Chapter 4: A Time of Parting
1
The next day, on the 31st of the blue month, we increased the number of bodyguards to four. That was thanks to both Kamyua Yoshu’s ominous warning, as well as Ai Fa’s opinion that someone had been keeping an eye on us.
The additions were Shin Ruu and a boy from one of the Ruu branch houses who I didn’t know all that well. Unfortunately, the Lea clan head Rau Lea apparently wasn’t someone we could ask so lightly to take up the job.
“Besides, Rau Lea’s got a real short temper anyway. It’s a bit iffy, having him deal with townsfolk, right?” Ludo Ruu chimed in.
If that was Donda Ruu’s opinion too, then I’d have to say he definitely put some thought into it. After all, those folks from the castle seemed like they would exploit any weakness they could get their hands on.
Still, it was uncertain what we even needed to be on guard for with how things stood, so we just had to keep working away at the stalls for the time being.
Plus, I had an additional concern that felt every bit as serious to me as Cyclaeus’s plotting. Naturally, I was thinking about the fact that after today Shumiral would be leaving Genos, and the question of how things stood between him and Vina Ruu.
“How’s your leg doing, Vina Ruu?” I called out from the myamuu giba stall over to the giba burger stall.
“Ah, it’s okay...” was the relaxed reply that came back.
Fortunately, Vina Ruu was back to working with us as of today. Still, her sprained ankle apparently hadn’t fully healed yet, and from what I heard the trip would’ve been difficult for her if we couldn’t provide the wagon for transportation.
But Mia Lea Ruu said they didn’t need to worry about having Vina Ruu around to handle things since there were bodyguards anyway, so it was decided for the time being she should alternate with Reina Ruu on a day-by-day basis.
“Hey, when do you think that easterner’s going to come by?” Lala Ruu whispered as she worked alongside me in the myamuu giba stall.
“I’m not sure. Normally, this would be around when he’d stop by.”
“Ugh, for some reason it’s got me feeling all on edge. It’s not even like he’s asking her to marry him, but for some reason it’s got me all worked up.”
My heart was pounding too, but I wasn’t sure I was feeling the same emotions as Lala Ruu. Wait, what had her feeling like that, anyway? I asked her about it.
“I’ve got no idea! But he seems as serious as if he actually was proposing, right? So that’s just got my heart pounding, somehow,” Lala Ruu stated, bringing her hands to her chest and breathing a sigh. “Vina really should hurry up and get married already, too. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with all this hassle.”
“It really would be difficult for Shumiral and Vina Ruu to get together, huh...?”
“Of course! Actually... I can’t say I really know all that much about it, but they consider it a pretty big deal in town to go changing gods, don’t they?”
“I don’t really know either, but from what I hear, that’s the case.”
“Ah, you didn’t know anything about the four great gods to start with, did you? I still can’t believe that! Anyway, changing your god means cutting ties with your family, right? There’s no way I could do something like that!”
“Mmm, but even if you have to live apart, it’s not like you can’t ever see each other again... Hmm, I still don’t know. I guess it’s not really my place to say, though.”
“You’d have to live apart anyway if you married into any other house, but I’d hate it if Vina had to leave the forest’s edge and wasn’t one of our people anymore,” Lala Ruu replied, her eyebrows drooping a bit as she sucked in her lower lip.
This girl was a tough one, but occasionally she made some pretty cute faces.
“Then could a foreigner marry into the Ruu clan...?”
“Hmm? Why not? Then Vina could stay as part of our family.”
“Ah, that would work?”
“I wouldn’t really mind. And I don’t think my mom would, either. Dad could be tricky, though...”
Donda Ruu, huh?
How did that man feel about this matter, I wondered...
“Well, I guess it’s just not possible after all, though. Even if we took him into our clan, that easterner wouldn’t be able to serve as a hunter, and besides, he’s someone who does business in Genos’s castle town, right? I can’t imagine a guy like that just abandoning his life up till now to marry into the forest’s edge.”
