Chapter 25: Trades & Teasing

Roxi might have been content to juggle her cut of the earnings in full view of the streets, but contrary to recent events I wasn’t the type to invite trouble. My earnings were safe and sound in my inventory away from the swift hands of those who once might have been Gael and I’s waifish colleagues.

Not that Roxi shared our worries, but I guess having a pair of palace guards on hand might be a fair reason for confidence. It might even actually deter a pickpocket or two, but I wasn’t convinced on that score.

We hadn’t passed the so-called Parcosian Royal Markets on our way to the castle when we first arrived and neither had I encountered it during my despair induced flight from the city nights earlier. That was because the market square was located off the main road from the gates to the palace, just inside the inner city’s walls. A choice intended to prevent congestion on the city’s main thoroughfare.

Despite that the Royal Markets weren’t any less grand for having been ‘hidden away’. Taking up a space that could have fit the village of Spot three-four times over was an open square filled to bursting with coloured canvas stalls, vibrant displays and crowd so dense it was a pickpockets heaven, an orchard of coin purses ripe for the picking and the turbulent currents of the crowd a forest to disappear into.

Our guard was more likely to act as a beacon signalling probable rich marks than deter any light fingers.

Remembering back to when I first saw the city from across the valley, I had wondered how a city could support itself in a location devoid of trees or arable land for farms. I no longer had any doubts as to how or why there was a city here. 

Even with an ongoing civil war the market was flush with goods not just from across the duchy, but also goods from the length and breadth of the former Kingdom. Not to mention foreign goods and wares that had travelled across seas from the west lands and to the east the major powers of Joret and Paagutuum as well as the fractious Gou states.

Santarriral wasn’t just a Duchal capital or even just a former royal capital, it was an international trade crossroads and marketplace who’s prosperity somehow managed to defy the chaotic unrest of the surrounding baronial fiefdoms.

We even passed a stall selling otherworldly trinkets from the Isle of Mists manned by a being of ethereal and disturbing beauty. He was disproportionately tall and slender like if a man was pulled and stretched like taffy and his skin was so translucent he almost glowed. His hair was like spun silver and the tips of his ears poked out of those reflective sheets like shark fins in water. 

As we passed the Aoi Sidhe’s eyes locked onto mine and having caught me staring his lips twitched into a knowing smile. Then as quickly as it had formed our gaze’s connection was cut as the flow of people passing between us obscured him from view.

I didn’t have another chance to look back as I was dragged forward caught in the wake of Roxi’s relentless passage through the crowd. I wasn’t sure if it was out of respect for her Ruinite Priestess class or her intimidating appearance, but the mostly npc crowd seemed to part before her as she took the market by storm. I don’t know if I mentioned it back when we were in Spot but Roxi was the type of determined shopper who came list in hand and would not stop until every last item was ticked off in the most efficient and methodical fashion.

At around seven feet in height, she stood head and shoulders over most of the other shoppers and looking up at her I could see her head swivelling from side to side as she looked over heads of the crowd and scanned the stalls until she spotted a candidate for one of the items on her list. Then eyes locking onto the target she would cut through the crowd like it wasn’t even there, striding purposefully towards the display that had caught her attention.

From there she would point out what she wanted and unleash me upon the unsuspecting proprietor. I wonder if people watching would say I had a silver tongue or upon seeing my bartering decide my cat’s tongue was barbed after all.

I might not have been able to tell what sort of reputation my skill was earning, I did learn that the game recognised my ability when a line of text flashed into view with ringing sound.

[Skill acquired: Expert Barterer.] 

Flicking open the UI, I hunted down the skill in my character profile and tapped it to bring up the skill description.

[Expert Barterer (Skill) Lv 1: Having proven your experience on the mercantile battlefield, you have a keen sense of both the inherent value of items and the judgement to understand the limits of what others are willing to buy or sell for. 

The value of items will now appear as an AR overlay and when trading with NPCs upper and lower barter limits will be displayed showing how far they are willing to negotiate prices. Leveling this ability will allow for more accurate item valuations and allow for more precise barter limits.]

Testing the ability on a few purchases taught me one thing, as long as I stayed just within the merchants barter and haggled with skill and finesse I could get the maximum discount without earning myself the enmity of any of the npc’s I was trading with.

And boy was I able to make good use of my new secret weapons impressing Roxi. 

All in all Roxi had me assist in a number of purchases including player-made enchant scrolls to apply preloaded enchantments to gear, a small cache of potions and elixirs, a couple alchemist grenades and a second set of warding talismans so she would have her own to use for when I forgot to use mine again.

I guess she was hoping to avoid another incident like our run in with the Basiphusis.

While this was going on, I was engaged in a struggle to divert her from her tactical blitz of the market in order to do some shopping of my own. One of my more successful efforts to divert the Roxi train as she ploughed from stall to stall in order to make some stops of my own, was by pulling on her belt and pitifully peering up at her. I tried a number of things all up both in order to windowshop and make a few purchases of my own. 

