~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
in a familiar, yet foreign land
seemingly without a plan.
feeling your kind hand,
strive for virtue, I can.
-R.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
The three arrived at the marketplace.
Kairo found this part of the city to be quite the contrast to the slums as it was teeming with color and bustling with business. There were folks wearing strange, pointy hats while wielding staves and wands, and men and women with their heavy armor and varied assortment of weaponry: spears, swords, shields, halberds, clubs, axes, you name it.
As he passed by them, he noticed that there were also some who wore light armor and concealed weapons like daggers. He also saw numerous parties that included one or two people equipped with a bow and a quiver of arrows. He was not the best at hunting with a bow and arrow in his time at the village, but he wasn't avoidant of the idea of getting better at it.
Mysterious caped wanderers and adventurers littered the active market as well. Who knows what grand or tragic stories lie underneath those hoods? To the simple Kairo, all he thought was how marvelous he would look sporting one.
He could hear the buzzing of the masses as they went about their day haggling, calling for attention, trading, and bartering. Kairo caught a whiff of unique fragrances as they walked through, most of them were savory. Stalls not only sold street food and groceries but also curious trinkets.
Scrumptious meat treats, fresh produce, shiny rings and amulets, there wasn't a time when he wasn't distracted by the sights of interesting goods, the delicious smell of food, or the sound of people.
As he looked closer, behind the stalls were commercial buildings that sold products that required more preparation. Bakeries selling bread and cookies, flower shops, tailors making custom fits, and other things.
As they marched on the cobblestone floor, they came upon a wide clearing with a fountain at the center. Children were giggling and playing around, and there were couples who sat and flirted by the marble fountain.
"Heh, what a bunch of immature ruffians, running around without a care in the world," Aisia started.
"You were doing the same thing years ago, Sia," Grisia commented.
"What?!"
Kairo chuckled.
"What're you laughing at, smiley boy?" she looked grumpily at Kairo, raising an eyebrow.
"Go on ahead, Kairo. Do your business. We'll wait by the fountain, Sia will have fun playing with the kids."
"Why you—!"
Heeding Grisia's suggestion, Kairo went to scout for some shop owners and merchants to trade with.
This time, he had an eye on his belongings, wary of any handsy characters like Aisia. Although, since it was the marketplace, there were bound to be fewer grubby hands in the area as there were guards patrolling, that was his belief, but he still insisted on being on the lookout. He never knows when things may take a wrong turn out of nowhere.
Kairo observed the trade for some time, eavesdropping and looking at the prices people were hovering over for various goods. He was clueless on the price ranges in the kingdom, and to that effect, this city, especially since there were products that he didn't see in the village, which might've changed the dynamics of the prices.
His village was pretty isolated as it was self-sustaining, requiring minimal outside help, so he thought that how money worked there might've been different from how it worked here.
True enough, his gut feeling was on point.
His investigation led him to see that relative to what he was used to, the prices were mostly higher than in his village. With the prices he had established, he was able to sell his extra haul of medicinal herbs to the apothecary for more than average, mostly because the chemist there was very appreciative of a promising, young person supplying him with decent quality herbs.
Kairo took note of this as a possible buyer for whenever he picked up more medicinal herbs. He considered this as a side gig he could do when he needed money.
He bought a new pouch from a nearby store to store his own money. He wasn't able to find information about the prices at the moment for the leather shop, but he fetched what he thought was a pretty handsome price for a well-skinned leather of a large wild boar from the leatherworker.
He then used the money he amassed to refill his essential supplies such as clean cloth, actual bandages, better boots, a dagger, a cooking knife, and various spices for when he starts travelling again.
After he was done with his business, he came back to the fountain area where he left Grisia and Aisia.
He waved as he walked towards them.
"You did well alone, Kairo. You seem to know a lot about economy. Are you actually a merchant or an apprentice of one perchance?"
"Economy? What's that?"
Grisia bore a confused look. "It's... what we essentially call the state and flow of money in a society and everything else related to it."
"Hmm... I just snooped around for information and used what I found to shift my previous knowledge of my village's trading to suit the difference in this place."
