We didn’t do much actual shopping after I gave the vampire twins so much of my gold, but neither of us seemed to mind. In fact, now that the pressure of finding our necessary items had been removed, I felt even more relaxed. We could just stroll around and marvel at the goods on offer.

  I found it both funny and reasonable that most of these goods were not what anyone could call ‘useful.’

  Most of the merchants had brought trinkets, jewelry, and baubles for home decoration. I saw only two stalls selling serious, high-quality tools that would help one survive out on the frontier, and only one stall offering clothes that were more functional than pretty.

  Furthermore, I noted that these stalls received the smallest number of customers.

  I did watch one determined young human, flanked by two other townsfolk, approach the larger stall that sold tools. He was clutching a large purse to his side like he would die to protect it. After a very quick and hushed conversation, the stall owner carried out four separate wooden boxes, which the group paid for and then hurriedly carried away.

  Yet that was one isolated incident. The vast majority of Swiftband’s residents seemed quite eager to peruse less practical wares.

  Again, while this amused me, it also made sense. The town wasn’t old enough for the tools from the initial settlement drive to have worn out or be ruined. Even that one large transaction I’d observed had probably been organized by the elders.

  Meanwhile, a town full of young adults without access to many luxuries would be understandably drawn towards beautiful items, however impractical.

  In fact, something caught my eye while I was casually browsing one of these ‘impractical’ stalls. It was a bracelet, crafted entirely out of a single piece of what looked to be spinel. The pinkish red gem had been shaped into a sleeping dragon, curled up in a way that brought the word ‘adorable’ to mind rather than ‘majestic.’

  I felt a brief twinge of worry that the spinel jewel was just an imitation, like those glass pieces we’d seen earlier, but I quickly decided that was not the case. This stall’s offerings were considerably more upscale than many others I’d seen, both in terms of quality and price.

  Thankfully, my dragoness was distracted. She was currently eyeing up a stall that sold chicken, lamb, and pork dishes, prepared in every imaginable way.

  Also thankfully, I saw another stall not far from the jewelry stand that would serve as the perfect excuse.

  “Alys?”

  “Yes?” She turned back to me smoothly, pretending like she hadn’t just been licking her lips with malicious intent at the sight of all that meat.

  “I’m feeling a little hungry, but I just remembered I need to pick up a few things for my future garden.” I motioned towards the nearby stall I’d noticed, which was one of the two more practical shops. It sold various tools for gardening and other agricultural endeavors. “Would you mind ordering us something nice? Here, please take this, and I’ll be right back. Maybe even pick out a variety of dishes, and we can take some home?”

  She hesitated for a moment, narrowing her eyes at the five gold and ten silver coins I was holding out to her. Then, slowly, she took them. “You do know I will pay you back for all of this, right?”

  I almost dismissed the comment. I didn’t really care much for the money I’d brought with me when I ran away. Besides, I was confident I would be able to make a living when the town eventually transitioned from its current barter system to a true marketplace.

  But I stopped myself. Her eyes were determined, and her jaw was set in a mulish expression I recognized all too well. Moreover, there was something about how she was holding herself that told me I should treat the moment with the seriousness it deserved.

  “I am more than happy to fund a single shopping trip,” I told her. “But if it means so much to you, then yes. Of course. I know that you are perfectly capable of paying.”

  She relaxed a little, and even flashed me a grin, though I knew we would be revisiting the subject in the future.

  “Good. Now, you should be quick, or I’m going to eat all the food.” She tilted her head, grinning wider. “Or I’ll see if this stall has spicy sauces, too.”

  Did I think she’d eat it all and leave me with nothing? Absolutely not. As I knew from a few recent mornings when I hadn’t had much of an appetite, she was always careful to make sure I was sufficiently nourished.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Did I think she would slather everything in spicy sauce and then force me to eat it?

  Absolutely yes.

  “You better not!” I shouted after her in a panic. “I still haven’t recovered from the last spicy meal you had!”

  She just laughed, leaving me in considerable distress as she walked away.

  At least my ruse had succeeded. Keeping a careful eye on her, I quickly approached the jewelry stall. I practically threw the money at the confused merchant after he stated the price. Then I snatched up my prize and moved onto the decoy stall.

  Or, rather, what I had meant to use as a decoy stall. Once I started looking, I realized some gardening gear actually would make my life much easier. Then I spotted some fertilizer bags…

  I stopped myself from getting any partitions or materials of that sort. If I spent money on anything made of wood, Alys would murder me. Metal-based partitions wouldn’t suit, either, since different metals didn’t always interact well with magical plants.

  Still, when I finally made my way back to Alys, it was with a smile on my face and quite a few additional items in my storage bag.

