A wall of dark red bricks towered above us. It was red. Clearly visible even from a distance in the green and blue background. That was the town of Auria, located right at the Grand Spirit Lake. A port town.

I feel like I had the same impression when we arrived at Larfas. Guess it’s only to be expected that the style of architecture is similar…

Even so, it was still quite a peculiar sight for me. The bricks weren’t uniform in colour, some darker, some lighter. And even the lighter ones weren’t a glaring red.

“Yumi, are you going to keep staring at the wall for the rest of the day?”
“... No, I didn’t intend to, Sis.”

Having just arrived in this town, there were quite a few things to do. And one of them was informing the local governor of our coming. For that matter, Karen and I were accompanying Korwen. And now, the three of us plus Taddick had come to the gate of the town of Auria, hoping to gain entry.

“You girls, don’t dilly-dally. You can admire the townscape another time.”
“Sorry, Captain. We’re coming.”

I threw a final passing glance to the wall, before following Karen and the others. We passed the gate with little trouble entering the town proper.

“Nn… Hey, Captain.”
“What is it?”
“This might be a little late to ask but… In the capital, we had to get registered to that device or something. Is that not necessary here?”
“This town doesn’t have a warding barrier. If it had, you probably would have alerted just about the entire town by now. Well, the soldiers would have actually stopped you before that would happen.”

Well, I should have asked earlier, maybe. Good thing there wasn’t one.

“Are those barriers rare?”
“Most towns won’t have one. Only the large towns usually have one.”
“I see.”

Without one, they’d need to fight any approaching monsters, didn’t they?

“Anyway, let’s get going. I’d like to get this done with as fast as possible,” said Korwen.
“Nn, we’re coming.”

With Korwen in the lead, we walked down the main street from the gate. The town scenery was pretty much the same as it was in Larfas, even past the gate.

This town… We’re going to live near it from now on, aren’t we?

With the fort nearby, we’d have to get everything we’d need from this town. Supplies and food, for example.

Thinking about it like that, it was a little like was part of our new home. The mere thought made me smile a little. After all, while the town wasn’t exactly big it was… cosy. That’s the feeling I got from it.

“Yumi, Yumi, look.”
“Nn? Ohhh.”

As it happened, the main street led towards the harbour. The lake was in full view, several small ships were anchored at the harbour and dozens over dozens of people walked around. It seemed that there was a small market going on here. And, of course, it was all about fish.

“Now, now, isn’t that quite the sight. Haven’t seen that much fish in one place in a long while.”

Korwen seemed just as impressed, looking all over the market.

“Let’s take a look when we get back later, shall we?” he suggested.
“Nn, sounds good.”

Maybe we could find some delicious fish… And I was a little curious what kinds of fish there were…

Just looking over it from here, there seem to be some curious ones…

“Yumi.”
“Ah, sorry.”

It seemed that I had stopped again, earning me an exasperated call from Karen.

“We can look later.”
“Nn, I know… Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

I should focus on the task at hand… which was just working those two legs of mine. For now.

“But I didn’t expect such a large fish market. I thought they had to be sorted first?”
“Now that you mention it…”

Vaguely, I could recall similar fish markets back in my old world. But since fish had to be sorted…

“Maybe the fishers have someone with mana sight on-board. Or there is a place they can do that nearby after they return,” said Taddick.
“On-board… you say?”

If they were on-board, that would probably allow them to sort through the fish while they were still out on the sea. But I couldn’t imagine someone with mana sight being that cheap to hire either.

“Hey, Cap. You know how they sort through the fish?”
“Mm?”

Being called out by Taddick, Korwen turned around to look at us, then over to the market. All the while not stopping his legs from moving forward.

“I don’t think you mean to ask about mana sight, right?”
“When they do that, or where. They’re selling all that fish there, right? They gotta have someplace or someone to check.”
“Ahh. Do you see that large building over there? The one with the fish sign.”

Korwen pointed at the other end of the port. A house, twice as tall and easily three or four times as wide as the other buildings surrounding it stood there. An image of a large fish was drawn right under the roof. It was a pretty massive drawing, impossible to miss.

