Shiina was starting to understand why Mali had decided to quit being a traveling adventurer. Even with all the nice perks and pay the Arbiter agents had been telling them about during the trip. "We've been walking forever... How can you stand it?!"

  Ife gave her a smirk. "Practice."

  "You haven't even been walking," Zanya pointed out.

  That was technically true. Walking was a stupid way of getting around. Shiina had shifted into a wheeled cart and pushed herself along. However, "It's still work. And we've been at it for three days!" she pointed out. "Just because I don't have your weird fleshy legs doesn't mean I can't get tired."

  "Please tell me it gets easier later," Delilah groaned. "The last time my legs felt like this I was sore for the whole weekend."

  "If you've done this before it should only be one day," Zanya offered. This didn't seem like an improvement to Shiina.

  "The city is just up ahead," Ife said. "You'll be resting soon enough."

  As they passed the small rise Shiina saw Ife had been telling the truth. Below them the land opened up, revealing a city that seemed massive to her eyes. Walls here and there showed how the place had expanded over time. To one side sat a decent sized castle, and beyond it all the endless blue she'd only read about before. "The ocean!" she exclaimed.

  "Yep," Zanya said. "We'll be taking a ship out, after we finish our work."

  "But we've got a lot of things to do first," Ife said with a grin. "Starting with getting an inn for our young greenhorns to rest in."

  Delilah sighed. "I'd complain but I really could use a rest."

  As they moved on Shiina found her attention snapping here and there at all the strange things around her. The closest farms looked normal to her, but there were strange plants being grown as the ground got a little more uneven. After a bit she decided they must be grapes. Maybe for wine?

  The road started to pick up traffic too, so Shiina reached out and grabbed onto Zanya, shifting into a backpack form. The mage knight stiffened in surprise, then poked at her straps. "What's the idea? You can walk. Or roll, or whatever."

  "Not without hitting people," Shiina said. "I'm not made for moving in crowds." On the open road she'd learned how to move fast, but she wasn't very agile then. Zanya snorted but seemed to give in.

  They walked through the commons to the gate. "Identification?" the gate guard asked. Shiina morphed her upper part into a humanoid form and showed her guild papers. "Here."

  "Wha-" The two guards gripped their halberds tighter as Shiina giggled. Still they recovered decently quickly, snatching the papers and pouring over them carefully. "I see. Guild sponsorship, of course. Very well."

  "Are you going to do that every time we enter a city?" Ife asked with a certain sour note.

  "I'll mix it up," Shiina replied happily. "I have to surprise people you know. It's my primary diet!"

  The guard handed the papers back. "Next time keep your clowning to the city square instead of the entry gate."

  "Fine, fine." She slipped back into the backpack form and watched as the others got their papers cleared. Delilah's took the longest, probably because the woman was newly minted. One of the biggest benefits of being part of the adventurers guild was getting to travel freely, but because of that forgeries were common. Those that had stamps showing their travels would get the benefit of the doubt.

  Shiina's documents on the other hand would probably get through most checks. 'Mimic' was not a common race. And if they wanted to skip through security they usually could.

  Once all the paperwork was done they entered the city proper. And into a swirling mass of chaos.

  Sounds were everywhere. People talking, yelling, screaming. To each other, to the crowds, to no one in particular. And then there were dogs, horses, birds. All sorts of sounds that tried to snatch Shiina's attention away. Her mind wanted to follow all of them but it was impossible.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  By the time she recovered and was able to tune out the noise of the city, they were at least two streets into town. Still there was a lot to see. And Shiina had to admit she was impressed.

  Glasswork was everywhere, with street lamps every ten feet, and windows on every house. Not just cloudy windows for letting light in, or stained glass, but pure glass windows that let people see into buildings without letting bugs through. Crystals were also in great abundance, serving as buttons and fasteners on packs or accents on displays. None of it was super fancy, but the iridescent colors were pretty. She'd have to try to mimic them later.

