After buying her prized salt, Iris was ready to explore more of the marketplace. Caspian slowly walked around with Iris in his arms, allowing her to take her time viewing what was on offer.
Besides the Golden Tradesman shop, there were shops dedicated to clothing, food, medicine, and miscellaneous trinkets. Most of the temporary shops were not nearly as meticulously organized as the more official shops and their selection was rather sparse.
Iris glanced down towards one of the temporary shops before glancing away. There were mostly just common medicinal herbs, animal hides that had been processed, stone bowls, and the occasional trinket. A few flowers and jewelry made from stones and animal bones would occasionally be on offer, clearly meant to appeal to the numerous males who wanted to earn a female's favor.
"You seem a bit bored with the selection here. Maybe the official shops will have something you'll like better?"
As Caspian said this, he turned to face the shop buildings. However, Iris was too distracted by a flash of black darting past them. Taking a closer look, it appeared to be a rather cute fox beast. His fur was mostly a beautiful shiny black with a whisper of white on the tip of his tail and along his paws. His chest also had white running down it. Iris couldn't help but want to chase after such a cute critter but before she knew it the fox disappeared into the crowd.
Soon Caspian had walked them over to a booth that seemed to be themed around clothing. Looking it over, all of it was very basic. There were some tube-style tank tops and dresses as well as skirts for both men and women. Seeing that Iris did not look impressed, Caspian chuckled before leaning close to her ear to whisper,
"Not your style huh? I'm afraid most clothing is like this. No one else can sew as well as my talented mate. If you'd like, we could buy some nice furs and more sewing supplies."
Being so close to Caspian felt rather intimate to Iris and despite growing used to being carried, she couldn't help but shiver as his warm breath caressed her ear.
"That sounds like a good plan. I'll have most of the cold season for such activities anyhow."
With that, Caspian haggled with the shopkeeper to sell him all the fish bone needles, sinew, and nicer furs they had. Bunny, fox, and chinchilla fur was rarer but also softer and prettier than most other prey. Anything else could easily just wait until Caspian caught more prey.
Besides the clothing, there were numerous animal hide bags and pouches. Caspian was going to purchase one to carry the new furs and sewing supplies, but Iris was quick to snatch the items up and stuff them into her special animal hide bag.
Caspian just blinked a few times in shock but quickly gave up. No point in arguing about where items were kept anyway. If his mate wanted to keep everything in a bag that suspiciously never seemed to run out of room, then so be it.
As for the shopkeeper he was just happy to have been paid the two colorless crystals. Why would he care about a cute female acting willfully?
The next few shops that they walked through had various trinkets. There were many large stone pots and bowls as well as more processed furs and hides. These seemed to be the most common goods for sale.
However, occasionally there would be nice items like intricately carved stone boxes and pots with lids. The stone boxes reminded Iris of a jewelry box and as such she decided to get an especially pretty one with flower and vine-like patterns carved on it.
This same shop also happened to have several more delicate pots that appeared to be made from clay. Looking at them carefully, Iris confirmed that definitely must be the case. It was likely that it was either Lacustrine or Alluvial clay from the lake or river nearby.
While Iris was very tempted to buy several of the pots, she decided it was better not to. They'd be far too suspicious to put into her bag and she felt it'd be better to try to make some pottery herself next spring.
With it so close to the cold season she'd feel guilty if she asked Caspian to go into the freezing cold water to dig up clay and she'd certainly end up sick if she did so. However, the stone and wood items at home would certainly work for now and it was always good to think of plans for the future.
While browsing the final shop full of trinkets, Iris noticed a lovely shell necklace. Unlike the jewelry made from animal bones or the boring gray of stones, this shell necklace had some lovely color to it.
"You want this one?"
Iris gave an emphatic nod to Caspian, who quickly paid the shopkeeper a colorless stone. Shells might be more common near the oceans where mermaid tribes reside, but it was rarer for any of their shell jewelry to end up over here. As such, the price was much higher than other pieces of jewelry. Still, Caspian felt that this necklace would look lovely adorning Iris's long and fair neck.
As it had been nearly an entire day since they had left the tribe for the city, Iris's stomach began to complain of hunger. Unfortunately, since fire was rarely used by anyone besides witch doctors and priests in the city, it was difficult to find sufficient food for Iris. They could only hope to find some fruits or other edible produce for sale at the market.
As such, Caspian quickly made a beeline for one of the only two food shops in the market. In the warmer months, food would be more plentiful and there would be a large selection to choose from between the two official shops and temporary shops. However, very few tribes utilized farming techniques, and many were carnivorous to begin with.
When Iris looked over the sparse selection of goods, she was a bit disappointed to see so few options.
There was a lot of meat that was cleaned up and wrapped up in animal hides ready for consumption as well as some large, dried prey for those stocking up for winter.
It was just that there were very few options for veggies, fruits, and grains. Of the five items on offer, only two of them Iris was able to recognize at first glance. The first was the bearberries she already had several of at home while the second appeared to be acorns, of all things.