“That should be the sorting hall. The fishers bring their catch there to be sorted. I think larger fishing companies might have their own workers with mana sight but in general, that’s how it works for most towns like this.”
“I see. And after it gets sorted they can sell it on the market… What happens to the monster fish?”
“I don’t know how it is in Auria but usually it is either they are sold directly to the town management or they hire their own magicians to process it and then sell them to merchants, nobles, or whoever else might be their client.”

The difference between being managed by the authorities or dealing with it by yourself, huh…

“Wouldn’t the merchants complain if they had to leave it to the town, Mr Captain?”
“Not necessarily. In fact, they might prefer it. Monster fish, if it wasn’t treated properly, is poisonous. That makes it hard to sell since there’s the question of trust. And rather than keeping unsold fish, they are guaranteed to make some profit by just leaving it with the authorities. And since the town authorities are generally more trustworthy, they have an easier time selling it. The merchants make a profit and the town does too.”

Everybody wins, huh.

“Cap, why the hell do you even know about it in that much detail? You clearly got the wrong job, don’t you?”
“Contrary to you, Taddick, I went around and tried to learn what I could about Auria before actually coming here. There are several among our men who come from fishing villages and towns. You could have just asked them, too.”
“... Guess I can’t refute that, can I? So, we actually have people that come from here?”
“No, not from Auria itself, unfortunately. But there’s a group from the western side of the lake and they told me all about it.”

The western side… So, opposite of this town? We should be somewhere to the… east? Southeast? Of the lake… I really wanted to see the map again to see exactly where we were.

“Hmm, makes me wonder why they left it behind. I know quite a few who’d love to live in a fishing village. Stable job and good money. Tad exhausting from what I heard, though.”
“People have their reasons.”
“They sure do. Well, not my business.”

Taddick shrugged with a laugh, clearly not intending to dig deeper into it.

“Right, it’s not our business. Either way, we’ve arrived.”
“Huh? We have? Where?”
“There.”

We stood in front of a house. A… very regular house. It was a little larger than the others but it didn’t particularly stand out either…

“This?” asked Taddick, with an incredulous tone in his voice.
“This.”
“Hell, I expected some huge mansion. This is almost disappointing. There aren’t even guards. Only a fence. Sure this the house of a highborn?”
“They probably have a mansion elsewhere, out of town. This is more like the governor’s workplace.”
“Ahhh, got it.”

Without hesitation, Korwen walked through the gate, entering the grounds, the three of us following right behind him to the door. A large doorknocker in the form of a vicious animal adorned it. Korwen rapped the doorknocker, then stepped back and waited.

A few moments later, the door opened and the face of a woman peeked through the crack.

“Who may you be?”
“I am Korwen, captain of the Lomerian Dragon Knights. I wish to speak with Governor Tollmann. Please take this as our invitation.”

Korwen handed a small letter to the woman. She only glanced at it for a moment before turning her attention once more to Korwen.

“... One moment.”

With an almost emotionless tone, she closed the door, letter in hand.

“Let’s hope this moment won’t take hours...”
“It surely won’t, will it?” I asked.
“Don’t underestimate aristocracy, Yumi. ‘Just a moment.’ can very well mean several hours, if you are unlucky.”
“...”

That wasn’t a ‘moment’ in the least, though…

“Don’t think it’s going to happen this time, though. I heard that the governor is a very hard-working man and not very interested in the superfluous relationships of the aristocracy. It still might take some time since we came unannounced.”

And until then we’d… wait in front of the door? That wasn’t very welcoming. But as if to answer my doubts, the door opened once more. And fully, this time, revealing the interior of the house and the person behind it.

“Esteemed guests, the master of the house will make time for you shortly. Please wait inside as he gets ready.”
“Mm. Thank you.”

The woman, presumably a servant working here, bowed deeply as she welcomed us in. There was a hall behind the door, nothing extremely big, considering the building itself wasn’t. The servant woman led us through the hall into a guest room. 

“Please take a seat, esteemed guests. The master will be with you shortly.”

The woman bowed again and then left the room, leaving the four of us completely alone.