Grisia tilted his head.
He was surprised that a young person like him could think like that. "Any other kid in your age would not have the initiative nor know-how to know what to do in your situation. Or even speak what you just said."
"Is that so?" Kairo took a step back and reviewed what Grisia was confused about. "Looking back... you do have a point. Maybe it's because in the past, I was brought here to guard a merchant by my parents alongside some adventurers? Or mercenaries, I don't really know the difference between them."
"Maybe," Grisia looked at Kairo contemplatively. It was bizarre for a young child like him to be able to maneuver around the market like that. Grisia began to think that Kairo had a hidden potential in more ways than one. "Or maybe..."
Kairo felt awkward that Grisia was just staring at him intently, so he turned to Aisia and saw that she was staring at the ground, also looking serious.
"Aisia, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah. I was just wondering."
"About what?"
"None of your business, nosy boy! Hmph," she shouted, turning away from him and crossing her arms.
Kairo scratched his head in confusion. Little did he know, a few things happened while he was away.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Earlier, when Kairo had just separated from the group...
Grisia and Aisia stood by as they watched Kairo's back move further away from them. After a few moments, Aisia noticed Grisia's eyes darting around restlessly.
"What's wrong, Grisia?"
His eyes stopped and he closed them with a sigh. He then replied, "Stay here," and immediately vanished right in front of Aisia.
"W-Wha—!" Aisia couldn't believe that Grisia did the disappearing thing again.
She knew that Grisia was very powerful and agile, to the point of moving faster than the eye could see. She felt offended that he had to be secretive and wouldn't tell her about his activities.
It could've been something exciting like an evil villain following them, but she could only speculate as Grisia, again, would not tell her anything!
And so, she waited.
The fountain area was quite nice, save for the flirtatious mucks who were disgustingly touching their lips together and enjoying it. Aisia couldn't understand why adults would like to do such a thing, she thought that they were beyond saving and must have something wrong with their heads.
She wondered if there would be someone she'd tolerate doing that with.
She sat at the marble fountain and crossed her arms and legs. She was becoming impatient as she started tapping her foot. She watched the kids play around and thought that what they were doing was kind of fun.
She smiled at the thought that maybe Grisia was right, maybe she should just play around with—
But before she could finish her thought, Grisia came back, appearing out of nowhere, causing her to stand up in surprise.
"Where did you go?!"
"Nowhere."
"C'mon, tell me! The reason Kairo now knows about your quest is because you wouldn't simply tell me things!"
"The reason Kairo now knows about my quest is because you wouldn't stop talking when I tell you to."
Aisia couldn't fight back. Deep inside, she already realized some time ago that Grisia would have probably told her when they got back home. Grisia was right, she was too impatient. It was her immaturity that got them walking on this path now.
After that self-reflection, she quietly muttered, "... I'm sorry," while looking at the floor and tugging down on her cloak.
Grisia looked at her and ruffled her hair. She slightly smiled, letting her head wobble from left to right by Grisia's hand.
She was keen to become mature enough to the point where she wouldn't have to ask Grisia for his whereabouts, he would tell her himself because he trusted her. But she knew she's got a lot of growing to do before that happens.
After some time, they saw Kairo coming back, waving at them. He didn't seem to have any problem in the marketplace.
"Let's go," Grisia said to the two.
"Yeah," Aisia replied while Kairo only nodded.
They passed through a residential area. Grisia was greeted by some men who seemed to know him. Many women— from young adults to even married ones— were also greeting him but somehow in a peculiar way, Kairo thought. Grisia only waved back indiscriminately.
"He's popular with the people," Aisia started.
Kairo turned to her to listen. "He is a renowned adventurer and has a good-looking mug. They don't know him personally, but from afar, he seems like a dependable guy, which I think he is. All those old girls like him, but since he never responds back to their feelings, the guys don't really mind him at all," Aisia told Kairo as they both walked behind Grisia.
"Had another kid, Grisia?" a drunk man accompanied by his equally drunk friend said before laughing brazenly. Grisia just waved at them and they waved back, going along their merry way.
