As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the marketplace had become wreathed in its effervescent shades of gold and amber. Otome and I wove through the bustling crowd. We could see vendors calling out their wares, their voices peeking over the lively chatter of customers. Children darted between stalls, their laughter echoing above the din. The air had a nice scent of freshly baked bread, ripe fruits, and the tang of smoked meat… Maybe I was just hungry.

  Otome had chosen to lead the way, now able to walk freely. We navigated through the groupings of crowds, taking peeks at each and every one of the shops. It appeared, however, that this peaceful environment wasn’t something Otome had been used to; she continued to dart her eyes around everywhere, looking at corners and nooks for any suspicious actors. To me—there were none, but perhaps it had been her experience that caused her to act as cautious as she does.

  I continued to follow along, a few brisk paces behind, taking my time to march my eyes around the place (I needed the data for AI training). A stall selling fruit caught my eye. A gruff-looking man was arranging his wares into neat rows. I started toward it, drawn by the colorful display, but Otome’s voice stopped me.

  “You’re being too obvious; do you see the look in your eyes?”, she said abruptly, glancing over her shoulder at me. She tilted her head toward the produce stand, where the vendor’s gaze had fixed on us, a sharp glint of opportunity in his eyes.

  “He’d be able to tell you’re not an experienced buyer. He’s gonna upcharge you the moment you try to haggle.”

  “But, I wasn’t planning to haggle…” I protested my righteousness. Who’d try to haggle for fruits, anyway?

  Otome sighed, setting her basket down. “You really haven’t done this before, have you?”

  “First for me,” I replied tersely.

  Her expression softened, and she gestured for me to follow her to the stall. She immediately struck conversation,

  “Good afternoon,” Otome greeted the stall owner with an easy smile, her tone disarming yet confident. She picked up one of the apples, turning it over in her hand as though inspecting its worth,

  “Nice selection today. Freshly picked, I hope?”

  The vendor, a burly man with wavy hair and a well-worn apron, nodded but kept a wary eye on her.

  “Straight from the orchard this morning,” he said,

  “Best in town.”

  Otome let out a soft hum of approval, placing the apple back into the basket but not breaking eye contact.

  “I’ll take a few, then. Four Arin for half a dozen, does that sound fair?”

  The man shook his head and wagged his fingers, “Fair? Hardly, now! These are premium, miss; five’s is the going rate.”

  “Premium?” Otome echoed, arching a brow as she picked up another apple, this one with a faint bruise near the stem. She held it up for the vendor to see,

  “This one’s already past its prime. If these are ‘premium,’ I’d hate to see what you consider average.”

  Nevermind, I guess we are haggling now.

  The vendor shifted uncomfortably,

  “...Still, it’s good quality. Five Arin’s a fair price for a whole—”

  “Maybe for someone who doesn’t know any better,” Otome interrupted, her tone light but cutting,

  “But, I’ve seen stalls a block over selling the same apples for three Arin, no bruises included.”

  She twirled the bruised apple between her fingers for extra emphasis,

  Tell you what: four Arin, and I’ll even take this one off your hands.”

  The vendor seemed to be in thought before he glanced around, as if checking to see if anyone else was watching. Finally, he sighed in resignation,

  “Fine. Four Arin it is.”

  “Smart choice,” Otome smirked, dropping the coins into his hand with a satisfied grin. As she added the apples to my basket, she spotted a bundle of fresh herbs on the side of the stall and gave him an expectant look.

  “Oh—throw these in, and we’ll call it even.”

  “...”

  The man hesitated again, but looking at the apples Otome had chosen, he gave a gruff nod.

  “You’d better not make a habit of this—”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she quickly replied with a wink, tucking the herbs into the basket as well.

  Turning back to me, she puffed herself a bit up, “See? Easy,” she said.

  I held a hand to my chin, “So that’s how it is…”

  There were a lot of things for me to learn about the ways of bargaining… But why does it feel like she just bullied the poor guy?—Not that I’m complaining—I just think I wouldn’t be cut out for such a cutthroat method.

