Chapter 24: Welcome to the Southern Town.

Dya and I got up and left quickly without saying a word. We had no desire to attract more attention. And the smell of rotten seafood was enough to make a horse faint.

Without any further troubles we arrived at the Southern Town. Although calling it a town would be a misnomer. A village or even a hamlet would suit this place better.

There were less than 500 dwellings in the town, all of them build near the shoreline. With larger stone buildings in the dead centre of this cramped cluster of wooden huts and stilt houses.

Most of the homes were connected by a network of planks above the water, or simple hanging bridges.

It looked really chaotic and I had no idea where to go in this maze of wood and ropes.

Dya was absolutely giddy: she appeared to be in her element among the common people.

She jumped around, clearly forgetting that she was not wearing underwear, so I swiftly gave her a soft pinch in her rear in order to remind her that her panties were in my pocket.

She blushed a bit and looked around with a swift glance.

After a few seconds of scanning the place out she found what she was looking for; a small canteen in the corner of a central square in front of the stone buildings.

We sat down, and relaxed a little. The waiter came over and asked us what we wanted. I had no idea at this point, so I let Dya order something.

She told the waiter what she wanted to order and with a swift nod he left us to our devices. I sank into my chair.

My heart was still beating loudly and I was sweating profusely. Dya giggled and took off her sandals.

''Relax, Heiro. We are safe here. There are guards everywhere and they will not allow anyone to disturb the peace of this place.''

With a swift motion I took off my sandals as well. Allowing my feet to cool off a bit. The road was warm due to the heat and the leather soles felt like they were boiling.

The waiter returned to us with what appeared to be two glasses of milk. Except it was not milk; it was a sort of dilluted yoghurt with a bit of salt in it.

Normally I am not a salty eater. But I had been sweating a lot, and my guts were still a bit agitated after a fight on a full stomach.

It tasted pretty good and I felt better instantly. Dya noticed that I regained some colour on my cheeks.

She snapped her fingers and the waiter returned. Dya asked him to bring us some sundries. I had no idea what that was, until it was presented to me on a plate: it was an assortement of dried fruits.

I recognized a form of dates and ate one to see if it really was a date.

After tasting the honey like sweetness of the fruit, I concluded that this was a date.

Dya took a date as well and took a small bite from it. And chewed it slowly. I looked at her, she looked at me.

The waiter returned to pick up our empty glasses and presented us with a lemonade-like drink. It smelled a bit like roses, and had a translucent whitish colour.

I took a sip; it had the sweet taste of Litchi berries.

''I feel delighted that you like the food here, Heiro.''

I ate what looked like a fig and looked at the plate before me. Most of the fruits were rather ordinary; raisins, peaches and apricots.

I pondered in silence how these fruits ended up in this place. No fitting answer came up in my head.

Dya's feet had found mine under the table. I looked around, but did not break contact. The people here did not seem to mind much.

Dya's sandals were resting on the wanted posters. It was a smart move of her to take them with her; we had nothing to gain from more unwanted attention.

It came to me that I had no idea how much the bounty was actually worth. Valaea had told me that 7.000 Korees was the price of a slave.

''What is a Koree, Dya?''

I asked her out of curiousity.

Dya giggled a bit, and gestured at the waiter. The waiter came over as fast as he could. And Dya handed him a bunch of seashells.

The waiter counted them in his hand. When he wanted to return a few of them, Dya adamantly refused them.

She said that it was a tip for an excelent service. The waiter thanked her humbly and left with a smile on his face.

Dya gave me a Koree, it appeared to be a white spiral shaped seashell with a pearl-like hue over it.

''Is this the local currency, Dya?''

I said while I gave her the shiny seashell back.

''It is not OUR currency, though. It is the currency of the Underdeep Empire, the realm of the Carapace People.

Paper or metal currency does not work for them underwater. So they collect shells from the sea floor as their currency.

The slugshells do not deteriorate fast underwater. Their currency supply is limited by the reproduction of the Koree snails that produce the shells.

So they are not capable of causing rampant inflation. The rates have been quite stable the last few year.

I think the exchange rate is around 1.200 Koree shells for one gold coin and 20 shells for a silver coin at the moment.''

The idea of mass producing these shells and dumping them on the Underdeep Capital sounded great in my eyes.

A bout of hyperinflation could cripple their economy and cause a lot of civil strife.

''And what kind of currency does the Dolovian Kingdom use, Dyamaetreia?''

I asked with a hint of roguishness in my voice.

Dya bent over the table, giving me some well deserved view of her cleavage, before she took a silver coin from the pocket of her dress:

''For your information, Heironymos, the Dolovian Kingdom does not have currency;

we have money.''

She stuck the silver coin into my pocket next to her silk underwear and winked at me.

''And I want that back tonight, with interest.''