“By the way, you two havenʼt been to the street market here in Central yet, right?” Shihime asked while they exited the café. “Are you planning to visit it later? If so, I can join you two for a while before going back to Hshiwara.” 

“Uh-huh,” Shun said. “Reimiru said that it is worth a visit, but what exactly makes it worth it?” 

“Oh? Reimiru suggested you two go to the street market?” she murmured quietly to herself. 

“It is not called the economic hub of Shangri-La for nothing,” Zhuʼer chipped in. “It would take us a full day just to visit all the food stalls of the market, not to mention the entertainment and clothing markets.”

“Huh, so you can talk after all…” 

“W-wait-what do you mean?” 

“I mean, youʼve been so quiet each time we met,” he pointed out. “I was starting to wonder if you were only capable of talking to Shihime, you know?” 

Zhuʼerʼs face flared up in shock and embarrassment. “You—” 

“Stop it, Shun, donʼt tease Zhuʼer too much,” Rya said while she choked back her laughter. 

“You too?” she cried. “You all are just being mean to me—!” 

Shihime finally intervened, clearing her throat awkwardly. “A-ahem, letʼs not make a scene in public…” 

Zhuʼer instantly composed herself and quietly returned to Shihimeʼs side. She really is dependent on Shihime, isnʼt she? 

“Is that the market?” Rya pointed at a massive town square just up ahead of the street, where a bustling, cacophonous bazaar was taking place. Even from a distance, the noise of the crowd seemed to drown out every sound around them. 

“Is there anything in particular that you two want to buy?” Shihime asked. “I told Reimiru to prepare all the necessities that you may need during your stay—but you can buy whatever you like from here too.”

“I donʼt think we are missing anything…?” He glanced at Rya for confirmation. 

“We can definitely use some extra clothes,” she replied happily. “And also a new pair of shoes, because this pair of high-heels is really annoying to walk in sometimes. ” 

“You wore those high-heel shoes since leaving Arcadia?!” Shihime remarked with a surprised expression. “If I was you, I would have thrown them straight away and walked barefoot instead.” 

She shrugged. “Iʼm already used to wearing high-heels, so I could make do with them for the time being.” 

“You have now earned my respect, Rya” Shihime laughed as she led the way to the clothing section of the lively market. 

Looks like a lot of different kinds of clothes are being sold here, Shun thought to himself as they made idle chit-chat. Besides the usual quintessential clothes that the locals of Shangri-La wore, many stalls were also selling clothes from other countries across the continent. Shihime pointed that out too to the group. 

“Before the arrival of the Pacifists, most countries were isolated and reluctant to engage in trade,” she explained. “But itʼs now very easy to trade with other Pacifist-controlled nations, and thus you can see a wide variety of clothing options being offered here.” 

“This dress…” Rya held up a long jumper dress made from thick linen with golden floral patterns sewn on its front. “If Iʼm not mistaken, itʼs from the Grand Duchy of Moskva, isnʼt it?” 

“You have a keen eye, donʼt you?” Shihime nodded her head in approval. “Itʼs called a sarafan, and it was commonly worn as a folk dress in Moskva.”

“...was?” 

“I heard that the Pacifists forbade their traditional clothes to be worn after they took over the country,” she said quietly. “It’s the same for Shangri-La too; that’s why you don’t see traditional clothes like kimonos and hanboks being worn by the common people. Even staple clothing like cheongsams were banned by the pacifists at the start.” 

“So all these traditional clothes, are they being sold here because they cannot be sold in their home countries?” Shun asked, frowning. “How well would they even sell here in Shangri-La?”

“Traditional clothes are valuable collectibles since very few people make such clothes anymore, at least in my opinion.” Shihime briefly shrugged and smiled. “And they usually sell for dirt-cheap while having good quality, so if you’re short on money, it’s an option worth considering.” 

“And it just so happens that we’re short on money, huh.” Rya looked down at the single gold ingot in her palm. “Alright, I will take this sarafan and also, this dress and that one over there…”

While she was busy choosing clothes from the various stalls, he saw Shihime gesturing for him to come closer with her hand discreetly. “What’s up?” 

“How did you two end up with just one gold ingot?” she asked, giving him a curious glance. “I thought I gave three, and you said you tipped the old man one—so what happened to the other gold ingot?” 

“Oh, Reimiru took it as a deposit for staying overnight at her inn last night.” He scratched his head in confusion. “Though, I don’t know why she did that if she already knew you were helping us…”

“Huh, a deposit?” she mumbled. “That Reimiru, she probably used that as an excuse to get money to pay off another debt…” 

“U-um, if you say that, shouldn’t you be more angry? She basically stole your money, didn’t she…?” 

“Ah, no, not really? I kind of expected her to pull something like that, so I’m not surprised or mad. It’s not really something major, anyway.”

“Hmm…how well do you know Reimiru?” he asked to change the topic. “You were also surprised that she recommended us to go to the street market just now, just what kind of person is she to you?” 

“I would say I know her more than I would like to…oh, I guess you don’t know yet.” Shihime chuckled. “Reimiru was the first candidate for the position of the Tayu Oiran, while I was in second place.”

“First…wait, you mean Reimiru was supposed to be the Tayu Oiran instead of you?” 

“Mm-hmm, but she declined the offer in the end and started her own inn instead.” She paused and gave him a knowing look. “Now you know how she racked up her debt.” 

“That’s interesting…” Shun glanced at Rya, who was now bargaining with a stall owner while picking a new pair of sandals. “Uh, sorry to ask you this, but is it possible for you to give us more gold ingots to get through the week? I highly doubt we will have any left after Rya’s shopping spree.”

“Ah, I see~” She nodded her head and whispered something to Zhu’er, who replied with “yes, Shi niang-niang”. 

“Of course, I can do that—you can have as many as you like, even.” An enigmatic smile appeared on Shihime’s lips as she looked at him. “But, I will have to request for assistance from you and Rya in a certain matter I’ve been thinking about lately.”