A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Chapter 108: Groceries for the Hungry Dragoness.

Chapter 108: Groceries for the Hungry Dragoness.

Miss Saori, wouldnt it be too risky for us to leave Lady Hestia at the mansion? I understand signs of [Battle Frenzy] are minimal at most, so we dont have to worry for any accidents, but we are still leaving her alone in a human nobles home, Tasianna stated out of concern while walking beside me in the bustling streets of Firwoods upper district of the commoner half.

You worry too much, Tasianna. Hestia is smart enough to understand not to get involved in political matters of the kingdom, and no aristocrat can force her into their plans without facing diplomatic repercussions. The church is more of a concern, but as long as they cannot pinpoint her location, we have nothing to fear, I explained. It seems House Helvas has a vested interest in keeping Hestias existence hidden from the church, so we can trust Barathans countermeasure to work. Let us stop talking about it and proceed with our own plans.

After officially becoming adventurers by registering at both adventurer guilds and fulfilling our first Quest together, our party was split today. Hestia was helping Ellaine with her magical training as she promised yesterday, while Tasianna and I were exploring the town without her. She pouted and expressed dislike for being excluded, but after I explained to her this was necessary and we had to do it as soon as possible, she relented.

What we needed to do today was to buy food and acquire some work. Yes, House Helvas was sharing their resources with us, but I dislike having to rely on somebody else to survive, especially when it concerns money. Also, I just want to handpick what our party gets to eat, know where the ingredients came from, you know.

While I wasnt sure how long Hestia wanted to stay with Ellaine, the three of us agreed we couldnt stay there for too long. Ellaine will be annoyed, but as we planned to travel the whole world, we had to learn how to be independent in society and that required money.

Through my time as a teacher at a school focused on talented students with rich parents, I knew some of them had a skewed outlook on money. Hestias comment yesterday we can always earn more money, no problem, made me more worried than calm. I understood her argument and while it is true, I still felt the need to ensure a more stable money flow than killing monsters and taking down bandits. Its too dangerous, no matter how much more powerful we will become one day.

That was why Tasianna and I were outside today when we couldve just relaxed. We needed to stay active and make preparations for our partys future.

UrghThere are too many humans around Tasianna complained with an exhausted sigh.

We walked through the upper district, where most of the wealthy commoners lived and worked, and entered the middle district, which was more crowded. As a history student, I absolutely adored the scenery and the architecture of the town as it validated the knowledge Id gained from those thick history books on my professors literature list. Even the slightly advanced mana-fueled streetlights interested me.

It was just after the breakfast bell, so it was rush hour in the district right now. There was a minor rush hour in the upper district, with shop employees commuting to merchant shops, but the one I was in now felt nostalgic. Tasianna hated the crowded environment, but I simply smiled as Tokyos rush hour made me resistant to it. Thankfully, it wasnt as terrible as Tokyos metropolitan areas but, unfortunately, it reeked worse.

I should ask Melia or any beastmen around here about how they are able to survive here. The few at Ellaines estate are too used to the noble district. Urgh, this smell

WinterSun, or January, was freezing and snow was falling from the sky, but that didnt dissuade able-bodied journeymen and women from strapping on a thick coat and marching through the snow-riddled streets. Although I hated having my body covered in fur, it made it easy to endure the cold. Tasianna, on the other hand, was just resistant to it; the perks of an ice mage.

Although I understood the reason for why it wasnt possible, I really wished the towns lord had installed a few of those temperature regulator orbs. Peasant workers were a societys blood, even if it was dominated by a caste system, so it would be smart to support them more.

I can hear complaints, but it seems the general mood of the town is good.

If the economy is still active even during the middle of winter, then a town can continue to act as a hub of commerce and trade, which was a sign of a prosperous settlement. The hunters and mercenary guild were filled with people yesterday too, during both the morning and afternoon rush hours. Marquis Sirius is the lord of Firwood, right? Whatever youre doing, good work.

The streets were filled with journeymen, trained workers who worked for daily wages; children in working garbs, probably apprentices; and housewives who brought their small children with them. We had to push ourselves through all of them to finally reach the crowded and lively main marketplace.