“Well, then let’s take her up on her offer.”

Korwen strode towards the table in the middle of the room and sat down on the couch. Taddick followed him, sitting down on his left side. That left the right for Karen and me. After we sat down, I scanned the room. It was a relatively subdued room. Bookshelves with dozens of books lined up on them, some flowers in a vase. Then there was the table in front of us, with two couches on either side, one of those was occupied by us now. And that was already all that was in the room.

Just then, the door opened once more and a man entered. He stood tall, not as tall as Korwen but still taller than most. Short black hair, a neatly trimmed moustache and eyes that seemed like they would understand not a single joke. He gave the impression of a very serious man.

Seeing him enter, Korwen stood up from the couch.

“Mr Korwen, I presume?”
“Yes. It is an honour to meet you, Mr Tollmann.”
“So? What business do mercenaries have this far in the north? Especially bearing a letter with the royal sign.”

The man, Tollmann, sat down on the couch opposite us. He didn’t smile at all, only an unmoving serious expression. Still, his eyes wandered over us, scrutinising the people before him.

“His majesty the king has graciously allowed us the purchase of the Fort Auria. We have come here today as a greeting.”
“... Say what?”

The governor froze for a moment. He was likely shocked by the sudden and unexpected announcement.

“The Fort… Auria? Fort Auria? What fort?”
“Fort Auria to the north at the Sleeping Forest.”
“There… is no fort?”
“... There should be.”

Clear confusion on both sides.

“Mr Korwen, if you could excuse me for a moment.”
“Sure.”

The governor left his seat and disappeared, leaving the four of us alone again. He had left as quickly as he had come.

“Cap, I got a bad feeling about this.”
“How strange. You are not the only one.”

Honestly, you would have to be quite an oblivious person if you weren’t getting a bad feeling here.

“Let’s just hope that this is a misunderstanding.”

After that, we fell silent, nobody saying anything as we waited. It was rather nerve-racking.

Fortunately, the governor didn’t make us wait for too long, as he appeared after several minutes once more.

“I apologise for making you wait, Mr Korwen.”
“... No, it’s no problem.”
“There, indeed, seems to be a fort in the north but… It has been abandoned for who knows how long…”
“We already know that and we acquired the fort knowing full well about that.”
“I see.”

The governor sighed before continuing.

“As long as you are fine with that and not causing trouble to our town, you may do whatever you want. It is not my place to judge his majesty’s decisions.”
“... I apologise if this sounds rude, but did his majesty not inform you of the fort’s purchase through the letter?”
“He did not. His majesty merely stated that you had business here and that I should accommodate as necessary.”
“... I understand.”

There was a visible twitch in Korwen’s cheek as he listened to the contents of the letter.

“Back to the topic at hand, Mr Korwen. If you require assistance with the forest, you are free to request the services of my citizens, as long as you do not coerce them and pay them appropriately. And, of course, as long as it does not interfere with the town’s fishing business.”
“... Assistance with the forest?”
“Clearing the path through the forest, of course.”

Another clear twitch in his cheek.

“... I see. Thank you for your understanding but we will try to solve it on our own for the time being.”
“That would be preferable.”

The governor nodded in approval.

“Are there any other matters to discuss?”
“There is the matter of supplies and what-not…”
“You might want to discuss that with the merchants.”
“I will take that as permission to conduct business with them.”
“Of course. Then, if there’s nothing else...”
“That was all.”

Hearing Korwen’s reply, the governor stood up from the couch.

“I will excuse myself then. I wish a fruitful endeavour to you, Mr Korwen. And of course, to the young ladies as well.”

He directed that final part towards Karen and me. However, before we could respond he had already made his way to the door.

“Willa, the guests have finished their business. Escort them to the door.”
“Understood, master.”

As if replacing the governor, the woman from before entered.

“Esteemed guests.”
“... Let’s go.”

Korwen stood up and left the room. We hurriedly followed after him. I was a little perplexed at how… abrupt and dry the conversation had been. Or rather, everything had been quite cut and cry. Even the woman, as she led us to the front door, wasn’t smiling and every word she spoke was monotone.

