The man wore a suit, a pair of gloves and glasses. His hair was combed back, he was grown tall and had a handsome face with narrow eyes.
"Hello. What are you looking for today?", the jeweler said looking at the man with a familiar expression.
"Oh? Isn't that here a Memory stone of high Grade? How high is it?", the man asked looking at the Memory Stone still lying on the table.
"This is a Tier 1 Grade 5 Memory Stone."
"Since when do you have it?", the man in suit asked, leaning on the counter.
"Since just now.", the jeweler said.
The man in suit looked over to Feyra and smiled. "Did you find this stone? You must've been lucky. How should I address you? Feyra?"
Feyra was a little stunned hearing her name and was unsure how to react. Noticing her unease, the man in suit seemed to explain a bit more.
"I'm from the government. Your name is known already. I'm overlooking the expenses of the government and also get some stuff people request occasionally. My name is Shiba."
Feyra nodded, a bit unsure what to think. They had just spoken about the government potentially buying this Memory Stone, and not even an hour after that, someone from the government had appeared.
Is this a coincidence or was this set up?
"I'll take this Memory Stone. It's for an important event so I'll pay 240.000 coins. How is the agreement about the profit?", Shiba asked, looking at the jeweler.
"The profit I would make goes to her. Meaning I get 100.000 coins and she 140.000. It's written on here.", the man said, showing the paper to Shiba.
Shiba nodded and wrote something on a paper before shoving it to the man. "This is a notice you'll get the 100.000 coins in the upcoming two days at some time. As for you Feyra... Frieda mentioned you're going to visit anyway again and knowing your permit has the highest clearance you can just come to my office to get the remaining coins. Oh by the way... You'll get even more coins for helping us gain some information on this reopened case.", Shiba said, grabbing the Memory Stone and walking out of the shop.
"You're getting rich. I didn't expect you to have the highest clearance even for the government district. Hah! I was lucky to meet you. If you ever come back to the Capital and have some gems and stones again, I'll take them.", the man said before waving goodbye to Feyra who still had some other things to do.
Now to my shopping list... I have now 181.450 coins in total. This doesn't include what I'm getting from Shiba once I go to the government district again.
She stood outside the jeweler and looked at her shopping list. She still needed salt and pepper as well as some cloth and bags for some herbs. If she found some strings she would also be happy.
First however... A cookbook!
Feyra went over to the book store and entered it. Everyone inside was quiet and Feyra went over to the section for Fantasy first. There she searched for the book that had such a weird name and no author.
'The Grim Reaper's arrival'... There it is!
Feyra took it and looked at it again. The first question in this book still sent some shivers down her spine but she wanted to know what it was about.
After that she looked around the section for cookbooks. I need something that includes mushrooms. Oh? That book over there is a cookbook we also had at the shrine. It's truly old by now. Okay then this is the first one and the other... 'Cuisine around the world'? Sounds interesting.
Feyra opened the book and looked inside. It was thick and heavy, but it included dishes from around the world. The first section was of course the Alliance while the second was the Empire.
This is good for getting to know local cuisine better too.
With that Feyra had finished looking for books and went to the cashier who was reading a book on finances.
"Oh sorry. Oh? It's you again. The one who gave me the advise. I went to the doctor and it truly is a vitamin D deficiency. I'm glad I listened to you. Thank you again.", she said, scratching her head before looking at the books Feyra wanted to buy.
"Let me see. Ah this one... 'The Grim Reaper's arrival' doesn't sell well because the author is unknown and a lot of people who have heard of this book are scared of it. It's said the story isn't actually fantasy but reality."
She calculated the price for the books until she stopped and thought for a while. "No I can't do that... You've helped me so you'll get 'The Grim Reaper's arrival' for free. The other two books are 1150 coins and 350 coins each. Making 1500 coins in total.", she said and wrote it down on a piece of paper.
Feyra took out her money bag and put 1500 coins on the table before she added another 500.
"See it as a thank you for giving me this book for free.", Feyra said with a smile on her face.
"Oh no I... I can't accept this.", the woman said, getting a little red from embarrassment.
"No need to worry. I have a bit of a fortune at the moment.", Feyra said, taking the piece of paper and saying goodbye before leaving.
She put the books as well as the piece of paper in her big bag first before she headed to the market. Somewhere she should be able to find a merchant selling some cloth and small bags.
I have some small bags already with me but they're all filled with coins... That still means I need some empty ones.
She looked around and saw a few merchants who had fabric of various colours, but barely anyone had just normal bags made from linen or something similar.
Is there really no one who has normal stuff? Oh over there! It's not a merchant but a store.
Feyra went over to the store. The plaque above it said 'Nanny's fabrics' with a woman, who had a bun on her head and glasses on, as the logo.
The bell rang when she entered and a woman came from the back to look at who came at such a time into her store.
"Oh! A customer. What can Nanny do for you? Need new clothes? Want something custom made or some fabrics?", the woman, who was a little chubbier, asked. She had a bun on her head and wore glasses.
