Chapter Three - Opaline

A man with a large forehead and a receding hairline made his way down the busy and crowded Tye-An street. It was mid day, and Tye-An street was the busiest shopping district in the city. The wide cobblestone street was flanked on both sides by four and five storey buildings. The first floor of the buildings formed storefronts, while the upper floors consisted of office spaces and living quarters. The street itself was wide enough for two carriages to run side by side comfortably, but during the day it was so incredibly crowded that it was hard to navigate through the street without constantly bumping into people.

Temporary stalls roofed with colourful tarps formed two rows down the street, with a ‘front’ lane between them in the center of the street, and ‘back’ lanes for foot traffic in front of the storefronts. These stalls were brought in and set up each morning by the owners of the stores, and depending on which end of Tye-An street one was on, sold anything from clothing to cheap jewelry to souvenirs for travellers. Interspersed wherever they could find a nook to set up, hawkers ran stalls out of carts, selling street food, trinkets and household items. All throughout the street voices called out their wares to passerby.

“Red Sausage, Pork rolls, two leafs for six!”
“Sunsilk tunics! Sandlion mane scarves! Buy a set, no regrets!”
“The best almond cakes in Noga! Get them here! You sir, get some cakes for your wife tonight! Two fresh cakes for a leaf!”
“Tin pots. Tin pans. Tin bowls. Tin pots. Tin bowls. Pans of tin.”

Some were more enthusiastic than others.

The man with the large forehead stopped in front of a shop that was just outside of the busiest part of the district. The shopfront was unremarkable - It consisted of a single wooden door with a sign above it that said “Chen Import”, and was sandwiched between a large grocery and a tea shop. The door itself was slightly inset, and the sign overshadowed by the roof of the building, such that a passerby might mistake the door as an unused entrance for one of the adjoining shops.

The man, whose name was Hakuya, had come to this shop for a very specific item. He reached inside his oversized cloak, rubbing his fingers on the metallic coins in one of the many inner pockets, as if to make sure they hadn’t suddenly vanished in the short journey from the pawn shop. He opened the door and stepped inside.

The inside of the store was dark and barely furnished. The walls were bare, with no decoration except for two lamps whose light barely escaped from their old, dusty glass housings. The tiled floor was old and faded. The interior of the shop was barely wider than the width of the door, making Hakuya feel slightly claustrophobic.

At the end of the bare room, sitting on a stool behind a flimsy table, was an old thin man. He had a newspaper tucked under his crossed arms, and he was resting with his back against the wall and his head bowed. He was so still that Hakuya wasn’t sure whether he was asleep or dead. On the back wall next to the man was a single closed wooden door. As Hakuya approached, though, the man opened one eye and looked at him.

“Business?” He asked.

“Room three. Hakuya.” Hakuya replied.

The old man closed his eyes, giving no other signal. Hakuya calmly stepped past the old man, opened the back door and stepped inside.

This was a prearranged sale, and so Hakuya had to give two pieces of information to enter. The first, which room he had been invited to. The second, his name, which was provided by the person who booked the room. Hakuya could have provided an alias but hadn’t bothered to.

Chen’s Import was not a typical store, and it was not something a regular person would visit. It was a place for people like Hakuya to make deals, to sell rare, special goods, to meet in private with no questions asked. Hakuya knew of several “import” shops in Huan where he was from, but he was only aware of Chen’s Import because of the deal that had been arranged for him. A large town like Noga would probably have several such stores, but Hakuya only knew of this one.

He had not met the seller of the items he was buying. This sale had been arranged through a broker on the previous day. He didn’t even know the man’s name, only that he was a Hunter. Hakuya knew several hunters at the apprentice level. They were sharp, with enhanced senses and superhuman strength and reflexes. Their sense of smell was better than a bloodhound’s. The Hunter Hakuya was meeting today was a disciple, one rank higher than apprentices. Hakuya couldn’t let his guard down during this meeting.

A set of stairs led down to another dimly lit, unfurnished corridor. A row of doors alternated on the left and right, with the only distinguishing feature being numbered signs painted on the front of the doors. The corridor extended twenty metres to a T-intersection, where it continued out of sight. Though the corridor was empty, Hakuya felt the distinct sensation that he was being watched.

Hakuya entered the third door, letting the warm light from within enter the corridor. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

The room that greeted him surprised him. In comparison to the bare, frugal nature of the corridor and shop he had entered, this one was welcoming and modestly furnished. The walls were painted creamy white, and several lanterns mounted on wall sconces lit the room. A woven earthy rug covered the floor, and four upholstered chairs were placed around a dark wooden dinette table.

