🐉 🐉 🐉
LUSHERA stared at the object in her hand, something resembling beef jerky if you ignored the fact that it was a marbled mixture of orange, green, and purple. “Viola… What is this?” she asked.
“Dried tototoka, apparently.”
“Tototoka?”
“Tototoka.”
It seemed there were still monsters out there Lushera had never heard of. Like this one that lived only in very specific locations.
In the markets of big cities like this, there were bound to be some people selling odd food items.
This stall had a tent roof made of woven plant fibers, and was operated by a beautiful, slender woman with skin the color of fresh wood, hair the color of new spring growth, and pointed ears.
“xxxxx! xxx. xx, xxx. xxxxxxx, xxxxx,” she said.
“More accurately, this is tototoka breast meat left to soak in a clear creek for three days, then dried, then soaked in a secret blend of fruit juices where it’s allowed to ferment in a hole in the ground along with tree leaves, and then dried after that. It’s poisonous if you don’t treat it with that process, it seems,” Viola interpreted.
“I didn’t realize you can speak Elven,” said Lushera. “So, what is a tototoka?”
“Most forest elves believe you should eat everything edible within the forest and become a part of the ecosystem. And if you’re planning to eat that, you shouldn’t ask what tototoka is.” Her expression remained still while she gave that disquieting explanation.
The elf pushed the dried tototoka into Lushera’s hands with a kind smile and some phrase that could have been a friendly, “Please, go ahead.”
Lushera froze, uncertain, but Kaphal quickly popped the tototoka in her mouth. “Yummy.”
“Seriously…?” Lushera watched. After another moment’s hesitation, she took a bite. It definitely wasn’t bad, but there was something about it that she couldn’t put into words, making Lushera reflect on the deeds of the races they call humanoid.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐉 🐉 🐉
THIS store was a somewhat questionable establishment, something you might call an antique shop, or maybe a pawn shop, its insides crammed with objects of varying sizes. There was a bone necklace, the kind that could have been made by a goblin, and a staff that looked so brand new that it actually made you more uneasy about it since it seemed unsuited to a place like this.
“This, and this, amazing,” said Kaphal, selecting a teacup and a small painting without hesitation from the hundreds of other items.
The shop owner, with his fishy drooping mustache, leaned in, rubbing his hands together. “What a wonderful eye you have, ma’am. To be honest, I would hope to sell these two items together for six large gold pieces, but I’ll give you a special discount and accept three. How does that sound?”
“I buy.”
“Your purchase is much appreciated!” The man always had a smirk on his face, but his smile grew to a full-on grin at that point. He pretended to lower the price for Kaphal, but he likely estimated the items to be only two large gold pieces in value. Kaphal never even realized she was being baited.
But the fact that Kaphal selected these two items without a moment’s hesitation meant they were likely at least worth ten large gold pieces, or more. Lushera and Viola kept silent on that fact, only fair payback for the man’s sales methods.
Timm was waiting outside, Viola’s decision because she seemed worried that he would end up being pressured to buy some strange vase if he went in.
“Ma’am, what do you think of this item? It was crafted 130 years ago by the great Gudjimu—”
“This no amazing. Old is lie.”
“Uh…”
Kaphal immediately lost interest in the old-looking plate the store owner held out, leaving him lost for words.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐉 🐉 🐉
ESSENTIALLY, Kaphal was no different from any other dragon in that she liked rare, valuable, and sparkly things. Which was why Viola took them somewhere Lushera thought was quite insane.
“So pretty…”
A man in refined attire reminding Lushera of a butler brought out item after item: necklaces dripping in gems, a stunning diamond ring that was also a defensive magic item, and many more just for Kaphal to “try on.”
She’d changed into a gown-like outfit and sat in front of a large mirror, her eyes glimmering as she looked at the jewelry, putting each one on and letting out captivated sighs.
This shop specialized in gemstones. Though, “shop” was perhaps a far too normal word for a place like this. It was a boutique, with an exhibition of only a few items (they weren’t on display, definitely not just a display) arranged throughout the elegant store. The majority of the items for sale were kept in the back, which they brought out for a customer to try on when they wanted to. Lushera had a hard time wrapping her head around this method of business.
“Dragons really do love gems,” Viola commented. “Why don’t you look at some things too, Lushera?”
“B-But…this is my first time in a store like this, and…I feel like I look like I don’t belong…”
Viola and Lushera were given a cup of some unfamiliar tea. Lushera didn’t want to know how much a cup of that cost. Lushera was trying to take up as little space as possible on the simple-looking yet surprisingly comfortable chair. She only came in because she worried about Kaphal being without her. Now she felt jealous of Timm, who was outside doing squats.
Viola, on the other hand, was so at peace with this environment she seemed well-adjusted to it. “You’re worrying too much. You have enough money to buy this entire shop if you wanted to. You could just buy some random piece then look at everything you wanted without feeling awkward.”
“Just because I have money doesn’t mean I should spend it!” Lushera demurred.
It wasn’t easy to get rid of the penny-pinching tendency she had that had seeped into the very marrow of her bones. And, in that way, she really didn’t belong.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐉 🐉 🐉
THE sun began to set.
“I know I only noticed this because I’m a bit of a genius, but we never did see any swimsuits,” said Viola.
“I just noticed the same thing. It’s strange,” said Lushera.
“Hey,” called Timm, carrying quite a few parcels at this point.
“Shall we head to one of the larger clothing stores next? They should have swimsuits,” Viola suggested.
Having finally remembered their original goal, the group went to an area that had the larger shops. There were lots of people around, but the crowd naturally parted for Kaphal and Lushera when they walked side by side. The people weren’t running away from the pair, but they did keep their distance and watched them. Lushera felt their eyes boring into her.
They walked, eliciting cries of awe and wonder, but, through that buzz, they heard another, more upsetting call.
“Please! Please just let me have the medicine today! I swear I’ll pay you back!”
It was at an apothecary selling primarily premade medicines, including magical ones. A burly guard dragged a woman out of the shop, accompanied by another man in white. The woman groveled on her knees, pressing her head to the ground in front of the man in white. The surrounding crowd was in a fluster, wondering what this was all about, but the woman didn’t spare them a glance. She was desperately focused.
“Ma’am, I’m sympathetic, I am, but I have a business to run,” said the man in white. “Everyone knows your face. Even if someone is feeling charitable, you never pay them back. I can’t have that.”
“But—”
He closed the store’s door, his expression flat, and there was silence filled with the buzz of onlookers.
“Um, excuse me. What happened…?” inquired Lushera, unable to abandon the woman who was so distraught she couldn’t even stand.