Does this mean... The logo shows her?
"I'm here for some cloth and some simple bags for herbs and seasonings.", Feyra said and the woman immediately went over to a drawer to retrieve some items.
"Here I have some bags. They are made of light green silk satin and are without holes, so nothing can go through. You can use them for herbs. I also have some other ones.", she said, walking over to another drawer and picking up some rougher bags that let air through and moisture sicker out. "One that keeps the moisture inside and the other doesn't. Both can be quite useful. I had some other people already come ask for such bags. If you ever need anything made from fabric just go to Nanny's fabrics~"
Feyra looked at the bags that were surprisingly spacious and also had a string to close them off.
"I would take 5 of each of them. Do you also have just some cloth pieces I could lay in between as well as some string?", Feyra asked. Nanny immediately scurried around and got what Feyra had asked for.
"How many cloth pieces do you want? Linen, silk satin or any other wishes?"
"Linen will do. I'll take 5 of them too.", Feyra answered, standing at the counter and waiting for Nanny to come back. She was quick on her feet and full of energy.
"Alright. A roll of string, 5 pieces of linen cloth as well as 10 small bags, 5 made of light green silk satin and 5 made of linen. Is that all?", Nanny asked, noting it down on a piece of paper.
"That would be everything I need."
"Alright. This would make 1450 coins.", Nanny said, noting the price down on the piece of paper.
Feyra took out her money bag and put the 1450 coins on the counter. Nanny reached the paper over to Feyra, who put everything in her big bag.
"Thank you for your purchase." Nanny said before Feyra left the store. Now she still had 178.000 coins, which were more than enough for the salt and pepper she needed.
Aside from that I can also look for some curry as seasoning. I read in some of the dishes from the Empire that they use curry. I just flew over them but this ingredient was mentioned so often...
Feyra went back to the market that had filled even more than before. Children were there with their parents looking at fresh vegetables and fruits.
"Fresh fruits from the south! Come here to get them!"
"Fresh vegetables! Picked this morning! It's impossible to find fresher ones!"
Feyra was looking around trying to find a merchant who may have some seasonings she needed, but ultimately she couldn't find anyone.
As she was near the exit of the market again the voice of a woman called out to her. "Fallen Angel! Come over here!"
Feyra turned to the voice and saw that a woman was standing at a wagon from the caravan.
Does she belong to them?
"You seem troubled. Is there something you can't find? There are a lot of people here so it may not be as easy to find what you need. Bob told me a bit about you.", the woman said, smiling.
Feyra walked over to her and greeted her. "How did you know I was looking for something?"
"Oh that's something you'll learn in this business. What is it you need?"
"I need some salt and pepper. I would also like to buy some curry if you have any.", Feyra said, taking out the two small jars with salt and pepper that were almost empty.
"Should I refill them? We also have curry so no worries. I'll get you a jar of that too.", the woman said. She went to a different wagon and weighed the jars with salt and pepper first before she filled them up and weighed them again.
After that, she calculated on a piece of paper the exact weight that Feyra had bought before she went back. "Those would be first salt and pepper. Now let me get the rest.", she said, leaving again and disappearing into a wagon.
A while later, she returned with a little basket and put it on the table.
"There are some other seasonings in here too. Chili, paprika, pepperoni, curry and some others. Do you want the whole set or just the curry?", the woman asked. She had opened the basket to let Feyra inspect the seasonings.
This set has some spicier spices. I could just take the curry but I imagine they'll give me a discount anyway again or would give me the rest as a gift.
"Oh Feyra! Back so early?", Bob came over to look at her. She was inspecting the various spices before she looked up too.
"Hello Bob. I was trying to find some spices but then I ended up here again.", she laughed, putting the spices back, deliberating what to do.
"Melina, count the spices she wants and give her the rest of the basket as a gift.", Bob instructed the woman, who nodded.
"Isn't that...", Feyra tried to refuse the offer, but Melina and Bob shook their heads.
"It's not every day you see a Fallen Angel. The people of the government who passed by even occasionally spoke about you. The reopened case... You have helped them. How could we charge you full price knowing you're here to help this supposed criminal?", Melina said, calculating the price.
"Oh well... That supposed criminal is me...", Feyra said, a little bit embarrassed.
Bob and Melina both seemed too stunned to continue whatever they had been doing. Bob calculated something in his mind before he came to a conclusion. "That means you're over 700 years old and... Nope. You'll get more gifts and discounts. If what they said is right then you have been locked away for over 700 years! That's... Infuriating.", he said, before he had to take care of another customer who had come.
"Okay. I've calculated everything. This would make 800 coins. And the rest of the set is a gift. Enjoy your life now and don't worry about us making losses.", Melina said. Knowing Feyra would want to pay at least a bit she let her pay the 800 coins, although both Bob and Melina would've loved to give her all the spices for free.
Now Feyra had finished shopping and had everything from the shopping list.