  I nodded to myself, deciding that I’d just leave the rest of the dealings to Otome.

  …

  We continued our scouring of the market, and I eventually found my gaze wandering off into the cobblestone streets.

  Comparing myself to the emotions of the people around here—the culture and life of Janine—I felt like I’d been watching all of the happenings from a distance; a bystander, if you will. If I were to be asked what it was that felt foreign about this place, I wouldn’t be able to put my finger on it—maybe it was because almost everything was.

  The world I knew, initially just in the sphere of Tekuno, had expanded vastly around me into what was now an intricate, vast machine, one I’ve still yet to pick up all the pieces on.

  ‘All of this is sort of overwhelming to think about, but I don’t quite dislike it…’

  A slim hand slid from the side to the front of my vision, waving up and down vigorously.

  “You okay?”, Otome asked. I blinked and turned towards her voice.

  “Jeez, you weren’t even reacting when I called out to you earlier! What were you spacing out about?”

  “Oh, it was nothing… I’ve forgotten about it now.”

  “Suure~”, Otome dragged out,

  “You don’t have to lie to me, y’know.”

  Her words sounded like the ones from a drama I’d “researched”. Is she thinking about something weird right now..? My mouth twitched. Surely not.

  Thankfully, she didn’t seem to bother trying to pry further, instead shoving the bag of apples over to my arms, “Here,” she said,

  “Hold onto this. We’ll grab a few more things and head back to everyone else. We’ve kept them all waiting for quite some time now; I hope Victoria hasn’t made too much of a fuss back there.”

  “Right…”

  I tucked my arms neatly around the bag, the apples shifting around slightly through the transfer. I thought she handed it to me because it was heavy, but it was actually pretty light in my arms; perhaps I’m just a replacement gofer.

  We made for a brisk walking speed. However, it was but for a couple of turns later that a blur of movement whizzed from around the corner and into my sight. A brown-haired child had darted out from between some of the stalls and slammed into me, nearly knocking himself over. He yelped before scrambling to steady himself. He looked at me with his wide auburn eyes, but quickly turned to look over shoulder towards the direction where he had come running from.

  “Aha! Gotcha now!” another voice declared triumphantly. Two more kids—an older boy and a younger girl—burst from the same direction, playfully grinning.

  ‘What are these creatures?’

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  [They would be considered three young “Homo Sapiens”.]

  ‘Good grief! You almost made my soul leave my body, Neuro!’

  [Neuro] had, seemingly from out of nowhere, commented on my facetious quip, which made my entire body jolt up in fright.

  [Oh, I see… I’ll record this for precedence in the future.]

  Let’s not.

  The little girl, who was wearing a flowery blouse with her hair tied in pigtails, announced with the cutest confidence, “Wee gwonna wiwn fo' sho!”

  The kid with brown hair quickly scrambled, grabbing onto my arm like I was his last line of defense.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you two,” he shot back, shuffling around me while still having his hand clasped on my wrist.

  The older boy in pursuit smirked, rolling up his sleeves as a small ball of water began forming in his palm. He cocked his arm back, slipping into a pitcher’s stance, ready to throw.

  I just stood in the midst of them, frozen like a statue. However, while I remained rooted in place, Otome wasn’t. She had her arms crossed and was looking at the bunch of kids,

  “What exactly do you three rugrats think you’re up to?”

  The eldest-looking boy with wavy hair—the one seconds away from drenching both me and his target—lowered his arm slightly, looking between Otome and his intended victim.

  “...Well, we were just playing a little ‘heroes versus villains’…” he said, his voice about as audible as a mumble in the crowd of people.

  “Yeah! And I’m the hero!” the boy clinging to me chimed in, patting his chest.

  “Nwuh-uh!” the youngest, a girl with a braid, stomped her foot,

  “Youwe da willain dwis thwime! Ya gwatta lowse!”

  “I don’t gotta do anything, lispy!” he retorted, still using me as cover.

  “Twake dat Bwak! Mhy Lwisp isn’t dat bwad~!”

