After the lone church in the middle of the craftsmen’s street, we didn’t encounter any other peculiarities. Which wasn’t to say that we didn’t enjoy our stroll. Far from it. Quite a few craftsmen had part of their facilities and workstations outside. Some out of necessity, some because they chose to.

Thanks to that, we could observe more than a few craftsmen at work, which was pretty interesting. It was apparently fairly common for people to watch them since a few tried to sell us their services. Walking around wearing our mercenary clothes might have been a little inconvenient…

Still, we got to watch the craftsmen at work and even talked with some of the more obscure works about their craft. I had never even so much as heard about indigo printing before. The woman who was heading that workshop kindly told us a lot about it and even showed us some of her dyed fabrics. Granted, it was so much that I couldn’t remember even half of it… the only thing that stuck with me was, that the fabrics were pretty with all kinds of cute patterns on them.

And while we were simply strolling down the street, Karen also asked me a lot about my old world in the process and I tried to answer as best as I could, my meagre memory allowing. It was, overall, enjoyable.

There was just one small part that was a little bothersome…

“Come on, lass! Please! I’ll pay you! I’ll pay you twice what you earn now! So please!”
“I already declined once. I have no intention of changing my mind.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do about that?! I’ll even take in your sister! For free!”
“I said no. Excuse us.”
“Wait, don’t leave, lass! Don’t! I need you! Please! Become my apprentice!!!”

It turned out that Wormaz wasn’t the only one who wanted Karen as an apprentice. The blacksmiths in particular were… tenacious. Incredibly so.

“That makes the third one. Sis, you’re popular.”
“I can do without this popularity…”

Karen hurried away, nearly dragging me along as she tried to get away from the begging man. I couldn’t fault her for getting annoyed. It was annoying.

“Is it really that amazing even…?” muttered Karen under her breath.
“For the smiths, it seems to be.”
“...”

Scowling, Karen took a lock of her hair in her hand and rolled it around between her fingers.

“I don’t get it…”
“Neither do I. Maybe it’s something only a smith would understand.”

Seeing how desperate the last one was, there had to be something to it. I could see a relation between her manakin nature and the craft of a smith. The Silver Moon metal—or steel, as I knew it—was a highly sought material. But just her being a manakin didn’t immediately mean that she could create it or anything. She was still doing the daily practice that our magicians had tasked her with, but she wasn’t a full-fledged magician by any means. If she learned under a blacksmith, it would also pretty much bury any chance of her learning more about magic.

“Did nothing like that happen to you before?”
“No, it didn’t…”
“Weird…”

Karen sighed quietly, squeezing my hand. After a few seconds, she smiled suddenly.

“But it does feel a little nice, I have to admit. Even if they are annoying.”
“Hehe, it does, doesn’t it? Even if they are annoying.”
“Mhm, even if they are annoying.”

Being wanted like this was never a bad feeling, after all. If only they could hold back a little…

When all was said and done, though, we had an overall enjoyable stroll through the street. I could understand why this place was recommended to us. In fact, I could see us coming back here.

“I wonder if the captain is going to work with some of the craftsmen here.”
“Mmm… I wonder… We have Wormaz and the others, already.”
“Nn, we do. But they can’t do everything, right? Especially now, with the fort.”

We might have a smith with Wormaz or a leatherworker with Konno—even if they were technically the Black Guards’, I didn’t know the ones from the Dragon Knights— but as far as I knew there were for example no carpenters or masons among them.

“Now that you mention it, that could be.”
“Nn. We might come back here for work.”

I looked down the street we had come from. The craftsmen we had passed by were still busy at work. Here and there some of them were talking with people on the street. Maybe acquaintances, or maybe potential customers. Probably a mix of both.

“So, Yumi, where next?”
“Nn? I wonder…”
“I saw something I requested, now it’s your turn.”
“Uhhh…”

My turn? But I didn’t even really know if there was anything I wanted to see… Honestly, I couldn’t really think of anywhere… We saw the fish market and the craftsmen. We also saw the harbour and watched the fishermen. Apart from that, what did this town even offer? There might be a regular market, but if it was the same as in Lafria, it might be a little late for that already. It was already well into noon.

“Nn… It’d be around lunch now, wouldn’t it?”
“It should be. Want to eat something?”
“Nn, I think that’s a good idea. But… where?”
“Maybe the market?”

Unsurprisingly, Karen had the same idea.

“Do you think they are still open? Isn’t it getting a little late for that?”
“It’s not that late yet, Yumi. They should be still up.”
“Well, if you say so. Then let’s take a look at the market.”
“Okay, let’s.”

With our next destination decided, we left the craftsmen’s street behind.

---

“They’re really still open.”
“See? I told you so.”
“Nn.”

Admittedly, I had been in the wrong. The market was still full of life. In fact, it was so full of life that I was worried if we could even find our way through. There was a massive crowd in front of us.