Once they reached the gate of another wall much like the city walls, they saw a vast land with a huge castle in the background. It seems that the kingdom's castle was encircled by layers. With the castle in the middle, then the different cities, and finally the outside of the kingdom, each of those separated by high and mighty stone brick walls.
Kairo's eyes filled with wonder, it was the first time he saw such a massive structure, he never went to this part of the city in his previous travel with that merchant years ago, he only went to the marketplace back then. He wondered how much larger the castle would be if he was close to it. The sheer scale could be felt even from afar.
"Well, that was torturous," Grisia complained.
"He's not good at talking to people, it's funny seeing him writhe inside," said Aisia, followed by a devious cackle.
"I just don't like crowds."
"Sure, sure, bird burner," Aisia grinned, smacking his back playfully.
"Ugh, where did you learn that?" Grisia sighed.
"That's what the mercenaries call you sometimes. Alongside 'woman wooer', 'big boy', and 'bush beater'... among other monikers."
"Do you even know what they mean?"
"Not really. I assume they're about being famous with the ladies, but many of them don't make sense to me. 'Bush beater'? Do you collect berries or something?" she replied. Kairo looked at her and she seemed genuinely confused.
"Those names are for womanizing men. I don't have time for relationships," Grisia said to the both of them, but he didn't seem unhappy with what he said.
"Suuure, but you definitely have time sitting around at home reading books," Aisia commented with a disappointed scowl.
"You have books, Grisia?"
Grisia finally saw a child's enthusiasm in Kairo. "Yes, you can go ahead and read as much as you'd like in your stay. Maybe you'll rub off on Aisia in that aspect, I could only hope."
"Hope and cope, old man," Aisia said.
"Old man..." that was one name he wouldn't like to be called, especially by his foster daughter.
They kept chatting as it took around twenty minutes of walking through a grassy field to finally reach Grisia's residence. It was a pretty big cabin, Kairo thought. Behind Grisia's residence were a forest and a mountainous area with a waterfall. They were halfway near the castle walls, no other structures could be seen around the area for miles.
"People call this sort of house a mansion," Aisia told Kairo as they walked up to the gate.
"Is that what they call big cabins like these?" asked Kairo.
"I guess so."
Grisia's mansion was surrounded by stone walls with a black iron gate at the middle. From the inside, beside the gate, there was a simple-looking man. He was tall and had short, dark brown hair. He looked younger than Grisia but around a decade older than Kairo and Aisia.
"This is Fredrick, he is stationed at the gate and looks over the house along with some other servants while I am away," Grisia told Kairo. Fredrick waved at him with a smile as he opened the gate. Grisia then briefly introduced Kairo to Fredrick.
"Ah," Fredrick saw Aisia standing around behind Kairo, avoiding eye contact with Fredrick. "You damned brat!" Fredrick yelled and pointed at Aisia once he saw her.
Kairo's eyes widened in surprise that this person just called his master's daughter that. Kairo turned to Grisia but he didn't seem to mind it. It was as if it was a casual happenstance in this household.
"Oh, yikes. Hello, old man Freddy," Kairo saw Aisia smile as if she was caught in the act.
"I'm not OLD! I'm twenty-six!" Fredrick turned to Grisia with puppy eyes. "Lord Grisiaaa!"
Grisia sighed and said, "I know, sorry for always troubling you, Fredrick. It's not your fault she always finds a way to get past you."
"Mad because bad," Aisia teased Fredrick.
"Lord Grisia entrusted me to stop you from going to town to steal stuff! So, just sit tight and let me do my job!" he said passionately, shaking Aisia's petite body back and forth by the shoulders, scrambling her brain.
"It's boring in here, I've already pilfered everyone in this mansion repeatedly for years! Save for some certain people..." she murmured the last part. "I have to go out to seek new horizons!"
"You don't have to get better at stealing! Lady Aisia!" Fredrick yelled at the heavens while he looked like he was about to cry. "You dumbass!"
"He sure switches between being respectful and calling her names pretty quick," Kairo thought to himself with a worried smile.
And so, after some more lectures from Fredrick, they finally entered the gates as Fredrick stayed behind to close them and continue patrolling in his position.