[Luna POV]

As we decided last night, we are going to explore the capital today.  Well, it’s more like I’m being given a tour from someone who knows more about the place than exploring.  Anyway, I got up early and ate breakfast.  The proprietress was worried about why I didn’t leave my room for a week, so I told her that I didn’t feel well and just got better.

 

After eating, I left the inn and found Velvet waiting for me outside.

 

“Isn’t it a bit too early for you to be here, Velvet?” I asked.

 

“Not at all, I figured you would probably get up early since you slept for so long.  Not to mention that you seem excited to go around the city.”

 

“How could you tell?”

 

“Your tail gives it away.” She said chuckling.

 

“How embarrassing.  I thought I got over that a long time ago.” I said while covering my face in embarrassment.

 

{You really don’t need to, it’s quite cute.} Said Tamamo.

 

‘If you say so.’ I said, getting embarrassed for a different reason.

 

“Anyway, where should we go first?  There aren’t many places that are interesting this early in the morning.”

 

“What do you mean?  Locations shouldn’t be any different, no matter what time of day, right?”

 

“If you just want to see a place, then that’s true, but if you want to experience the atmosphere as well, then you need to be there at the right time.  For example, going down a street lined with stalls during the day is one experience, but going down that same street during a festival feels completely different.” Velvet explained.

 

“I guess you’re right.  Speaking of festivals, are there any that happen here this time of year?”

 

“There will be one next month to celebrate the defeat of the King of Fiends.  I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it, especially since your father was a leading figure in that whole ordeal.”

 

“I knew about that festival, we held a similar one back home, I just didn’t realize it was that time of year already.  Come to think of it, this’ll be the first year I don’t celebrate it at home.  I guess that means I’ll miss out on the wyvern meat.”

 

“You’ve eaten wyvern meat before?” She asked, surprised.

 

“You haven’t?” I asked back.

 

“Only once, and it was only a little.”

 

“I guess I’ll have to share some with you when I go on my hunt to get a semi-permanent stock of wyvern meat someday.”

 

“I’m suddenly getting the feeling that wyverns are going to go extinct.”

 

“Nah, I’ll stop at endangered.  If I don’t then the meat will run out eventually, though that could mean that I can have a monopoly on top quality meat for a while as well. Hmm.  I’ll give this more thought later.”

 

“You saying it like that makes it seem like you’re serious.”

 

“I am though.”

 

My words left Velvet with a stunned look on her face.  While she was still trying to process what I said, I changed the subject;

 

“Anyway, do you want to just walk in a direction for a while and see where that takes us?”

 

“Might as well.  We can even split going around the city for at least four days, with one direction for each day.  How does that sound?”

 

“Sounds fine to me, it’s not like I have anything to do this week anyway.”

 

“Which direction do you want to start with?”

 

“What do you recommend?”

 

“I’d say east, that way we can go around the shopping district.”

 

“OK then that is the way we go today.  Maybe I’ll even find some souvenirs to send back home.  I wonder what everyone would like?”

 

{I’m fine with anything if it comes from you.}

 

‘There is actually something I’ve been thinking of getting for you Tamamo, but it’s going to be really expensive, and I don’t think even the funds that I left home with will cover it.  So, it’s going to have to wait a little longer unless…’ I turned to Velvet and asked; “Do you know anywhere that sells orichalcum for a reasonable price?”

 

Velvet looked at me like I grew a second head.

 

“Luna, the only place that even deals in orichalcum is the Dwarf Kingdom, and that’s on the other side of the continent.  The most you will see here is in the hands of an S-rank adventurer, and none of them are in the city at the moment.”

 

“How annoying, even Blake never let me have any when I asked.  You would think he could spare some, but noooooo, he would just say; ‘I’m not giving you any, I barley have enough to satisfy myself.’”

 

“I’m more surprised this Blake even has the skill to craft with orichalcum in the first place.”

 

“Of course, he does.  He’s a former hero after all.”

 

“That’s right, you did say you’re acquainted with a former hero didn’t you.  What do you even need orichalcum for in the first place?”

 

“It’s the best metal to enchant with space magic.  If I can get my hands on two pieces big enough to make a portable mirror, I can give one to Tamamo and use it to talk with her face to face instead of just telepathically.”

 

{I thought you were going to try that with mirrors made from your ice magic?}

 

‘I was at first, but then I learned that ice made from magic doesn’t mix well with space magic enchants, it immediately shatters.  The same thing happens with small pieces of mithril.’

 

{I see, then the mirror plan will have to wait a bit longer.}

 

‘Unfortunately.’

 

“I guess that’s a reasonable thing to want orichalcum for.  Anyway, we’re almost there, Luna, so cheer up.  The place we’re close to right now is a market that deals in food and alchemy ingredients.  I thought that it would be best to come here first so we can get a look around before it gets super crowded.”

 

“Smart.” I said when I started to smell some freshly baked bread. “I just ate and now I’m feeling hungry again.”

 

“I know right, I love the smell of freshly baked bread, you want to go get some?”

 

“Sure.”

 

We headed over to the bakery that the smell was coming from.  We walked up to the window and talked to the baker;

 

“Good morning to you, lovely ladies, interested in buying some bread?” He asked.

 

“We are, it smells so good, and we want to know if it tastes as good as it smells.” Velvet said.

 

“Then you’re in luck, I just pulled a batch out the oven, give it a few minutes to cool and you two can have first pick of the day.”

 

We made some small talk with the shopkeep while the bread cooled.  When it was cool enough, he brought over several small loaves.  Velvet and I picked one up, paid, and took a bite.  It tasted like a biscuit with some sweetness mixed in.

 

“This is great, the only thing that could make it better is if you drizzled some honey on top.” I said after taking the last bite.

 

“That sounds like a great idea, missy.  If only honey wasn’t such an expensive item, I’d love to do that.” Said the shopkeep.

 

“Has its price gone up recently?” Velvet asked.

 

“Yeah, it has always been expensive, but the price has been going up steadily, something about decreasing supply or something.”

 

“Where does the supply come from?” I asked.

 

“The northern forest is the closest place that I know of, something must be happening there.”

 

I glanced at Velvet, and she nodded her head.  It seems like whatever is happening in the forests is starting to effect more than just adventurers now.  We thanked the baker again and left, walking towards the area that sold ingredients for cooking and alchemy.

 

“When this week is over do you want to try and investigate this problem, Velvet?” I asked.

 

“We could but do you have any idea on where to start?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

“Then we should leave it to people who know what they are doing.  After you left the guild master’s office last week, I reported the undead bear we fought and over this past week, other adventurers have reported seeing undead in the other forests as well.”

 

“I remember you telling me that before.  What other undead have been seen?”

 

“I don’t know all the details, but it’s mostly animals like wolves, deer, and boars.  We might have been the unlucky ones to run into a bear, even if we took care of it like it was nothing.”

 

“OK then, we’ll wait and see.  Though if the guild asks us to step in, we’ll have no choice.”

 

We went around looking at what people were selling.  I decided to buy some things here and there to top up my stock.  It was then that Velvet asked;

 

“Is the bag that you’re putting all that in a portable inventory?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

“Hmm, anyway, the next place I’ll show you is the place where you can buy miscellaneous things.  If you’re going to buy souvenirs for people, that is the best place to go.”

 

“Then lead the way.”

 

Author's Note:
Hello all.  I'm splitting these next chapters into parts otherwise they'll be too long.  I hope you all enjoy nonetheless.  Thanks for reading.