Book 2 - Chapter 73

Here we are once again on the east port of the Western continent. Rose and I love coming here as the food served here are extremely delicious as everything is fresh and cheap. This is the first time Daisy visits here and she is certainly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people in this port. She usually runs around exploring things that interest her while I follow after her from behind. However, she was grabbing my hand tightly this time. I guess she is smart enough to realised that if she were to get lost here, it would be extremely troublesome to search for her in this crowd.

We followed after Rose as she walked around looking for things to buy. The only thing that interest me are trinkets with special attributes. It is exceedingly rare to find. I had hoped to be able to meet that mysterious merchant once again as that Constitution ring that I bought for Rose was the only special trinket that I managed to buy throughout my entire lifetime.

We had already booked our tickets to the Eastern continent so we were just spending time until the departure time arrives. We are not going to City of Underwater Marrydia so there were plenty of ships heading towards the East for trading or transportation. We still have plenty of time to burn before the boarding time arrives. I made sure to wind up my watch to ensure that it is fully juiced up. Wouldn't want to be late again.

I told Rose that we should probably take our lunch first before we ran out of time. I don't want to be late again like the previous time. She nodded and we proceeded to look for a place to have our meal. As we were walking, my eyes kept staring at hidden alleyways to look for that mysterious merchant. It is not like I never tried searching for trinkets at other stores or merchants or such but none of them had special attributes. I just wish I can meet that merchant again. Damn it, it is turning into an obsession now.

We stumbled upon a tavern that looked nostalgic to me despite it is my first time seeing it. Why does this seems so.. familiar? I did not even realised I was crying until Rose pointed out to me. Why am I crying when I see this rustic looking wooden building? This is the first time I am seeing it.

We checked out the menu they had provided outside of the building. The moment I saw the word 'oyakodon', my mind and heart was set. We must eat here. Rose was surprised that I made my decision so quickly when they had not even browse through the second page of the menu. I told them we must give it a try here and she gave the okay after she seeing something in the menu that she was willing to try.

I peeked out to the alleyway out of habit and did a double take when I thought my eyes was deceiving me. It was definitely that hooded mysterious merchant that sold me that ring a long time ago! I told Rose to head in first and order my meal for me. I ran to the merchant just in case he mysteriously disappears on me again.

I panted when I reached him and he greeted me with a "Hello stranger". 

"You're a hard man to find. I've been searching for you all over the port," I told him as I continued to pant.

Why am I panting so hard when I just ran for such a short distance?

"All my wares are in tip-top shape," he opened his cloak to expose all the items he is selling.

Woah, there is certainly a lot of jewelries and valuables on sale. All of them looked expensive as they are covered in shiny gems. From ornate necklaces to clocks and fancy masks, who the hell is supplying this merchant with all these fancy jewelries?! There is even a crown covered in 5 different types of valuable gems!

"None of these seems to have special attributes on them, don't you have any trinkets with attributes that you sold to me last time?" I asked him.

"Hmm, those don't come in stock easily. How's about a lipstick or some makeup instead?" he started showing me some weird items now.

"Um.. no thanks. Those looked used and I highly doubt Rose will appreciate that," I looked at it with disgust.

After browsing a few items more, I sighed and decided to call it quits. And here I thought after finally finding the mysterious merchant that sold me the Ring of Constitution previously would have something on sale after so many years. I told him as there is nothing of interest to me so I'll be leaving.

"W.. wait!" shouted the merchant.

"I might have something that may interest you," he continued.

He reached into his hood and started fiddling something. He took out what looked like a simple emerald looking earring that looked basic in design.

"Are you trying to sell me your worn earring? I don't really have interest in used items," I squinted at him.

"This ere is an Earring of Constitution. It only comes with a single piece," he explained.

"Wow.. you're willing to sell me something this valuable that you are wearing? How much are you planning to sell?" I asked him.

"Five gold coins," he said.

"Y.. you're selling me a used earring for 5 gold coins? You sold me a brand new ring at 4 previously. Are you for real?" I asked him with disbelieve.

"Do you want it or not?" He made a pissed off remark.

"Of… Of course I want it. It's just that.. I don't wear earrings so none of my ears are pierced. I don't think I can test it out currently. Do you mind waiting while I ask for my wife to come over? She is just inside this building right now." I told him as I pointed at the tavern at the side of us.

"If you go inside, I will disappear from your life. This is your only chance," he warned.

"I offer free ear piercing service, don't you worry," he continued.

Wearing an earring that is unsterilised and worn, is that even hygienic? Will I be safe wearing it in the first place? I guess I don't have a choice if I wish to confirm that this earring is in fact legit. 

