Marcus, Taniel, and Tanyan hadn’t bothered to look in her direction, but that quickly changed when she slid onto a seat beside Tanyan. They were staring at her as if she had grown a second head; the two monks even had their mouths hanging open!

“What?” She said, a tad too loudly. Marcus just laughed.

“Princess, you clean up quite well, it really is a shame you didn’t accept my offer…”

“You look… a lot better.” Tanyan confirmed, and Taniel shook his head and went back to eating. The novices were once again lost in their own world, doing their best to ignore everything. Maybe they had been traumatized too much.

Elania smiled, happy that her efforts to clean up had gone well, but she knew that she wasn’t that stunning to have turned everyone’s head as soon as she entered the room.

“Why is everyone staring? I heard them... but it wasn’t like that last night?”

Marcus grinned at her before catching a link of sausage on his fork and taking a bite.

Tanyan started to speak, but the older man cut him off and finally answered.

“Last night you looked the part, Princess. A little filthy unbound demon of no note hidden under some layers of rags, hauled in with a small party. Master probably died between wayposts, and you’re well under control and probably slated to get a new master when you return to wherever we are going.”

It took her a moment to unpack his statements, and she realized that he was saying what he expected the other tavern-goers to be thinking when they looked at her. She frowned and started to ask a question when he interrupted her and continued.

“Now this morning, in walks a pretty young woman, except she’s a low level demon and unbound, no one accompanying her and she looks a little lost and vulnerable. Half the men in the room probably wants you to sign a contract with them so they can teach you to ride their dicks, because that’s all they think about. The other half want you to sign a contract so they can teach you to watch their back--- and then ride them later, because they aren’t man enough to handle a real female companion that could probably chop their cock off and hand it to them. Oh, and all the women are jealous and hate you for taking all the attention off the lot of them.”

Elania’s cheeks were flaming, and she looked around, but no one was paying her much attention anymore. Thank god, because the way Marcus put it, they were all going to try and force her into a contract that included fucking whenever they wanted.

“I’m... not sure that’s fully accurate, but he is right that unbound sapient demons aren’t common, especially low-level ones. Most of them are high level servants.”

“Don’t get used to such a warm welcome, Princess. The ones here are all veterans and can handle themselves and aren’t afraid of you. Once inside Neftasu’s wards, most people are prey. You’ll be the danger and they’ll fear you. Unbridled fear is a nasty emotion to have to live with so they’ll probably want you dead.” Marcus smiled at her, “Of course, you could sign a contract with me, and you’ll not have to worry about any of that.”

Elania smiled back at him, “Thank you, but the answer is still the same.”

As much as she didn’t like his attitude, the information he’d been providing her really was vital. It was eye-opening to know how this society viewed things, and she realized the monks weren’t nearly as good at putting things in such a... pragmatic light.

The waitress from the night before arrived and smiled at the group, not even missing a beat at Elania’s eyes.

“Do any of you need anything else?” When the others declined, she looked to Elania, “What can I get you? Some fruit?”

“Oh... no thank you. I don’t have any money to pay for bre---”

“Get the girl some bloody fruit. Last time she nearly killed herself trying to eat some cooked stew.”

The waitress raised an eyebrow then looked back to Elania, looking for confirmation. Elania didn’t want to repeat Marcus’s rudeness and offered a hesitant smile and nodded. If there was any question of the waitress having missed Elania’s demon eyes, it was settled now. She worried the waitress would suddenly react, but the other girl was either a professional and ignored Elania’s status or wasn’t bothered by it.

“Sure, I’ll be right back.”

Elania felt a bit of surprise. That Marcus would get her some fruit, and at the waitress not caring about her demon-status. Maybe... she was used to demons? Elania’s eyes crept over to where the Ash Hounds were the night before and found them both to be staring at her again. It was unnerving to her that whenever she was present, they would be so intent on her.

She imagined everyone seeing her look at them with glowing eyes like that, only red instead, and shivered a bit before composing herself. The others had begun to focus on finishing the breakfast her arrival had interrupted.

Still, she had some questions about money that she thought was important for her to know, so she didn’t hesitate to bug them.

