Wendy waved at Ethan, then returned to the young woman with black hair and hazel eyes. Ethan did not catch her name and left the store. Ethan walked to the right. He was looking for something but did not know what. Soon, he sniffed the air, and an aroma of spices pulled him forward. Ethan saw a stall with a man selling leather goods and stopped at it.
"Alas, do you sell coin pouches?"
"Good day, kind sir. We sell the best coin pouches."
The man turned around and looked up at Ethan with wide eyes. In a squeaky voice, he said.
"We have no cut pouches."
"Alas, may I see those, please?"
The man handed him a pouch. It was made from thick leather with what seemed like braided metal, fine as jewellery. It had a lock that connected the ends that went through the belt or sash.
"Alas, I would take two of these, please."
The man smiled at Ethan, regaining his voice, and showed him different leather patterns, enhancing the pouches' novelty. Ethan chose a unique one for each of the girls. It set him back four silver and three copper coins. Ethan smiled as he walked away. Nobody would be able to cut these pouches and steal from them. The lock was durable and could be opened with little effort. No pickpocket would be able to unlock it.
Ethan looked at the forest a few hundred feet away through the buildings and saw fairies and pixies fly through the trees. They maintained the forest, and he felt a bit homesick. Ethan was seeing the fairy dust and pixie dust trails in the air. Ethan missed his cabin and the forest he had hunted his whole life. Then he thought of Wendy and Lucy speaking to himself.
"Alas, I have a better deal on this side of the veil."
Ethan would get homesick when he saw something that reminded him of home. Ethan blushed as he thought of the evening in bed, holding their soft inner thighs in his hands. Ethan grinned and felt terrific. It was a good change for him.
"Alas, sir, please point me to the food stalls."
Ethan arrived at a stall where a man was busy cooking rice. He fried the rice and meat with chopped vegetables and sauces, placing them in a paper container with a fork. Ethan watched for a bit, trying to see how the man prepared the dish, hoping he could make it one day. Ethan wished that he had brought his backpack.
Shaw had shown him a hidden door in the room where he could store his backpack and weapons. Only adventurers walked around with their equipment as they were always on a quest to hunt monsters. Ethan was confident as everyone walked around without swords.
The rice dish would set him back two coppers a meal, so he ordered three extra-large meals. The stall next to the rice stall sold freshly squeezed juice. Ethan stared in astonishment as the woman waved her hand, and the fruit floated into the air. Light blue energy swirled around the fruit, and the juice flowed out. Suddenly, there was a small snowstorm around the fruit, which froze into a ball. It would drop into a cup, and she could mix fruits with this technique.
Ethan thought this must be the magic Sophia had discussed, and she acknowledged his thought.
Ethan walked back to where he had left the girls. Ethan had a paper bag with the meals and a cup holder with three frozen fruit juices inside. Wendy and Lucy sat inside the store, talking to the young woman. They stood and said farewell to the woman when he appeared at the door. They had ordered a few sets of clothing from her. Wendy had bought underwear, and she was wearing it.
A small park was ahead, and they sat on the grass as Ethan handed them the food and drinks. Ethan gave them the coin pouches he had bought for them. Wendy and Lucy's faces turned red, and they hugged him, thanking him with a kiss on his forehead.
They ate hungrily as Wendy and Lucy had information about the smith and the old part of town. The newer stores affected business, but people still wanted quality over quantity, and the big stores did not cater to demi-humans. They only made clothes for humans, and if you had a tail or wings, they said sorry, we can't help you.
After walking and searching for fifteen minutes, Ethan spotted the entrance to the Smith. A sign with a hammer lying on an anvil hung above the entrance. The smith's forge yard had a house and a giant forge next to it. There were dwarfs busy hammering and bending metal. Some of them worked the forge.
"Alas, we are looking for the smith that handles the royal police orders."
A woman approached them, her red hair braided to either side. She was short and stocky, and her forearms bulged with muscles. She threw a hammer at a young dwarf. It hit him in the head, and he went down like a sack of potatoes. His red hair and beard looked just like her hair.
She shouted at him and the others.
"By the forge and your father's beard, Gosik, work that forge harder. I need heat, not a cooking fire."
She grabbed a handful of clay and chased down another dwarf who had been hammering what looked like a knife. She threw him with the clay, his face covered in clay. She kicked his ass. He tried to escape, but she was fast, and the kicks kept coming.
"By the forge, how often did I say to use the clay?"
The man fell, and she jumped on his stomach. A loud fart echoed through the forge. Her eyes fell on Ethan as she stepped off the dwarf. She dipped her hands in a drum with water, washed the clay off, and dried it with a cloth another dwarf offered.
"By the forge, welcome to my forge. I am Brandy, the forge master. And that."
She turned, yelling again at the red-haired dwarf, picking up another hammer and throwing it at him. He ducked just in time, working the forge faster. Brandy straightened her hair and clothes.
"By the forge, children these days have no ears."
Her eyes scanned the dwarfs, who worked with extra vigour. Brandy held out her hand.
Ethan placed the piece of paper Thompson had given him in her hand. Brandy studied it, waving at them to follow her. She opened the door to the house and shouted.