At the Northern Fort

Volume 2 - Ch 15

"Wow, there really are a lot of people."

As I walked while looking around, it seemed like it wouldn't be long before I bumped into someone.

Gouda town was lively, and the main street had all sorts of shops and stands lined up side by side, but there weren't any high class stores that would make you hesitate to enter. Overall, the street gave a friendly impression.

Even the jewellery and weapon stores were in slightly dirty-looking buildings, with kindly-looking uncles and aunties doing business inside.

The people walking by wore things like casual wear and travelling clothes, and there weren't any noblewomen-looking people wearing dresses and a wide-brimmed hat.

"Oh, how cute."

As I walked together with Kugalg, watching out so as to not crash into other people's legs, a young woman called out to us.

"But is it just the two of you? Are you lost?"

"No, we're not. We're on an errand."

I'll just leave it at 'our parents sent us on a shopping errand'.

"Even though you're so little? That's amazing."

After being commended, my mood rose as I giggled, "Ufufu" and pulled Kugalg's hand, advancing through the market. My tail made rustling noises underneath the raincoat. Don't go moving now, tail.

As we passed in front of a noticeably busy bakery, I said, "Excuse us" while weaving through the adults' legs. When they turned around to look after noticing us, they let out cheerful laughter.

"That's quite the interesting look."

"The hood has ears attached to it!"

I reported to the cheerily laughing adults, "We're going shopping now" of my own accord.

Why, you ask? Because I want to be praised.

"Just the two of you? Wow, how admirable."

After obtaining the expected praise, I was satisfied and nodded.

"Be careful, okay?"

Waving my hand at the big sister that called out to us last, I continued forward together with Kugalg. Incidentally, Kugalg hadn't said a single word for a while now. His shy side was on display as he kept his face turned away.

"Say, what do you wanna buy, Kugalg?"

When I said that while tugging on our held hands, Kugalg finally looked my way.

"What do you mean by 'buy'?"

"Using the money we received today, we're going to buy things here. We can't buy anything of a greater 'value' than the money we have, so we can't exactly buy anything either though."

"Hmmm."

Kugalg also appeared to develop an interest in the market, as he was looking around restlessly at the stands and stores that were all over the place.

I gave half the money we had to him, so Kugalg should just buy the things that he likes.

And I will buy the things that I like!

"Food, food."

With my unwavering appetite, I began to check the nearby food stands.

A stand that had a sweet scent coming from it appeared to be selling something that resembled cinnamon rolls. A dough that had been rolled into a spiral had sugar icing poured on top of it.

There were also raisin-like objects in it as well, and while it did appear a bit flatter compared to the ones I remember being sold in Japan, I was a bit moved to see that this country also had such a dessert.

But I'm not sure if cinnamon and raisins will suit my currently childish taste buds. Let's pass on this one.

There were also typical sweets like cookies and muffins available, but the other snacks also tantalised my appetite.

A thick sausage inserted in bread that resembled a hot dog, stir-fried minced meat and diced vegetables wrapped up and cooked in a thinly-rolled dough, a tomato sauce that had been boiled with beans and vegetables.

After that, there was also a large and hard-looking cheese, and a mass of salted meat lined up. The stands over there seem to be selling fruits.

"T-That's-……!"

When I saw that stand, I raised my voice.

I found my favourite fruit.

The fruit was called 'legan', and it had a yellowish peel. Both its appearance and taste resembled that of a litchi. It's just that compared to a litchi, it had a more crunchy texture, with small edible black seeds like the ones you'd find in a kiwi.

It wasn't suitable for making jam, but it was a valuable fruit that couldn't be eaten in the current season.

"I'm gonna get that!"

I had Kugalg accompany me as I headed towards that stall. There were several kinds of other fruits lined up at the stall other than the legan, but I had a single goal.

"Legans, please!"

The plump aunty that ran the stall cheerfully responded.

"Oh, what a cute customer. Are you on an errand?"

"Yup! Please give me as much as this will buy."

Legans weren't something that could be easily harvested from all over the place, so it should be a relatively expensive fruit. Even when it was in season, it rarely appeared in my meals.

That's why, in order not to be told that I didn't have enough, I gave the stall aunty all the money I had.

Even if one of these coins only had the same approximate value as a 10-yen coin, with all of these coins I should be able to buy a tummy's worth of fruit.

After the aunty counted the money that I presented with both hands-

"Alright, give me a moment."

-she took out a large brown paper bag.

Then, she used a small shovel-like tool to scoop up the legans and put them into the paper bag.

One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops……

Huh? It can buy that much?

"Milfee, you're buying a lot, huh."

Kugalg said leisurely behind me, but I really should have just asked to buy enough to fill the palms of my hands.

Somehow a bit of cold sweat has started to leak out.

You're still going on? That's enough, you know?

It really is…um…a little much……

"Alright, thanks for the business!"

In the end, the aunty finally stopped once the paper bag was completely filled with legans.

The money that I gave her was probably quite a large amount for a young child.

Seeing me stagger when I received the large paper bag, Kugalg instead carried it in my place.

He couldn't carry it unless he used both hands, so he became unable to see with the bag covering the entire upper half of his body.

"T-Thanks……"

I gave my thanks to the aunty with a haggard expression and left the stall.

Even though I had been planning on eating the sweet and juicy legans as soon as I bought them, seeing such a large amount of them made me lose my appetite.

"So, have you decided what you want, Kugalg?"

I collected myself and asked.

Being unable to see what was ahead of him, Kugalg walked with slightly uncertain steps, but he nodded and said, "Over there" as he headed for a nearby stall.

It appears he found something that interested him before I knew it.

The stall that we arrived at had a variety of ornaments placed atop a cloth that was laid out directly on the ground, including bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.

They were luxurious accessories made of precious metals and jewels, but instead had a more warm design, being made with leather and rocks native to this region.

If it's something like this, then even we'll be able to afford it! -I thought to myself briefly, excited. But after seeing Kugalg taking a moment to place the large paper bag on the ground for the time being, I returned to reality.

I had spent all my money on buying way more legans than I needed.

Rather than something that'll disappear as I eat them, I should've bought something like these kinds of accessories instead. I regretted my purchase a little.

But it's fine! Legans are delicious, so it's fine!