“So, could one of you explain money to me? I really appreciate the room last night, and the fruit.” She smiled at Marcus, but the ranger seemed to ignore it and continued to focus on his food. Taniel finally chimed in for the first time.

“Ten small coppers to one large, ten large coppers to a small silver, ten small silver to a large, ten large silver to a small gold. You get the idea.”

Elania nodded, and the waitress dropped off a small plate of sliced fruit. There was a yellow one that reminded her of pineapple, and the other was pale and looked something like an apple.

[Pinetal]

[Aptal]

“A room like the one you had last night should only cost a small silver, but in the Waystations the prices are a lot higher, so it was a full Silver Leaf.”

“The Silver Leaf is the large silver?”

“Right. It is named that for the marking on it. All coins are minted by The Guard in Neftasu under the direction of the Council.”

“Ok.”

“If you are going to survive, you’ll need work. Don’t think yer gonna be cut out for something menial, so ya should sign up with the Mercenary Guild as a novice. You’ll get missions and work with a crew at first until you know the ropes enough to take on jobs on your own.”

Taniel shook his head, “Don’t listen to him, of course he’d suggest the Mercenary Guild, he’s a high-tier member, probably would make a deal with the clerk to use you whenever he wants.”

“Tsk, unlike the Conclave the Mercenary Guild doesn’t play loose with the rules, or favorites.”

Tanyan had his own idea on what she should do.

“For starters, you should sell that Monster Core. Worth a lot, Gotta be examined though.”

Elania nodded and hesitantly took one of the slices of the Pinetal. She didn’t miss the sudden look of appraisal Marcus was giving her, and she realized Tanyan had just let out she had something valuable. She wanted to kick him. At least he hadn’t mentioned the Mana Shard. Wanting to change the subject, she brought up their destination.

“How long until we reach the city?”

Taking a cautious nibble, she found the Pinetal sweet and tangy, and her eyes widened a bit. She started making the rest of it disappear in a hurry.

“We’ll be there today. Going through the checkpoints will take a few hours.” Tanyan answered.

“Checkpoints?” Elania licked her fingers and looked at Tanyan, wondering why ‘checkpoints’ would be the main delay in getting into the city.

“You’ll see. The Guard is serious about the security of the city.”

Marcus suddenly stood up, and then Taniel did as well. She realized the others had all been finished, and she captured the last few bits of fruit in a hurry. The novices were carrying two baskets apiece and already heading for the door.

Why was she always playing catch up?

Elania followed along, and the group headed through the waystation’s street toward the same way they had entered. Her thought that they would immediately head out and start toward the city turned out to be wrong. Marcus lead them to the outside of a shop with a few crates sitting out in front of it near the open market area and stopped. The monks seemed to be just as confused as she was at the sudden halt.

“What are you doing, Marcus?” Tanyan asked.

Instead of answering the monk, the mercenary held up the bag he had the night before. That didn’t really explain anything to Elania, but Taniel objected.

“You’re hired to escort us, not play merchant.”

“Technically, meh contracts to get those baskets of moss from the Mushroohums to yer precious Masters. Run along if ye want, this shan’t take long.”

Taniel spat a few curses and insults at the ranger, but he didn’t seem perturbed. The party settled down and waited. That gave Elania time to inspect the market area, although only from a distance. She didn’t feel confident enough to go inspect the few stalls that had already set up and were showing things for sale.

Marcus was right, it didn’t take long before a man arrived, and his eagerness showed as soon as he saw the bag.

“They’re all the same quality as the sample you showed?”

“Of course, wouldn’t waste time bothering with less.”

The man reached down and pulled a purse out of an inner pocket of his jacket. The more Elania inspected his outfit the more she became convinced he was some type of merchant, and she was happy to see her guess was right when [Identify] responded.

[Trader - Human - Lvl 187]

The purse changed hands before Marcus inspected the contents with a frown.

“Paying in silver, couldn’t be bothered to change it to gold?”

“The money-changer's fees are expensive. Really, does it matter?”

“Tsk. Fine. Easier to spend anyway.”

The merchant disappeared as fast as he arrived, bag in hand. The monks stirred, and Taniel urged them to get a move on. She had expected there to be some haggling and there to be an exact amount of coin exchanged for an exact amount of [Razorscale Scales] instead of the rough and quick trade that just took place.