“But personally, you wouldn’t be upset about it?”
“That’s right. I don’t care who Vina marries, as long as they can make her happy.”
Lala Ruu resembled Ludo Ruu not just in terms of her face, but in her way of thinking, too. But, well, her brother had assumed there was a chance Vina Ruu would leave the forest’s edge, and wished for his sister’s happiness even so.
Still, it seems like it’d be difficult for them to get married either way...
An extreme outsider like me could only imagine just how hard it would be to give up your home, friends, family, and very life up till that point in order to marry into the forest’s edge.
But what about the other way around?
Vina Ruu had a yearning to see the world outside of the forest’s edge. Plus, her people worshiped the forest, not any of the four great gods. So in that case, she shouldn’t have any strong objections to switching gods, either.
That still felt like it would be quite difficult even so, though. Even if she personally didn’t have strong objections to the idea, changing gods would mean she couldn’t keep living in western territory... at the forest’s edge.
Shumiral didn’t have any family, and on top of that, he strove hard at his work with the merchant group. From what I could recall, he said that after leaving his homeland of Sym, he would spend nearly a year traveling around towns to the west and north. He couldn’t just leave Vina Ruu all alone in Sym during that time, without so much as a single relative to keep her company.
Then what if they didn’t have kids, and Vina Ruu traveled the world with him...?
No, that didn’t seem realistic either.
Shumiral must have thought all this over himself, which was surely what led to him saying it would be difficult.
Anyway, I guess I’ve just got to hope that Vina Ruu accepts that gift from Shumiral for now...
As I felt a strange sense of ennui, I gave a sigh along with Lala Ruu.
It was then that Ai Fa coldly stated, “You’ve come again...?” It was like she was some kind of gatekeeper.
“Quiet, you! What sort of attitude is that to take with a customer, anyway?”
It was the girl from the south, Diel.
After sticking her tongue out at Ai Fa, she then walked up to the myamuu giba stall with a smile.
“Hey there! I made it out again! I’ll take one please, Asuta.”
“Ah, thanks. Huh...? If you were switching every other day, then shouldn’t you be buying a giba burger today?”
“Hmm? I mean, they’re both tasty, so I’m good with either! And you’re over here, so I went with this one,” Diel said with a smile so bright it made it hard to believe she had been so abusive back when we first met. Meanwhile, Ai Fa crossed her arms and glared out of the corner of her eyes at the girl’s innocent grin.
We had actually opened up to Kamyua Yoshu about this girl yesterday, too. Which meant we told him the circumstances of how she ended up at our stalls, and asked him if there was much of a chance that Cyclaeus had a hand in that.
“Ah, someone related to that merchant group that came from Jeland? Oh, right, the iron sellers that Cyclaeus invited to his manor, yeah? Since they showed up in Genos at a time like this, Melfried of course looked into them. They’re just ordinary merchants, so they wouldn’t be messing with the people of the forest’s edge under Cyclaeus’s orders or anything.”
And so, thanks to those words from Kamyua Yoshu, she was cleared of any suspicions for the time being.
However, the fact remained that she had ties to Cyclaeus, so it really was best to maintain an appropriate distance. And so, I retained a perfectly neutral business smile when facing the girl.
“Ooh, that smells good! Hey, do you think this would heat back up well on a stove?”
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“I wanna have those guys back in the castle town give it a try! They said there was no way giba meat was edible, and they didn’t believe my story at all!”
That statement gave me goosebumps.
“A-Ah, if you let too much time pass, it may end up going bad! And it would be a real problem if that wrecked someone’s stomach. So please don’t go taking my cooking back to the castle town.”
“Huh?! But once I pay you my coins, I’m free to do what I please with it afterwards, right?” Diel asked, her smile giving way to puffed up cheeks.
Thanks to that, I ended up having to hurriedly rack my brain.
“B-But there are a lot of folks around Genos who aren’t too welcoming to the people of the forest’s edge or giba meat. You’re at least aware of that much, right?”