Barathans directions were correct to the point, I praised him in my mind, stuffing the sheet of parchment with directions into my pocket.

Tasianna and I moved through the market, eavesdropping on gossip, haggling, and general chit-chat among the many housewives and merchants. Winter, as expected, had reduced the amount of food sold in the open stalls. There were still stall owners selling homemade crafts, foraged winter fruits and vegetables, and also some even sold cooked monster meat.

Winter might be rough, but the diligent folks of this market were determined to earn any kind of money at all.

Miss Saori, weve been all around the market twice already. Are we buying anything or are we simply observing? Tasianna questioned me with slight confusion.

I shook my head. We are, but before you make a purchase, do some research on what is sold. We might have enough money to buy what we need but I would like to be as frugal as possible. We never know when we will need a large amount, urgently, right?

Looking at me with wonder-filled eyes, Tasianna nodded her head vigorously as she began noting down my words onto her party bracelets notes function. One of the few new features our new party bracelets had, notes worked similarly to a notepad. You could document certain information down and review it whenever you needed to, saving on parchment and paper. Kushlekzars had this feature, but he liked having everything documented on hand instead of digitally.

Opening my own notes to remind myself what we needed to buy, I decided I had listened enough to the markets gossip and went to the first stall.

Excuse me, what are these white fruits? I asked the human stall owner once he was done with his previous customer.

Oh, travelers, I presume? No problem, happy to help if youre planning to buy, ha ha, he joyfully laughed before pointing at a melon-shaped fir cone. We locals call these frost cones. You ladies shouldve seen them fir trees surrounding our town, right? Thats where Firwood came from, after all!

He explained these frost cones are a winter-only fruit, as normal fir cones usually grow during the other seasons. What distinguished them aside from the color and appearance was that frost cones had a sweet-sour tasting liquid inside them and their shells would turn soft like bread after you cooked or baked them.

When I asked him if I could taste it, he winced, looking confused and unwilling. Sighing, I took out a bag of Davi from my storage and showed it to him, telling him I would pay for the taste test but needed to know how good they were before buying in bulk. Aside from looking flabbergasted at the suddenly appearing money pouch, he looked pretty delighted when I told him I was interested in buying.

He was about to take out a tool to open it, but I simply pried the fruit open with my claws. Jeez, you wolfkins he muttered but I ignored the rest. Instead, I took a sip from it and gave Tasianna the rest.

Sweet and sour, yeah, just like a grapefruit. The inner part is fleshy like a citrus fruit but he wasnt kidding when he said the scales were edible. What a strange fruit. Peolynca never fails to surprise me.

A total of 31 frost cones were at display and I bought out his entire stock for 8 Davi per piece. His lips curled up in a smile and thanked me, cheerily saying my family can eat well today! Considering I heard goblin meat was around 15 Davi from Melia, if he didnt mind the stench, his family would be eating some unsalted meat today.

As for the frost cones, I wasnt sure what I would be doing with them. They had potential and the seeds for the fruits were under the scales, so we could always grow them if they proved useful. They needed a cold environment to grow but we had Tasianna for the job; she loved tending to our garden, so she probably wont mind taking care of a tree.

Aside from some more frost cones, whose vendors adamantly tried to sell to us after witnessing how I brought out a whole stall, and some other winter specialties, there wasnt anything I was particularly interested in. Most of the food being sold was dried fruit and salted meat. There were some eggs, milk, and animal feed around, but we didnt need them yet. I still had most of what Id traded for in Carine village.

Moving away from the stalls, our next goal was a grocery shop. Compared to the vendors on the street, these shop owners appeared to have fairly fresh-looking products in abundance. However, what was important was the fact they sold spices.

Entering one of them, I noticed the race of the employees foxian, a fox human. Although I knew Tasiannas book knowledge was outdated, the idea of hostility between humans and any other race was still imprinted in my head, if Earths history was anything to go by. Tasianna mentioned demonkins, but I havent seen a single one since we came to Firwood. I should ask Barathan about this subject.

Welcome, dear customers. I am Zeather, I pray to God Mercurias that we can form a good transaction today, a foxian welcomed us with a smile on his fox-like head.

