The light of the teleportation array flared beneath their feet and then faded.
Chen Mian and Velyan appeared at Linyu Port.
When he pushed open the door, Velyan behind him had already changed into a cloak. Her hood was pulled down very low, almost completely covering the upper half of her face, leaving only her lower face and stray strands of golden hair visible.
Chen Mian stopped at the doorway and looked back at Velyan, who was following behind him, saying with some helplessness, “Didn't I tell you to hide your dragon traits?”
“I already hid them,” Velyan raised her head and replied with a serious expression.
Chen Mian didn't reply. His gaze swept down to the bottom of Velyan's cloak, where a golden tail was hovering in the air, swishing restlessly.
“Hide the tail too.”
“It is protesting,” Velyan raised her head and said in all seriousness.
“Then let it keep protesting. No more grilled fish for you in the future.”
Velyan's expression blanked for a moment. She looked down at the tip of her tail, and with a faint flash of golden light, the tail disappeared.
Then she looked up, a hint of stubbornness on her delicate face. “I can't go without grilled fish.”
“Alright, let's go.”
As soon as they stepped out of the stone house, Velyan's golden eyes beneath her hood quickly swept over the stalls on both sides of the street.
Grilled fish, meat skewers, freshly baked bread, steaming soup pots... each one made her footsteps slow down slightly.
“Human, that fish looks smaller than yesterday's.”
“That's salted fish. It's very salty.”
“What about that meat skewer?”
“That's an iron-bristle boar skewer. It tastes alright.”
Velyan's gaze locked firmly onto the sizzling, oily skewer, and her feet came to an involuntary halt.
Chen Mian sighed, walked up to the stall, fished a few copper coins out of his pocket, handed them over, and took two skewers, stuffing them into Velyan's hands.
Velyan looked down at the skewers in her hands, then looked up at him.
“Eat. Just remember to watch where you're going.”
Velyan didn't stand on ceremony. She took a bite, the hot, fatty aroma bursting in her mouth, and her steps grew a bit lighter.
“Human...”
“Not just your appearance, change how you address me too.”
“Oh! Chen Mian... why does this skewer taste so much worse than the roast meat back at the apartment?”
“Take a guess.”
The two walked through the market and turned into the alley where the Morris Chamber of Commerce was located.
A temporary sentry post had been set up at the mouth of the alley since their last visit. Two guards in leather armor stood on either side of the alley, leaning on spears, their eyes warily scanning the passing pedestrians.
Seeing Chen Mian approach, one of them reached out to stop him.
“Halt. The area ahead is under lockdown.”
Chen Mian stopped. “I'm here to see Morris.”
The guard sized him up. “Are you an acquaintance of Morris?”
“Yes.”
The guard didn't step aside, but his tone softened slightly. “Mr. Morris should be in his shop right now.”
Chen Mian nodded, sidestepped the guard, and walked deeper into the alley.
Behind him, Velyan stuffed the last bite of her skewer into her mouth, casually slipped the bamboo stick into her pocket, and quickly caught up.
The door to the Morris Chamber of Commerce was slightly ajar. The moment Chen Mian pushed it open, Morris, who was behind the counter, looked up. A look of pleasant surprise washed over his face when he saw who it was. “Mr. Chen Mian, you've finally arrived.”
“Has something happened again recently?” Chen Mian asked, looking at Morris.
Morris stepped out from behind the counter and lowered his voice. “The security in Linyu Port has been a bit chaotic lately. Magical beasts are running rampant outside the city, and many people from the small villages have been forced to relocate here. This has brought in a lot of wandering refugees. Once night falls, merchants like us easily become targets for their looting. Fortunately, it seems more troops were deployed to the city yesterday.”
“Many more sentry posts have been set up in the city, so things have gotten a bit better,” Morris said with some relief. After a moment, as if remembering something, he added, “Also, according to rumors, the pressure on the city defenses has eased up a lot recently. It seems the Royal Capital dispatched reinforcements.”
“Yes, Arthur is usually quite reliable,” Chen Mian nodded slightly.
“Arthur... Mr. Chen Mian, do you know His Majesty the King?”
