Those marbles were quite large. Their size reminded Ava of the glass marbles her father used to boast about playing and collecting when he was young.
Her father in her past life and a different world, of course.
But more than the man's earrings, Ava was surprised by the response he gave her.
It could be a joke or an attempt to mislead her attempts at discovering the secret connections that Theo had but...
She held tightly to Theo's hand, and the boy didn't seem even the slightest bit concerned... was young Theo supposed to already be so composed?
It just didn't feel right...
Actually, the hooded vendor started giving her a horrible feeling too...
"I will be taking everything from here to here. Could you pack it all up for me?"
She held back any comments that came to her mind and tried just to be done with the transaction, so she pointed her finger and moved it across the entire blanket.
"Of course, young Miss. That will be one small gold coin, please~!"
"EXCUSE ME?!"
The hooded vendor hummed happily, and the pixie-cut girl was so bewildered that she couldn't keep her voice down.
"Young Miss! Did that ruffian say something rude to you?!"
Theo, alarmed by Ava's shout, stepped between her and the slovenly stall, glaring down at the slouching man.
"N-no. It's nothing like that, Theodore. It's my fault, I underestimated the worth of the goods offered here."
Ava tensed up and looked between her bodyguard and the mysterious vendor and tugged on Theo's hand to pull him back.
"You. You should be overjoyed that young Miss even looked the way of this crap you offer here!"
The dark-brown-haired boy glanced at the pixie-cut girl before scoffing at the vendor...
"Hmph~"
"THEODORE, THAT'S ENOUGH!"
...but then, the moment that Ava noticed the slouching man snickering in amusement, she felt the hair on the back of her neck standing up and raised her voice, feeling as if she had to stop Theo at all costs before something terrible happened.
"...y-young Miss...?!"
The dark-brown-haired boy with piercing icy-blue eyes flinched and gasped in confusion, so genuinely confused that Ava gained certainty that he wasn't acting.
"You need to watch your mouth, Theodore. I happen to like the accessories you called crap. Them being more expensive than I expected is no reason to berate it."
"...! I... I apologize."
Ava hurriedly made up a convincing excuse for her behavior, and Theo flinched and bowed his head with remorse.
After that, the dark brown-haired boy backed off to his previous position, although he was now more attentive. He also kept sending the slouching vendor angry glares from time to time...
"See? Keeping someone like him around will cause the prices of the merchandise you want to buy double."
The vendor chuckled, and his earrings swayed from side to side.
"... you're saying that, but isn't your price ten times the usual amount? Even with the explosive growth of the economy, seeing gold coins being used will cause a commotion. Isn't that the last thing that you want, mister criminal?"
Ava gulped down her saliva and scoffed, changing her approach.
"It's odd that you bring that up after causing a commotion. Still, I just named the price. You will not tell me that you don't know how to haggle, young Miss?"
"Hagglinge with you about the protection money? You must be new around here. Aren't you afraid of what will happen to you when the rest of your gang learns how problematic you are to the first person who started paying them? I am sure that someone above you will want to knock you down a peg."
The vendor shrugged his shoulders and explained, which only made Ava annoyed to the point of talking back before she thought about her choice of words.
"Someone more important than me...? I have considerable doubts that you will find that person in this town, young Miss."
"!!!"
There it was.
Ava came to regret her words the second that the hooded vendor chuckled instead of flinching.
The pixie-cut
girl realized that she had made a big mistake – she thought that she didn't recognize the fake vendor who collected the protection money for the crime ring that made Startinton their base because he was a rookie...
Well, it appeared that instead, she might have met the one criminal in charge... and she tried to threaten him...
The realization made her nauseous.
"Young Miss? What's your offer?"
"...?!"
Ava thought that she had made a terrible mistake that could not be made up for – but then the vendor tilted his head slightly and asked casually, without a trace of annoyance or animosity.
"...my... Ehem. My offer is the same as it was all the previous months - one big silver.
"One small gold."
The pixie-cut girl stuttered and cleared her throat before taking a deep breath and announcing – but the vendor spoke after her, naming ten times higher price.
"..."
"..."
The two went silent for a moment.
"...two big silvers..."
"Nine big silvers."
Ava bit her lips and looked to the sides before muttering – and once again, the vendor stated a larger amount of coins – although it at least appeared that the process of haggling was properly in motion.
"Three big silvers?"
"Eight big silvers."
Starting to see the pattern, the girl asked, and the vendor seemed to be willing to drop the price by the amount she was raising it.
"I see where this is going. Let's make this go faster, then. Think about it as an apology and me paying my respect. Five big silvers."
Ava nodded and jumped right to meeting the fake vendor halfway.
She was already reaching for her purse when...
"Seven big silvers."
"...eh...?"
The hooded man spoke up, throwing the girl off completely.
"Seven big silvers, young Miss. What is your offer?"
He repeated himself and asked, making Ava stare at him in disbelief.
"...are... are you kidding me?"
"Not at all~"
She gulped down her saliva and murmured, leaning a bit closer to the vendor – who shook his head lightly, which caused his earrings to sway somewhat mockingly.