Sly vendors

They split the group into two carriages and made their way through the city. 

It was lively as usual; the drivers were constantly insulting the pedestrians who were often barely paying attention to their surroundings.

Well, that's one thing that feels like home, thought Levi.

They had made a short stop along the way since Aya wanted ice cream, but while Grant protested, everyone else enjoyed stretching their legs.

The city felt agitated, but nothing out of the ordinary, especially considering they were near the entrance. 

More and more people wearing armor and carrying weapons joined the scenery. As they got closer, more shops related to the tower appeared, from tower exports to 'must-needs for adventuring'.

As they got close to the gate leading to the entrance, they pulled to the side of the road and got out.

"Is it far?" asked Levi.

"Not really, five minutes away maybe."

Levi's heart skipped a beat as Aya threw herself on his arm, holding it tightly against her chest.

"Walking is fine, gives us more time to enjoy ourselves," she said with a bright tone.

"Walking will be hard if you hold this tight," said Levi.

"Don't worry about it," simply replied Aya.

Levi nervously laughed, as they started walking, following Thunder's lead. Aya awkwardly held his left arm, while Helian held his robe at the tip of his fingers.

Why do I feel uneasy?

He couldn't see it, but two sets of eyes chock full of daggers were stabbing his back as they progressed up the street.

The walk wasn't horrible, but Levi had difficulty adjusting to the stares the citizens would throw at him because of Aya. 

We're definitely not avoiding rumors this time...

After a couple of minutes, they reached a large public space built in a circle with a fountain in the middle. 

There had to be more than a thousand people around, estimated Levi.

A lot of people walked around. On the outer edges of the circle were various stalls, and on one side an elevated balcony with a symbol that looked like what the ambushers had days prior. 

Aya saw Levi in thought and started explaining what he was looking at.

"The church of the 7, one seat for each of the Gods composing it, arranged as a circle, with the biggest seat for the 'God of the Sun'."

"Let me guess, there's no seat in this symbol for The God of the Depths."

 "None."

Levi sighed, he figured as much. It had been a while since he had last felt her presence. 

He missed her.

"Why not go around?" asked Aya, "That's why we all came anyway, to show you this place."

"Yeah, let's do it," agreed Thunder.

Syllia who was walking behind Levi and Aya also cheered, "Yes! Good idea let's go see!"

Almost overly joyful, she ran forward and grabbed Levi's free hand, pulling him with her toward the stalls and leaving Aya and Helian behind.

As they looked at the various stalls, the group followed them, close behind.

Thunder did his best to converse with Helian, but the dialogue was in the end mostly a monologue.

Aya also tried to converse with Lydia, but her cold exterior made it hard. 

Lydia's tone was neutral, and she barely expressed herself with any emotions, a total shift from how she spoke to Levi usually.

Grant, as usual, enjoyed walking by himself.

"And how about this? And this?" asked Syllia as she pointed at jewelry.

"The best, and they all come from the tower! You have quite the eye, ma'am!" said the vendor.

"I don't know..." said Levi, as he looked at them. 

The vendor's face was clearly annoyed, but he did his best smile trying to convince Syllia rather than Levi.

"Alright, I'll get this one," said Levi.

"Oh, very, veeery good choice sir, your wife will love it."

Levi arched his eyebrows, but couldn't find it in himself to start correcting the merchant. 

But as Syllia wasn't correcting him either, an awkward moment silently established itself.

The merchant gave him the ring he chose. As Syllia was holding her hand out, Levi guessed she expected him to put it on her finger. 

Not overthinking it, he simply grabbed her hand and approached with the ring.

Levi stopped in his movement.

Thunder? What the hell?????

Thunder was behind Syllia, almost doing a dance with his arms that crossed like an 'X' above his head, and then his whole body would point toward the left.

This silent dance he was doing arched Levi's eyebrows, making him squint as he wondered what kind of mental disability had taken Thunder by surprise.

"Is everything alright?" asked Syllia, blushing.

"Y- yeah... I think..."

As Thunder kept dancing, he pointed toward his finger, prompting Levi to look down at the hand he was holding.

Oh no.

Swiftly, Levi who was hovering toward the ring finger moved toward the pinky, sliding the ring down her finger.

Syllia's expression didn't lose its brightness, her smile not fading.

"I'll cherish it," she said, as she jumped in his arms.

He hugged her back, noticing Thunder behind doing a big thumbs up and a wink.

I guess I owe him one.

"Where's my ring? Vendor, what else do you have?" asked Aya who had approached.

"Oh, princess, we have a wide selection, all of these here are worthy of someone such as you," he said while bowing and pointing.

"Levi, give me this one."

"Oooh, goood choice princess," said the vendor.

"It looks expensive, and I've already bought one for Syllia..."

"Ah... I understand..." said Aya, her expression slowly losing a smile.

"Ah, it's okay princess, you'll eventually find someone who will value you enough to get you this remarkable gift," said the vendor with a sweetened tone.

You sly piece of...

Levi could see the vendor's smirk, as Aya turned around, quickly glancing at Levi. "It's okay, don't worry about it," as she started leaving toward the next stall.

Levi approached the vendor, "Give me the damn ring, and just know I'll remember this."

"Thanks for your business, sir, you're an esteemed client," he said with a smile across his face.

"Oh, and this too, and this, and that too."

The vendor followed Levi's finger.

"Ooh, good choices!"

After giving Levi his purchases, the merchant bowed a few times, ecstatic about his sales.

"Aya?"

With a satisfied smile, she turned around and slowly walked back. 

Levi grabbed her hand, not making the same mistake, he directly aimed for the pinky finger as well.

"Here."

"Thank you so much!"

She also jumped into Levi's arms, but as she broke away from the hug, she kissed Levi on the cheek.

Levi couldn't see it, but Syllia had a murderous aura that frightened Thunder and Helian, right behind him.

Aya slowly walked away, contemplating the ring she received.

 "Helian? Thunder?" asked Levi.

As he turned around, he saw them not far behind. 

Reaching them, he reached out with both hands toward them.

"Well, an upside of suddenly getting rich overnight is that I can afford this kind of thing," said Levi.

They both looked at what he was handing them. Levi was surprised, as he expected an over-the-top reaction from Thunder.

Instead, Thunder was silent and his face barely showing happiness.

After a few seconds, he took the bracelet Levi was giving him.

"I'm truly grateful for this gift," said Thunder, in a tone scaringly serious.

Helian to his left also took the bracelet he was handed.

"I don't deserve this..."

Walking up to Grant who was even further behind, Levi also handed him one as well, that was quickly shoved in his pocket.

"Didn't think you'd get me one, but thanks."

Lastly, Levi looked around for Lydia but had a hard time finding her.

"Fuck!"

"Didn't mean to scare you. It looked like you were looking for me," said Lydia.

"Yeah, here."

Lydia's face lit up, a smile rejuvenating her expression.

Levi took a moment to look at her but wasn't too sure. After glancing at her horns he asked, "Is there fine?"

"Of course," she replied while slightly blushing and tilting her head forward.

Levi took his gift and tied it around Lydia's horn. A bell attached to a red string, the exterior was golden, and had a pleasant sound when it rang.

"This way I won't scare you again," she said brightly.

"You don't scare me, you just surprise me," said Levi as he gently patted her head, almost as a reflex.

They joined the rest of the group, as they continued going through each stall.

"What prompted this gifting party?" asked Thunder.

"Well, figured we might as well all share something that would remind us of today."