Mercurias was the God of Mercantilism and Commercialism and was a subordinate god of Zephira. As a foxian, he was one of the few beastman gods, which should make him extremely popular with his race.

Hello, Mister Zeather, we wish to see your spice catalog, please, I told him, and he confirmed with a wide smile before moving behind the counter and taking out two boxes full of spices.

While he did that, I took a look inside the shop. It was a small to medium-sized shop manned by Zeather and another clerk who was checking on the products on display, scribbling something down on a wooden tablet. Aside from the spices we wanted, the store also sold a variety of local fruits, vegetables, and imported goods. The store was humble in appearance, but it had to have been profitable.

Dear customer, please inform Zeather if something catches your eye. Zeather would be happy to help! he said with a small bow.

I looked through the spice catalog, picked some up with my gloved hands, and smelled them. Do you have any fulinoe leaves or parshkey? I recognize a few herbs and spices came from the Belzac forest.

Ahh, we dont sell those tea leaves and herbs, esteemed customer. They are reserved for nobles. Zeather can confirm we received a few of the spices from hunters and herb gatherers who ventured into the Belzac forest, but most of them come from local spice farms, he explained to us, saying Belzac forest herbs and spices were grown at a farm near Firwood. Otherwise, our honored employer imports quality goods from the rest of the kingdom. Of course, we keep everything fresh and safe. Dear customers, you can rest assured, we always deliver the highest quality products. In the name of the merchant guild and God Mercurias.

Miss Saori, I saw some tazlokwheat and beans. Ive also spotted other products on our to-buy list, Tasianna informed me, having roamed through the shop as I was speaking with Zeather.

Mister Zeather, you seem to run a very impressive shop with such a wide variety of goods, I praised him. You mentioned you value quality, so how can you assure the quality of your products? Its in the middle of winter and I can see spring and summer crops inside your shop.

Zeathers smile widened even more, looking prideful as he began explaining everything to me, Those products were grown to the south of Artorias, in a kingdom called Atadoro where winters frost doesnt affect the farmers life too much. We import them before winter to our shop where we store them in our storages to preserve their freshness, eventually selling them to wealthy customers for their winter preparations. Outside of winter, we support the kingdoms farms, of course. Also, if our dear customers ever wish to travel outside the kingdom, I would dissuade you from going to Atadoro. No beastmen can live there in peace.

What do you mean by that? How do you know we arent from Firwood I asked him with curiosity and suspicion.

You have a smell unfamiliar to me and Firwood, so our dear customers must be travelers, and I only wish to look out for our dear customers. A foxians sense of smell is almost as powerful as a wolfkins, if Zeather may be so proud to say, Zeather replied with a waning smile. Unlike in Firwood, slavery and oppression of beastmen is normal in the human ruled Kingdom of Atadoro. If you, our dear customers, are adventurers then please remember to not go to Atadoro. Even the dukedom to the south, the duchy of Lecartiglio, isnt too friendly to beastmen, but they, at least, dont have slavery.

Looking at Tasianna, I saw a tiny bit of smugness in her eyes, telling me I knew my books werent completely wrong! as her hatred for humans was once again ignited. Thank you for the information, I responded. As thanks, how about we talk business. This is what I need, and Ill also take those, those, and those. The whole box, please. I showed him the list of ingredients and products I had in my notes and then pointed at a few other crates.

Zeathers eyes widened in surprise and called over the other foxian. To my surprise, it wasnt a man, but a woman. Compared to Melia who had the face and form of a human with animal features, she reminded me more of my werewolf form. Her whole body reminded me more of a two-legged fox with the height of a small woman, only differentiating herself from Zeather through her build and a large scar across her left eye, which was completely white.

Was his warning based on personal experience?

This is my sister, Quini, she works with me at our honored employers store and handles our inventory, Zeather introduced her, while she gave us a small bow without saying a word. Quini, Ive written down what our dear customers need. Please, check the storage if we have enough. I will take care of the rest of the transaction.

With a small nod, Quini went into the back of the shop.

