Chapter 88
“Alright, next carriage…”
The soldier said unenthusiastically . And the carriage started to move again . It was quite late in the afternoon now, and the entrance was busy with people either preparing to leave the town or enter .
The clothes here were similar to what they had seen Chouze wearing . Inlanders had not been influenced by the saintesses much in terms of fashion, and the clothing was quite western . The men tended to wear dark pants and plain, undyed shirts and vests . As for the women, they generally preferred one-piece dresses with fluffy skirts . Maki and Chiharu watched a man, who had rolled up his sleeves since it was summer, talk to the soldier .
“How long is this going to continue?”
“At least until Princess Chouze arrives . ”
“But it wasn’t like this last year . And there were many more members of the royal family last time . ”
“We lowly guards don’t know anything about that . Anyway, are you carrying anything suspicious?”
“Of course, not . What are you trying to say? Even dwarves wander around in this town . The only people you should be suspicious of are elves and beastkin . ”
The soldier and the man started laughing . Apparently, they knew each other quite well . It seemed like they felt this couldn’t be helped if it was for Princess Chouze . It reminded Chiharu and Maki of how Edwy and Arthur were adored in the town of Tram . However, that didn’t match with their impression of the proud royal family . And Chiharu tilted her head with a puzzled expression .
However, they were also curious about this talk of dwarves . And it sounded like it was not unusual for them to be around here .
“Alright, next . Hmm, now here’s an unfamiliar face . ”
“Yes . We’re merchants from Lowland . ”
“Ah . You’re the most suspicious person of the day . ”
The soldier said happily . The townspeople that were nearby started to laugh .
“Now that I think about it, your hair and eyes do seem like they are from Lowland . ”
“Yes, that’s where I was born . ”
The soldier must have been incredibly bored, because he now looked at Aaron with interest . Then he looked at Edwy and whistled .
“Well, I’ll be . Your brother is quite handsome . You better keep him away and hope that Princess Chouze doesn’t see him . She’ll force him to talk with her, and he won’t have any time to conduct your business . ”
“You make it sound he’s the only one of us who is handsome . ”
Aaron said with annoyance . Everyone laughed .
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“Yes, of course . So, what will you be selling or buying? I must warn you, we have no fish to sell now . ”
“No, we’ll just be selling . We have lots of rare Soluna oranges . Also, I want to show my younger siblings Highland while we’re here . ”
Aaron gestured toward the carriage . Maki and Chiharu poked their heads out from under the tarp and bowed . The soldier saw them and nodded . Then he took a look at the cargo and put a hand on his chin .
“I see . Soluna oranges, huh? That’s mighty thoughtful of you . Are you going to sell them at a specific store?”
“No, we have no connections . I was thinking about selling them at the market, if there is one . ”
“Ah, then you should go to the merchant guild . ”
“I see . Thank you . And by the way…”
Aaron suddenly thought of something .
“Why are you doing this? Is there a criminal lurking about?”
“Oh, not at all . Though, there have recently been some odd stories . Something about the merfolk and other things like that . We’re just being extra cautious for Princess Chouze’s sake . ”
“Merfolk? So deep in the mountains?”
“That’s what they say . Oh, also, some Midland folk came a few days ago to sell merfolk scales . ”
Should he really be saying all of this? Chiharu wondered . Weren’t soldiers supposed to be a little more tight-lipped?
“Huh, merfolk scales? You almost never see them in Lowland . ”
“In Highland as well . And the person who was selling them had hair that was a rare ash-color . ”
“That is unusual . ”
“Well, don’t cause too much of a commotion while you’re here . ”
“Of course . ”
The soldier said as if a final warning, but he then let them go right through and even gave directions to the merchant guild . Chiharu waved at the soldier as he saw them off, and he smiled and waved back . Then Maki stretched her hand out to the cargo and called out .
“Old man!”
And then she threw two of the oranges at him . The soldier caught them .
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“Consider it a bribe!”
Maki shouted, and everyone laughed . The soldier smiled and waved the oranges in the air . Maki waved back and then muttered,
“This sure is a nice place . ”
Yes . It’s no different from Midland . ”
While the people who walked around the town looked busy, they also looked calm and friendly .
“But the miasma is still thick . ”
“And there are apparently merfolk . ”
Maki and Chiharu looked at each other and nodded .
“We better be careful . ”
“Yes . ”
They had not come here to sightsee, so they tried to stay focused .
After spending the night in an inn, the group was welcomed at the market the next day, where a spot had been made for their carriage .
“People who sell vegetables have to deal with a lot of heavy cargo, so it will be easier if you can park the carriage right behind your stall . ”
“Thank you . ”
“It’s nothing . As it’s summer, there aren’t many people selling root vegetables now . Well, I might come and buy from you later . ”
The market manager said as he left them .
“Hey . Ed, Norfe, Chouze . Let’s sell some Soluna oranges!”
“Aye . ”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
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The town’s people had already gathered with glimmering expectation in their eyes . And so it was necessary to start selling them soon . The crowd murmured restlessly as Aaron and Edwy took the boxes down . Then they lined up in front of their stall .
That being said, it was 300 gil for 1 orange, which was hardly cheap .
“Little boy, I’ll take one . ”
“Yes, that will be 300 gil . ”
“Little girl, I’ll have three . ”
“Okay, that’s 900 gil . ”
These oranges were quite a luxury for the common folk . Most people only bought one . And at most they would buy five . Regardless, they all seemed happy as they left . They would probably share them with their family .
The customers kept coming, and so Maki and Chiharu continued to sell them .
“Those two are pretty useful . ”
“You’re right . ”
After taking the boxes down, the two of them just stared and watched Maki and Chiharu work . Then Maki shouted at them .
“Ed! Aaron! Why don’t you go peddling if you have nothing better to do!”
“Peddling?”
They looked dumbfounded . Maki was so annoyed that she left Chiharu alone and walked over to them .
“We’re so busy that we don’t have time to talk to anyone! Put some oranges in a box and go around the market so you can listen to rumors and gather information!”
“Oh . Ohh…”
“Edwy, you should try talking to the young ladies!”
“Uh . What…”
Then she returned to the stall .
“That’s right . We didn’t come here to sell oranges . ”
“Yes . Let’s go . ”
The two of them picked up some smaller boxes and filled them with oranges . Then they went around to the other stalls so they could sell the oranges to people who couldn’t leave their spot . Maki saw them talking and also accepting things, and she sighed with relief .
“While it was us who was asked to do this, we might as well make use of any help that we can get . ”
“Look at Edwy . He’s surrounded by women . ”
“I knew he would be . ”
They were so distracted that they forgot about their customers .
“Are you worried about your brother?”
An old lady who had bought three oranges asked them with an amused expression .
“No . I was just thinking about how he is popular no matter where he goes . ”
Maki answered .
“Oh, you’ll know what that’s like in about three years . See, you’re already starting to draw attention . ”
The old lady said as she looked to the side . Maki and Chiharu looked as well . There was a small group of girls who appeared to be around 15 years old . They were looking at them and giggling to each other . Well, to be precise, they were looking at Maki .
“That…”
“You have a very unusual eye color . They’re already talking about the Lowland youth who is cool but has a face like a girl’s . ”
“Whaaat . ”
Maki looked awkward . Chiharu burst into laughter .
“Norfe, in a way, you are popular with all kinds of people . ”
“Be quiet . That was pretty traumatic…”
Maki said as her head dropped . Well, at least this time it was just young girls . It would be fine .