I whistled a cheerful tune as I practically skipped down into the streets of Tronjheim.

My plan had gone off without a hitch, simply waiting invisibly until the guards came to check on me and walking out the door when they freaked out. Ajihad was probably going to freak out and send out an order to hunt me down but I wasn’t too worried about that. ‘Find me the tall blonde woman’ was a much more difficult task when only a handful of people knew what I looked like and blonde hair wasn’t exactly a rarity among the people here. I felt even more confident once I shifted my clothes to resemble the local fashion as well. The Varden would be on the lookout for my red and black combat uniform, not just another common girl in the giant city.

At least for a time.

I was under no illusion that they would manage to think of some way to track me down eventually if the Varden really felt like it but until then they would need to search the entire city for one person. Their only hope at speeding that up would be magic.

Unfortunately for them, I did remember scrying magic was a thing here and had taken steps to protect myself. A simple bracelet with a crude black gemstone would do for now until I could find a spot to use as a temporary workshop. Too bad Gemcraft required precision on a level I couldn’t do on the fly. Still, it would take a dedicated effort on a magician’s part to scry me. I should have plenty of time, especially if I could convince a craftsman to borrow his shop.

Meh, thoughts for later. For now I was much more interested in enjoying the scenery.

The Seireitei was nice in a ‘not quite feudal Japan’ kind of way, but honestly it was kind of boring. Not sure if it was because most of what I saw belonged to the government or if I just don’t appreciate that aesthetic, but yeah, Soul Society has nothing on a fantasy Dwarf-city in the middle of a mountain.

“Don’t come to the city often?” a soft voice came from my left.

I startled and turned to see a middle aged woman looking at me in amusement. I must’ve really not been paying attention if she got that close without me noticing, but seriously! Giant glowing crystal rose! Why wouldn’t I want to look at that for a bit than pay attention to random people?

“Uh, yeah. I’m new to Tronjheim.” I replied a bit sheepishly. “I mean I heard about...this,” I waved my hand at the scenery, “but seeing it in person is completely different.”

The lady chuckled. “Aye, it’s a bit different than the stories right? They can never quite seem to capture all the little things that catch the eye. I’ve been here for years and even now I find something new to wonder about...when I have the time.”

“Oh? What do you do?” I asked curiously, from what I knew about this world human women didn’t have many roles to keep them busy.

“I run a tavern nearby.” The lady said proudly. “It’s a bit early for customers so I occasionally take some time to wander around and catch up on the goings on around the city.”

I smiled. So she was going out and redirecting customers to her tavern before mealtime? That was clever. I also realised I still had no idea what time it was and it was starting to throw me off. I kinda assumed it was evening based on when we all woke up and walked through the mountain and eventually meeting with Ajihad, but I was also in that room for a while and I wasn’t about to dismiss the Twins not abusing their position to make me miserable. Obviously nothing overt, but delaying a meal until the next day would be easy enough.

“Nearby, huh? Any chance I could get some directions? I think I could use a good meal.” And the chance to ask about the layout of the city…

The amusement in the lady’s eyes morphed into a full blown smile. “Oh, no need for that. I have been wandering a bit too long anyways. I’d be happy to lead you there myself.”

I eyed her carefully. She was up to something, but she didn’t seem malicious. So I agreed and followed her back as we struck up a conversation.

-o-

I was wrong. I managed to find the most malicious person in this entire city.

The tavern owner, Sandra, had a very simple business scheme that ensured that her tavern attracted at least a small crowd throughout the day.

She wandered around and found young women with nothing to do and invited them back to her store and paid them a free meal and some drinks to talk to the groups of men that came by. Considering many of the Varden were living hard lives fighting the Empire or supporting the ones that did, it was unsurprising many of the warriors jumped at the prospect of meeting a pretty girl and boasting of their ability.

So in essence, Sandra had created a hostess club…and then managed to arrange it so that I was seated right near the entrance so everyone walking by could see me.

If it was only that, I could ignore the way the nice middle aged woman had tricked me into basically working for her for free but that was when she revealed exactly how evil of a person she was.

Sandra...had a habit of playing matchmaker.