I knew humans were terrible. Cruel beings Tasianna muttered as she watched the female foxian go.

I will not pry if you do not want to speak about it, but I will once again thank you for warning us, Mister Zeather, I said.

Keeping up his smile, he thanked me for respecting his privacy and encouraged us to forget about it and return to business, as that was our goal here. After getting confirmation from his sister and calculating everything together, the total price for everything was one large silvite and two small silvite, which was 12000 Davi.

Are you kidding me? Thats nearly half of our current funds!

While we could save money by growing and harvesting some spices and seasoning by ourselves, we couldnt do it with vegetables, fruits, and spices like salt. The amount I needed, not to mention Hestias gluttonous appetite, was huge, and Tasianna would need a whole farm to fulfill our calorie requirements. This isnt even including how much the meat would cost.

I wasnt sure how long this supply would last, but it should be enough for a whole week. I needed to gauge our partys food consumption and its costs before seeing where I could save on money.

Hestia could stay relatively healthy with her photosynthesis during mornings and a hearty dinner meal after the sun went down, but I couldnt do that to her. Shes a bit of a picky eater and she has complained how boring it was to only eat solar rays. I had to agree, food was one of lifes greatest things and it would be torture for a growing girl accustomed to eating to suddenly give it up.

If we wanted to retain our current lifestyle, then our party needed to make more money. Just to clarify, I wanted our party to find an alternative source of income aside from hunters and mercenary Quests. While higher-ranked Quests would earn us more money, how often would we find one?

Yesterdays D rank Quest with the skorrs was admittedly underpaid, but its pay range was only around 8000 to 15000 Davi. A higher difficulty quest would pay more, but who knows how much money we have to invest to fulfill it in the first place? We couldnt fight on an empty stomach. Getting a C rank Quest from the hunters guild would be ideal as we could earn money and hopefully acquire some meat with it.

Mister Zeather, we are buying a huge amount of your stock in bulk. This is worthy for an entire household, dont you agree? I hinted to Zeather, who quickly caught on as he was an experienced merchant. We will be staying in Firwood for a while but we have not found a steady supplier for food and spices just yet. Our Lady would be delighted to hear from you and your employer. I then placed a hand on my cheek, showing off Hestias royal seal on my party bracelet. How about 30%? That should be a generous discount.

While Zeather kept a cool faade, not wavering one bit, there was silence between us as he simply smiled for a moment. He was obviously contemplating the seals importance. I wasnt sure if he knew about Kargryxmors religious symbol or the Kargryxian royal familys seal, but I hoped he would understand the formers importance.

I knew Artorias hadnt received contact from Loatryx or Kargryx for years now from my interactions with Ellaine and Barathan. It was unlikely that Zeather could know about it, even if he was an accomplished merchant. Kargryxmors religion just wasnt popular here.

My gamble had a low percentage of success, but it was worth the try.

Hmm, Zeather does not believe dear customer is a liar. God Mercurias says, merchants must be able to judge a persons personality well. It also helps when dear customers party bracelet is obviously one of the newer models.

Wait, he was more interested in the party bracelets worth?

A chance to know dear customers honored mistress would be fine, but 30% is far too much! God Mercurias advocates profit-making, and this would cut too much into it! 5%, Zeather gave a counter-offer, staying steadfast to his wares worth.

Although I understood why he was doing it and didnt want to push him too much, I had to stay greedy to push the price down. 5%? Zeather, that is not a discount, that is taking pity on us! I believe you would want to keep us as customers, so 25%.

Zeather shook his head. I apologize if I insulted, dear customer. However, I believe dear customer will understand the value of our products once they are in your hands. Ice crystals are expensive manatech and our honored employer must spend mana batteries for the transport and storage. Zeather must make sure the shop makes a decent profit. 10%, my final offer, dear customer.

Hes tough, however

Zeather, now that you mentioned mana batteries and ice crystals, you should know the cost to maintain everything, correct? At least, you should know, Miss Quini, I looked over the reserved foxian woman. The amount we ordered should at least fill up a decently sized ice storage, yes? If we buy most of the storage out, that would leave only the leftovers and that you can store in another unit. You now have a free unit you do not have to maintain anymore, reducing costs.

