The morning sun is usually quite refreshing. The sun’s warm rays paired with the slightly chilly morning air usually makes for a wonderful contrast that just makes you feel so comfy.

I cant feel too comfortable in this situation however.

“… “

“…”

We were both very quiet. This was in contrast to the noisy bustle of the town that we were walking through. I was hesitant to look behind me to see her face. 

I could hear the holler of vendors, and the shuffle of the people in the crowd. I decided to break the ice as we walked.

“Hey, sorry about the other day.” I apologized

“... Huh?” Lily let out a confused noise.

“...?” Hm? 

I tilted my head upwards to see her face and I saw her looking at me with a confused look. She immediately turned red and looked away though.

“W-what are you apologising for?” She stuttered. See, you don’t have to push yourself.

“You don’t have to accompany me if you’re pushing yourself too hard. I can keep going on my own.” I know my way around a wheelchair. It wouldn’t be my first time sitting on this mobile throne.

“No!” She shouted, stopping both our movements. She ran in front of me and shook her head. “I’m not pushing myself at all!”

“I see... But weren’t you avoiding me because you were scared of me?”

“What? I’m not avoiding you, and I’m not scared of you either! Why would I be afraid of you? ” She seemed to overcome her fluster and she became indignant instead. 

“Okay. I see...”

I look around the area we’ve stopped in. It looks like some sort of plaza, or a town square. People are moving all around us. Workers carrying sacks of grains or large barrels, vendors hawking their wares, and housewives looking over those goods. It is similar to any marketplace you would see in modern times, apart from the lack of plastic or electric devices and the heavy medieval thematic.

“For a start, how about showing me the library?” I asked.

Lily looked surprised for a moment before asking “The library? Why would you want to go there?”

“To read.” Obviously.

“I mean, you won’t be let inside if you aren’t really rich or some kind of noble. Nobody is going to let those books be touched by just anyone.”

“Hm? Is it a specialised library?”

“Huh? No, auntie said that those books are just very expensive and it’s hard to get them.” She tilted her head in confusion. “Is it different?”

Hm? Books being expensive? I haven’t heard that in a long time. Ever since the discovery of a new fiber that could be used to create cheap, sturdy, and large amounts of a new kind of paper with less environmental impact, the price of any mass-produced paper-based product has fallen by over 60%.

It even has a special property which was used to make colored imprints on the paper without needing to use ink. It does have some downsides, and it can’t completely replace normal ink and paper for more important documents. However, for the general public, this kind of paper is great. 

That’s why the price of academic books have fallen to the point where a single one is worth the price of two large cups of coffee. Millions of college graduates cried out in indignation when the price of those books fell to less than a fraction of what it was when they were still in college. 

It wasn’t just limited to academic books though. Any widely sold book was made with the same kind of paper and it reduced the price while simultaneously raising the level of education around the world by leaps and bounds. 

Its been decades since then, and yet here she’s saying that these books are expensive? Is it a historical museum made to hold older documents? It would be a stretch to call them ‘expensive’ though. More just culturally significant, but that doesn’t explain why the public isn’t allowed in. Then, is it privately owned? That’s the most likely scenario. I guess I won’t push it if I can’t do anything about it.

Then, where should we go? The only other places to go in a situation like this is a restaurant, followed by window shopping, but I don’t have money. I don’t think Lily would have that kind of money either. Even if she did, it would go against my moral code, as well as my code as a man to let a little girl pay for me.

I can’t get money from Jayr either since that was just me presenting an idea. I’m fairly certain that the wheelchair design is patented and that selling it is illegal. Maybe I should’ve changed some parts to make it an ‘original rendition’ of the concept. Though, technically it was already sold to pay for my hospital fees.

“I assume you don’t know what an embassy is either.”

“Em-ba-?” “Never mind.” I interrupted her as she was attempting to pronounce it. Most people in the same city as an embassy don’t even know where it is, let alone a girl in an isolated town.

“So, where should we go?” I gave up and decided to let Lily take me wherever.

“How about we look around the market?” She suggested. I thought about it a little and agreed. There wasn’t much I could do anyway, so I might as well see what’s the local specialties. Depending on what I see, maybe I can even pinpoint the region I’m in.

We walked for a few minutes before we entered a large space that didn’t have houses, but instead it was rows of stalls with cloth draped over each one. 

Different from the stalls we passed by earlier which were stationed next to houses, these stalls were more... raw, I guess? Large slabs of meat were placed on counters, with people next to them chopping up the meat into the pieces that the customers want. Other vendors were selling rows of fish and other catch that were lined along their stalls. And some other stalls had an array of fruits and vegetables presented right in front. It was a classic wet market. It was a very noisy place, but it was cleaner than I expected.

I heard some men shouting and I saw them carrying large buckets of small fish. Then there were men lifting much larger fish. Stuff like that looked like cod and tuna. 

“Isn’t that Lily?”

Suddenly I heard the voice of a woman call out. When I looked, it was a middle aged woman manning one of the produce stalls.

Lily waved energetically to the woman. “Hello Mrs. Lann!”