“Hmm? I don’t really pay attention. Isn’t it just that lots of people of the forest’s edge have scary faces, so everyone’s afraid of them?” Diel said while shooting Ai Fa a hateful look.
My clan head fired back with a chilly glare in response.
“It’s not quite that simple. Giba were originally seen as a symbol of calamity, so the people of the forest’s edge came to be seen the same way because they eat meat from the beasts. Um, and also... Since they changed from the southern god to the western one, people don’t really see them as part of the same community, and there hasn’t been a very good relationship between the forest’s edge and the town up till now.”
“What’s with that? That’s just bizarre! It’s been decades since the people of the forest’s edge cast aside Jagar, but they’re still not accepted as comrades?”
I was astounded to hear that she didn’t even know that much.
Still, I guess that made sense for someone from a group of foreigners who only did business in the castle town. Even if they were all citizens of Genos, the people of the forest’s edge and the folks from the castle town pretty much had nothing to do with one another. The one exception was of course Cyclaeus, but I couldn’t see him going out of his way to talk to his business partners about these issues.
Right... It’s not exactly unthinkable for someone from the castle town to go their whole lives without ever seeing anyone from the forest’s edge. I guess to them, the relationship between the folks of the post town and the people of the forest’s edge may just be somebody else’s problem.
This was a new discovery.
But if I brought it up to the people of the forest’s edge, they might not see how it matters.
However, I drew myself back from those thoughts to the problem at hand, and replied to Diel, “At any rate, I can’t even imagine what sort of commotion it would cause if you brought giba cooking into the castle town. We’d like to just keep on doing business without making waves, so could you please reconsider?”
Diel groaned “Ugggh,” for a bit, but eventually she gave a downhearted, “Alright... I just wanted to really leave them speechless. But if that’ll cause you trouble, then I’ll just drop it...”
Somehow, her face reminded me of a puppy with both ears drooping down.
At any rate, I replied, “Thanks,” as I moved the meat and aria to the center of the iron tray. “You just want the one, right? This dish is two red coins, too.”
“Right! I’m starving, so be sure to make it nice and tasty, alright?” Diel retorted, her mood seemingly recovered as she broke out again in a grin.
I felt like I was about to start smiling too in response, only for another customer to arrive and call out, “Hey, long time no see!”
When I turned to look, I found a western girl with long, dark brown hair and a smile just as bright as Diel’s standing there. And with her proportions that were even a match for Vina Ruu on top of that, I immediately identified her as Yumi, from The Westerly Wind.
“Ah, thanks for coming. It really has been some time.”
“I mean, I’ve got work back at the inn too, so it’s not easy to slip out before the sun hits its peak! But I’ve still been coming by every day, you know.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. Thank you so much for your continued patronage.”
Yumi was one of my precious few regulars from the west, along with Dora and Tara. And even though we hadn’t had many chances to see one another lately, I never forgot my gratitude towards her.
Diel wouldn’t go and pick a fight with my western customers too, right...? I thought, worriedly glancing over. She had both hands on the stall’s counter, looking at me like a puppy begging for food. And her companion Labis had already paid Lala Ruu for the dish.
“Ah, sorry! I’ll make it right away, so hold on just a moment.”
“Okay!” Diel replied with a big grin. She really was unmatched with how quickly she shifted her expressions.
But for some reason, Yumi’s smile then drew back as she started looking Diel up and down.
“I’ve never seen you before. Are you one of Asuta’s friends or something?”
“Hmm? I wouldn’t especially say we’re friends or anything,” Diel replied, turning her way and looking puzzled.
Yumi gave a “Hmph,” back while brushing aside her long hair. “Then are you a regular here at this shop? Not that I’ve ever seen a southern girl like you around up till now, though...”
“I guess you could say that. I mean, this is my fourth day in a row coming here, now!”
Not that you paid on that first day, though, I thought to myself with a shrug of my shoulders.