This information was something I got from Barathan. Ellaines mansion used a similar ice storage with a small temperature regulator to keep everything cool inside. It was essentially a magical fridge. Barathan told me he knew stores like these had to have storages to sell imported goods to wealthy families. I thought it was good to know, but I didnt think I could actually use it today!

You do not serve nobles, correct? I returned my focus to Mister Zeather. Your store is not close enough to the upper district, and I have seen larger stores deal with nobles there. You serve merchants and people with enough money to buy your imported goods. However, Mister Zeather, we are currently in the middle of winter and I am sure most houses with the funds to prepare for winter have already done so. If you still have this much inventory to sell to us, then I believe saving costs on a storage unit would be beneficial to you. Instead of hoping for somebody in the future to free it up, why not simply sell it to us and enjoy the possible advantages of our Ladys continued patronage?

Zeathers face turned into a frown, heavily considering my offer. He turned to his sister and began whispering to her. Once his sister nodded and showed him the calculations, he turned back to me with a renewed smile. 17%, that is as much as I can offer you without stretching our profit margins too much, dear customer.

[Mathematician] help, please. 83% from 12000 is 9960. I saved 2040 Davi! Nice! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Wooo!

Sorting through my money pouch, I slammed nine small silvites, nine large coppers, and six medium copper coins on the table. You have yourself a deal! I stretched my hand out and we both shook our hands to finalize the deal.

Zeather then picked up the coins, counted them, and then looked up to us with a confirming smile. May God Mercurias bless this day for we have made a successful transaction. Dear customer, may I know your name?

My name is Saori, this is my friend Tasianna. Pleased to meet you, Mister Zeather, Miss Quini.

May Goddess Zephira bless your travels with a gentle tailwind, Zeather, Quini.

The two foxians returned Tasiannas blessing to her, also showing their respects to Zephira. Zeather then turned back to me. Miss Saori, I must admit, you have defeated Zeather today in this negotiation. You have humbled Zeather today. He bowed to me before looking at me with confusion. However, why do you not have an account at the merchants guild? Coins are nice to feel but dangerous to bring along.

I just learned if a merchant joined the merchants guild or an artisan opened up a store and was a member of one of the many artisan guilds, they could open up a bank account which could be used to exchange money with other merchants and artisans, using party bracelets or IDs.

Zeather didnt know the exact details of how it worked but knew that coin didnt need to be exchanged physically but would instead be safely stored at the guild. They would be able to withdraw and deposit coins whenever they visited the merchants guild as it was international.

I then told Zeather to deliver all the goods to House Helvas mansion. Unlike Hestia, my mana capacity was far too normal to store all the food at once. Taking out and storing items into the storage required mana and storing all these boxes would consume far too much. I would drop unconscious if I tried.

After saying our farewell, we exited the shop. Miss Saori, that was amazing! 17%! I have no idea what that means, but it must be impressive if Mister Zeather gave his approval! How did you do that?!

Adorable.

I patted Tasiannas head, knowing she still hadnt fully adapted to money yet. I will be honest I just tried it out because I saw it on the (TV) once, ha ha ha ha ha! Im only used to using (coupons) and (point cards) to get a discount because my family was poor, but I really wanted to try out haggling once in my life, ha ha ha.

Haggling wasnt a thing in Japan. Sure, some prefectures would have people talking prices down but Yokohamas and Tokyos street markets didnt. If the sign said 1000 yen, then you paid 1000 yen for it. End of the discussion. The only way for you to get a discount was through point cards youd accumulated through continuous patronage or coupons from magazines.

I used to watch these shows where Westerners would go around haggling on street markets like it was such a normal thing, while I just thought What a bunch of stingy assholes. I still found it funny and continued to watch them because I got invested in the host.

I wanted to save money by only buying the essentials and maybe just a few extras for experiments. I wanted to manage our finances well. So, I was tempted by my previous knowledge and tried it out for once. And, wow, was it intoxicating. Such a good feeling. That was nearly a 20% cut! Oh my gosh!

That felt so good!