I sighed loudly and I surrender myself to him. He asked me which ear and I told him left. He took out a needle and jab it into my ear lobe. OUCH! That freaking hurts! My face grimaced in pain when he took out the needle and push the earring into the lobe. 

"There you are, good as new," he said.

I can feel blood dripping from my lobe but I acted tough and smiled awkwardly at him. I quickly took out a stats scroll to check on the attributes of the earring. W.. wow. It added +10 to constitution all by itself. Just 5 gold coins for this? It felt like a steal to me despite being a used trinket. No wonder he was reluctant to sell this in the first place. I quickly passed him the gold coins to complete our transaction and bowed in thanks to him which he replied "Don't get yourself killed now, haha" and disappeared into the crowd.

I made my way into the tavern where a lady greeted me. She asked me if I was alone and would like a table for one but I told her that my wife and daughter should be inside waiting for me. She nodded and guided me, seemingly knowing who I was referring to. As I followed after her, there was a singer singing some song to lighten the mood of the tavern. I did not recognise what language she was singing in as it sounded human language but it somehow sounded weird. It sounded something about "Ken Lee, tolibu dibu douchoo~". Pleasant to hear but feels weird when you start noticing what she is actually singing. And who the hell is Ken Lee anyway?

I reached the table where Rose and Daisy was seated. It would seemed that Rose had ordered hamburg steaks while Daisy ordered omurice. 

"White angel-sama, your husband is here," announced the keeper. 

"Thank you so much," Rose replied.

Geez, how many people actually recognise Rose over my title. I feel so inferior to her. And the keeper even called her "sama".

Rose smiled to me at first but instantly started squinting at me. I know where she is focusing on. I sat next to Daisy who was munching on her omurice. She turned to look at me at first but immediately did a double take and squinted her vision on my left ear. I tried to play it off by giving thanks to my meal and started eating. Both of them continued squinting their vision at my left ear.

"Zen? You do realised your ear is still bleeding due to the earring that you are wearing, right?" asked Rose.

"Oh, it's still bleeding? I thought it had dried off by now," I touched my ear lobe and it somehow had more blood than I thought it would.

"Are you trying to be fashionable? Why are you wearing an earring, not to mention only on one side?" she asked me with a confused look.

"Remember the merchant that sold us the Ring of Constitution previously? I managed to persuade him to sell me this earring that he was wearing," I replied with an excited tone and smiled.

"Why didn't you call for me instead of getting your own ear pierced?" she asked.

"He was threatening to leave so I didn't really have much of a choice. I needed to confirm that the earring was in fact legit before I made the purchase," I shrugged.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Rose continued eating. But before the food reached her mouth, she someone realised something and placed down her fork.

"Did you say that he was wearing that earring?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," I confirmed.

"D.. did he sterilise it properly before you wore it?" she gave a worried look.

"Um.. no?" I shrugged.

"Oh my gosh, that is so gross!! Take it off, take it off right now! And wash those blood off your ears. With soap. Go, do it now before you get an infection," warned Rose.

After hearing the word infection, I immediately took it off and handed it to her. Ugh, my ear lobe still hurts currently. I quickly head into the washroom to wash off my blood and wound.

***

Finally, I can eat in peace now. My ear feels better after washing even though it was still stinging a little. I noticed Rose had submerged my earring into a glass of hot water. I even saw her sprinkling some salt into it for safety measures.

I started eating as I was hungry. The bowl in front of me was called oyakodon. The whole family of chicken is here from the egg to the meat. I took a scoop and to my surprise, there was soft rice inside. I thought rice in this world was mostly large and hard. I took a bite and it was bloody delicious. I swore I ate something like this before a long time ago but that is just not possible. My head was starting to hurt as I am seeing vision of myself eating oyakodon somewhere that I had never seen before. I started sobbing as I ate and placed my left hand on my forehead to hold off the pain.

"Zen, are you alright? You're crying again," asked Rose with a worried look.

"I.. I'm fine. It's just so good," I assured her as I did not want her to worry that my headache had returned.

We finished our meal and was pleasantly surprised by it. We will definitely be coming back to this tavern on our return trip. Daisy was asking Rose to cook for her such meal at home but we do not have soft rice like this being sold in the stores back in the city, so it was just not possible to make rice meal at home. Unless, we are able to buy uncooked rice from one of the stores here.

Rose took out the submerged earring and wiped it dry. She then proceeded to rub my ear with an ice cube and pierced the earring back into my ear lobe. I gripped the edge of the table expecting a ton of pain but to my surprise, there was barely any. 