Iris tried to think of what she could use acorns for. She hadn't really cooked with them before, but she did remember watching a show where they processed it into a sort of flour. Iris was sure that her book on "Ancient Flora & Fauna" would tell her more about how to process it and she'd be able to make some food from it. However, she still felt a bit unsure about how much use she would have for it.
"You see anything you can eat here? I know there isn't much here, but I can't have you starving yourself."
Iris made an unsure expression. Without taking a closer look at the other three items she wasn't sure if there were any ready-to-eat foods here. Bearberries would work in a pinch, but they wouldn't be filling by themselves and were only safe in small quantities.
Caspian sighed before setting Iris down, placing both his hands on her shoulders and pressing her backwards into him.
"There, now you can take a closer look. Just don't go wandering around."
Picking up a small green leaf she sniffed it and took a small bite of a leaf. The taste was light and peppery and reminded her of watercress which was a great salad ingredient. It wouldn't be able to be dried and used in the cold season, but it wasn't a bad snack.
The next thing she looked at reminded her of cow ponds when she was growing up. With its grass-like stalk and its rounded brown top, Iris had fond memories of playing with them growing up. What were these called again? Iris felt stumped until she remembered they were usually found around cow ponds and how they reminded her of a tail. That's right! Cattails!
Cattails weren't something she ate commonly growing up, but they had been used once for a foraged foods dinner the museum she worked at hosted. They could be used in soups and were quite starchy, so could likely be used as flour as well. That and they were quite versatile, as Iris could remember using them as a sort of torch in her childhood.
The last item was impossible to identify without her animal skin book. It was certainly unlike any plant Iris had ever seen. It was similar to grapes in size and with how they were clustered together, but they were an orange color that made Iris feel weary of the strange fruit.
"I'd like to buy all of their cattails and acorns. I'd also like a small bag of their watercress."
Iris pointed to each of the items as she spoke to ensure that Caspian understood what she was talking about. As there was a large amount of the plants in the shop, Caspian had to arrange to pick them up later in the day when they were done shopping. Due to the plants being easily available locally, the entire lot was a mere two uncolored crystals.
Caspian got the watercress to go right away and let Iris munch on it after picking her back up. The only place left to check out before finding a hotel for the night was the local witch doctor's shop. This shop was built a little differently from other shops as the witch doctor also lived there. He would both give consultations where he treated patients and he would also sell various herbs and tonics to the public. This led to a need for a shop that resembled a home for the sake of privacy.
As a beast city witch doctor, he would treat patients from all the nearby tribes who didn't have a witch doctor, visiting beastmen, and the city residents. Many of the witch doctors from nearby tribes would buy herbs from the city witch doctor as he could get herbs from far away places more easily as well as ask for advice in areas that were not as knowledgeable. Sometimes, tribe leaders from tribes without witch doctors would also buy pre-made medicines and tonics to stock up for the cold season when it would be impossible to travel for medical help.
Due to the number of guests that the witch doctor had to see to, it took quite some time of waiting in line before Caspian and Iris could enter.
When they finally entered, they were greeted by a very handsome young male beast. With shiny, soft-looking black hair and seductive forest green eyes, this witch doctor was quite good-looking. As the only witch doctor Iris had met previously was Oliver, it was quite surprising to meet such a young-looking witch doctor. When he spoke, his voice was like warm honey, it was so pleasing to the ears.
"Hello, welcome to my humble abode. How can I help you today?"
Caspian couldn't help but feel threatened by this witch doctor as he watched his little mate openly staring at him. Seeing Caspian looking at the little female, the witch doctor smiled as he stepped forward. He lifted Iris's hood and caressed her face, admiring her beauty.
"Hello, my name is Basil, and you are?"
This immediately set Caspian off who turned away from Basil, bringing Iris further away from his reach.
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This series is now complete on Patreon!
- 5 PDF copies of completed volumes
- 3 side stories
- End of chapter shout-out
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A special thanks to the following Patreon subscribers:
Discontinued: Ann, Argon, Austin J., Byloderus, Care, Catherine W., Cheyenne O., Chong Y., Christen F., Cindy S., Clara, CooCoo C., Courtney H., Dagoon320, David Z., Denise G., Doc., Dreamer, Emma B., Fictional F., GeminiDragon, Gracie, InjaP., Izzzy B., Jasmine H., Jenn L., Juha, Kayla N., Kelly, Killer K., Lisa C., Martina I., Merveille L., Michelle S., Michelle W., Miranda M., Myungjun R., Nick T., Nova H., Nyrobi J., Nyxie N., Parul N., Quince, Red, Reyanne B., Rochelle N., Ryanna B., Satya P., Sboss678, ScorpioPerk, Shaunna H., Shawna B., Steven B., Travis S., 9Please respect copyright.PENANAtneBQh7KUR
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