“This is a little more crowded than I expected, though.”
“It’s even worse than in the capital.”
“Nn.”

The market in Larfas had been crowded, sure, but not this crowded. If you told me there was a festival going on, I would believe you immediately.

“Yumi, make sure you won’t let go of my hand.”
“Nn, I won’t.”

Rather, I moved a little closer to Karen and hugged her arm.

“This was I won’t lose you.”
“... Let’s hope so.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“... Maybe I should just carry you.”
“Please don’t.”

That almost certainly meant she would carry me on her shoulders. While I didn’t exactly hate that, far from it, it would be really embarrassing to do so in the middle of the town.

“Then make sure you won’t let go.”
“Nn.”

With determination raised, the two of us plunged into the crowd.

Yeah, this is worse than a crowded train.

Worst of all, I couldn’t see anything. I was short. Far too short. And Karen was… not all that much taller, actually. I moved as close to Karen as possible, trying to avoid getting pushed around.

“I can’t see anything…”
“Nn, neither can I.”

We tried to move a little to the side, closer to the stalls, but even then it was difficult to see anything.

“Yumi, this won’t work.”
“... Figured.”

Why the heck was it this crowded? This clearly couldn’t be normal, could it? Maybe someth—

“Gyah?!”

My head was forced backwards all of a sudden, and I found myself looking upwards.

“Yumi?! Are you okay?!”
“Ugh… I think someone stepped on my hair…”

This was the worst. It didn’t actually hurt but it was extremely uncomfortable nonetheless. I tried looking around to see if I could find the culprit but it was hopeless. They were long gone. Most likely, whoever it had been hadn’t even noticed it.

“Yumi, excuse me.”
“Nn? Woah?!”

With a serious expression on her face, Karen lifted me up and sat me on her shoulder. I ended up here, after al, huh?

“Oh, I can see!”
“Great. How do we get out of here?”
“Uhhh… Wait a moment… To the left, I think.”
“Okay.”

My ride steered left and waded through the masses. We hadn’t been in the crowd for long so it barely took time for us to leave again.

“This was horrible… Are you okay, Yumi?”
“Nn, I am. And you?”
“I’m fine, too. Wait, I’ll let you down.”

Karen lifted me up from her shoulders and put me down.

“How’s your hair?”
“Nn… Let me see…”

I scooped up my mountain of hair, looking over at the ends. There was a little bit of dirt on it, but other than that, nothing. After patting the dirt away, everything was fine again.

“All good.”
“That’s good to hear.”

Karen looked back to the crowd, frowning all the while.

“I don’t think we can get through that on our own…”
“Nn, I agree.”

In general, I didn’t mind being short. It had its shortcomings, sure, but it also had some good parts about it. This, however, was without a doubt not one of them. It actually made me wish a little that I was taller…

“What do we do now, Yumi? Should we wait until it clears up?”
“If it clears up. Why is it like this in the first place? This is worse than the capital by far…”

I couldn’t help but grumble at the sight of the massive crowd. Frankly, I was looking forward to seeing what kind of food they would sell here. But that’d be impossible now.

“Mhm… Mm? Yumi, look, there are stalls over there.”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”

I looked in the direction Karen pointed at and just as she said, there were a few stalls there that weren’t surrounded by people from all sides. In fact, they seemed fairly… How should I say this? It looked like they had plenty of free time. Now, whether that was a good sign was a different thing altogether…

“I guess we can at least take a look,” I said.

A little sceptical, we made our way to the less popular stalls. As we approached, I could hear the stall owners talking among themselves. Looked like they were so bored they were chatting with each other.

“Nn, do any of them have food?”
“It looks like that one does.”
“Nn? Let’s take a look.”

Sure enough, they sold food. And it was something familiar, even.

“Oh, it’s honey bread.”

The same kind of honey bread I had eaten back in Larfas. What a coincidence.

“Do you want some, Yumi?”
“Nn… I’d be okay with that. What about you?”
“I’m okay with that as well.”

Karen turned to the stall owners—a middle-aged woman— and called out to her.

”Excuse me, could we have two honey breads?”
“Mh? Oh my, what cute customers. Of course, dearie. Are you going to eat here?”
“Huh? Err, Yumi?”
“Nn, that’s fine with me.”
“Then, yes, we will.”
“Good, goo. Then, here you go. Careful, it’s still a little hot.”
“Thank you very much.

With a practised hand, she wrapped the bread in some thin fabric and handed Karen the honey bread.

“Just leave the cloth wrapping when you’re done, and don’t mind getting it dirty. That’s what is there for!”
“Okay…”

After receiving our food, we moved a little to the side, where Karen handed me my bread.

“Ohh, it’s still warm.”
“It is.”
“Nn. Then, let’s eat.”
“Mhm.”