The belt tug while successful was also embarrassing. For both of us…

It had gotten Roxi’s attention, but it had resulted in both of us blushing after she cupped my cheek and blurted out, “You’re so cute!”

Roxi recovered first from our mutual public mortification and quickly saved us both before Gael could comment and tease us by changing the subject and asking what I needed.

Eventually though once I had gotten over my own recoil from the technique, I managed to again wield it to great effect at a different stall to convince Roxi on the merits of buying me some colourful hard candy.

One of the things I needed before we set out in… Umm… Ok I really need to get a better grasp on time, but umm… Ok, woke up Wednesday, Roxi Logged back in Thursday Night, ok its Friday. It's Friday and we set out on the Countess’ mission at nightfall tomorrow. 

Ok so one of the things I’d needed to buy before we set out tomorrow night was a new bedroll since I sacrificed my last one to those lizards. Other than that I invested in some lesser healing, mana and stamina potions, enough to hopefully cover disaster prone me and when Roxi wasn’t looking, a enchantment scroll loaded with [Unencumber] a weight displacement spell.

I planned to apply it to my pack the first chance I got and then make sure she never got a chance to realise I was skipping out on her pack based endurance training. 

My scheming must have shown on my face or I was being noticeably shifty, because Gael had her fun teasingly asking me if I had found something fun in full earshot of Roxi as I panicked and had to improvise a hasty excuse. Going by her smirk I didn’t have Gael fooled, but thankfully Roxi was too immersed in her hunt to take much notice to Gael’s antics.

Most of the money I had budgeted for my purchases today I ended up spending at a Jewelcrafter’s stall on a necklace and some rings, but I came so very close to buying a pale blue riding dress that was almost my size. In the end I was saved by the fact the dressmaker would have taken a week to adjust to fit me perfectly and Gael’s reminder that the Duchess probably had a few more outfits in the works for us including travel clothes.

While I wasn’t making purchases of my own, I had a lot of time to just observe the market around me taking in the diverse sights, sounds and scents. The Fae Elf I encountered earlier was just one of many things that captured my curiosity. Gael bore the brunt of my enthusiastic pointing and questioning with surprising patience. Her answers however were influenced by her unique worldview and colourful use of language.

Which of course made the entire exercise entertaining in a whole other way.

My observations also made me extremely aware of how much attention we were attracting, as every now and again I spotted what I was pretty sure were other players going by their appearances and equipment, watching us and whispering amongst themselves as we passed.

I guess they had worked out we were players too and were curious as to how a pair of players managed to acquire a maid and guards from the castle as their escort. I guess we kinda stand out, but...

“Why are so many people staring at us? It’s making me anxious. We surely can’t be that interesting!” I whined while tugging on Roxi’s sleeve to get her attention.

Then taking me by surprise and almost causing me to lose my balance, Roxi turned to face me and dropped to a half crouch so we were nearly eye level. Stupid tall people!

“You sure about that little cat burglar? Have you seen us? You’re a cat girl and obvious Aes Sifv with your unnatural night blue hair and fur, who is dressed like a noble lady and I’m a tall muscular woman dressed in a black officer’s style suit dress and wearing the necklace of a Ruinite Priestess, then we have silver furred cat Alrec in maid uniform and two castle guards with the personal heraldry of the Duchal family on their tabards,” Roxi listed off with a smirk that grew by the word.

“So based on all that I would say we are drawing stares because they think you’re the Duchess’ pet cat who is visiting the market with her Priestess slash majordomo, lady’s maid and guards as escort.”

Ok I know the Duchess was treating m— us exceptionally well for mere adventurers, but when did I become the Duchess’ pet? I wasn’t going to take this laying down, two can play at this game and I fight dirty.

Carefully I put on my most innocent face and softly asked, “If I’m the Duchess’ pet cat what does that make Gael?”

“Chief Healer Enfy’s pet cat.”

“Oi!” Chief Healer Enfy’s pet cat, I mean Gael yowled as she stepped forward and kicked Roxi’s shin, before darting behind one of our guards.

Revenge is sweet and Gael’s antics causing me to giggle made it even sweeter. That is until I saw how many more people were staring at us after that whole episode. The prickling at the back of my neck caused the giggles to dry up pretty quickly.

I wonder how long before this becomes the latest rumor among players in game and on the forums? I had managed to overhear several groups of players trading news and rumor while we’ve been here and it seems there is something big going on in a Princedom across the sea to the west.

Something about a coup and a genocide involving Paagutuum and a demon called Tami Lightning. I am sure this would make a lot more sense if I wasn’t missing every third word or so.

I just hope when my five minutes of fame arrives, the gossip will be about some cool achievement or feat I’ve done and not anything embarrassing…