Fortunately for Shiina, Ife had insisted they take the rest of the day off, so mastering violence wasn't in the cards. Instead the fox woman was taking them on a shopping tour. Or at least that's what she claimed. Right now she was pouring over a map, ears twitching. "I swear it was this way. That's what the guild woman said...."

  Delilah shook her head to clear it then leaned towards Zanya. "Weren't we supposed to turn two streets ago?"

  Zanya gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Yes."

  "You're enjoying this," Shiina accused the stoic woman. There was no other good reason to let Ife stew this long. Zanya refused to admit her guilt.

  Fortunately after a little bit of hesitation Delilah took command of the situation. She walked up to Ife and pointed at the map. "I think this store is the one over there, right?" The half elf indicated the bakery they'd passed already. "So we want to go down this street."

  Ife blinked before folding up the map. "Ah of course! That explains everything. Thank you Delilah. Let's go then."

  Shiina waited for them to get back on the right track and followed along. As they continued she noticed Ife was occasionally giving glaces to where Delilah was, changing her direction to match the half elf's guidance while still pretending to lead.

  She wasn't sure why the elaborate act was required. This probably fell under 'humanoids being weird' but she made sure not to let Ife actually navigate if they ever wanted to get somewhere fast.

  The stores here were a mix of jewelry shops, showing off the crystal and glass art that the city loved, and clothing stores filled with the latest fashions from abroad. Here and there bakeries and kitchens sat, small tables filled with customers. The streets weren't full, but there were a lot of humanoids wandering around looking through the windows at unique items. But most seemed to just be looking. Few actually wandered into a store for long.

  "Sooooo, why would an adventuring gear shop be here?" Shiina asked.

  "Wrong question~" Ife said with a wink. "We're not looking for an adventuring supplies store."

  Shiina swiveled her body back to the others. After a moment Delilah answered. "It's a magical goods shop since I need a custom staff made. There's no point asking a blacksmith or general goods store."

  "Aha. But what about the gear I need?" She turned her head towards Zanya.

  Zanya shrugged. "There should be something usable there. They work with magic knights too. If not we can get guild standard to start."

  "And here we are." Ife walked towards a larger store whose sign called it 'Enchanting Fashion.' Mannequins in well tailored robes sat in the extra large window. Someone must have used some interesting enchantments to cleanly refuse glass into such a large sheet.

  As they stepped inside Shiina could taste aromatic herbs in the air. The lighting was mixed, offering shadows and bright light depending on where you stood. Robes filled most of the floor while staves and rods filled the walls. Complex jeweled buckles and necklaces sat closer to the back where a woman was sewing.

  The woman looked up. "Welcome." Her eyes flickered over the group's attire. "Are you here for some new robes? Something that better fits the local fashion?"

  Delilah blinked a few times then moved to the counter. "Oh right. I'm here to get a better staff. If you can use this." She pulled out the crystal log they'd managed to harvest. It was far too thick to serve now, but it was mostly straight.

  The shopowner looked it over. "Ah from the Mansion. Right, it shouldn't be too hard. What baseline enchantment do you want? Knowledge or Faith?"

  "Knowledge," Delilah said. "And how much would a secondary 'Assistance' enchantment cost?"

  "Hm, pure support?" the woman looked up, and got a nod from both Ife and Delilah. "One hundred for a basic staff, fifty for each enchantment. An extra one hundred if you want it entwined."

  Delilah hesitated, so Ife stepped up. "Please. Also a simple copper defense necklace with glass gems." She turned to Zanya. "What else?"

  "Basic buckler and basic shield if you have them. Metal preferred," Zanya said.

  The woman sniffed. "I think I have some back here. Let me see." She rummaged around before pulling out two shields. One fairly small, the other about two feet across. Both simple steel. "One fifty for both."

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  "Done," Zanya said. The woman handed over a string and a half and then handed the items to Shiina. "This should do for now."

  "A shield?" Shiina looked at the things. "That doesn't seem like a rogue thing."

  "You don't fight like a rogue," Zanya said. "And you're not going to be using a shield normally either. We mostly want something hard for people to stab that doesn't get you hurt."

  Shiina liked the sound of 'not getting hurt' so she put the two items inside her. "Okays. What next?"

  "Are you sure you don't want new robes?" the woman offered. "Even if we use your preferred styles I'm sure I can get some better enchantments on them than what you currently have."

  "We'll probably be heading north after this, so it'd be better to save up and get some arachne silk garments," Ife replied apologetically.

  The woman sighed. "Fair enough. Though I must warn you they are quite expensive. You may end up with something more... abbreviated than your current outfits."

  "I'm sure we'll work something out," Ife said with a shrug. Delilah chuckled weakly.

  As they exited Shiina overheard Zanya whisper to Delilah, "Don't worry. I'll make sure there's enough for a dress at least."