“...and then the blasted fool decides to block with the edge, the edge!” the large man on the other side of the table practically roared, incidentally spraying me with tiny bits of meat. “If it hadn't been a training blade, he would’ve ruined both weapons in a true clash.” the man calmed enough to take a massive gulp of mead while I discreetly wiped myself clean and glared at Sandra from across the tavern. She had been sounding out my preferred type on the way here and I hadn’t given her an answer because I had no intention of hanging around long enough for a romance, but I’m not sure how she translated that into ‘giant drunken warrior’.

Fredric seemed nice enough, drunkenness aside, but I would be leaving as soon as possible. I definitely felt I had paid Sandra back for the meal after dealing with this.

“Aaah, good stuff this” Fredric sighed and placed a now nearly empty flagon on the table. “Sorry for the rant, lass. But dealing with idiots on the training fields can wear at you time to time.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never really trained someone. I was always the one learning from others.” I replied with an understanding smile. It did make me think about the times I trained with Urahara and Yoruichi though, and I never actually got around to teaching Ichigo beyond that one spar. I wondered if those two ever got as frustrated as Fredric while training others? Something to ask if I ever found myself back there.

Fredric waved me off. “Aye, completely different to be the one teaching. Though I suppose a lass like you doesn’t want to listen to a warrior moan over training. Not with the rumors going around being more interesting.”

I perked up at that. “Rumors?”

“Aye, folk are talking about the Rider and his dragon blessing a child yesterday. The whole city is talking about almost nothing else. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”

Damn it, I missed the opportunity to stop Eragon from fucking up the blessing. And this confirmed the Twin bastards tried starving me out for a day.

“I haven’t been out for a day or so, busy finishing a project.” I explained with a shrug.

“A craftswoman are you?” Fredric’s eyes darted to my wrist where the scry warder was located. “A jeweler perhaps? I’ve never seen a piece like that, even among the dwarves.”

I had to reevaluate my opinion of the large man, even drunk he was more attentive than I first suspected.

“You have a good eye.” I complemented without answering him. “And as pleasant as this has been, I do have more errands to finish today.” Like actually tracking down a metal supplier, or maybe checking out more of the city.

“Of course!” Fredric said proudly. “Need it to whack the fools into shape. If you’re ever looking for something to do, feel free to stop by the training fields. Might actually get the lazy louts to put some effort in.”

“We’ll see.” I said. I was actually probably going to take him up on that considering Eragon was going to wind up there eventually and I’d like to make sure the Twins couldn’t take out their inevitable frustration on my disappearance on him.

I said by goodbyes and headed over to Sandra, who greeted me with another of her amused smiles.

“Have a nice chat?” she asked hopefully.

I tried to smile back, but it came out more of a grimace. I could still feel the bits of meat Fredric had unintentionally splattered me with afterall. “It was certainly...spirited.”

Sandra sighed and shook her head. “Oh Fredric, you’re never going to find a wife if you don’t learn some manners.” she looked back to me, “I apologise for my little brother, but do give him a chance. He is actually quite sweet when he tries.”

I blinked hard at the revelation that those two were related, especially that Fredric was the little brother, but recovered quickly. “Oh, uh, I’m sure he is but like I said, I’m not really looking for a partner.”

“Nonsense,” Sandra said with a patronising pat on my arm. “You’re right around that age, dear. I know it feels like you have all the time in the world but your second decade will be upon you before you know it.” I realised that while my age could appear between late teens to early twenties in a more modern world. Here, where people worked hard and aged early, I would look much younger. Or like a noble I suppose.

“I’ll keep it in mind.” I said dryly. “Now I’m off to find someone to help forge a rather special alloy, so if you’ll excuse me…” I trailed off.

“Oh? Oh, of course!” she exclaimed. “If you’re looking for that, I actually know a very good smith. Dwarven naturally, most of them around Farthen Dûr are, but very good with metals. Tell him I sent you and it should get you a meeting at the least. Halldor is a bit prickly, but he does good work.”

I thanked her for the information and the directions before setting off in search of the smith. With a bit of luck I would have the alloy I needed to fix the Azure Horizon and I’d be free to explore the world a bit before I left.

Somehow I had a feeling it wouldn’t be quite that straightforward but a girl could hope.