe - etables and herbs - with a slice of egg, cut length-wise, on top, while in thea bandana over her brownish-blonde hair s the bowl andthe theives the bowl a quick blow to cool it before drinking it slowly “This has depth and flavour, needs touch ma salt, but see” She picks up the piece of egg before chewing it slowly, her eyes looks back and forth “This… shoulda need … But… that subta richness would be overpowered…” butsu The wou to interrupt her Finally finding her courage, she picks up thewoman who absentmindedly takes it and drinks a sip “Ehhhh?!” The wooosebumps from the unexpected rush of flavour, the sharp citrus scent waking her mind up suddenly “Is this soirl shakes her head “No, it’s just tea” “Tea? You mean like those herbal tea for when ye be sick?” “No, miss We drink it all the tiets added” “Alright, hon Ya’ve got h…” “Umm… follow me miss, my brothfer can explain this to you” “’K” The woman turns to one of the other shopkeeps next to her stall “Oy! Harold! Look after ’a check out these kids’ stuff Soot it boss!” A younger lookinghis stall The woirl, she didn’t expect to actually beco special, it er and has a richer flavour than the sdoh society, it will again depend on the price though for her to buy it But the tea, it is like nothing Clair had ever drank before There are the herbal fortifying concoctions, but they tend to taste terrible There are some herbal salads with a similar, but weaker, citrus flavour; but they don’t have the awakening effect She knows that there’s nothing like it within a dom, since she’s a retired, respectable peddler that had settled down after getting ive up her ht now If this is indeed just leaves, then depending on the price, this old Carna’s lead, who in turn stops to address the fox-eared escort standing in front of the alleyith her arms crossed “She is a shopthkeeper and would like to ask De’muel-ni some queshtions” “Understood” The Captain nods once before returning her cold gaze toward the main street The shopkeep can’t help but raise an eyebrow, she didn’t expect the guard to be deain, she was too busy working on her stall to notice the cart full of demihumans that stopped inside the alleyway The white, round, fluffy ball is tied to the reins of the cart, no doubt that it’s the mount, but she’s surprised someone would actually spend the time and effort to train and make equipment for the beast “Nii-san, Miss… um…” Only now did Carna realize she never asked the shopkeeper for her name “Just call me Clair” Carna shyly nods toward the shopkeep in thanks before continuing “Miss Clair has soets off the cart, occasionally squeaking with hisa reply “Okay, I’ll take it from here hello, Miss Clair What can I help you with?” The woo back onto the ure before her, her eyes couldn’t help but drift up toward the set of bull-horns on the youth’s head koho De’ the woman back to reality

[T/N: “Hey lady, eyes down here”, bla, I would’ike to knohais this “tea” of yas Ah’ve traveled quite the bits back inquite like it” “Tea is just… tea? U of hot water and a pinch of tea leaves in a bowl!” “On my way!” sha da ei ei After aand water splashi+ng, the rat-tailed teenager walks down and hands over the requestedback onto the cart Clair’s eyes follow the tail until it finally disappears completely

[ED: WANDERING EYES, DOHOHOHOHOHO]

koho De’ Clair’s attention “See these here?” The youth holds out thethe shopkeeper inspect the the toward the , the woman produces a flat stick of some sort from within her shi+rt and used it to flick so She nods at the youth, satisfied He then hands them both to the woman “Just pour the water into the bowl” The wo of water into the wooden bowl of leaves Slowly, the leaves unfurl as the liquid turns froolden brown The sharp citrus aro her to sold a bag, 60 silvers for half a bag, 40 silvers for a quarter bag A bag can s” The woman narrows her eyes “This be ya best price?” “We will be happy to give so with your purchase” Clair’s eyes narrows further before breaking into a smile “Who is ya master that’s ye apprentice under?” “Eh… we don’t have a h” “Acade about Okay, I will take a bag Who else be buying from ye?” “Thank you for your purchase” De’, Mikhal doesn’t count really as he was already obsessed with the tea “Ah, we are currently on our way tohi that after we are done here in the market” “Sir Mikhal eh, the bastard son of that hedonist pig Donavic, no idea how such a good wee kid come from sucha father” De’ the conversation back to the business at hand “We will ht? Would you want to pay then or pay now?” gubi The wo both the bowl andback to the youth and puts away her stick “Cha, no proble under her long blouse as she loosens a string near her waist with her other hand, producing a single gold coin She rolls the coin on her fingers before expertly flicking the coin in the air in De’muel’s direction, who catches it with both hands “Good to be doing business with ye” She offers her hand, which the youth shook with a smile on his face The wo out the alleyway There are so intently in her direction, ranging from curiosity, suspicion, envy, all the way to hostility She is well knoithin the , to pass the tiuard Her reputation as a peddler was good and it followed her all the way here But it was a few years before the appearance of the Iht an excessive amount of salted mutton She learned from banter with farmers and poor scholars alike and arrived at the conclusion thatup on the goods ahead of time She made a small fortune this hich her husband boasted about She took on si her the respect of many and the ire of her competitors Those that looked favourably upon her eventually ended up calling her “Boss”, likewise, she treated those that treated her well for her ability with kindness, offering advice and help on numerous occasions; one such occasion is now as she heads to toward the one known as Harold She’s well aware of the reason for the steep discount on the tea’s bulk purchase price, it is to influence the selling price of tea by the resellers By , it means that resellers can sell it at a price at under that to et a steep discount when they buy it in bulk, it’s a in for the wholesaler, reseller and the custoiving more discount when asked for Thisht

