“Those who refuse to move along with the flow of time can only drown in the past.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“This is pretty… and so nice to touch too…” muttered Kino as she rubbed her hand on a soft sheet of woven cotton cloth with a great deal of care. Unlike the common sort of cotton seen in Ptolodecca, which had an off-white, grayish hue, the sheet of cotton had a pure white shade, like that of untainted snow. It was left bare on purpose, without decoration, as its own nature should suffice to show its quality.

“Best quality Selovian Snow Cotton, young lady, very smooth, very durable,” boasted the merchant who noticed Kino’s interest in the cloth. The man then brought out a small piece of the cloth set on a wooden board within a bowl and poured some wine over it. The wine just slid off the cloth and down into the bowl without staining it. “Very resistant to stains, easy to keep clean, oh yes~”

The almost silk-like sheet of cotton was a stark contrast to the sort of fabric usually worn by the rich in Oajib. There, it was more common to wear clothing made out of vibrantly dyed cotton cloth, with the rich often having gold threads stitched into their clothes to show off their wealth. Some even had embroidery done with gold and silver threads decorating their outfits.

“This region used to rely on cotton exports for its income in the past,” said Aideen as she walked up to stand next to Kino, the two conversing in the Lichdom tongue. “But as cheap linen from the Empire were more economical for poor people to make their clothing from, their crop lost popularity over time and they had to diversify into different directions to make do.”

“Huh, that does remind me, in the Lichdom cotton was far more common than linen as well,” noted Kino. “Any reason for that?”

“Simple enough. The Lichdom also produces cotton aplenty, especially in the regions further north. Our cotton isn’t as fine as the cotton produced here in the far north, but they’re hardy plants and grow abundantly even in poor soil,” explained Aideen. “Because of that, the local cotton in Ptolodecca ends up being a good bit cheaper than any imported linen could be.”

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“The sort of cotton grown here in the north produces finer cloth, with the best being the sort like the one you’re holding,” she continued. “Nowadays they only really bother to produce this type of cotton crop, as a local luxury product that fetches a high price on the market. The rest of the fields that used to grow cotton now grow food crops instead, what few would grow in this arid climate, that is.”

“You might as well get some if you like it,” chimed in Eilonwy who just returned from browsing the goods of a different vendor. She touched a different bolt of cotton cloth on the same stall and seemed to appreciate the way it felt on her skin. “One of the best benefits with this kind of traveling mission is that it comes with a nice chunk of pocket money, part our salary paid up front, part a bonus for us to enjoy ourselves while on the road. No reason to leave it unused.”

“Good sirrah, can you please have five bolts of these packed up?” said Eilonwy to the merchant in the local language after that. She phrased herself as a superior to avoid the merchant overcharging her in case he thought she would be a tourist unfamiliar with the market price. While the two younger girls had difficulty communicating in Oajib, Selovi fortunately used the more commonly used tongue they already learned beforehand. “We will pay in gold, of course.”

“Five?” asked Aideen with some curiosity. “Getting presents for your siblings and mothers, I assume?”

“Exactly. The last one’s for myself. This stuff’s nice and comfy, thinking of having a couple robes made out of it for relaxing at home,” replied Eilonwy with a smile. “Can’t be gallivanting around for a decade and return home without presents, now can we? That’d be very rude to do.”

“Come to think of it… that’s a good point,” admitted Kino. “Mister, could you pack another two bolts for me?” she asked the merchant, counting out gold coins openly as she paid the same amount per bolt of cloth as what Eilonwy just paid. “Oh, I also quite like this brocaded robe. How much does this cost?” she added as she pointed at a finely made black robe with a floral pattern done with a gentle purple shade on it.

At that point, the merchant was all too happy with the large purchase that any thought of overcharging the “tourists” he might have had previously had long fled his mind as he happily ordered a young man – probably his son from the looks – to help with packing up the purchases. A generous customer who buys a lot of expensive items in one go was the best thing a merchant could hope for, and he got two that day.

“You girls have fun and buy what you feel like getting. Eilonwy made a good point in that you got a lot of free spending money for this mission, since other than travel expenses, our housing and food are pretty much taken care of,” noted Aideen with a smile. While they were out on a mission, there was no reason why they couldn’t enjoy themselves at the same time.

What she mentioned about the housing and food was because the local agents they contacted would usually arrange such things for them. Back in Oajib, Farouq had insisted that they enjoy his place’s hospitality during their stay. In Selovi, their local contact runs an inn, so they stayed there for free. The main reason they went to eat elsewhere the day before was out of curiosity rather than anything else.

Since their travel was mostly done by foot, the three does indeed possess a large sum of money to use freely during their mission.