I bit into the honey bread and… it was good. Sweet. Very sweet.

“Nn, it’s delicious.”
“It really is.”

Admittedly, I had my doubts, seeing this part of the market so deserted. But this bread was good. I had to say, what a lucky find we had here.

“This is good. Even if it’s a little expensive.”

I had seen Karen handing the money to the owner when she received the bread. It was a bit more expensive than the honey bread in the capital. Okay, quite a bit more expensive. It wasn’t like we couldn’t afford it, but it was surely not something you could eat on the regular.

“Well… It’s fine, once in a while, right?”
“Nn, it is.”

As I continued to nibble on my bread, I looked over to the crowded part of the market.

“But now I really have to wonder why it’s so crowded over there but not here…”
“Maybe something is happening there, after all.”
“Nn…”

It really was weird, though…

“Excuse me.”
“Mhm? Oh my, is something the matter? Is there a problem with the bread?”
“No, it’s very delicious.”
“My, what a happy thing to hear.”

The lady manning the stall grinned at my praise. It was delicious, so it was only right to tell her.

“I wanted to know why the market is so crowded over there. Is that normal?”
“My, that? You’re not from here, are you? Now that I look at you…”

The woman took a closer look at us, looking a little surprised.

“You wouldn’t happen to be from those mercenaries, would you?”
“We are.”
“My, to think there were such cute mercenaries around.”

She put a hand on her cheek, looking genuinely shocked.

“Ah, you wanted to know about that crowd? If you are new here, I guess you wouldn’t know. They are having a performance today.”
“A performance?”
“Yes. Some youngsters and holding a… play, I think? What was it called again? Old man, what were the youngsters on the plaza doing again?”

After a moment of thought, she turned to her neighbour to ask him instead.

“It’s a play, all right.”
“Oh, so it really was that?”
“Ah.”
“There, you heard him.”
“Huh…”

A play… Now that wasn’t something I expected.

“Isn’t it inconvenient to hold that here at the market? There is no stage here, is there?” asked Karen.
“Mmm… I’m sorry, I’m not very knowledgeable about these things, dearie. I only know they tell some stories once a week and act them out. It’s crowded every week, so they must be doing something right.”

That’s true. With this crowd, they had to be fairly good.

“It’s very enjoyable, though. I’m sure your little sister would enjoy it a lot. It’s very popular with the children, too!”
“I… see…”

Right… it was popular with the children. Well, no need to correct her on my age. Ah.

“Ah.”

My bread… it’s gone.

“Something wrong, Yumi?”
“... It’s already gone.”

Why did it have to be over already? Why couldn’t it last a little longer…

“My, my, you really enjoyed it, didn’t you? Warms this old heart. Here, girlie.”
“Nn?”

The stall owner handed me a small something.

“These last a little longer.”
“Ah, candy? But, isn’t this expensive? Is this all right?”
“Of course, of course! I’m happy you enjoyed my bread so much. Take it as a little thank you!”
“... Thank you very much.”

She had handed me a small yellow candy. It smelled like honey. Grateful as I was, I popped it into my mouth, and immediately a sweet taste spread through my mouth.

“Nn! It’s good!”
“Hahahaha! Is that so, is that so?! That makes this old woman happy!”

The honey candy was delicious. Just like the bread.

“You really have quite a sweet tooth, don’t you, Yumi?”
“... I might.”

I couldn’t help it. What was delicious, was delicious. Simple as that.

In the time I had my exchange with the stall owner, Karen had also finished up her bread.

“Hey, Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Want to take a look at the performance?”
“Nn? Nn…”

The performance… I couldn’t say that I wasn’t interested. It drew a massive crowd, after all.

“But how would we do that? We couldn’t get through the crowd earlier either.”
“Ahh… that is a problem.”
“Nn.”

As much as I wanted to see it, there was no point if we got separated. Or worse. I bet there were pickpockets going through that crowd as well.

“If you want to watch the performance, you can do so from up there.”
“Nn?”

The stall owner joined in and pointed at something a little away from the crowd.

“There’s a large stone there. If you sit on that, you shouldn’t need to fight your way through the crowd. There might be a lot of the children there, though.”
“A rock, huh… Well, if we don’t have to go through that crowd, it might be worth a try. What do you say, Sis?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Nn, great.”

Then, we had our next destination.

“Thank you very much for the tip, miss. And for the candy as well.”
“Don’t mind it, don’t mind it.”

She waved me off as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“We’ll come by again.”
“I’m looking forward to it! You young’uns go and enjoy yourself.”
“Nn, thank you.”

And so, after saying goodbye to the nice lady, Karen and I made our way to the spot she recommended us.

This would be the first time since coming here that I would see a proper play. 

I wonder what kind of play they are having. I’m looking forward to it. Nn, I am.