Simply to get more opportunities to try talking to Chianti, Solera tagged along. The marketplace was over a hundred hectares (1 hectare = 100m x 100m) large, and was packed with people. The outer ring of the marketplace was filled with market stalls set up by traveling merchants, while the inner ring was made up of the buildings of the local stores.

Solera blanched as he saw a stall, which dangled monster heads on chains. “High-quality heads from the Bamboo Tower! Quality guaranteed!” The vendor called out to Solera when he caught his gaze, smiling a gummy smile.

“Summoning dust, 500k Iotas a gram, you won’t find a deal like that anywhere else!” A youthful boy shouted. Standing next to him was a bored looking, muscular man with short black hair. His eyes coolly swept the crowd as the boy did his advertising for him.

“Vigor talismans, 5 million Iotas per, you can see the specs right here!” A bodacious woman called out. Beside her was a massive dirt golem, seven meters tall. Dirt continuously sprinkled off its body, but more earth would rise up to the top to replace what had fallen.

“Haha, I’m more interested in your specs, babe.” A man with a hooked nose catcalled her as he passed by.

“Hey, watch yourself.” A nearby guard barked to the man, his fingers threateningly tapping the sword at his side. Smiling, the girl blew a kiss to the guard, who just rolled his eyes.

Solera turned as he heard shouts from behind. “Thief!” A vendor standing next to a barrel of fragrant plants yelled hoarsely. “Catch her!”

Every few meters, there would be a guard, so the moment the vendor shouted, a clump formed around a diminutive woman. After a small scuffle, some herbs were returned to the vendor, while several guards from elsewhere came to drag the woman away.

“The guards here seem really diligent.” Solera remarked to Chianti, who was watching alongside him.

“The big selling point of Peat city’s marketplace is its security and its stability of prices. The marketplace charges high tax rates, but it’s still popular because of the service it provides.” Chianti replied crisply. “A good reputation can make a lot of money.”

Solera looked at a stall selling swords with interest. Chianti moved on, humming to herself. She was rather easygoing, and had simply told the children to meet back at the front of the marketplace in three hours. Until then, they could go off on their own.

“Hey, friend.” The vendor, a burly man sitting on a stool, said as he patted the head of a little girl whom Solera assumed to be his daughter. “If you like anything, feel free to say so, and I’ll tell you all about it. You can trust Jonah’s wurd about swurds, heh.”

Solera looked around with interest. He had handled Vinoh’s sword many times during his trainings, but these all looked to be of inferior quality. Not that Solera was an expert.

“Might I suggest this Camelot steel longsword?” The merchant, Jonah, tapped a finger on a silver longsword that gleamed in the light of the setting sun. “Fine texture, excellent smithing. Inlaid with the blood vessel of a griffin, which are renowned the world over as one of the most stable Channeling vessels you can get. I don’t ask for much, one million Iotas and it’s yours.”

Solera looked at it and shook his head. It was too brittle.

Jonah looked at Solera again, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “This Pantheonic sword, made by the Gallic clan, then? Made in the faraway central continent, if it found its way here, then its quality is guaranteed.”

Solera looked at it. The metal looked fairly sturdy and lightweight. A bulge ran down the middle of the blade, where the blood vessel was inlaid. He didn’t like that very much, but he picked it up anyway.

“Wyvern vessel, can channel power out in sudden bursts, like the flapping of its wings.” Jonah said pleasantly as Solera twirled it around.

Solera put it back in the rack, shaking his head again. “Not for my height.” The sword’s grip and length was more fit for a taller man.

“You’ll grow into it.” Jonah said cheerily. Solera didn’t respond to this, because he didn’t know how. “Oh, very well then. You can keep looking, you seem to know what you want.”

Chianti walked over, carrying a jar of some ointment.

“What’s that?” Solera asked curiously.

“Some mud for my butt.” Chianti said very straightforwardly. “I’ve been having stomach problems because of some shit I ate on the way here. What if I have an accident and my future husband sees? He’ll just pass me by, and I’ll die unhappy.”

“...” Solera turned back to the swords.

“Damn, you can’t take a joke.” Chianti snickered. “It’s actually to remove loose skin off my face and feet. If I stuffed mud up down there, I’d deserve the consequences. Whatcha looking for?”

“Sword.” Solera said, sighing. None of these swords looked too great to him.

“Yeah, I can see that much.” Chianti rolled her eyes as she squatted down to take a look for herself. “These swords are actually pretty good, except for that Camelot steel longsword over there. Seems like the apprentice smith screwed it up.”