Lily pushed me toward the woman’s stall. The lady named Mrs. Lann made small talk with her.

“You came at just the right time! The boys reeled in quite a catch today. Oh? Who’s this?” she belatedly noticed me and she asked curiously. It is slightly hard to see me in a crowd since I’m sitting down.

Lily explained. “This is Oliver. He’s one of doctor Jayr’s patients.”

Mrs. Lann looked surprised. “Well I’ll be. How’s he out here then?”

“This is what uncle Graff called ‘a wheelchair’. Uncle Jayr said that he could use it to let disabled patients move around again. It’s really cool.”

She looked impressed for a second, but then became somewhat concerned. “Another one of that man’s contraptions is it? Are you sure it’s safe? I don’t want you gettin’ hurt. Your aunt would be furious. “

“It’s fine! It wasn’t made by Uncle Graff, but by Oliver instead. Uncle Graff just built it.” Lily spoke proudly.

“Really now?” The lady proceeded to eye me closely. She looked surprised for a moment, and then her eyes flipped between me and Lily for a bit. She then got a massive grin on her face. “That’s really impressive! You must have a good head on your shoulders. A really handsome one too! The boys might’ve got a big catch, but Lily managed to snag a pretty good one too.” She laughed.

“Mrs. Lann!” Lily cried out embarassedly.

I toned out their teasing while I looked at the produce on the counter. There were leafy greens and other vegetables that were familiar, and others that were somewhat similar to ones I’ve seen before but with sort of different traits. Things like bluish spinach or yellow carrots. 

Maybe they are some sort of local species. I wonder if they would taste different? If I could get my hands on a fillet of that cod I saw earlier, and maybe some of these tomatoes along with this blue spinach, how would it taste? Maybe with some romesco sauce?

As I was pondering on things I could cook with the ingredients available, Mrs. Lann called out to me. “Hey there kid. Lily said your name was Oliver? What are ya thinking so hard about over there?”

I might as well ask a local about it. I pointed at the blue spinach and asked “How would these taste with cod?”

Her eyes immediately lit up with interest. “Hoh? Boy, can you cook?”

I nodded. “I want to know if this vegetable is the same as the one I know. Will this taste good if I baked it with the cod I saw earlier? Maybe with this garlic and tomato too.”

I wasn’t sure if the names were correct. The translator can handle words, but names tended to vary by language and culture. 

“Hoho! It seems you know your stuff. This werchic(blue spinach?) is lovely when put together with the cod. The mer(tomato) also tastes good with fish, but hurem(garlic)? I’m not sure about that one.” It seems I was worried for nothing. My intentions got through clearly. As I expected, there are different names for this stuff, but they’re still the same vegetables that I know.

“Mhm. The garlic is tricky since the taste won’t seep into the fish properly unless you know how. I usually mince or grate the garlic and mix it with some oil, salt, pepper and some other herbs, then I would spoon it onto the fish. The oil would help it seep into the fish better as it gets baked...” I was happy to explain the cooking method to her.

It’s interesting to see that cod has the same name in different languages and cultures. I wonder why. 

“Ooohh! I see, I see! I’ll try this out tonight! My husband and daughter are going to love this. You see, they love their cod quite a bit. My son in law would like it too, but he’s out of town as a soldier of the army. He’s an officer you see?”

Mrs. Lann was pretty chatty with me. She was just like the stereotypes for some older housewives and ladies. I didn’t hate it though. I also enjoyed chatting with the housewives in market back at home. I haven’t been able to do so as much recently though. I felt pretty nostalgic when thinking about it. 

“Mm. You could also cook some other fish like this. I saw some pretty big tuna in the fishermen’s Arms too. If they love cod, they would love this too. You cook it with...” 

“Oh! That sounds wonderful! Does it...”

... 

“... “

Lily was stunned when she suddenly got relegated to the background. Mrs. Lann was a woman who she was quite familiar with since her childhood. She was a very nice lady, but she was well-known for being hard to talk to because of how much she would talk. This was because she was the leader of the housewives’ association in town. 

Lily received help from her many times, like when she would be pestered by some unsavory men in town. Mrs. Lann would get the people around her to rally and scare away the ruffians. 

She had been slightly more restrained nowadays. This was because she was worried for her son in law who was on the front lines, after she heard about a squad getting nearly wiped out during a mission which her son in law was also sent to. However, she was now talking freely again, and with Oliver no less!

She was even more surprised by Oliver. This guy who she thought was a quiet, and more bookish handsome young man was actually talking equally with one of the most notorious blabber mouths in town!

Though he wasn’t saying as much as she was, he could still understand and follow along with what she was saying. Most people—not just men—would be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of her words. Even Lily who had known her all her life would still struggle to follow along when she goes on a tangent.

She stared at the two who were discussing delicious dishes in their own world. She hadn’t eaten yet so a she felt her stomach growl as she heard things like ‘butter simmered cod’ or ‘stewed salmon head’.

Her gaze then inexplicably fell on Oliver.

‘He looks really handsome when he’s talking so passionately.’ She blushed when she thought this. Her crushed intensified even further.

———————————