Velyan raised her head, cast a somewhat disdainful glance at Morris, and then looked at Chen Mian. “Hu... Chen Mian, the question this guy asked is so stupid.”
Morris said with some embarrassment, “True... It would be stranger not to know the King's name in the Hella Kingdom.”
He coughed dryly, turning back to Chen Mian, deciding to skip the topic. “The fish fry are ready. You mentioned last time that you wanted both freshwater and saltwater fish, so I had someone transport two large wagonloads overland from the southern fisheries. They're all alive and currently kept in the backyard.”
With that, Morris led the two toward the backyard, continuing as he walked, “I seem to have drawn some attention lately. Some people have been inquiring about me, whether intentionally or otherwise.”
“The reason is probably because too many magical crops have been flowing out from my end.” Morris rubbed his hands together, looking a bit nervous. “I haven't said anything to anyone, but I'm afraid they might dig something up.”
“It doesn't matter even if they do,” Chen Mian interrupted him. “All you need to do right now is help me source fish fry. The transactions will proceed as usual.”
Looking at his calm expression, Morris quickly nodded.
“We're here! The fish fry are right there.” Morris pointed to the stacked crates ahead, of which there were about fifty. “Eighteen crates of freshwater fish and thirty-two crates of saltwater fish. Sea bass, crucian carp, grass carp, silver-scale bream, Japanese sea bass, grouper, yellowfin seabream, pomfret... most of the common fish species on the market are here. It's just that it'll take some time to raise them to an edible size.”
“Yes, this is fine. If you get other species in the future, I'll take them as well,” Chen Mian said, looking at the crates.
“Mr. Chen Mian, do you need me to have someone deliver them to a designated location?” Morris asked, scratching his head as he looked at the densely packed crates.
“No need.” Chen Mian shook his head and looked at Velyan. “Can you carry these?”
“...It will cost the energy of one meal of grilled fish,” Velyan said, looking up and blinking her golden eyes.
“Fine. You can catch them yourself when we get back.”
Standing nearby, Morris was wondering how this pale, slender blonde girl was going to carry away so many crates. Even if she was incredibly strong, carrying five or six crates at a time and making a dozen round trips would still exhaust her.
Velyan walked to the first row of wooden crates, squatted down, and extended her right hand. Chaotic, disordered mana instantly flooded out, enveloping the fifty-odd wooden crates containing the fish fry. The crates vibrated slightly, then began to shrink at a pace visible to the naked eye, shrinking from a meter tall to knee-height, and finally turning into miniature wooden crates the size of rice grains, which she swept into her hand.
Morris's expression went blank, his mouth hanging wide open. He didn't snap out of it for a long time.
Velyan slipped her hand into her pocket, then turned her head to look at Chen Mian. “Done.”
Hearing her voice, Morris finally came to his senses. He looked at Velyan's pocket, then at the empty yard where the wooden crates had been piled just moments ago, and finally shifted his gaze back to Chen Mian's face. “Th-this is...”
“Space compression.”
Chen Mian didn't say anything more. This was a basic skill that any Chaos Dragon knew.
After the two left the shop, Morris stared blankly at Velyan's retreating figure. After a long while, he rubbed his face hard. “...The people Mr. Chen Mian brings are so strong. Space compression... what rank of adventurer do you even have to be to pull that off?”
...
“Human, when can we eat grilled fish?”
“Once you catch some, I'll have Flora prepare the marinade for you.”
“Can I just jump in and catch them?”
“No. You'll end up killing the fish we're trying to raise.”
“Alright... Human, someone is following us,” Velyan said, tilting her head. “They're very weak.”
“I know.”
At the mouth of the alley, three figures dressed in everyday clothes suddenly froze. A heavy, almost suffocating pressure locked onto them without warning. Their bodies were completely paralyzed, and even their blood felt as though it had congealed.
“Should we deal with them?”
“Ignore them.”
The suffocating pressure vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, but their bodies remained stiff. It was only after the two turned into a side street and vanished from sight that they slowly began to recover.
One of them felt his legs give out and sank straight to the ground, panting heavily, his shirt completely soaked in cold sweat.
After a long while, he asked in a trembling voice, “...What on earth was that just now?”
Rate on N.U.
