198: Treasure
Waking up the next day, I couldn’t help but notice it was far cooler than it had been all winter so far. Usually the room was warm due to Crisplet and the fact that the city itself was warm, but right now? Now there was a chill in the air that was unmistakable.
I was actually thankful for the scarf that Lily had made for me. I made sure to wear the chest plate Sylverith worked on for me as well, with my jacket over the top. If I were going to the market today, I would be as safe as possible, even if I thought most threats were currently gone.
Looking around the dark room, Lily was still missing, though I wasn’t too worried about her now since she had come back briefly to drain my mana for the evening.
Heading downstairs, I bumped into Cameron, who was just coming out of the library wing of the house.
“Hello, sir,” he said with a bow.
“Just Trevor, please,” I said with a sigh.
“I don’t know where Archie is, but if you could tell him I’ll need a carriage to the markets soon, that would be a great help, Cameron,” I asked.
“Absolutely, sir, but we can also go to the market for you if you require anything,” he started to say.
“No, no, thanks though. I actually really enjoy the markets,” I said happily.
Making my way downstairs and into the dining room, only Liane and Jen were sitting there, both with breakfast already sitting in front of them, with Petra, one of the newer house staff, bringing out another plate almost the moment I sat down. How she even knew I was there, I do not know.
“So, market today?” Jen asked.
I just nodded as I tried the unknown sausage on my plate, along with a couple of fried eggs and toasted bread, noticing it had a really nice pepper taste to the meat. This is what I needed to find! A way to make my own sausages, or failing that, stocking up on items like this.
“Do you want company? We’re not doing anything today and would love to come along,” Jen asked.
I didn’t even have time to respond before Crisplet let off a burst of sparks.
“Seems that’s a big yes, though I don’t know where I am going or what I’m doing. I just want to explore,” I chuckled.
“That’s fine, it’s usually never dull following you anyway,” Liane laughed.
“Don’t let me forget to get as many melons as possible. Practising the runes is causing me to lose a lot,” I laughed.
I never even heard Archie behind me before he spoke.
“Your carriage is ready whenever you’d like to use it, sir, and yes, I have found some of those melon pieces in interesting places, now that you mention it.”
I felt embarrassment, as I had been trying to get all the mess cleaned up with the help of Crisplet, but clearly I had been missing some. Maybe I should move to the butcher room for all future tests and set up a table and chair in there.
“Sorry, Archie. I’ll try to clean up better. Thank you for the carriage,” I said, bowing my head.
“It’s fine. It’s what we’re here for. Do take care out there today. The storm that is passing by is unusually strong, and some of it is making it through the city’s usual protections,” Archie informed.
I guess that explains why it was so cold this morning. Then an immediate fear struck me, as I imagined it to be a blizzard outside.
“The market will still be open, right?”
“Yes, sir. No amount of weather would stop them from setting up,” Archie bowed.
After both Liane and Jen got their coats, we made our way outside, and I was expecting there to be snow or rain, but there was nothing. If anything, it was warmer here than inside.
“That tree is really awesome, Crisplet,” I heard Jen say.
And I couldn’t help but agree. It had completely banished any semblance of cold from the surrounding air.
Once inside the carriage, we started to roll, and the moment we moved out of the radius of the tree, the air turned cold fast. Looking out the window, I saw a fine dusting of snow coating the ground.
“I can only imagine how bad this storm is outside the city if it’s making it through the defences,” Jen commented.
We followed the same route as last time, leaving our carriage and using the wagons once we left the noble district, not wanting to draw attention, though the scarf apparently was doing that anyway, with the three other people on the wagon staring at it.
“Sir, is it alive?” one asked in a half-whisper.
I looked down, but realised how foolish that must have been.
“No, it’s just a scarf a friend made me,” I said, resting my hand on it.
“I see. Must just be seeing things in the cold. I swear I saw a pair of eyes briefly in the folds,” the man said, shaking his head.
“Probably just the cold playing tricks on us,” Jen said.
But I’m sure we all knew there were probably really eyes in there, and it was something I didn’t know was possible. Did that mean she could appear out of the scarf? Or just see from it?
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It was both terrifying and reassuring.
The market brought a smile to my face as it came into view. The smell of smoked and roasted meat was heavy in the air; even from here smoke was rising into the sky, while the buzz of activity grew louder. Archie was right. Despite the dusting of snow that covered the tops of the market stalls and the slightly muddy ground everyone was walking through, it was no less busy.
What surprised me was that everything had shifted from where it was last time, but immediately something jumped out at me. I hurriedly made my way to a fruit and vegetable stall. Hanging on hooks, there were long vines that looked to be studded with fingertip-sized berries that had an almost ruby quality about them.
“What are these?” I asked the lady running the stall.
“Ah, they are Clabbri. You only eat the berry. The vine itself is bitter, but those little berries practically explode with juice. Try one!” she said happily, breaking off a small berry from the vine and handing it to me.
Placing it in my mouth, it burst with juice almost on contact and was immediately very tart, like a sharp punch to my taste buds, but as quickly as it came, it mellowed out into a delicate and sweet berry.
“That’s amazing! You have to try it,” I said to Jen and Liane.
I realised after I said it that I shouldn’t be offering the lady’s stock like that. At this stall, however, the prices seemed to all be tagged, so with my mind made up:
“Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I will buy it all,” I said to the lady.