  As her attention slipped off the shiny distractions she started to notice the people. The houses here seemed to be better than any she'd seen in the small town she'd been to. The shopkeepers and residents also were a lot less varied than home. Mostly humans and halflings. In terms of absolute numbers there were probably more other races than she'd run into before, but there were just so many humans and halflings around.

  They'd made it about a third of the way into the city when Zanya and Ife turned to one of the bigger side streets. A ways down there was an inn, marked with the universal sign of a bed on the signboard. For those that could read it was labeled 'The Shimmering Sea."

  The inside lived up to its name. The tables here were all made of heavy stained glass and crystal held together by metal. Meanwhile the walls had embedded crystals to give a shine to the walls. And the servers all had glass and gems in their outfits.

  The clients were less shiny but still interesting. This looked a lot more like the adventurers and merchants Shiina was used to. She relaxed a bit despite the noise.

  Delilah seemed worried however. "Is it okay to stay here?"

  "We get paid a lot, but we spend a lot. That's the curse of a traveling adventurer," Zanya said.

  Ife sniffed. "A lot compared to a fixed adventurer perhaps. It's mid-tier for merchants. Still Zanya's correct. There's no point sleeping in the slums to save a few coins." She tapped Shiina. "You should come out too. Best not act like we're smuggling people into the room."

  "Oh right." Shiina slipped off Zanya's shoulders to drop on the floor in chest form. She forced herself not to worry about all the people staring at her. It was like being a real treasure chest. People should stare at the cutest, smartest mimic, right?

  The master of the house finished pouring a few drinks then moved over. "Adventurers I'm guessing? Private room will be forty gold a night. Commons is five gold a head. Meals separate. How long you planning on staying?"

  "We'll be here for a week," Ife said, handing over three and a half coin threads. "We might need an extension but I hope not."

  "Fair enough. Cost will be the same though. No discounts for length." The man grinned. "Or because one of you can fill in as a bed."

  Shiina smirked back. "Cheapskate! I bet you don't even pay your tables."

  The man laughed. "Girl, I'd like to see you copy one of these beauties. They're the pride of the 'Shimmering Sea.'"

  "Oh?" Shiina turned her full attention to the table closest to her. There were about a hundred irregular glass and crystal bits in it, but she didn't need to mimic the inside, so she only had to consider the top and bottom. The stains and marks on the surface made things a little more annoying, but she'd copied worse while practicing.

  After about a minute of study she did the shift. First the general shape, then colors. After that she filled in the textures and minor details. As an extra she made sure to copy the irregularities in the table's cast iron stand.

  That done she let her focus return to the room in general. The crowd clapped, while the master laughed. "I'll be damned. I can't tell the difference with the two sitting there." He tossed a spare gold at her. "That's worth a coin."

  "Aye!" "Good work mimic!" A few more coins arced towards her, and Shiina reverted form to catch them and bow.

  Ife patted her on the head. "Well as amusing as that was, unless you're thinking of becoming a performer we should get to our rooms."

  "Especially since you were the one complaining about the walk," Zanya added.

  "Fiiiine." Shiina slipped the spare coins into her bag and followed the group up the stairs.

  I sorta know about Port Gaius. Mali talked it up enough. It's not the same nation as our village, but it's close, and it's got a massive port. Between that and its glass specialty it's a massive trade hub. Though the kingdom proper only gets some of the cut.

  Like most cities in the area, the adventurer's guild handles minting money in Port Gaius. The local guild prefers gold coins about two finger widths across, stamped with intricate designs. These coins have a hole in the center, so strings of ten or one hundred can easily be put together.

  Since the port has a lot of people from different countries, the guild has several money exchanges closer to the water away from the main guildhall. They've got guards and special vaults, just like a goldsmith would. It's said that the guild on this continent is actually the strongest military force, just because of all the money and soldiers they have. As such guild politics can have sweeping changes across the Iron Eye continent.

  Still the nice thing is everyone agrees on what a coin is worth. No matter where on the continent it's from, whether silver, gold, or electrum, a properly crafted guild coin is worth the same as any other. And because of this heavy hold on trade, countries within a month's journey have similarly stable currencies. Otherwise they'll get replaced by Iron Eye guild coins.