The Merchant [1]

Since arriving in Tallmire there had been little rest for them, Jaafa had left to do his own thing. Once he'd passed them by with a woman fawning on his left. At first Noah wouldn't have thought much about it but as he watched the girl reach her arm around and to Jaafa's coin purse he knew what she was. They'd settled in at a tavern, the Drunken Dragonette, which thankfully wasn't run by a more than promiscuously homosexual behemoth trying to get into Noah's pants.

Instead this time it was a promiscuously lesbian giant trying to get into Caina's. The girl was fearful of the woman for every second they were there.

Tallmire as it was, was a trading hub for this part of Morea, filled with many bustling stores and market stalls throughout the year that sold many different things from all around such as diamonds from the south in Kaling, and fabric's from the north in Mallibra. There were other stores, empty one long since looking abandoned that Noah learned were once inhabited by Kanyon merchants but since the war started between them they had shut. Any products they did sell now having to go through the other kingdoms before arriving in the stall at a more costly price of course.

Noah glanced around the bustling crowds of farmers and other professions that had all arrived on this day to hopefully make some profit from their hard work over the past few weeks. The sun shimmered hot while a cool breeze swept down bringing with it the faint ivory scent of sugar, salt, and blood. All things he considered for cooking or even for the preserved meats he could see hanging in the distance.

"It's busy." He muttered and went back to work scrubbing down the stall they'd been able to take with a dust old rag. "Don't think I've seen this many men since the tavern back in Alder."

"Makes sense," Liora weakly replied glancing to the scabbing wound over Noah's brow. "Some of the larger farming families were allowed to avoid the draft for increased tallies on the crop. Though, from the looks of things its quieter than the last time I was here." Liora pulled tight an off white piece of fabric, strewing it over the stall table when Noah pulled away and quickly flattened it with several strokes of her hand.

She looked around cautiously then leaned close to Noah, "were markets like this where you're from?" she whispered.

"Mostly," he replied in just as hushed a tone, cautious to any listeners that may find themselves displeased with learning where he once came from. "I haven't really been to many though there was always one every tuesday in the city square. A bunch of people would come around, butchers, cheesemakers, fruit importers. Generally anything you could want or need for a lifetime. Really it was more of a tradition than anything. Most people just bought stuff and it would magically arrive on their doorstep in days."

"Magic?" Liora's brow rose inquisitively, "I had heard your world, what was it called again… 'Earth' didn't have magic?"

"It doesn't." His lips curled brightly and he swept a piece of tawny hair back over his head. "It's just a figure of speach. There's this phrase where I'm from that goes, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Looking at things here I can already tell that many of the things I consider normal would be completely incomprehensible to you or even Caina." He looked around for the girl but she was still gone, off collecting the fruits from the carriage with some market handymen, both yet to return.

"Really. Like what?"

He looked to her, saw the intrigue so pure, almost childlike in her eyes and smirked causing her cheeks to flush. "I'd say the biggest thing would be the internet. Take for example this book," he patted his hand atop the almanac, it's cover hidden with a folded piece of fabric, "now imagine this book was one thousand books all rolled into one that I could skim between at a moment notice and when I was finished with them I could instantaneously summon one thousand more in the blink of an eye. That I could even use this book to search for any information that interested me like whether it will rain in three days or if there's a new species of undersea animal discovered just last night in a country halfway across the world. That I could use this very book as well to contact a person across the sea and talk to them face to face with our voices with only a seconds delay and not weeks of waiting for letters to travel and risk disappearing." He paused, observed the gaping doubt Liora now held, "magical, wouldn't you say?"

"It sounds impossible." She retorted.

A clatter from the side drew their attention to a fallen man scrambling to pick up intricate carvings of wood and stone but quickly returned to each other when they saw nothing else interesting.

"It's plenty possible." Noah scratched the fabric covering of the Almanac, "all made possible by these tiny little machines created with every day metals and plastics and whatever else you can think of. Not a single piece of Manos or Ethos around."

"Still." Liora skirted around the stall and to Noah's side clearing the road for others to get past easier. "That sounds far fetched. I've only just heard of magic crystals capable of letting one speak from a kingdoms over. But a sea?"