This was no time to just stand here all carefree, though. After all, Yumi was now shooting me a real prickly glare.
“Asuta, what’s going on here...?”
“Huh? Wh-What do you mean?”
“You said that you talk to me all polite because I’m a customer, right?! So in that case, why are you talking to this girl who only showed up four days ago like she’s a friend?!”
Ah, so that was what had earned me Yumi’s wrath?
Now that I thought about it, Yumi had made the same assertion even when it came to young Tara, too. And back then, I had managed to end things without incident by saying that Tara was an acquaintance from before we opened the stalls.
“No, um, you see... I suppose it just sort of ended up that way...”
“What do you mean, it ‘ended up that way?’ That doesn’t explain anything!”
“You’re so noisy. If you came here to buy Asuta’s cooking, then just be quiet and eat already,” Diel nonchalantly stated while biting into the myamuu giba I had handed her.
I couldn’t help but think, You’re one to talk! but I was at least relieved to see she wasn’t getting drawn up in Yumi’s emotional outburst. Apparently when she was dealing with folks from the south or west, she could actually act pretty rationally.
“I’d say there are only two paths left open to you right now, Asuta...” Yumi stated, clearly in quite a nasty mood. And as she angrily glared at me, she held up two of her slender fingers and thrust them in front of my face. “Either you do something about that stiff and stuffy way you talk to me, or you treat all your customers the same. Which one will you choose, Asuta?”
“Umm... I’ve been doing business for over a month now, so revising the way I speak at this point would prove quite difficult...”
“Wait, you’re not going to go acting all formal with me now, are you?” Diel asked with an angelic grin. It was just such a carefree smile that it hurt just imagining whether she’d get angry or cry if I betrayed those expectations.
And so, I had no choice but to reply, “No, I’m not,” only for Yumi to wail, “No fair! Why do you keep picking just on me?! I’ve known you way longer!”
“Stop shouting, or you’ll get the guards called on you for interfering with business,” Diel said with a satisfied grin as she stuffed her cheeks with myamuu giba. I couldn’t help but sigh, but I took care so that Yumi wouldn’t notice.
It was around then that I finally picked up on the chilly glare drilling into my right cheek.
When I turned to look, I found that sure enough, it was my beloved clan head staring at me out of the corner of her eyes.
I tried asking with my eyes why she was angry, but she shot me back a look that said, “Quiet, you.”
That sort of borderline telepathy served as proof that the bond between us members of the Fa clan had reached max level.
“Umm... I don’t believe I’ll be able to make the change all at once, but I’ll try to work towards it, so could we end things peacefully for now...?” I asked, hoping to settle the matter, only for Yumi to bring her face in close with her eyebrows still raised.
“Are you really, honestly going to work on it...?”
“Yes... Er, yup. Well, at least where possible...”
Upon hearing that, Yumi gave a big sigh, then slapped down her two red coins.
“Thank you so much for... Er, thanks as always...”
“It doesn’t seem like you’re trying at all!”
“I-It really is tricky to change so suddenly.”
Still, I guess she’s at least not hitting me like Rau Lea, I thought as I set about preparing the myamuu giba.
“The food’s tasty, and you get all sorts of interesting customers here,” Diel cackled.
Yumi, meanwhile, shot her a sulky glare.
“So, what’s your deal, anyway? It’s rare seeing young women from the south in Genos. Are you part of a merchant group?”
“Yeah. We’re iron sellers from Jeland,” Diel casually replied, tossing the last chunk of her meal into her mouth.
“Iron sellers, huh...? Well, not that it really matters, but why are you dressed like a man?”
“Hmm? I certainly couldn’t imagine walking around the post town in such floofy clothing. Don’t you end up getting targeted by good-for-nothing scoundrels dressed like that?”
“You think I could live here in the post town if I was scared of guys like that? You must’ve had quite the pampered upbringing, huh?” Yumi retorted with arms crossed, looking down upon Diel.
