Argul walked out of the inn and greeted the not so nice day. It was quite cloudy and looked like it could start raining at any moment now. Seeing this, she looked up, contemplating if she should make the trip to the market later that week, but decided against it. She could use her [water manipulation] to create a magical umbrella anyway.

Argul’s family plus Arthur followed closely after. They would accompany her today. It was important to spend time together every once in a while afterall, even if only to remind one that they aren’t alone.

Mia ran over to Argul, grabbed her hand and looked up at her face with her vibrant orange eyes. “Can I choose something to buy, aunt?”

Argul thought about it for a second and shrugged. “If we still have money left after buying a truck trailer, sure, but I can’t promise you anything.”

Mia nodded in understanding and began to pull Argul towards the market. “Let’s get going then!”

Alyra and Arthur shared an amused look before they followed the pair down the street.

As the group came closer to the market the street became noticeably more crowded and livelier. People were going about their day with purpose or stood to the side to talk with acquaintances. The mood was overall a lot less depressing than a few months ago, despite the gray weather.

When they arrived at the market, the background chatter got even more intense. Argul didn’t mind it though, quite on the contrary. Thanks to her heightened senses it allowed her to listen in and get some information and all that without having to do small talk with anyone!

Most of the conversations weren’t all that informative of course, but she still managed to get some juicy tidbits.

There was for example a pair of traders talking about interesting things. “Did you hear that the Munzumira Republic started to sell ores and metals?”

The other trader nodded, but didn’t seem all that happy about it. “Yeah, I heard. I wished I had been there for that, but alas my wife didn’t think it a good idea to go on some longer journeys. Way too risky she said! Now we are already entrenched in this region, though I’m not sure if that’s a good thing with what the military seems to be cooking up.”

It was interesting to know that besides the Meran fanatics there were other countries popping up, a republic no less. Argul wasn’t too interested in or concerned about the military though. She would not let herself get bogged down by them and wanted to travel somewhere else anyway.

The group paused at a stand that selled some kind of fried bread balls covered in honey and Argul bought one for each of them, much to Mia’s joy.

They got out of the flow of pedestrians to eat the small treat and Argul used the opportunity to spy on a pair of elderly women sitting on a bench to the side of the street.

“... still going at it. I think they took John yesterday evening.” 

The other woman didn’t seem all that surprised by the news. “Oh? They finally did?”

Woman number one nodded sagely. “Yeah, it’s a wonder they didn’t do it earlier with how openly he was floundering the Lord! Hopefully they are able to get some sense into him and show him the lies he believes in.”

Argul didn’t listen any further, mostly getting the gist of it. They were probably talking about the church and if so then that meant the church was likely operating some kind of reeducation camps where they converted their opposition to their cause. 

It was a much more civilized approach than the wholesale slaughter of the other Meran church, but it infringed on the people's freedom of mind. Argul didn’t like it, but neither would she go on a holy crusade against this. She had done her part by helping during the integration and developing tactics to fight against the other universe’s influence for Alyra. With that, her guilt about having unleashed mana onto humanity was mostly settled and what humans did was not of her concern anymore.

After the group finished their treat and Argul cleaned all of their hands they walked towards Tania’s store, which was located a little further out of the city.

Sadly, Argul didn’t learn that much more on the way, except for who the best girl was in the brothel and apparently, a woman by the name of Sorena won the prize by popular opinion for being absolutely gorgeous and skilled, not that Argul was interested in that kind of thing….

The group reached the store a few minutes later and entered, a small bell announcing their presence with a chime. Argul took a look around and realized that the shop had been retrofitted into some kind of general store, which suited her just fine as she wanted to buy a few day to day things like soap and blankets anyway.

She told the others what she wanted and made her way over to a counter where Tania just finished processing the purchase of the latest customer. Argul didn’t enjoy shopping, even if this was technically time with her family so time efficiency was of essence.

Tania noticed her approach and gave her a warm smile. “May the Lord bless you Argul. What can I do for you?”

Argul returned an awkward smile. “A good day to you too, Tania.”

She would rather not be blessed by Meran. Who knew just what fucked up things would happen if one god blessed another and she couldn’t even take a guess because she didn’t know how the blessings worked in the first place.

Argul blinked. Wait, she had just kinda admitted that she was a goddess, hadn’t she?

It was a biological thing though so she wasn’t being narcissistic, right?

She sighed in defeat. At this point she might as well use Jack to get some faith and do-

Argul was interrupted and brought back to the present by the sound of a throat being cleared audibly. She looked at Tania, blushing a bit and scratched her cheek. “Uh, sorry about that. I just wanted to ask a few things while my family is collecting our purchase, if you have the time that is.”

Tania chuckled softly. “It’s alright Argul, everyone drifts away every now and then and as I already stated. How can I help you?”

That didn’t really help Argul’s embarrassment, but she was thankful that the shop owner wasn’t talking about it any more nonetheless. “So, I wondered why the thing with the cleaning stopped? I’m not mad, just curious is all.”

Tania’s smile didn’t falter, but seemed less genuine now. “Ah, sorry about that Argul, I should have told you. The people just didn’t come back for more cleaning is all. I hear they were worried about some things.”

Argul nodded in understanding. It wasn’t a secret that she did not believe in Meran so it wasn’t much of a stretch that the church would spread some rumors or concerns about her. This was one of the reasons she wanted to get away.

Argul sighed. “You aren’t, perchance, some kind of super merchant that every fantasy city has and that can offer you seemingly everything?”

Tania looked at her a bit surprised. “That’s oddly specific, but no, I don’t have everything.”

She winked at her. “I do have everything a person would need in everyday life and I could recommend other shops for things that fall out of that category.”

Argul shrugged in response. “It was worth a try at least. I need a few custom sized small planks and a truck trailer. Do you know where I could get those?”

The shop owner thought about it for a moment. “The planks you could get at Holger’s shop three stores further down the street. I can’t help you with the trailer though, my apologies. You will likely have more luck with that if you ask at the stable near the city entrance.”

Argul smiled at the woman. “That’s already a big help, thanks!”

Feeling Mia’s mana signature a few meters away, she leaned forwards and spoke in a hushed embarrassed voice. “Oh, and you don’t have some pads by chance, do you?”

Tania looked at her, an amused smile on her lips and twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, is it that time of the month for you?”

Argul’s cheeks heated up a bit more. She had been a boy in the past and never had to buy stuff like that. It made her quite uncomfortable, even though it wasn’t that much of a big deal. “Uhh, they are not for me, but for Mia, my niece.”

Tania followed her gaze and her eyes widened a bit in surprise when she looked at the small girl. “She already needs them? The girl has to be an early starter then.”

Argul shook her head awkwardly. “Not yet, it’s for the future. She is already 10 and well on her way to 11 though so I thought it was better to prepare.”

The woman nodded in understanding. “You want to travel, I see. Alright, I won’t tease you any longer, just give me a minute.”

Tania went through a door behind the counter before she came back with a few selfmade pads. “I could offer you these. As you can see they have been crafted by hand and I would normally urge you not to reuse them too often as blood tends to invite diseases, but with that spell of yours you should be fine.”

Argul simply nodded. Maybe she would have said something normally, but at the moment she dreaded what came next, because they had taken too long.

Mia stepped next to her, put down some soap, wooden cutlery and other stuff next to the pads and peeked over the counter, looking at the weird shaped cloth pieces. “I’m done aunt!”

Argul had taught the girl biology too of course, but she had done so more from the point of view of a boy and couldn’t really help with understanding what some of those things meant. She and Mia would have to learn that together.

Her niece poked one of the pads out of curiosity. “What’s that?”