"Technology can do amazing things Liora." Noah's lips gave a sharp incline as he reminisced. "Oh, should I also mention that all of that works on this little machine just barely bigger than your hand?" his own out reached and flat. "Just a small rectangle that can connect to this boundless wealth of knowledge available to everyone you can think of."

They drew to silence, Liora not knowing what else to say and Noah in much the same predicament.

"Do you… miss your home?" she softly questioned. Feet shifting uncomfortably.

"A bit." It was a weak response, but still he continued. "I miss the internet. That much is for sure but I never really have many connections there. Most all my family ignoring a few cousins had passed away already and I was barely getting by on part times just to pay rent. If anything I'm actually quite glad to have come here." He scratched an itch on his teeth, head drawn to a man bellowing slurs at a woman not far away.

Liora turned confusedly, "why's that? I mean, we have monsters here that will force you down and drain you dry and we have nothing like your internet. I can't imagine this is that great compared to there." Her words now more cautious as the crowd grew in size. The centrefold of the streets still widely clear baring the odd carriage of a salesman come to set up.

Noah's head bobbed side to side like a bobblehead, "honestly?" he inclined her way, "I haven't been here long enough to say whether I prefer it or not. Not having the internet while yes, isn't that great. I don't really mind… the, uh, monsters." He tilted his gaze away, awkwardly fumbling with his words and drawing the thoroughly baffled Liora.

This surprised her, "what do you mean you don't mind the monsters. They're monsters they eat people alive. Drain them dry of energy and turn them into monsters as well. I would think living in a world without them would be a godsend."

When you live in a world where they exist maybe. He thought. "Thing is. On my world out monsters are more… monstrous… I'd guess you'd say. They don't look like women, well, not all of them. But a vast, vast majority of them are just that. Monsters. Big dragons, giant snakes. Squids that come out and destroy passing ships for some reason or another. Not bee's that look like young women or wolves that look like bronze goddesses who cosplay as wolf girls."

A blank look took to Liora's expression, her eyes deadening as something rose to her mind. A realization some may say. "You like the monsters don't you. As in like, like them."

He flinched for being so easily seen through. "I, well. To a degree? I'm not so fervent as some people were and I can actually hold myself back and think without mini me's influence… mostly… but in all honesty? I can't say I don't like them. Hell, I've fantasized plenty about the idea." Shaking his head he noticed Caina approaching with a small congregation of two young boys behind her, wach carrying a basket of cherries in each hand. "Plus. If you ignore the monster parts they just look like beautiful women. At least from what I've seen."

Rumble quickly passed Liora almost causing her to stumble, Noah's attention was drawn to a horse drawn carriage, though horse was not what was pulling them, not fully at least. It was two centaurs, the lower half muscled and strong with a pale red almost bronze gloss stippled only with a few darker splotches of brown across their backs. From where the horses head would once have been now rose human bodies. One a male of slick tanned skin with sharp muscles and chisseled, determined expression. The other a woman, her body lean and her breasts full. Her nipple bare and pointed with pink. The hair she wore was a similar shade of bronze but tied into a pony tail. Cruelly though they both had large bit gags pressed between their teeth and had blinders keeping their focus forwards. The driver pulled on one rein and tugged back on their left shoulders, their arms both tied behind their backs with leather straps reminiscent of bdsm arm harnesses that locked around the upper arms and kept the lower tied together at the centre of their backs.

Yet they didn't seem displeased. Not in the slightest from how their eyes were hazy and excited and how drool dripped from their chins glossing their chests. Fully accentuating the illustrious curves of the beaten bronze skin of the female.

"Do lots of people have centaurs?" Noah inadvertently found himself questioning.

Liora followed his gaze and frowned darkly at seeing his interested expression. "No." She coldly said, "only the wealthy have them. They're harder to tend to then normal horses and more likely to push you down and have their way with you." Huffing she turned away, marching to meet with Caina and help those boys carry their burdens. Leaving Noah with only the soft whisper of "though you'd like that."

He turned back, eyes wide and mind racing. "Uhh, okay then. I will think about what I said and likely fail to figure out what went wrong."

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Here's the actual chapter.