“I doubt it”, sighed Tessa, looking around at the fishermen.
While Nana tried to convince Tessa about the goodness of the Dorosef men, the girls kept walking around, often stopped by one of Nana’s relatives who greeted them. The Dorosef people did look very nice and humble. Unlike before, most of them didn’t even seem to notice her golden jewelry and were too focused on their merchandise instead. The customers were already lined up to buy the freshest goods, just as Nana had predicted.
“Nana!” called a younger woman on the side, who was carrying two large baskets full of fresh fish.
“Cousin Beli!” smiled Nana. “We came to buy your sister’s fish beignets! Could you give us some?”
“Nana, have you heard?” asked her cousin, running up to them. “Uncle Jupitan came back from his rounds around the cultures this morning, he said he spotted a dragon flying in the area! Uncle Saturu and Auntie Vena said the same! Can you believe that?! A dragon, here! They are sending our hunters to see if we can hunt it or chase it away from the cattle, everyone is panicking in the lands!”
Cessilia and Tessa immediately exchanged a glance.
“Uh-oh...” grimaced Tessa. “We probably should have told the big boy to keep a low profile...”
“I asked him t-to stay in the area,” muttered Cessilia. “I f-forgot about his meals...”
Having heard them, Nana turned to the two cousins.
“You two really came with a real dr-... dragon?!” she exclaimed.
Cessilia jumped to cover her mouth, a second too late. A lot of people had already turned their eyes to the little group of girls, curious or doubting their ears, and her cousin’s jaw fell too.
“You should shout it louder,” grumbled Tessa, poking Naptunie’s flank.
“B-b-but I thought you were just teasing me!”
“Who are you guys?” asked Nana’s cousin, frowning and staring at the two of them from head to toe. “What do you know about the dragon?”
“S-sorry,” said Cessilia. “He c-came with us...”
“More like we came with him,” added Tessa. “...Did he hunt anything yet?”
“It sure did! That dragon killed three cows already!” exclaimed Beli. “And everyone is scared it will eat them next!”
“He d-doesn’t eat humans... anymore.”
“Anymore?” repeated Nana, shocked.
“He’s n-nice,” added Cessilia quickly, a bit embarrassed. “Anyway, we c-can t-tell him to stay away from the c-cattle. He’s j-just hungry... We will p-pay you for the c-cows he ate.”
“Fine...” said Beli, her eyes on Cessilia’s golden choker. “If you can guarantee it really won’t eat anyone, I guess... I’ll try to talk to the others. But can’t it eat anything other than our livestock? We already don’t have many!”
Tessa looked around them.
“Well, I guess as long as we give him enough, he probably can go on a fish diet...”
“N-Nana,” said Cessilia, turning to her. “C-can we b-buy three really b-big fish like the ones we saw? The b-biggest ones should b-be enough for now.”
Nana’s eyes lit up right away.
“Of course! I’ll ask my uncles to get them ready for your dragon!”
She immediately ran to talk to one of the men behind the stalls, explaining the situation quickly. Meanwhile, Cessilia turned to Beli again.
“I’m r-really sorry ab-bout that,” she said.
“Oh, as long as it doesn’t kill anyone and you can pay for it... You guys are from the Dragon Empire, then?”
Cessilia nodded, and Beli let out a little sigh, putting her baskets down to put her hands on her hips. She kept scrutinizing the two of them, their clothes, and jewelry, and wasn’t hiding herself from it.
“I see. Well, if you buy those fish, you’ll most likely be our biggest customers of the day, so we’re even, I guess. A little piece of advice, though, you may not want to carry so much, uh... gold around. You’re safe here, but if you go past the Inner Wall, you’ll definitely get robbed, assaulted, or worse. We don’t send our girls out because of all the criminals out there, and you two are walking around with all that on you... Not only that, but a lot of people aren’t really fond of... your kind, you know. Our tribe doesn’t have many warriors, but we still know the War God of the Dragon Empire killed many of our men a couple of decades ago. Whether that guy is real or not, some people remember and most aren’t fond of the Dragon Empire at all... If you’re really from there, you two girls should seriously watch out.”
“Thanks, but we are not defenseless,” said Tessa. “We can fend for ourselves.”
“Good for you, but Naptunie doesn’t have a dragon,” retorted Beli. “Our Dorosef Tribe is rather welcoming to strangers, but honestly, not all the other tribes are as passive. And if anything happens to you, nobody wants retribution from the Dragon Empire...”
“We will b-be careful,” promised Cessilia.
Beli nodded, visibly unconvinced, but she had said what she wanted to. In fact, Cessilia didn’t mind her honesty. At least, she showed some genuine concern for them, not just for her cousin. Beli was probably a few years older than them, and from what they had seen, the Dorosef Tribe was indeed a large and caring family...
Nana came back a couple of minutes later, a bit out of breath and followed by a very large man, whom she introduced as one of her uncles. He was also very tall, with an impressive braided beard, and a striking resemblance to Counselor Yamino.
“Good morning, younglings,” he said, nodding. “I heard you ladies want to buy our biggest fish for a... dragon? Really?”
“Well, apparently it’s either that or your cows,” chuckled Tessa.
“Oh, for sure we’d rather have it eat our fish!” nodded the man, pulling up his pants. “Where shall we deliver it to? We can have our three best catches of the day ready within the hour!”
“C-can you have a c-cart ready?” asked Cessilia. “It’s b-best if we d-deliver to him.”
