The Carrots I Tasted as a Child (4)
Having made it safely through the city gates, Rian stopped for a moment to take in the buildings spread out before him.
"Amazing. This really has that medieval European vibe..."
The tall medieval-style buildings and cobblestone streets had a certain romance to them. After nothing but countryside for so long, it felt as though he'd finally arrived in a proper otherworld.
Rian threw his chest wide and drew in a deep lungful of city air.
"Ohh, that otherworld smell~ My mind is so refreshed."
He gazed around as if spellbound, then snapped back to his senses. He needed to find a place to set up shop, and fast. He would have loved nothing more than to barge into the nearest inn and collapse into a proper rest, but unfortunately, he was a beggar. Until he sold his carrots and got his hands on some money, he couldn't go anywhere.
His stomach churned and growled as if a riot were breaking out inside it. Telling himself this was no time for sightseeing, he hurried on.
After asking around for a while, he finally managed to find the marketplace. A wide plaza packed with merchant stalls bustled with crowds.
"Knock it down a little more."
"That's cheap enough already. How much more do you want off? Fine, forget it. If you're not buying, I'm done."
"Man, that guy's stubborn."
"Here, take a little extra of this. That good enough? That's my last offer too."
The prime spots, where customers clustered thickest, were packed so tight with merchants there wasn't even room to squeeze in. Rian first hauled his cart around, getting a feel for the going rate on carrots.
One silver thirty-five copper for three kilos... then I'm charging three silver for three kilos, no question.
No matter which stall he checked, none of them were selling carrots that looked better than the ones he'd grown. Having settled on a price, Rian went looking for a place to set up.
A short while later, he stopped in a secluded, out-of-the-way corner. There was nowhere else to do business.
"Can't be helped."
He clicked his tongue and pulled the black cloth off his cart. A heap of fresh carrots. Rian's heart pounded.
"Alright. Let's do this."
Moments later, his hawking voice rang out from the farthest edge of the marketplace.
"Emily, we'll walk from here."
"We're still a long way from the castle."
"I said we're walking. Stop the carriage."
Inside a carriage rolling through the city, the time was five in the afternoon. Lisa had no intention of entering the lord's castle early. If she hurried in, she'd have to offer her thanks to the lord who'd put her party up for the night, then make the rounds meeting various nobles and engaging in social niceties. The whole prospect felt thoroughly tedious. So she figured she'd tour the city instead and head to the castle once it got dark.
Except when it was truly necessary, Lisa found the business of forming human relationships quite worthless. After all, weren't they all people who would die by her hand anyway?
"Don't come crying to me later that your legs hurt."
Emily said this with a sulky look, then instructed the coachman to halt the carriage. Lisa stepped down and sent the rest of her party ahead to the castle, keeping only Kestiria, captain of her royal guard, and her assistant Emily with her.
"Have you a place in mind, my lady?"
Kestiria asked, one hand resting on her sword hilt. Lisa thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Let's go to the market. I'll buy some seeds and vegetables for research."
Emily grumbled.
"I'm the one who'll have to carry it all, you know. If you're going to do this, at least bring a few servants along."
"Don't worry. I won't buy much."
The three of them headed straight for the nearby marketplace. As evening approached, the crowds only grew thicker, until there was barely room to take a step. And yet, wherever Lisa walked, people pressed themselves aside without exception.
She hadn't revealed her identity to anyone in the market, but her clothing and dazzling beauty were enough for people to sense she was no ordinary person.
"Must be a high-ranking noble from another region, right?"
"I've fallen for her..."
"Looking at her, my wife's not even a woman — she's a man. Now that is a real woman among women. Her looks are incredible!"
"What did you just say? Want me to make your ears bleed today?"
"Gah! Y-you were right next to me!?"
As praise for Lisa's beauty poured in from every direction until mouths ran dry, a few children even found the courage to beg.
"I'm hungry! Please, have mercy and give me something so I can buy food! I'm begging you!"
Each time, Lisa readily pulled silver coins from her money pouch and pressed a fistful into the grimy hands of the children. And she never forgot to leave them with a few words.
"From now on, don't cling to other people. Work hard and earn your own keep. A human who holds out their hand to others is the most pathetic kind of human there is. Lower than a hardworking ant. Understand?"
The children who received the money either went pale or burst into tears and fled as if running for their lives.
Watching from the side, Emily was about to explode. She pounded her chest and hissed at Lisa.
"I asked you to watch what you say!"
"Right."
Lisa answered like a machine, and nothing changed.
A short while later, they entered a street crowded with vegetable merchants, and one particular stall packed with customers caught Lisa's eye.
"That stall's popular."
Lisa's interest was piqued. Drawing closer, she found a young merchant selling turnips. They were far larger and fresher than ordinary turnips — no wonder people were crowding around. The price was also remarkably cheap for the quality.
"Turnips fit for kings and nobles! Come, come, buy them up! Opportunities like this don't come often!"