  The half elf gave a weak smile. "Ah, I figured as much. Ife wears a lot actually even if her priorities are... off. Sorry I'm just a little tired."

  Shiina looked closer at her friend and realized she was a little flushed. She reached out and placed a psuedopod on the woman's forehead ignoring the woman's startled gasp. Sure enough Delilah was warmer than humans were supposed to be. "Huh, I think you have a fever."

  "That's-!" the woman blushed more. "Oh. Early. Well uh, I should probably go back to the inn. You can um, finish shopping. I should be fine with a bit of rest."

  "Hm hm," For some reason Ife was grinning smugly while her tail swished about. She put an arm around Delilah's shoulder. "That sickness is it? Well, I'm willing to help you out. If you're okay with it of course. Zanya and Shiina can finish the shopping."

  Shiina was worried that poor Delilah was so hot she might faint. But apparently humanoids could handle higher temperatures than Shiina thought. The half elf blinked a few times, looked at Ife, then nodded. "I think I'd appreciate that."

  As the two hurried off, Zanya put a hand on Shiina's head. "Well let's find something to do for a couple of hours. You like baked sweets?"

  "Yeah!" Shiina automatically responded. Zanya started down the street, but Shiina quickly zeroed back in on all the weirdness. "So what was that? What aren't you telling me?"

  Zanya hissed and frowned. "Did Mali give you the birds and the bees speech?"

  "You mean sex?" Shiina replied. "Yeah I know what you're talking about. I'm not a kid, and mimics don't even do that. That's something for you weirdos who aren't formed by eddies of magic and planar interactions."

  That got a snort from Zanya and her annoyance faded. "Sure. Well there's a lot of details there that aren't brought up a lot."

  "Really?" Shiina shook her head. "Seems like there's way too many details that get brought up. You wouldn't believe the nonsense they claim mimics do."

  "Of course Mali would give you those books. Are they at least worth a laugh?" Zanya asked as she picked out a place selling what looked to be sugar cakes.

  Shiina was glad she could focus on things without giving it away with eye movements. The one with frosting looked divine. "Depends. Some were hilarious. Others were good books with just areas you glossed over. And a fair amount of garbage."

  She waited while Zanya ordered a small version of the cake and tea, then hopped onto one of the outside chairs so she wouldn't have to stretch. "So anyway, what's this got to do with Delilah being sick? Doesn't seem connected."

  "Like I said, there's a lot of little details," Zanya replied, flopping down in her own seat. "For example, elves go into heat. Happens every forty years or something and it actually is dangerous for them if they don't get pregnant or magical relief. It's the only way their race survives given their ever shifting obsessions."

  That seemed like a really stupid way to design a living creature, but elves were weird to begin with. Still there was one detail. "Delilah's not a full elf," Shiina pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure humans don't have those issues. They can sleep with pretty much anything at any time. Or at least that's what their books suggest."

  Zanya snorted again and grinned. "Yeah. Lot of the mammal-like humanoids are that way. Humans are the most obvious though.

  "Anyway, she's got both bloodlines in her. And that means she's got traits from both. Half elves go into heat monthly, but it's not deadly and easier to deal with." Zanya completed her explanation and started on the tea.

  Shiina digested all that as she started putting honey in her tea. "I think I get it. But how is Ife going to help?"

  Zanya stared at her for a bit. "I know, if Mali was the one supplying those books, you're aware two women can be in a physical relationship."

  "Well yeah but-" Shiina finally added it all up. "Ooooooh." She hadn't expected Ife to be that forward. Or Delilah to agree to something like that. Well, at least her guesses on what humanoids found attractive were very correct.

  She sipped her tea and added a bit more honey. "You humanoids are weird."

  "Yeah," Zanya admitted.

  I was kinda curious about why monsters are uncommon. After all they pop out of dungeons, no parents required. That's gotta give an advantage right? Unfortunately no. For some reason monsters from different dungeons, or even different parts of the same dungeon, can't interbreed. With intelligent monsters being rare, and most of those being mimics... most monster groups can't form a stable population.

  Mimics like me and constructs just don't need to reproduce. We're immortal. Or at least we age way way slower than anyone but the elves. There's apparently ways to make more mimics but I'm not required for most of them. That's wizard nonsense. So yeah, all those raunchy books about mimic breeding are lies. Which is probably for the best.

  The other monster groups that have managed to become part of the humanoid world as it were are monogender monsters (arachne, minotaurs) and hybrids (centaurs, merfolk). Monogender monsters are fine because they can breed with humanoids already. Meanwhile hybrids are kinda a weird thing. Just because they're technically different species doesn't stop them from interbreeding. So modern versions are the fertile offspring of the first monster unions. And they've thrived.

  It's been a week! Thanks all who've followed along, and I hope you keep enjoying the story. I'll be swapping to updating every other day here, so I have some time to add to my backlog. I'll see how that affects my productivity over the next couple of weeks, and plan from there.