The next morning, in the north of the Anson Marquis' territory, the city of Meyer came into view.
Meyer City was the town that Castina and her father visited most frequently. It was also the location of the Sare Circus. In the past, every month, the father and daughter would come here to pay the interest on the family's generational debt. After paying the interest, they would also enjoy themselves a little in the city, watch a variety of shows, buy a white bread to taste, or have a glass of beer in a tavern.
At this moment, Castina and her father stood in front of the city gate of Meyer City, filled with mixed emotions. Thinking that the long-standing family debt that had been plaguing them was about to be completely repaid today, an unprecedented sense of relief welled up in their hearts.
The old butler Delsson, who had come with them, couldn't resist the pestering of the young master fool and had to part with Castina and her father for the time being. He hurriedly chased after the young master and headed for the theater. Before leaving, he left two guards and the promised two hundred and fifty gold coins.
Hall tightly held the money bag containing two hundred and fifty gold coins. For some reason, he felt that the money bag seemed to be slightly hot. In the city, his alertness reached an unprecedented height, fearing that some unwise thief might covet this life-saving money that was crucial for the father and daughter. With a nervous heart, under the escort of two guards, they walked steadily towards the residence of the Sare Circus.
When they arrived at the entrance of the circus residence, Hall stopped and stared at the magnificent and grand tall building in front of him, his heart filled with a mixture of feelings. He tightly clutched the gold coin bag and turned to Castina behind him and said, "These people of the Sare Circus, although the debt was originally one hundred and fifty gold coins, I expect that the amount they ask for will definitely not be less than one hundred and eighty gold coins."
"If we can have twenty gold coins left, we will go back and buy some fields."
"Buy a cow for plowing and hire a few hardworking farmers."
"Then..."
Halfway through his words, he turned his head and found that his daughter's face was not as happy as his own. Obviously, Castina was still brooding over the matter of the young master fool and the old butler. Hall shook his head slightly and then gently stroked his daughter's arm and said softly, "Well... Tina, this will be the last deal for our father and daughter."
"Once this is over, we can live a stable life like ordinary people!"
"What do you think?"
When Castina heard this, she frowned slightly and looked at her old father and slowly shook her head and said, "Your words sound a bit like you're setting a flag..."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this for now."
"Go in and pay off the debt. I'll wait for you outside."
Hall nodded repeatedly. Then, tightly clutching the money bag, he walked into the circus under the escort of the guards.
Castina watched Hall's back as he walked into the Sare Circus, and an inexplicable feeling surged in her heart. She always felt that although the debt matter was about to be resolved, new troubles would come one after another soon. She quickly shook her head, trying to dispel the distracting thoughts in her mind, and secretly complained about this inexplicable bad luck.
In the past, every time after paying the interest, the father and daughter would habitually go to a tavern in the city and have a drink to celebrate. And this time, being able to completely pay off all the debts, they were even more determined to have a good celebration here.
When the father and daughter entered the tavern, the bald and bearded boss behind the bar immediately greeted them with a big smile. Now that Hall had paid off the debt, he was in an extremely good mood. He boldly slapped a gold coin on the bar. This move astonished the boss, who quickly asked the waiter to bring out good new wine from the back and fill their glasses.
The waiter who brought the wine steadily held two large glasses of ice-cold beer in one hand and simple but delicious side dishes such as roasted scallions and roasted garlic in the other hand and placed them in front of the father and daughter respectively.
Castina picked up the glass and took a sip of the cold beer. Instantly, a refreshing aroma spread in her mouth, and an indescribable sense of comfort and pleasure arose. She couldn't help closing her eyes and enjoying the pleasure brought by the ice-cold beer. However, when she opened her eyes, she found that the waiter who had just brought the wine was secretly looking at her. When their eyes met, the waiter blushed immediately and quickly turned and went into the kitchen.
Castina smiled helplessly and shook her head slightly.
Regarding her own emotional and orientation issues, Castina didn't think it was a problem. First of all, she had seriously considered the possibility of establishing an intimate relationship with a woman, but she always felt awkward in her heart and couldn't accept it. As for men, when she thought of being affectionate with those foreign men, she couldn't help but shudder. Getting married, having children, and living an ordinary life were completely impossible in her current concept. At least for now, she thought so.
Castina was drinking beer and lost in thought. At this time, a middle-aged man in wide robes and sleeves and with a sad face walked into the tavern.
This person was wearing a hood. The wide sleeves looked a bit funny. He was holding a stick-like object in his hand and a thick and tattered book under his arm. He had a burden on his back and exuded a gloomy aura. He looked exactly like an office worker who had been laid off in middle age.
Castina had seen this person before. He was a magician of the Sare Circus and belonged to the freak show lighting team. Now, the Sare Circus was about to go to the neighboring North Marquis' territory to explore new "markets", and it was impossible to take every member with them. Employees like him who were mediocre in ability and old in age would undoubtedly be the first to be laid off. It was very appropriate to say that he was an office worker who had been laid off in middle age.
In this world, there was battle qi and magic, but their power ceilings were not high. The vast majority of spellcasters only knew two or three spell-like tricks and could barely make a living. And most battle qi cultivators had limited and thin battle qi in their bodies and could only fight against three opponents at most. Only a few commoner children with talent or noble children cultivated with abundant resources could have real combat power. Skills like fireball and battle qi emission that were difficult for low-level cultivators to master could be skillfully used by them. As for those peerless masters who could take the head of an enemy general among thousands of troops, they were extremely rare.