"I'll take one!"
"Three for me!"
The turnips sold like wildfire right before Lisa's eyes. After watching in silence for a while, she picked up one of the neatly stacked turnips. It was quite heavy, and the inside looked packed solid. But then a wicked smile spread across her face as she looked down at the young merchant with contempt.
"I'll take this one too."
"Pardon?"
"This turnip in my hand. I'm buying it."
"Ah, well, that's..."
The young merchant, who until moments ago had looked ready to sell everything but the clothes on his back, suddenly hesitated, glancing nervously at Lisa.
"What's the matter? Is there a problem?"
"W-well, nobles really shouldn't buy these..."
"And why is that? Don't tell me you're discriminating?"
"N-no! It's not discrimination! Turnips are a root vegetable that only the lower classes eat, so they're unclean. I thought perhaps a noble lady might prefer vegetables grown above the ground..."
"Don't lie to me."
Lisa's demeanor turned ice-cold.
"You're afraid you'll be punished for selling me garbage. Isn't that right?"
"Huk!"
Lisa glanced back at Kestiria, who stood behind her.
"Cut every last one of these turnips open."
"Yes, my lady."
"You can't!"
The merchant went white with panic. Kestiria stepped forward without a flicker of emotion. Her blade flashed like lightning, splitting every last turnip piled on the mat clean in two.
Shhk!
Turnips tumbled across the ground in a chaotic scatter. Every last one of them was black and rotten inside.
Lisa laughed.
"Did you really think no one would notice if you just used magic to polish up the outside?"
"Good heavens!"
The crowd, now seeing the truth, erupted in fury.
"This bastard scammed us!"
"You piece of trash!"
Before long, the young merchant was dragged away by soldiers who'd arrived on a report.
"How did you know?"
Emily looked at Lisa with wonder. Lisa gave a short laugh.
"I'm going to have to deceive people from now on. I can hardly afford to be the one getting fooled, can I?"
With that, Lisa moved on. She led the way, Kestiria following close behind. Left behind by herself, Emily muttered under her breath, looking thoroughly bewildered.
"Is this one of those 'it takes a con artist to know a con artist' things...?"
She turned her head — Lisa was already far ahead. She hurried after them.
"Wait for me, Lady Lisa!"
After that, they browsed the market at a leisurely pace until the day had fully darkened. They were just about to leave — they had to attend the evening banquet with Lord Druba, master of the city, no matter what — when Lisa's passing gaze caught a merchant.
The farthest, most out-of-the-way corner of the market. A young merchant selling carrots. Lisa stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him.
Even in that tucked-away spot, a fair number of people had gathered. The merchant, riding the energy, was selling with gusto. The carrots loaded on his cart looked, at a glance, to be of excellent quality.
Hm? That man...
Kestiria recognized the back of the farmer she'd happened to run into earlier.
"Wow... I've never seen carrots that big. And the color's so rich."
At Emily's words, Lisa snorted as if the idea were absurd.
"They don't crack down on scammers around here, do they. There's another one just like that last guy."
Emily started.
"Don't tell me you think those are magically doctored too, like the rotten turnips?"
"How else would anyone grow carrots that well? Carrots like that don't exist anywhere in this world. Let's go."
"Go where?"
"Do I have to spell it out? I'm going to expose that merchant for the fraud he is."
Lisa headed straight for the carrot seller without a shred of hesitation.
Of all the vegetables in the world, he had to mess around with carrots. That just makes me even angrier.
Carrots were a vegetable that held only good memories for her. She was striding forward, determined to teach him a lesson, when someone suddenly blocked her path.
"There you are!"
Lisa stopped short. She looked up. A man in lavish noble attire was smiling down at her.
"I heard word that you were at the market, and so I hastened forth to receive you."
"And you are...?"
Emily darted over and whispered in her ear.
"Can't you tell from the knights he's got with him? He's from the castle! He's definitely someone important!"
The man placed a hand over his chest and offered a graceful bow.
"I am Gystrage de Laval, eldest son of House Laval."
"Ah, I see. I am Lisa Astrid."
"The radiance emanating from your person made you unmistakable, even without the honor of knowing your face. It was as though I were gazing upon an angel descended from the heavens."
His oily line made Lisa inwardly nauseous. A chilly tone slipped out of her before she could stop it.
"And what brings the eldest son all the way out here?"
"I have come to escort you. Allow me the honor of showing you the way to the castle. Shall we proceed together?"
Gystrage courteously indicated the direction of the castle with both hands, inviting her along. But Lisa turned her gaze toward the carrot merchant.
"Come on over, ma'am! Delicious carrots, right here! If not today, they're gone! Hurry, hurry, buy them up! Oh! Ten of them, you say? Ahaha, thank you! Thank you so much!"
In her eyes as she glared at the carrot merchant working so hard at his trade, a firm resolve was plain to see: she was going to deal with that man before she went anywhere.