"There, feel better?" she asked with a smile.

"Definitely. There was barely any pain at all," I said and gave her a smooch on her lips.

Daisy flinched and looked away when the both of us flirted with one another. Not too long ago she was always happy to see us acting all lovey-dovey. Guess she had matured a little when she stayed with Daffodil alone. Or did she saw something forbidden between Daffodil and John that made her act this way?

It was almost time for us to depart to the boarding area of the ship that we will be taking. A pocket watch really comes in handy at times like this for being able to keep track of time. I paid for our lunch and told the keeper to never close this shop no matter what as I will be visiting it often. She smiled and bowed in thanks as we exited the tavern.

***

Finally, we made it to the Eastern continent. Boy, was it hard taking care of Daisy as she was seasick throughout the journey. Rose had to cast mind fortification on her every once in a while to stabilise her. So glad we are not going underwater or that would had been worse for her.

The journey was relatively smooth sailing. We avoided the giant whirlpool in the middle of the ocean and headed directly east until we see land. It took about 3 days to reach here and I am glad that the captain did not suddenly disappear on us unlike the previous boat trip that I had with the Northern continent. As long as I make it to my destination safe and sound, it is a 5-star rating for me.

We disembarked from the ship and began looking for a place to stay for who knows how long we'll be here. While we are technically allowed to stay at the free accommodation provided for Peter's pupils, we preferred somewhere with more privacy since we brought Daisy along.

I just realised that I had not described this continent properly. At first glance, this place is like a desert with barely anything worth living in. But through the mind of Peter Borage, he made it worked. While all we see is a barren wasteland filled with nothing but sands, he saw a continent filled with important resources. From gems to precious minerals and the recent discovery of black oil that seems to burn with intense heat. There is just an endless sea of resources hidden underneath all those sands.

Through all his hard work, the City of Heliotrope Ixia was built from the ground up. Despite this continent being inhospitable on its own, the city is thriving with beings from all over the world. No water readily available? They made a huge reservoir that can retain water from the heat. What is readily available in this continent is heat from the sun and plenty of salt water. So, what they did was use to heat to convert it into energy which in turn, boils salt water into purified water. Of course they add in some minerals in after that, otherwise we would had died from lacking in minerals. Hard water is better tasting than soft water after all.

What's next? Hot weather? Nothing a little heat energy to convert salt water into ice and using them to cool the interiors of the buildings. Food and crops comes next. All you need is doing some importing from the west and all is good to go. With clever use of greenhouses, ice to cool the temperature and fertile soils from the west, crops and farm animals started growing healthily here. All in all, this city is thriving despite its circumstances.

I asked Rose on where she wanted to stay this time around. She turned and made a smirk at me. Oh no, I know what that means. I was joking the last time we were here.

"Rose, we don't even know how long we'll be staying here. Are you for real? That place is not cheap," I told her.

"Oh, don't worry. We just stay there a couple of days to get the feel of it then we can swap to something else. Who asked you to pique my interest the previous time? I'll pay for the accommodation," she said.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you pay," I declared.

"It's fine, Zen. My money is your money anyway," she chuckled.

Wow.. what a way to put it. While it's true that her source of income comes from me nowadays as she had been taking care of Daisy at home, she did not have to make it sound so.. wrong. 

We proceeded to head towards the fancy tavern in question but met some sort of performance on the way. Hang on, it's not a performance. It is just someone showing off and asking people to bet on them. I ignored it until I heard the word "tournament". Now that piqued my interest.

I nudged Rose about joining the tournament as an outsider. She told me to get my priorities straight and focus on meeting Peter directly. I told her what would be better than giving a surprise to our sensei by winning the tournament? And besides, I am tempted to test the limits of my powers so far. What better way to find out when fighting against strong people? Heh heh.

She resigned to my request and headed towards the registration counter. Once again I used my fake undercover name, Soong Jean-Wuu to register myself.

"W.. what, hey! I wanna use an undercover name too," sulked Rose.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" I asked her.

"Um.. Ros.. ita Polaris. Rosita Polaris will be my name," she affirmed herself and told the registration counter her name to register.

"Rose.. I am pretty sure anyone who is even remotely familiar with you is going to realised it is you when they hear that name," I chuckled.

"W.. well, I wanted an undercover name so I'll live with that," she puffed out her cheeks.

I guess we had registered now and will be joining the tournament which happened to start tomorrow. Definitely going to need a face mask to increase our undercover further. I wonder if there is any worthy opponent that will make it worthwhile. Looking forward to it.