Castina was both eager and helpless about magic and battle qi. Due to the poverty and displacement in her childhood, she missed the best age for cultivating the foundation. Now that she was twenty years old, she knew that it would be extremely difficult to achieve anything significant no matter what she learned.
After drinking a few jugs of beer in the tavern, the father and daughter were a little tipsy. They bid farewell to the tavern owner and strolled leisurely towards the market in the city.
Although the Sare Circus, which dominated the city, was gradually transferring its industries and leaving Meyer City one after another, and its subordinate large commercial shops were all closing down. But the small vendors and individual merchants were still operating as usual. The bustling commercial street was still crowded with people. The small vendors were shouting hard, the merchants were arguing red-faced with customers in front of their shops, the smell of meat was wafting from the restaurants, the smell of wheat was coming from the bakeries, and a dazzling array of various commodities made people dizzy.
In Castina's eyes, the commercial street of Meyer City was like a big rural market, bustling and lively, and almost all kinds of strange things could be seen here.
They chose the largest tailor shop, left their measurements, carefully selected fabrics and paid a deposit. After that, the father and daughter strolled around in the market with the guards.
Compared with Hall, who was smoking a pipe leisurely, exhaling clouds of smoke and looking very comfortable, Castina looked a bit embarrassed. Her originally charming face was now full of an uncomfortable expression. She gently pursed her lips, reached out and stroked the wine-red hair at her ear, and a blush of embarrassment appeared on her face. She could even feel her cheeks slightly hot. She was still brooding over the teasing of the female boss of the tailor shop just now.
When taking measurements in the tailor shop, the female boss first exclaimed at the fullness of her bust and even asserted that if she gave birth, she would definitely have sufficient breast milk. Then when measuring her hip circumference, she also praised the width of her hips and claimed that she would surely give birth to a son. These words, whether it was praise or teasing, made Castina so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear. She even felt that she had dug an invisible castle with her toes on the ground.
Castina looked down at her bust that was so full that she could hardly see her feet and sighed helplessly. At this time, the father and daughter were wandering around in the market. Although they had some spare money in their hands, they didn't know what to buy for a while. The dazzling array of commodities made them dizzy.
And when they passed a small stall, Castina's eyes swept over it casually. Instantly, she froze and stood still on the spot.
The bearded stall owner who was lighting a cigarette looked ordinary. However, the goods on his stall were astonishing. Several packs of night-use sanitary napkins were piled up quietly, beside which were colorful lighters, a few bottles of toilet water were placed casually, and a few plates of mosquito coils were stacked randomly.
Castina's eyes widened and stared fixedly at these things in front of her, her mind in chaos. In her previous life as an office worker on Earth, she was naturally very familiar with sanitary napkins. But now, the appearance of sanitary napkins on a small stall in a market in this late medieval world was simply too absurd, just like hearing an extremely ridiculous joke and making people unbelievable.
She quickly walked up to the stall and looked up carefully at the stall owner. The stall owner who was lighting a cigarette was a white middle-aged man in linen clothes and a bearded face. Judging from his appearance, he was undoubtedly a local. So, where did these sanitary napkins come from?
Castina was full of astonishment and confusion. She trembled and raised her hand, pointed at the sanitary napkins and stammered, "Boss, this... this thing..."
The stall owner was concentrating on fiddling with his pipe and replied casually without looking up, "Take a look. These are new goods imported from the Nide Commercial Free Territory in the north."
"They are sold by Seris merchants and are used by women during their periods."
Seris was the name of a country in the distance similar to ancient China in this empire. Castina had very limited knowledge of this country. The rumor that Seris was full of gold was obviously of no reference value.
Castina looked at the Chinese characters on the sanitary napkins. These were characters she had never seen in the past two and a half years. At this moment, her mind was racing. Seris merchants, sanitary napkins. Could it be that there were other transmigrators in this world?
She frowned and then quickly asked the stall owner, "Tell me more about those Seris merchants!"
The stall owner smiled and said, "Buy it first."
"Twenty silver coins."
When Castina heard the price, she couldn't help but be stunned. Twenty silver coins, the price was ridiculously high. Converted to the purchasing power on Earth, this was enough to buy a cartload of sanitary napkins. She gritted her teeth and finally took out the money and gave it to the stall owner.
The stall owner took the money, showed a satisfied smile and then said, "About last month, a group of Seris merchants came to the Nide Commercial Free Territory in the north for some reason and opened a trading firm there."
"There are restaurants, lending businesses and goods trading in the firm. The things they sell are all strange but very useful."
"Especially this lighter, ten silver coins each. Whether it is for lighting a cigarette or a firewood, it will emit fire as long as you press it."
"Tsk, Seris must be a place full of gold. I guess this thing should be some kind of magic item? I don't understand."
"Buy one. It's a good thing!"
Castina took the sanitary napkins and the lighter and looked a bit distracted. She followed Hall, who was walking leisurely, and almost tripped over a stone and fell into a mud pit. She walked while staring blankly at the familiar Chinese characters in her hand, thinking to herself. Another transmigrator? Looking at this situation, he must have some kind of system or something and was doing well. For some reason, an inexplicable unease welled up in her heart.