  Otome sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

  “That’s not the point. Whose brilliant idea was it to bring magic into the mix? People are looking at us.”

  I did, in fact, notice a couple weird glances our way as people walked by. My eyes should’ve been sufficient to tell them we were fine, though.

  The eldest boy hesitated, looking around before stuffing his hands into his pockets, the sphere of magical water dissipating into mist.

  “...We really can’t?”

  “Indeed, have your parents taught you nothing? That’s dangerous for little whipper snappers like you!” Otome reprimanded them.

  The kids groaned in unison, “Fwine,” the girl huffed,

  “But ya still hafta lowse!”

  I held my other hand up, looking at the boy hiding behind me, “Uh, could I not be part of this? I’m just an innocent civilian.”

  “Hold still, who said you could talk, hostage.”

  “What?”

  “That's right, ya weird lady with purple hair. Tell your shadow clone over there to back off.”

  “...”

  “You must be double agents working for those villains; Lispy Lisa and Downpour Dom!”

  “Oh really? How do we know they’re not your double agents, Shifty Sean?!”

  “Yeawh, Shwify Shwan!”

  I wasn’t too concerned with whatever magic spell the wavy-haired kid was about to hurl at me earlier. Rather, I was a bit more unsettled by the other kid who wanted to use me as a human shield.

  ‘Who taught him those words?!’

  I quickly tried to calculate what would be the easiest way for me to get out of this. My brain folds worked overtime, and I quickly ran with the first thing that came to mind: a simple Q&A game.

  “Wait, I have a proposal.”

  My captor, Shifty Sean, turned to me, “Who are you to—”

  Downpour Dom gestured for him to stop, “Hol’ up, let her speak. She’s older.”

  “Instead of holding me in place like this, what if we settled this with a battle of the smarts?”

  “Hmmm, that could be fun… go on.” Shifty Sean promptly released me. Of course, I could’ve yanked my arm away any time, but it felt impolite to ruin the kid’s mood over something so trivial.

  “I’ll ask a few questions and the first to answer in a logical manner wins. The first to three correct answers will be the victor, how’s that sound?”

  “If Shrimpy Sean agrees, I see no issue.”

  “Ay! At least Shifty Sean was somewhat respectable! You’re on, D-drenched Dom!”

  I ignored their bantering, “First Question, what are your names?”

  ‘Shrimpy’ Sean was the first to respond, “Of course, we’ve already told you! Spectacular Sean, Drenched Dom and Lispy Lisa.”

  “Your real names.”

  “Hmph, what Childsplay!” Drenched Dom started,

  “That’s easy. Our names are Dominic, Sean, and Lisa.”

  “That was kinda useless… That's a point for team Lisa and Dominic. Next question: Do you like it here—in the March of Luminastra?”

  Sean was the first to respond, “Uhhhh… It’s alright, I guess. Just not that much to do around here—that’s why we’re playing.”

  “At least you seem honest—point for team Sean… Hmmm, okay. Say, what do you guys think of Lady Silver? The woman with black hair and orange eyes.”

  “Ooh, ladwy Swilwer? Shwe’s weally Nwice. I lowe Ladwy Swilver!”

  It appeared that Silver is a fan-favorite of the children. Maybe she was really just a resident helping out here. But, if even Otome, who had a healer on her team prior, was surprised by her capabilities, she surely is no person to gloss over.

  “Another point for team Lisa and Dom. If Sean doesn’t win this next round, they’ll win!”

  “Yay!” Lisa jumped.

  “Ahh, what? No! There’s no way I’ll lose!” Sean, on the other hand, seemed a bit agitated by the prospect of this neck-and-neck “match”.

  “Are there any inns—places here that can house a whole family?”

  “How many people?” Dominic asked.

  “Let’s say about 8.”

  “Then… I don’t think so; some that are kind will let 1 or 2 stay over, but any over 4 would be too much to fit. As for inns—”, he shrugged,

  “Since there aren’t many people coming here, all of the ones that were here closed down.”