“Absolutely! Two coppers apiece. Would you be needing a bag at all to carry them? I will warn you, they are very fragile,” she said.
“That’s okay. I can store them all,” I said, pulling out a silver coin.
After both Jen and Liane tried one, I stored them away.
“I didn’t even know this plant had a berry. I see it as hedges all the time,” Liane commented.
“Right you are. It only fruits on the first snow, which in this city is basically never, and you can’t remove the berry from the vine or it will go bad in hours,” the lady explained.
I was distracted from the conversation by a small section off to the side which had a small collection of nuts or seeds. I wasn’t really sure which, but the smells they were giving off as I got closer were divine. The strongest of which was a tiny black seed. This small sack was full of them, but the smell was an incredibly potent herbal mix that even left my nose tingling.
I had no idea how I could use it in food, but I was sure there was somewhere I could use it.
“Do any of those take your interest?” the lady asked.
“Yeah, could you tell me about them? I’ve not seen any of these before,” I asked curiously.
“The one you’re looking at is called Fenwhistle. It’s harvested from reedy grasses that grow near the inlet to the south of here. It’s mostly used in sweets, as a finishing spice, and I’ve even seen people turn it into an oil before,” she explained.
Moving on, she took one of the small, smooth, brown balls that were sitting in a sack next to it, and pulling out a small hammer, she struck it, breaking the outer shell. Inside there was a small white ball.
“Go on, try it,” she gestured.
The flavour of this one was deeply nutty, and I swear it almost had a hint of caramel to it, just like I had made in the kitchen.
“I’ll take them,” I said, my mind made up instantly, noticing the labels with the Fenwhistle being one copper a small scoop and the brown ones, which were called Karrock, being one copper each.
“How many would you like?” the lady asked, picking up the small scoop.
“All of it?” I asked, unsure if that was okay. The snort of laughter from Liane behind me was heard clearly.
“Yes, please.”
Even the shop attendant let out a chuckle. “Okay, let me work out exactly how much this is.”
A few moments later I was handing over the one silver and twenty-three coppers and storing it all away.
“Thank you so much. This has been amazing!” I said, bowing.
Leaving the stall, I was happy with what I had purchased. There were other items there, but these three really were something special, and this is exactly why I wanted to come to the market.
As we walked through stalls, I purchased several other small items for experimentation, something called a bramhorn, which looked a bit like a chunky stick with thorns on the outside, but attached were seed pods, which were edible, both the seed and the pod itself. Honestly, the appearance alone caught my attention, and I just had to have some.
The next item that I had to grab was called Lorgan, and it was actually an uncommon item. It was oblong-shaped with a hard, waxy rind. Inside was a bright purple fruit that started acidic, but it had a real warmth to it, like Crisplet’s cooking, with just a hint of sweetness behind it all.
I restocked on all my basics while I was here, knowing we’d soon be on the road again, including a full sack of fire salt, which I had been using more and more.
Nearly bursting into laughter when I came across a stall that was selling lemon tea grass, with a sign out front ‘Try the drink taking the nobles by storm!’ I noted in small writing below it had ‘Does not provide speed buff’ but it didn’t stop them from selling it for twenty copper a cup.
I was only pulled away from that by Crisplet, who threw a tiny piece of coal at me to get my attention before shooting a spark in a direction.
“Sure, we can go that way,” I said.
It wasn’t long before I spotted what Crisplet saw. It was the same man who had sold him a statue before, now with his stall moved but still full of small toys and small statues and figures. He spotted Crisplet almost instantly, and a warm smile spread across his face.
“Ah, I was wondering if I’d see you again. I have something you may like!” the man said as we walked over.
Crisplet, however, was not looking at his wares or paying much attention; instead, just off to the side, where I saw him start to form something, clearly beginning to build a small statue himself. We were all too busy focusing on the statue that was forming, especially since it appeared to be made with a core of pure flame, with the base being made of compressed coal that almost had a gem-like shine to the corners.
I caught what it was, I believe, before anyone else. Crisplet was building a statue with three figures on it: Lily, himself, and me. And he’d even gathered a crowd of onlookers, watching in awe as the statue came together.
It wasn’t very large. At its highest point, it came up to my knee, but when it was done, it looked incredible. The model of Crisplet was made purely out of fire, while the image of myself and Lily was made from different shades of coal, but the cracks in it showed a clear core of flame.
The shop owner and all the surrounding people looked to be speechless as Crisplet turned around, giving off a burst of sparks.
“I believe that’s a gift for you,” I said with a smile, another burst of sparks confirming it.
I saw a tear form in the man’s eye as he pulled out his own little statue, which looked to be almost exactly the same as the cat and fireplace statue Crisplet had purchased before. However, now there was clearly a carving of Crisplet inside the fireplace itself.
Crisplet didn’t waste a second, bursting over and taking the statue, inspecting it while shooting off bursts of sparks.
“Those are permanent now, I believe, and if you hold it by the coal, I don’t think it’ll be hot,” I pointed to the fire statue. I could already feel the warmth coming off it, like a lit fireplace that was warming the room around us.
The man tentatively touched it before turning it towards himself, looking it over with a warm smile on his face.
“I’ll treasure it always,” he said.