Now that I thought about it, she was actually accompanied by some good-for-nothings back when I first met her. By the way, today she was wearing a narrow wrap for a top, some jangling accessories, and a long skirt that reached from her hips to her ankles, which was a very popular look for folks from the west. And her slender legs could be spied through a slit running down the side of that long skirt, which was quite seductive.
“Well, if that’s the custom for you southerners, then whatever. But you’ve got a cute face, so why not grow out your hair? You’ll get mistaken for a boy looking like that, right?”
Yeah, she was, I thought to myself.
Diel had remained calm and composed up until now, but with that I saw her face turning visibly redder.
“Shut it! The choice to grow it out or keep it short is mine to make, alright?! Don’t go looking down on me just because you’re a little sexy!”
“Wah!” Yumi wailed, letting out an odd yelp.
Of all things, Diel’s right hand had grabbed a hold of Yumi’s ample chest.
After shaking off the girl’s hand, Yumi’s face went bright red as she weakly collapsed to the ground.
“W-W-What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t go scaring me all of a sudden like that!”
“Hmph! So you wouldn’t have a problem if it wasn’t ‘all of a sudden?’ You want me to announce it in advance next time, then?”
Diel was sidling on up towards Yumi, her fingers on both hands curled up like claws.
Yumi, meanwhile, was cradling her own torso and shrinking backwards with a look of bewilderment on her face.
It was then that Ai Fa finally said, “Hey,” and grabbed a hold of Diel’s slender shoulder. “Don’t cause a commotion in front of the stalls. I see you still haven’t learned your lesson at all, southerner.”
Diel turned towards Ai Fa, clearly taken aback.
And though Labis had just stood there out of the way like a shadow up until now, he grabbed the handle of his long sword and approached my clan head.
“Woman of the forest’s edge, remove your hand from Master Diel. If you don’t, I will cut you down...”
“Oh? It seems quite a few of you southerners don’t have much respect for the law...”
Ai Fa didn’t look all that impressed in the least, but she still let go of the girl’s shoulder.
It was then that Diel gave an unrestrained shout of, “Cut it out, Labis!” and then grumbled, “I shouldn’t have done that... Sorry, Asuta.”
“Ah, no...”
“And I’m sorry to you, too. I just lose control when people say stuff about my hair...”
“Y-Your hair...?”
“Because it’s this dirty-looking color, I can’t grow it out and have it look all pretty like yours. If that weren’t the case, then I really wouldn’t ever be mistaken for a man, even when dressed like this...” Diel muttered, then she bit her lip and stopped talking.
Yumi slowly rose to her feet, then walked over towards Diel while guarding her chest.
“I wouldn’t say it’s especially dirty or anything. It’s just a bit uncommon.”
“How can you say that?! It looks like an animal’s fur!” Diel wailed, her face twisting up with sadness as she roughly rustled her hair.
That hair of hers was an unusual, speckled dark brown. And it was true that it had reminded me of a dog or cat or something. But I hadn’t ever thought it was “dirty” in the least.
“I see. Well, people all have their own preferences,” Yumi replied while placing a hand atop Diel’s rustled hair. “I didn’t think it was dirty at all though, which was why I said it would be good to grow it out. Still, if that made you mad, then I’m sorry.”
Diel just silently hung her head. Before long, though, she glanced up at Yumi, who had a truly apologetic look on her face.
“You’re not angry...?”
“Yeah. You just surprised me a bit, there.”
“Ah, I see. It was soft and felt nice, y’know.”
“Don’t go saying stuff like that!” Yumi shouted back, ruffling Diel’s hair even further.
The girl from the south just kept laughing away as she fled from Yumi’s hand, though.
“Sorry again. I’ll go ahead and leave for today. After all, I’ve got work to take care of once the sun hits its peak... Asuta, do you mind if I come again tomorrow?”
“Huh? Ah, of course not.”
“Thanks,” Diel replied, and with that she swiftly departed.
And after shooting Ai Fa one last glare, her companion Labis followed after her.