  ‘Well, that’s a bummer; we’re gonna have to camp out for another night. I hope Nanik set one up already while they were waiting…’

  “D-dwid we win?” Lisa said excitedly.

  “Yes, yes, Dominic and Lisa win this one. Sorry, Sean.”

  “Drat! H-how do you even know about that, Dom?!” Sean pointed and yelled out at Dominic.

  “Hwis papa knows a lowt! Dwuh!”

  “Oh, Uncle Wren? Didn’t we run by him earlier?”

  “Yeah. My dad sells fruit back over there whenever we have a surplus at home.”

  “Take me to him!”

  “Why?”

  “So I can become smarter than you!—Oh, and I want to grab something to eat.”

  “I’m not smarter, you’re just dumber.”

  They turned around, heading off as they kept joking with each other.

  ‘Wait. Wasn’t that the direction we came from?’ A sudden realization had hit me,

  ‘Wavy hair, easily manipulated…’ No doubt, Dominic was likely the son of that vendor we had talked to before.

  “Maybe it’s for the best that we can’t stay here.”

  “Huh? I thought you were having fun with those kids, though.”

  “That's only because they’re no scheming adults, so they’re easy to talk to…” We kept talking as we picked up our walking pace.

  “Is that so? Well, you’re not wrong. Everyone has their own personal agendas that influence their decisions whether you consider them to be a schemer or not. But kids' agendas are usually about having as much fun as possible.”

  “Right.”

  “Is ‘Right’ your one-liner?”

  “Sorry, that’s a habit… Was it that bad?”

  “No, no. It's fine. I was just curious.”

  We made some small talk along the way to the next stall, but I soon noticed that Otome’s gaze had become fixated on the buildings and people.

  “It really does remind me of Bakhlav,” she spoke, almost to herself, with a light smile.

  “How so?” I asked.

  “Back when I didn’t have much to my name,” she said with a shrug, “

  —Spent some time in rough places, scraping by. Not the best memories, but they teach you things.” As vague as she sounded, she wasn’t wrong. To live purely from experiences was something I knew all too well.

  …

  We reached a fishmonger’s stall, and Otome began scanning the assortment of products with a critical eye, expertly picking out a bundle of dried fish. I was still unsure what constituted good quality, but I made some mental notes on what was ruled out.

  We lingered around for about another hour before we decided that we’ve gotten enough, and that it was time to head back.

  The marketplace had quieted, the evening crowd thinning as the vendors began packing up their stalls. Otome adjusted her basket, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye,

  “You’re different from what I had in mind, you know.”

  Her words caught me a bit off guard, “Huh?”

  She hesitated for a moment,

  “I-I’ve thought about what having a sister might be like for... well, for as long as I can remember. I always imagined someone more outgoing, someone who’d take charge and light up a room, you know?”

  I lowered my gaze, my fingers tightening slightly on the edge of the basket.

  “Sorry to disappoint,” I murmured.

  Otome stopped walking and turned to face me, her expression softening. “Hey, that’s not what I meant. It’s just, I guess I’ve spent so long building this picture in my head, that I never thought about what it’d feel like to actually meet you. And honestly? You’re better than what I imagined.”

  I looked with surprise, meeting her eyes.

  “Is that what you think?”

  “Yeah,” she said simply, a small smile tugging at her lips,

  “You’ve got this quiet strength about you; you’re reserved, but I think it just means you’re more thoughtful. You don’t need to conform to any fanciful expectations. You’re exactly who you’re supposed to be.”

  “...Thanks,” I said quietly, unsure of what else to say. I felt a warmth rise in my chest, mingling with the familiar knot of uncertainty.

  Otome chuckled and nudged me lightly with her elbow. “Let’s get these supplies back.”

  …

  The path we took that exited the town had dissolved from cobblestone pavement to earthy grass. I trekked beside Otome, each of us carrying bags of food in our hands.

  We hadn’t spent that much time with each other; it was only recently we’d even first met, but the connection I felt with her had been real. It was different than when Nanik was around—than when Farthington and Kaelith would cause their ruckuses.

  Unknowingly, my lips had curled into a joyful smile.