  “Shopping went well?” she asked in lieu of a greeting, thrusting a chicken skewer at me like it was a weapon.

  I snatched it up and happily bit down on the succulent meat, glad to see it was not soaked in sauce of any kind. Instead, it was speckled with salt, onion powder, cumin, and thyme. The flavors were almost overwhelming, but somehow managed to hit a perfect balance.

  “Why are all the food stalls here so good?” I grumbled, glaring at the skewer for daring to run out of chicken so quickly.

  “Because if we want to sell anything out here, we need to make it worth the buyer’s while, dearie,” the stall owner laughed, drawing my eyes to her.

  The sight of an elderly dwarven matron made me pause for a moment. Dwarves her age tended to serve as elders in their society. Dwarven culture didn’t exactly forbid older dwarves to work actively, but I knew the practice was discouraged, and therefore rare.

  Recovering quickly, I gave her a smile. “My compliments! It’s a delight to indulge while we can.”

  “Oh, no need for compliments.” The dwarf laughed again. “Your wife already showed her appreciation with how much food she bought!”

  Alys and I both froze, then glanced at each other. It was impossible to tell which of us was more embarrassed. I opened my mouth to explain we weren’t married, that we were still courting…

  Then a spark of ancestral mischief surged through me, and my smile returned.

  Why bother with awkward explanations when we could have a bit of fun instead?

  “So…” I cleared my throat, affecting a casual tone. “What else did you get for us, dear?”

  From the glare Alys gave me, I knew I might regret that comment later. In the moment, though, she merely pointed to a wooden container.

  It resembled the containers Arandel sometimes used to hand out soup. The simple, box-like design had grooves carefully worked into the top, allowing a cover to slide in and seal the contents inside. Even if an accident occurred and the container was turned over, liquids couldn’t seep out.

  This container, however, did not hold soup. It was a carnivore’s dream meal box, filled to the brim with various fried, barbequed, and baked meats.

  My smile shifted into a sincere grin. Dipping into the box, I snatched up a skewer of lamb.

  “I am so happy to see you approve of my suggestion, darling,” Alys cooed. I’d never heard her use that honey-soft voice. It did strange things to my stomach, even if it also made the hairs on the back of my head stand up.

  I am definitely going to pay for starting this…

  Alys had that particular vindictive gleam in her eyes that meant she was carefully memorizing a grudge. At that point, I didn’t think any amount of apologies would save me.

  Might as well double down, then.

  “Of course,” I purred. “I always trust your judgment, my sweet. But you can’t have tried everything already! Here, say ahhh…”

  I leaned closer to her, almost pressing the skewer to her lips. While she glowered at me, she did unhinge her jaws.

  She then snapped them down with enough force to shear right through the skewer, which left me blinking and holding barely half of it.

  I covered my surprise by snatching off a piece of the lamb myself, then sighed in contentment. The stall’s offerings truly were amazing. Admittedly, I was also developing a thorough appreciation for meat in any form. It would be difficult not to while living with a draconian.

  Alys echoed my sigh as she swallowed, her grudge against me temporarily forgotten in favor of good food. “Hrm… that’s tasty. I don’t mind venison or whatever else the hunters manage to get, but I miss these kinds of meat.”

  “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’m sure the town will grow quickly enough that we’ll be able to have some regularly soon.”

  The community of Swiftband was in such early stages that we couldn’t slaughter valuable domestic animals. Our few chickens were guarded carefully for their eggs. Cows and sheep were treated the same way for the milk they produced. When the sheep were ready to be sheared, their wool would also be prized. There was a family raising pigs on the outskirts of town, but it would take time for that herd to grow.

  “Maybe I should purchase some animals?” the dragoness mused, snatching up my wrist so she could devour the rest of the skewer.

  “Ah, but then who would take care of them?” I pointed out. “We’re both busy. Besides, we’d probably lose our patience and end up eating them too soon.”

  She didn’t even bother trying to deny that. “True. Maybe we can —”

  Suddenly, an aggressive hand gripped my shoulder and tried to spin me around.

  “You there!” called the hand’s owner. “Do not ignore me, you —”

  The next moment, I was gripping the wrist of a startled human wearing what resembled a guard’s outfit, with the addition of front plate armor over a gambeson. The man was standing stock-still as his face grew paler by the second.

  Probably on account of the dagger in my hand, the blade poised inches away from his side.

  I heard Alys snarl behind me, accompanied by a short burst of heat, though I was too busy glaring at the man to glance back and gauge her expression. Doubt was beginning to creep in, trying to tell me that I’d overreacted, but I clung to my hostility and snarled:

  “I trust you have an excellent reason for disrupting our evening.”

  The human swallowed thickly, unable to tear his eyes away from the dagger’s point still hovering by his side.