“I hope your enjoyed your stay, esteemed guests. Farewell.”

And those were the last words we heard before the door closed.

“Well, I guess you can say we finished what we came for…”
“Hey, Cap…”
“Don’t, Taddick, let’s get going first.”
“Sure…”

After leaving the governor’s estate, we walked down the street we had come from. It didn’t take long before we once more passed by the market. As if remembering what he had said earlier, Korwen stopped and stared at the market.

“Cap.”
“We got a problem.”
“Sure sounded so.”

A problem?

“Captain, what problem?”
“Simply put, the fort is not quite where we thought it is.”
“Huh?”

It wasn’t where he thought it was? Wait, was this about the thing with the forest? I didn’t quite get what they were talking about at that moment but…

“It’s in the forest?”
“Yes.”

Korwen sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“I assume the forest expanded in the two-hundred odd years after the fort had been abandoned. Or in simpler words, nature reclaimed it.”

That was… Well…

“We’ll need to clear a path to the fort. And I fear… we’ll have to get weeding.”
“Captain, can you really call it weeding when it’s about a forest?”
“What, do you want to call it ‘deforesting a fort’ or what?”
“...”

That sounded ridiculous, too.

“Anyway, semantics aside, there’s going to be a lot of work, it seems…”

That sure seemed like it was the case.

“Can’t change that. We’ll need to send some people to… find the fort, for now. There are surely old paths we can find.”
“Cap, you might wanna think about that back at the camp.”
“... You’re right. I did promise we’d take a look at the market, didn’t I?”

With a wry smile on his lips, Korwen turned around, clapping his hands once as if to dispel the gloomy atmosphere.

“Let’s take a look, shall we? No point in fretting over something we can’t change anyway. Could be worse.”
“Nn.”
“That’s better, Cap!”

Taddick laughed heartily while slapping Korwen on the back. It looked—and sounded—like it’d really hurt but as expected of Korwen, he didn’t budge.

“Let’s get going. We’re lucky the talks ended so quickly.The market’s still lively and maybe we can find something nice for dinner.”
“Ohhh? We can buy something?”
“From your own money.”
“...”

Ahh, and here I was hoping…

“Well, next time. Let me treat you for today.”
“Ohh!”
“What, really, Cap?!”
“You pay for your own share, Taddick.”
“Tsk.”

With Korwen in the lead, we went off to the market and the nearest stalls in order to look for something nice. Walking down the stalls and looking at what each of them had to offer… I noticed… there was… a lot of fish.

“Hey, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“What kind of fish is that?”
“I don’t know.”

There was a lot of fish. And I had no idea what kind of fish this even was. The one I was looking at was large. Longer than my entire arm, with deep red scales and huge teeth in its mouth.

“That’s a Red Devil, little lady. A real treat of a fish! You won’t come by another specimen as splendid as this one! How about it? Only four silver!”
“I think we’re good. Let’s go, Yumi.”
“Ohhh…”

Karen grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the stall. The stall owner heartily told us to ‘come by whenever’ and promptly lured in his next potential customer.

“Four silver…”
“Sis…”

Well, I had to admit, that… was a lot of money for a fish.

“What’s going on?”
“Well, Captain…”

Seeing Karen’s blank stare accompanied by her muttering, Korwen, who hadn’t seen what happened, asked me about it. After a quick explanation, he only laughed.

“What, that’s all? Fish is expensive, after all!”
“I don’t think that’s funny.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be if you had actually paid.”
“Huh?”

Why wouldn’t that be funny?

“Take a look. Taddick, come.”

With that, Korwen went back the way we came, to the stall we had been at. Karen and I waited a little away, just far enough to be still in earshot.

“Hey, mister, that’s some nice fish you got there.”
“Ohh! Good sir, you got a keen eye! That’s a Red Devil! A beautiful specimen isn’t it?”
“It sure is. Haven’t seen one this good in a while.”
“Oh, good sir, are you two new sailors?”
“No, not quite. But I have come around my share of fish before.”