Lounging in one of the chairs was a man dressed in a dark green cloak that shimmered subtly in the lamplight, giving off the sense of a light passing through a forest canopy casting dappled shadows on the foliage below. Underneath the cloak he wore a dark linen shirt with a high collar, a leather bandolier with many pouches and small vials strapped to it, black pants and black leather boots. The handle of a revolver was casually peeking out from a holster at his waist.

His face was lean, tanned skin rough and weathered. He had short, dirty blond hair and his eyebrows and nose were angled, giving him the appearance of a bird of prey. Two intelligent, observant eyes locked onto Hakuya as he entered the room, thin lips drawn tight. The two men sized each other up, having never met each other before. A bead of sweat formed at the back of Hakuya’s neck under the pressure of the man’s gaze. For a moment the atmosphere was tense, and Hakuya felt an itch at his fingers to be prepared to reach for his sword.

“You are Hakuya?” He asked in a grizzled voice.

“Yes.” Hakuya said, feigning confidence, “And your name?”

The man didn’t answer, continuing to look Hakuya up and down as if looking for something. Then suddenly the man’s thin lips widened into a smile, as if he understood something, and he stood up, bowing with a flourish.

“Reid. Elliot Reid. At your service.” Reid introduced himself. The tense atmosphere completely vanished as even the man’s posture lightened up. “Please, have a seat.”

“Um, yes. Of course.” Hakuya walked over and sat down, wondering what the man had deduced. He unslung his sack from his shoulder and placed it on the ground beside him, then did the same with his straw hat. “I presume you have the grubs?”

“Ah, yes.” Reid said. He pulled a leather satchel out from beside his chair and reached inside. One by one he pulled out three glass jars with metal lids, twenty centimetres tall and half as wide. The metal lids had holes poked in them. They glowed with a steady bright blue light. The Hunter set them gently down on the table.

“May I?” Hakuya reached for one. Reid nodded and Hakuya lifted it up to take a closer look at its contents.

Inside the glass jar was a large grub, about as large and thick as his fist. The insect was an opaline grub. It was the larva stage of the opaline six winged moth, an esoteric creature that lived deep in the valleys of the Yonge mountains outside of Noga. The wings of an opaline moth could be dried and ground into a powder, which could be turned into a powerful spiritual stimulant. The body of the moth, though it lacked esoteric properties, was considered delicious when fried - A single moth body could be sold for half a crown. The powder made from the wings of a fully grown moth could be sold for twenty crowns!

In terms of monetary value, the opaline grub was not as lucrative. After all, Hakuya was purchasing three of them for two crowns - or rather, six Kumin marks, Hakuya made the conversion in his head to the local currency. The larva form of the insect normally had no special properties or culinary value. It was simply a bug one would find in a forest. However, in certain conditions, the bug would start to swell and take on a lustrous appearance. In this “fatty” stage, the esoteric energy in the grub’s body was highly concentrated, making it a useful ingredient for those who had the appropriate skills and knowledge.

However, fatty opaline grubs were difficult to find. Not only did grubs rarely reach the conditions in which they could become fatty, but after one had absorbed enough energy, it would start spinning a silky web around itself, entering a pupae stage, from which it would emerge as a juvenile two-winged opaline moth. The whole process would take about six weeks, but the fatty stage of the grub only lasted two or three days. Hakuya had lucked out in finding a Hunter who could acquire such an ingredient, though it had temporarily cost him his most valuable possession to get the funds to obtain it.

“These grubs are right at the end of their fatty stage.” Reid said, “They will probably start spinning their web tonight once the sun sets.”

“You’re very knowledgeable.” Hakuya complimented the hunter with sincerity as he inspected the other two glasses. They were some of the fattest grubs he’d ever seen. “I’ll take all three.”

Hakuya reached into his pocket and withdrew six of the eight marks that he had obtained from the pawn shop earlier. He counted them and then placed them on the table with a clink, pushing them over to Reid. Reid grinned and retrieved five of the coins, then pushed back one of the coins towards Hakuya’s side of the table.

“If you tell me what you plan to use these grubs for, would that be worth a mark?” Reid asked.

Hakuya raised an eyebrow. He didn’t consider the information worth a whole mark. “You can keep the coin, if you let me use this room. I would like to prepare the grubs before I leave.”

“Deal!” Reid said.