Solera eyed Jonah with some distaste. Jonah put his hands up apologetically. “Hey, I was just trying to figure out my potential customer. Food is expensive for a man like me, with a girl and a woman to feed.”

“This one is reliable.” Chianti grabbed a jet black sword, presenting the dull red hilt to Solera. “Standard issue Bloodsand sword for its troops, vessel is a scorpion poison gland. Not fancy at all, doesn’t have those fine wavy patterns you can see on this Verdant sword, because it’s mass produced for its troops. But don’t let that fool you, the metal is very durable and light, a composite alloy made from bloodiron and refined sand and zircon. If the balance is just right for you, then you should get it.”

Solera had at first been turned away by this sword by its lack of flourish, but now he looked at it again. Grabbing it, he found that it really was exceedingly light, and had an excellent balance. Chianti took out her own sword, which turned out to also be a Bloodsand sword, and swung down on Solera’s hard. A forceful clang sounded out, but the sword only had a small scratch on it.

“All right, I’ll buy it.” Chianti told Jonah. “What’s your name?”

“Jonah.” Jonah said, pleased. “I’m thinking one -”

“200k Iotas. This stuff is mass produced and you probably got it from military surplus.” Chianti sniffed.

Jonah blanched. “Can a man eat food, woman? I journeyed over twenty thousand kilometers from the Bloodsand Dominion to here, surely you can’t ignore transport costs. Besides, you scratched my blade, you had better pay your fair share for it. 1.1 million.”

“Hey, c’mon. Swords like these are a dime a dozen. If I buy it, then you don’t need to worry about if its scratched or not, right? Taking that into consideration, you should consider lowering the price. 300k.” Chianti said, smiling.

Solera watched her haggle with disbelief. He didn’t know the price could be lowered like this!

“Aren’t you the one who was just explaining how great this sword is?” Jonah said, a pained look on his face. “A good sword is a good sword, doesn’t matter how many copies there are. Here, 900k.”

“900k Iotas could get my boy here a sword from the Archsmith at Fortress Hickory. This sword and that one, let’s not even begin comparing the differences. 375k.” Chianti said, drumming her fingers on the stall table impatiently. “Better hurry up before I lose interest. There are a thousand weapon shops here. That building over there sells cheap for guaranteed quality, as you should know.”

“Fine, fine, you shrew!” Jonah said, wiping his brow sadly. “700k, that’s the lowest I’m going.”

“Too high!” Chianti reracked the sword. “500k, or no deal.” Pulling on Solera’s hand, she turned to leave.

“Goodbye to you!” Jonah sniffed. “Selling at 500k would be at such a loss, my grandmother would roll over in the grave and beat me with her husband’s bones. Boy, can you take pity on me, Jonah, and just shell out a few more Iotas? I haven’t been able to buy a lollipop for my girl for so long, it really tugs at my heart.”

Chianti began walking, dragging Solera as she did. “I have other things to buy. Jonah, you’re just too ruthless, targeting my ignorant little brother with your pity plays!”

When they had gone five meters, Solera could hear Jonah’s desperate cry. “All right, all right, I’ll sell to you at a loss. Let’s meet at the middle, 600k!”

Chianti spun around with a smile. “Sounds like we’ve got a deal!” She took out a greenish-blue card, smiling at Jonah.

Solera took his yellow-green card out, preparing to pay. Chianti slapped his hand away. “Hey, I got you covered.”

Solera shook his head. “But it’s my sword!”

“Heh, I owe your dad a lot. Consider it repayment.” Chianti said, grabbing Solera by the shoulder and moving him away from Jonah with a force disproportionate to her size. “By the way, I do have something to return to you later.”

She took out a greenish-blue card from her pocket, waving it at Jonah.

Jonah groaned as he saw the card. “You cunning girl, that card clearly has over thirty million Iotas. How can a rich lass like you be haggling with a beggar like me? Perhaps bump the price up a little, do a favor for me?”

“Hey, we agreed on 600k. Don’t go back on your word.” Chianti snorted, slapping her card onto Jonah’s red card. After channeling power into it, her card slowly turned more green, while Jonah’s card shot from red to orange to yellow, then slowly taking on light hues of green.

“Hmm, only off by 300 or so Iotas.” Chianti smiled as she took away her card from Jonah’s. “You could buy a cheap lollipop with that if you bargained as hard as me, haha!”

Jonah rolled his eyes as he presented the sheath to Solera. “Don’t learn too much from this woman, my boy. She’ll drive us all into the ground, and then you’ll have nobody to buy from!”