The two conversed quite happily, but there was a bit of a change in expression when Korwen mentioned he knew about fish. I just couldn’t quite place what it was.

“Then you surely know how rare of a find a Red Devil this beautiful is, good sir. So, how about it? Want to buy it? As you know, buying here on the market is a lot cheaper than from the merchants! And you won’t come a fine one such as this any time soon again.”
“Mmm, I’m not sure. Depends. How much?”
“Well, just for you good, good sir, how about eighty bronze?”

What?!

“Eighty, huh… Still seems a little much, doesn’t it?”
“Ha! Guess I can’t trick a man like you, good sir! Sixty!”
“Sixty it is, then.”
“Thanks for your patronage!”

The stall owner took the fish, wrapped it up in something and then handed it to Korwen, who handed him the money. After saying their goodbyes, Korwen came back to us, newly acquired fish in hand.

“And that’s how you do it.”
“”...””

We could only stare at him in disbelief… It was… completely different from what had happened to us.

“... Captain… How… Why...”
“Hahaha! He tried to trick you girls, that’s all.”
“Eh?”
“Two young pretty girls at the fish market. You’re easy prey for the people here. That’s all.”
“...”

So, he nearly tricked us into paying way more than the actual price…

“Admittedly, four silver would be about the right price if you bought the fish from merchants outside this town. But these people sell only to the locals and fish is a staple food for them. Sixty bronze for a fish is already a luxury.”
“I see…”

Somehow, I couldn’t even be mad. Korwen got the fish in such a simple way, it was… it was just ridiculous.

“I recommend only accompanying someone who knows his way around when coming to the market. At least, until you two know your fish enough not to be tricked.”
“We’ll take it to heart…”
“Nn…”
“Don’t get disheartened. He would have tried to trick me as well. Well, he more or less did, actually. I bet that even sixty is a little over its market price.”

It was still a world’s difference compared to four whole silver.

“But to think that the captain even knows about fish…”
“Mm? I don’t, though.”
“... Eh?”
“I have no clue about the market price of fish. But I do know about how to deal with sellers like that. And I do know what kind of fish there is, of course. But that’s all.”

So, despite knowing nearly nothing just like us, he got it for… a fraction of the price.

“As long as you give them the impression that you know your stuff, they won’t trick you that quickly. See, the moment he heard I knew about fish he lost all interest in trying to advertise the fish to me.”
“Oh…”
“Of course, it did help that we could be mistaken for sailors. Anyway, we got some good fish. I heard Red Devil is quite good. Look forward to it.”
“... Nn. We will.”

That wasn’t something we could change, though.

While it was a little disappointing to see that we were nearly tricked, the end result had given us a nice dinner. All’s well that ends well, or something like that.

“Now then, let’s keep going and see what else we can find.”
“Nn.”

Korwen ahead, we continued our path down the market, through the myriads of stalls. Having learnt my lesson this time, I didn’t blatantly ask about what fish they were. Instead…

“Captain, what’s that?”
“That’s… a Thunder Eel.”

The fish sure looked like an eel… It probably was. Just… way longer than any eel I could remember.

“They’re quite delicious, too.”
“I see. And that one?”

Pointing at the next fish, I asked him. It was a small brown fish.

“That… A Brownling. Relatively common but good tasting. Also quite affordable.”
“Is that another way of saying it’s cheap?”
“It is.”

For someone claiming he had no idea about the market price…

Oh well, I didn’t expect anything less from our captain.

We continued walking down the market stalls, with Korwen answering most of our questions. There were a few he had no clue about but most of the time, he at least knew their name. Even Taddick joined in asking whenever he encountered something he hadn’t seen before.

“I feel like I’m chaperoning three kids…”
“Hey, Cap, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said, Taddick.”
“Want to carry these yourself then?”
“No.”

Over Taddick’s shoulder, he had slung a large bag, filled with our spoils. Korwen had bought a lot of fish, whatever seemed interesting or whatever he knew was good. It was too much food for us, of course, so we’d share with the others back at the camp. Still, we could surely say that we had gotten a good harvest out of this trip. A very fruitful… or maybe fishful harvest.