As they headed toward the exit, Marcus homed in on her and surprised her by holding up the bag of money he had just received.

“That Monster Core o’ yers, I’ll pay you this bag and a bit more for it. Two small golds worth at least.”

Elania bit back her first instinct to outright refuse. At some point she had concluded that any deal proposed to her by the ranger would be to his own benefit. But…

She considered this offer. She did need money, and it was entirely possible that it would be a good deal for her. Maybe he’d be able to get more out of the Monster Core than her, but she would have to figure out where to sell it, how to sell it, and not get ripped off by that person too. The bag of coin jingled in front of her, and having money in hand as soon as she got to the city instead of the potential of money might be worth it.

“Don’t do it. You’ll get more in the city. It’s a Monster Core. Even a common one’ll double that.”

Elania frowned and looked between Taniel and Marcus. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the monk was just trying to spoil whatever Marcus wanted more than help her out, but double did sound like it would be worth waiting for.

Marcus shrugged and smiled at her, quickly hiding the money purse.

“Suit yerself.”

She wasn’t sure what to make of his easy acceptance, but it felt a little out of character to her.

The entire Waypost was lit up more brightly from the hanging crystals above, and Elania noticed that there were a lot more people moving about. She guessed that they had arrived quite late the day before and they had moved into the ‘day’ cycle. As they approached the gate, one of the armored guards stared at her, and she found herself gravitating toward the center of the group.

Maybe her movement had aroused his suspicions, but when they reached the exit the man blocked the group’s path.

“What is the Conclave and Mercenary guild doing smuggling an unbound demon through a Waypost then?”

Marcus stepped up to the front. “Mercenary and Conclave business, likely, and not yours to worry about Guard.”

“Anyone suspected of committing a crime is my business, and you lot are up to something.”

Taniel had already pulled out a plate from a pocket, the copper-hued metal being shaped like some small shield with a ribbon layered behind it. The guard frowned as he looked at the symbol.

“Conclave business. Let us through.”

Whatever the badge was, it seemed to have some effect on the guard as the man looked at them unhappily. Marcus laughed and fished out a badge of his own from inside his jerkin. He had a badge, too. It was the same type of shield, but it was steel colored and without a ribbon.

“Mercenary business. Let us through.”

“You lot---” The guard was cut off by another who just arrived. The man had the same type of armor and gear as the gate guard, but a silver sash was wrapped around his breastplate.

“Keep them moving soldier.”

“But captain, the---”

“That’s an order.”

The captain stared at Elania as they started to move through, and she felt like she could still feel eyes boring into her back as they made their way out and back onto the cave path. She let out a sigh of relief when they finally turned the corner and were once again moving toward their destination.

After a few minutes, a hand fell on her shoulder, and Marcus pulled her to a stop. The others noticed and looked back, but he waved them forward. “Go on, I’ve something to say to ‘er. We’ll catch up in a moment.”

The others looked a bit concerned; She felt a bit wary of being left alone with the ranger, but as soon as the rest of the group were out of earshot, he spoke.

“Princess.”

“Uhm?”

“Yer going to have to stop actin’ like prey in front of e’ryone. That trick wit the badges ain’t gonna work at the checkpoints, and if the Guard suspect ya enough they’ll hold you.”

She started to protest, but he held up a hand.

“If it come to it, that lot’ll leave ya behind to get their precious moss to where it needs to be. At the end o’ the day their purposes fer it far outweigh their concern fer a single little demon. An ye ain’t worth pissin’ off a Gate Captain who ‘as decided yer trouble. N’if ye trust the helpful one, ye’ll be disappointed.”

‘So I should trust you?’

No, he hadn’t implied that either, but before she could figure out what to say, he turned and didn’t give her a chance to reply. She stared at his back, and she realized he was right. This wasn’t Earth, or the US of A. It wasn’t her ‘safe’ campus ground. If she acted like a victim, the people here were going to make her one. She was obviously in over her head, but that meant she had to adapt… and one thing she was sure of was that ‘demons’ like her were good at adapting.

As she hurried to catch up, the feeling of being watched didn’t diminish despite her realization. She glanced back to see two pairs of glowing blue eyes staring at her from inside a darkened cave shadow.