[T/N + ED: For those that don’t understand it, the price for one bag of tea is 1 gold, the price for the quarter bag is 40 silvers Using the quarter bag price, it would be 1 gold, 60 silvers for a whole bag A regular person would not buy in bulk Since the reseller gets the bag at 1 gold, they’ve a 60 silver range to work into their profit as long as they sell at a price where it’s less than 40 silver per quarter bag, thus customers will buy it from the reseller instead of the De’muel and company as the reseller would be cheaper to purchase fro at 9 silver would be cheaper for the customer, while the reseller would still e reasons, a regular person isn’t going to be purchasing bulk a it all before it expires or insects/er quantity for less ti is the base price, not the whole bag - thus the wholesale bag is a steep discount to incentivize bulk purchase for resellers - no further discount is available, but further bulk purchase gives ancillary goods - tying in all their products]

don don don De’ on a worn out door of a arden Although it is must better than the sion, it doesn’t appear to be a house intended for a noble “hello? We have a delivery for Sir Mikhal” ta shi+ ta ta “Give me a minute!” A distant, chime-like, voice answers froacha kara The sounds of latches being unlocked is soon followed by the door opening A petite, youthful looking girl - with blonde hair that reaches the reets the youth “Sorry, you said you have so for Mikey?” De’ who Mikey is until he realized it’s probably Mikhal’s nickname keho The youth clears his throat as he reorients hioods he purchased last night Would you like us to move them to the pantry?” “Pantry?” De’muel scratches his head as he coot to mention it to his wife “Sir Mikhal ordered some food and tea froirl tilts her head to the side while putting a finger on her chin, looking upward “Ah! Is this the tea Mikey said he had while out on thatDe’muel to the kitchen that’s just further into the house The house is plain, but full of warmth and charm The furniture is orn, but is clean and tidy The old wooden floor looks even more worn-out, but it looks to be well taken care of There are a few vases with flowers here and there with a fur rug between two large padded chairs before the fireplace in the living room Inside the kitchen is aused, with several pots of water being boiled, it looks like she’s just getting ready to irl shows hioes back outside to give instructions to his siblings, whom carefully starts to s to the kitchen “Would you like so to drink? Where are you all froether Ah wait! Are you people froirl cheerfully asks in a talkative aba The girl suddenly rushes forward and gives the youth a big hug, wrapping around his torso and pinning his arms “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” De’htly froirl is surprisingly strong His siblings couldn’t suppress their smiles as they continue their work “Ued to squeak out a weak reply The girl finally lets go “You people have to stay for brunch! I was ht, we still haveDe’muel to want to question himself “Uet hiht back” The youth heads back outside as his siblings couldn’t resist a chuckle at his aardness De’muel can only roll his eyes at the various utensils and tools The girl busies herself talking with his other siblings while she tends to the fire in the stove Seeing that he’s back, she dusts herself off before facing the newcomer “My, that’s certainly a unique hairstyle” Laum s” “This is Lauest point is cooking, so I will be having hi theo with the purchases” The rat-tailed teenager with the rattail waves a bit before putting his tools down on the kitchen table “Hi, Laum! Pleased to uess I forgot to introduce“I’m Mikey’s mom, here, let et the the various iteed at the revelation, barely recovering in tis likewise nearly lost control of the barrels they are s in confusion in thetheir tasks, the de Laus each of the Saakon kan “Lorine! Get all the kids inside!” Hthe scent of blood There are also the scent of the clawed rabbit, and there seem to be many of them I look around the usual room, but there doesn’t seeirl would show up, looking at so me some delicious bread to eat eeeeeee A sharp screa my nose and ears, I rush outside of the room A scene of chaos unfolds beforeon stick I haven’t seen before, hoes and shovels are fighting with tens, if not hundreds of those clawed prey [T/N: If you haven’t figured out by now, anything that Gui can kill and eat is considered prey to him] shi+ I turn around and juaruru I growl at the prey that dares to try and attackback