“What an oddball! But maybe she wasn’t such a bad person after all...” Yumi mumbled with a sigh.
“Are you alright?” I asked, only for her face to go red again for some reason as she hid her chest and shot me a scary look.
“Just hurry up and make mine already! I’ve still got work left, too!”
“Huh? Right, my apologies...”
“Wording!”
“Ah, sorry!”
It was like I was dealing with Mida or something.
Lala Ruu was looking away while stifling a laugh, while Yumi angrily snatched the myamuu giba out of my hand.
“Geez, I came here today to have a serious conversation, but everything got completely out of hand... Hey, Asuta, you sell your cooking to The Great Southern Tree and The Sledgehammer, right?”
“Hmm? Yeah...”
“You tweak the flavors there to meet the tastes of their customers from the south and east, don’t you? But if a westerner like me were to eat one, which would you recommend?”
“Huh? What would the purpose behind that question be, though?”
“You’re not doing that intentionally, are you...?”
“Of course I don’t mean to... Er, I’m not.”
Lala Ruu’s shoulders were trembling, and Yumi gave yet another sigh.
“Apparently a lot of customers from the west have been heading to those two inns, lately. And it seems that was enough to finally make my dad get up off his butt.”
“‘Off his butt...?’ What do you mean?”
“I still don’t know just yet. He might be thinking of trying to have you make food with karon or kimyuus meat rather than giba.”
Yumi’s father was the owner of The Westerly Wind, and he apparently didn’t want anything to do with the people of the forest’s edge or giba. However, he wasn’t a true child of Genos, as he had moved here from another town when he was young. Yumi’s analysis of the situation was that there was no real reason or circumstances behind his prejudice. It was just the result of having lived in the post town for such a long period of time. Her reasoning was that since she had the same sort of opinion about the people of the forest’s edge, and yet she was able to overcome it thanks to our meeting, then he could too.
“Hmm, but there’s no point if I’m not using giba meat. I think I said this before, but my goal in starting this business was more to spread how delicious giba is than to earn coins.”
“Right, I get that. But that stubborn old man of mine said I should go give it a taste to see how skilled you really are. Up till now, he would get angry when my mom or I would sneak out to buy your cooking! That’s amazing, isn’t it?” Yumi said, bringing her face in closer while looking a bit desperate. “The rest would be up to your skills, right? If I can convince him it’ll be tasty, then you could get him to eat your cooking, and then maybe that’ll finally break through that hard head of his! Er... was I being real selfish with my thinking there?”
“Ah, no! You’re definitely right. In fact, I’m super happy just to hear you got him interested.”
If I could sell my giba cooking to an inn both run by and serving westerners, that would be a huge step forward.
If it was possible, I would have liked The Kimyuus’s Tail to be the place I took that step, but I couldn’t exactly let a great opportunity slip away.
Plus, it seems like the evidence from that incident ten years back isn’t being treated as all that important. Once I can be sure that Cyclaeus isn’t keeping an eye on Milano Mas, I should push real hard to get The Kimyuus’s Tail to do business with me, too.
As that thought ran through my head, I went ahead and shot Yumi an earnest smile.
“Thanks. If your dad really does have an interest in my work, then I’ll give it my all to teach him just how delicious giba meat really is, Yumi.”
Yumi’s eyes opened wide.
Was that because of the heat coming off the iron tray from below? I got the feeling that her cheeks were turning a bit red, too.
“What the...? You’re talking to me normally?”
“Ah, yeah, I guess so. I still can’t help but feel a bit self-conscious about it, though.”
“And you remembered my name...?”
“Huh? How bad do you think my memory is?!”
Though with that said, I got the feeling that I really may not have had a chance to say it even once. And that didn’t just go for Yumi. I didn’t really have many opportunities to call Balan or Aldas by name, either.
With a giggle, Yumi pulled back.
“That makes me really happy, somehow...”
“Huh? How, exactly?”
