"Is there any reason you want to call me this?"
"I…"
Her sentence didn't go far. She shook her head again after the first world and didn't say anything further. It couldn't be helped. I wasn't one to force others to do things they didn't want to since I believed this was unproductive. It was better to go back to my usual methods.
"Well, it's fine. You can call me whatever you want. By the way, I noticed that you're wearing that brooch. It looks great on you, Kuini. You look stunning."
She turned away from me again.
"Thank you, my Lord."
It still felt weird to be called so. Speaking of which, the outer world was also more medieval in terms of culture. I hadn't thought too much about it yet since Geola was a sort of free city but there might be kings and queens ruling other places. If so, "Lords" possessing territories might also be a thing.
The warehouse was a large building, close to the family's fields. Kuini unlocked the door with a large key. Inside, a huge quantity of wooden boxes piled up almost to the ceiling, taking up most of the warehouse's space. A few empty boxes sat in a corner, while five closed ones were set apart from the rest on the other side.
"These five are for today."
"I got it. Still, you have an amazing stock."
"Because we didn't have any contracted merchant for a long time. Dad was going to find a different way to sell the crops if you didn't come."
"Makes sense. Let me load my cart."
Each box was filled to the brim and I had a hard time transporting them since they were so heavy. While I was doing this, Kuini gave me more explanations.
"Everything has received the preservation spell. The five boxes are the ones that contain the crops that have been here for a long time and will perish soon. Is that fine with you, my Lord?"
"Of course. We don't want to waste any food. How much longer do you think they can last?"
"Five to ten days."
"That's good enough. Thank you for telling me honestly, Kuini."
She gave a small smile but looked away again when I grinned back. I finished loading my cart and got ready to leave.
"I'll get going now."
"Yes. Ah, could you please come back with the empty boxes next time?"
"Of course. Thank you for your help Kuini. I hope you have a great day."
"Please travel safely, my Lord."
I made my way back to the village entrance, at a much more moderate pace. Even with a cart, the load was quite burdensome. As I passed by the guards, one of them whistled in surprise.
"Are you going to be fine, merchant? There's a long way to Geola."
He wasn't wrong. There were twenty kilometers to go and considering my speed and burden, it would normally take me half a day if not more. The second guard cut the first one.
"Don't bother. Merchants are crazy about profit. Even a medium-sized rank 0 species like him is ready to make the trip without any horse. Heck, he's coming to this cursed village to earn money. That tells all you need to know."
"Hey, we're not supposed to say stuff like that!"
"Who cares? You think the same too, right?"
"Still…"
"A good day to you two, good sirs."
I greeted them while passing by, ignoring their banter. I didn't like their opinion but they were free to think whatever they wanted. The reality was that I still didn't know much about the outer world. They might have a good reason for their words. Who was I to judge people I knew nothing about? Until I had a perfect grasp of the relationships between species, cultural norms, and political tidbits, it was better to stay on friendly terms with everyone and keep myself open-minded. My role as a trader was to constantly collect information and use that in the most advantageous manner possible. There was no point in making enemies for no reason.
As soon as I was far enough and out of sight, I teleported to Suuru's house. She quickly opened the door after I knocked on it.
"You're here, Tila."
The proportion of longing in her gaze had increased compared to yesterday. It was probably only a matter of time until she completely forgave me.
Following this, we settled into a certain routine over the next few days. In the morning, I would fetch the crops from the bunnies' village. We would then sell them inside the dome together with Suuru. Using that money, I would buy selnic items, which I would sell to the weasel merchant during Geola's night market.
This was a great loop and our profits increased fast as we streamlined the process and got ourselves known in 82. I gave Suuru a part of the profits and she was giddy with the large amount of money she managed to earn every day.
Ulum was still in the middle of her final exams and I didn't bother her, only wishing her good luck from afar. Whenever I had time, I trained by casting the gate spell, to perfect it and increase my rank. I also kept visiting the slums to give food to the kids, sometimes to the boy, and other times to the girl. I was certain they were together so it didn't matter which one received my gifts. I ran into trouble a few times but it was nothing dangerous for me. If I was pursued by thugs, I could simply turn a corner while escaping and teleport away immediately. There was no chance I would ever get caught by people like them.
On Geola's Delight's side, I continued taking lessons from Berki, increasing my skills every time I visited her. She was more and more satisfied with me and always asked me to come back for more training. If I wanted a break from that, I would go to Linon and enjoy a relaxed time full of oral sex with her. Whether one or the other, we were feeling comfortable in each other presence by now, as much as such a thing could exist between a sex worker and their client.
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