Anyways, weve secured some food for our hungry mistress. We still need to go to the mercenary guild to look for a job or Quest, and then to the tailor, chef, and alchemy guilds. Lets go Tasianna!

Could we get something to eat, first? This has been a very stressful day.

Sure.

Profile:

Name: Tasianna Marina Silverpond

Level: 50

Race: Wind Elf

Age: 87 Years

Job: Water Mage Level: 0/10

Status:

Health: 1544/1544 Mana: 4244/4244 Strength: 406 Intelligence: 1520 Vitality: 498 Wisdom: 1345 Agility: 1461 Stamina: 1100/1100 Effects: [Elvenized (Major)] Skill Points: 0 (-700) Skill:

Magic skills and related:

[Fairy Magic]

[Arcane Mind Lv. 10] (+1)

[Ice Magic Lv. 4] (+1)

[Water Magic Lv. 10] (+1)

[Torrent Magic Lv. 1] (New)

[Water Amp]

[Water Magic Efficiency] (New)

[Wind Magic Lv. 9] (+3)

[Wind Amp] (New)

[Wind Magic Efficiency] (New)

[Synergists Oath Lv. 2] (New)

[Chant Revocation Lv. 10]

[Silent Casting Lv. 5] (+2)

[Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 2] (+1)

[Mental Stability Lv. 2]

[Mental Warfare Lv. 4] (+1)

[Fluid Cast Lv. 1] (New)

[Continuous Cast Lv. 1] (New)

Senses and movement skills:

[Stealth Lv. 7] (+2)

[Accuracy Correction Lv. 4] (+2)

[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 6] (+1)

[Prediction Lv. 5] (+1)

[Danger Perception Lv. 5] (+1)

[Enhanced Vision Lv. 4] (+1)

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3] (+1)

[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 6] (+2)

[Night Vision Lv. 6]

[Tracking Lv. 1]

[Presence Killer Lv. 4]

[Evasion Lv. 6] (+1)

[Acrobatic Lv. 6] (+1)

[Flight Acceleration Lv. 5] (+1)

[Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 3]

[Concentration Lv. 7] (+1)

Resistance:

[Physical Resistance Lv. 8] (+1)

[Pain Resistance Lv. 7] (+1)

[Poison Resistance Lv. 7] (+2)

[Paralyzation Resistance Lv. 6] (+2)

[Torpor Resistance Lv. 6] (+1)

[Mana Leak Resistance Lv. 1]

[Holy Resistance Lv. 5] (+2)

[Fire Resistance Lv. 8] (+3)

[Water Resistance Lv. 7] (+1)

[Earth Resistance Lv. 5] (+1)

[Wind Resistance Lv. 8] (+2)

[Dark Resistance Lv. 4] (+1)

Stat growth and related:

[Stamina Recovery Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv.6]

[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 5] (+1)

[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 3] (+1)

[Enhanced Stamina Enforcement Lv. 2]

Others:

[Singing Lv. 4]

[Dancing Lv. 3] (+1)

[Identify Blocker Lv. 10]

[Identify Lv. 6] (+1)

[Cooking Lv. 6] (+2)

[Dismantle Lv. 3] (+2)

[Herbalist Lv. 4] (+1)

[Brewing Lv. 4] (+3)

[Battle Mind Lv. 2] (+1)

[Terror Aura Lv. 1]

[Royal Etiquette Lv. 5]

[Elvenize Lv. 10]

[Cryokinesis]

[Telepathy]

Job Skills:

[Water Magic Efficiency]

Spell List:

Custom spells:

[Create Water]

[Greater Create Water]

Ice spells:

[Ice Spike]

[Frozen Shield]

[Icicle Gust]

[Glacial Protection]

Water spells:

[Water Ball

[Water Wall]

[Water Bolt]

[Cleanse]

[Protective Water]

[Droplet Torrent]

[Aqua Prison]

[Aqua Beam]

[Torrential Rain]

Wind spells:

[Wind Bullet]

[Wind Cutter]

[Air Shield]

[Air Shield]

[Wind Slash]

[Swift Winds]

[Wind Blast]

[Featherfall]

Titles:

[Hestias Retainer]