“Never mind! Anyway, which one would you recommend? The Great Southern Tree, or The Sledgehammer?”
“Ah, um, let’s see... I’m planning to change the content of the dishes a bit starting from tomorrow on, but at The Sledgehammer I use a special spice from Sym called chitt seeds, while the dish served at The Great Southern Tree would probably be easier for you to adjust to. By the way, have you ever eaten anything that uses tau oil...?”
“No. That’s a condiment from Jagar, isn’t it? I only know the name.”
“I see. Well, it’s not as peculiar of a taste as chitt seeds, so it should definitely still be easier to eat. But honestly, I only had customers from the east and south in mind when I came up with both dishes.”
“Got it. Well then, I’ll give The Great Southern Tree a try first! I’m really looking forward to it,” Yumi said with a big grin. She looked happier than usual, which I was glad to see. And the fact that a westerner like her was so concerned about me made me even gladder still.
“Thanks. I’ll give it my all not to let this opportunity you’re giving me go to waste.”
“Yeah, good luck! But if I really don’t think it’s tasty, I’ll have to be honest and say so.”
“Right. I look forward to hearing your impressions, Yumi.”
With that, Yumi left with a smile and I breathed a contented sigh.
And then, I felt a stare on my right cheek again. When I turned to look, I found that sure enough, Ai Fa was silently glaring at me.
I asked, “What are you mad about?” with my eyes, and hers shot me back another “Quiet, you.”
Perhaps she wasn’t too fond of this telepathy thing we had going on?
Anyway, while I was thinking that, a tall man in a cloak approached from the north.
This was an eastern customer, but it wasn’t Shumiral or Sanjura. He was easily over 190 centimeters tall, which was rare, even for someone from Sym.
“Welcome. Do you just want one?”
“No, two, please,” the man replied, lowering his hood.
It really was uncommon for a customer from the east other than Shumiral or Sanjura to go out of their way to show me their face.
“Asuta, do you, remember me?”
“Huh?”
“I am, the assistant leader, of the Silver Vase, Radajid Gi Nafassiar.”
I honestly didn’t recognize his face at all. His hair and eyes were black, and he had a long, oval-shaped face like many folks from Sym.
However, I did recall that there was one member of the Silver Vase who was this tall.
“Right. Are you on your own today?”
“Yes. Today, is busy. So everyone, will come, separately to, make their, purchases,” Radajid stated, then he glanced over at the giba burger stall. “Asuta, I have, something to, discuss regarding, Vina Ruu.” Vina Ruu then slowly looked over our way, and in a voice so low it barely reached me, Radajid added, “Our leader, Shumiral, had sudden business, to take, care of. He will, be late, in coming, to see, you two.”
“Sudden business?” I asked back.
With his eyes still fixed on Vina Ruu, Radajid nodded and answered, “Yes. He said, he will come, around when, you wrap up, business with, your stalls, for the day. He will, meet you, without fail, at The, Kimyuus’s Tail. That is when, he shall say, his farewells.”
“I see. I suppose it’s your last day doing business here, so there must be all sorts of things to take care of... Wait... Shumiral already knew that Vina Ruu came to town today?”
“Yes. Shumiral has, been in, the castle town, since this, morning. But one of, our comrades, told him, about your, stalls. So Shumiral, is aware.”
“Got it.”
Thinking about my regulars, I realized the sun had almost hit its peak, but I still hadn’t seen Pops’s group, either.
The conversation with Yumi had gotten my spirits up quite a bit, but that ended up dashing them.
“Shumiral will, come without, fail. But for now, I will, hand him, this meal,” Radajid stated, looking back my way. “All ten, members of, the Silver Vase, will come, say our, goodbyes. We are grateful, to have met, you all.”
“Ah, that should be my line. I feel truly blessed having met you folks.”
“He will say, farewell after, your business, is done,” Radajid stated in an emotionless tone. However, his black eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and I couldn’t help but feel he looked just a bit happy, in the same way as Shumiral.
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