Cobal and Mana were sitting in the common room of the inn. Eliana had gone out to find her friend in town while the two of them would wait here. Breakfast was pleasant. There was a nice stew with lots of vegetables in it that they enjoyed with some freshly baked bread. Clara, the innkeeper, was apparently a cook for a few years before she opened her own inn, and picked up quite the skill. “How long have you been running this inn?” Mana asked her.
Clara grabbed one of the chairs and sat down next to them. It wasn’t particularly busy this morning, so she wasn’t running around nearly as much as she would be at dinner time. Two elderly men were playing some sort of dice game in the corner and a group of town guards were having breakfast at a table near the door. Everyone was taken care of for the moment. “I first moved to Marsolin as a little girl. My father is a painter and wanted to come and study under a famous painter that lived here in town. So I grew up here for a big part of my childhood. When I turned sixteen I started working as a waitress, eventually moved into the kitchen and when this property was for sale I begged my dad to loan me enough money to pay for it. He obliged and here we are.”
“Did you make enough profit to pay him back yet?” Cobal asked.
“Not quite yet, but I’m close. It’s not like he’s in a hurry to get it back so I’m making sure I live a little too.” She smiled.
“Clara, some more bread please,” one of the guards over at the entrance said.
“Coming right up.” She nodded at Cobal and Mana and went back to her work.
“Well then, I’m going out for a walk I think, want to join me?”
Mana shook her head. “I think I’ll do some work, I have some ideas I want to put on paper.”
“Alright, I’ll be back later.”
Cobal strolled through the streets of Marsolin. The spring air was cold but pleasant. The trees that surrounded the city, and were present within the city limits as well, kept the wind at bay, making the little bit of breeze that snuck through pleasant and not biting. The perfect weather for a walk. Cobal preferred this to being cooped up inside. Mana was the opposite of him, she was much more excited at the prospect of visiting a library. Despite the fact that they came here for important reasons, it seems like she was looking forward to it. Cobal didn’t blame her. She had to do quite a bit of traveling and training recently that she never signed up for, so she deserved to be working on something that fit her better. She needed her rest as well. If she worked too hard, her anxiety would get worse and that would hamper their work. So whenever she talked about taking it easy or needing a break, Cobal made sure to give her the space she needed. Besides, wandering the streets alone had its charms as well. While walking through some of the town’s busier streets Cobal noticed a big difference. Blueyerd and Rilodar had a population of primarily humans. There were elves, dwarves and spirits – as well as some other races like gnomes and even a handful of wild touched. But not a lot of them. Marsolin was different. He felt like humans might even be considered a minority here. Most people here were of elven descent but there was a vibrant mix of people, all coexisting in a single space.
“It reminds me of a college campus,” a voice popped up behind him. He turned around to see that Mana had decided to follow him after all.
“I thought you decided to stay back at the inn.”
Mana smiled. “That was the plan, but I felt a bit restless so I decided to have a walk as well. This place is gorgeous,” she added.
“It definitely has a vastly different energy than most big cities I’ve been to.” Cobal slowed his pace. “What did you call it?”
“A college campus?”
“What is that?”
“I suppose it’s what this city is, but back in my world this was a place where a lot of schools or just a big school with multiple buildings was. There would be people studying all different fields. Generally there would be restaurants and shops that catered to students. Because people of all ages and walks of life would come there to study, it was often a very diverse and unique atmosphere.”
“I see, and this town feels similar?”
Mana nodded. “Of course there are no levels or dwarves back in my old world, but putting that aside it feels almost nostalgic.” She chuckled. “It definitely brings back some anxieties from a long time ago.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cobal asked.
“School is something that causes a lot of stress to people in our old world. Deadlines for assignments, having to work well with other people and having to take tests. It’s probably very different in this world. At least from what I’ve seen it is very different. Here it’s much more for the rich and bored people than for everyone.”
Cobal nodded. “I remember talking about that, back in Ravadier.”
Mana looked up. “The weather was a lot worse than it is now. I remember being so scared back then.”
“Of me?”
“Of many things, but also of you, yes.”
Cobal shook his head. “I’m sorry you felt that way.”
Mana grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “I know you do. I also know it wasn’t your fault that I felt that way. But it’s good to acknowledge these things so that we can learn from them. Back then I thought I’d be abandoned by you as soon as you figured out I wasn’t some mythical hero.”
“And now you know that won’t happen, right?”
Mana’s face hardened ever so slightly. “Cobal, I trust you,” she said.
That’s not what I asked. Cobal didn’t say that part out loud. They’d stopped in front of a jewelry store and Cobal looked at it. “Want to go inside and have a look?” He asked, hoping to get rid of the sudden tension between them.
Mana nodded.
The jeweler was cozy. That was the best way to describe the atmosphere of the cramped store. There was jewelry lining the walls and tables and even with only the two of them as customers, there wasn’t a lot of room left. If more people wanted to shop here at the same time, it would likely be an uncomfortable experience. Luckily, that didn’t seem to be the case. The shopkeeper was sitting behind the counter, carefully working on a strange contraption that held a ring in place. Cobal understood what he was doing, since the process was one that Selvia showed him once, but the machinery this shopkeeper seemed to use was very different, much more convoluted it seems. They had a thick beard that was dyed a dark purple and wore a septum piercing. Their head was completely shaven and they made an imposing figure once they stood up from their work and walked over to greet our duo. “Good day to the both of you and welcome to my humble story. My name is Daves, what can I help you with today?” They wore their smile well as they awaited Cobal and Mana’s response. “A pleasure to meet you Daves, we arrived in town just the other day and we were curious about what kind of wares you are selling here. A close friend of mine is a jeweler as well, so I have a little bit of interest in the craft.”
“I see, a connoisseur of the most wonderful craft in the world. Feel free to have a look.”
“You have an impressive collection here, from the looks of it. Do you make it all yourself?”
Daves shook their head. “I make as much as I can, but my partner is much better at it. We also import a fair bit, whenever we get the opportunity. My partner is in the capital right now, actually.”
“That’s nice, makes for more variety,” Mana commented.
Cobal’s eyes rested on a particular piece. He picked up the delicate looking necklace made out of gold and ruby gemstones.
“Did anything pique your interest?”
“Actually, something has. This piece right here,” he showed the necklace to Daves, “could you tell me who made this?”
Daves looked at it a few moments before nodding. “Let me double check in my registry real quick.” He went behind a curtain to the back of the building and after a few moments returned. “I bought this one from a woman that came in from Blueyerd a few weeks ago.”
“Was her name Selvia, by any chance?”
Daves looked surprised. “It was, how did you know?”
Cobal sighed. He’d seen some of her jewelry on the way here and was already worried about her. “She’s the friend I mentioned before. I’m here on different business, but I did hear from her father that she was currently in the area.”
“So are you also from the Blueyerd Kingdom then?”
Cobal nodded. No point in lying about that. “We’ve come to Marsolin for its famed libraries. There’s some topics that my friend here wants to study up on.”
“I see, well the piece is for sale if you’re interested.”
“Spoken like a true salesperson.” Cobal paused. “I’m more interested in where Selvia might be though. I’ve been meaning to get in contact with her, I had no idea she was here in Marsolin.”
Daves scratched their beard. “Well, it’s been a little while since I last saw her, so I don’t know if she’s still in town. My best guess is that she traveled back to the capital. She told me she wanted to visit a few jewelers while she was here to learn from their different styles.”
“I see.” Cobal sighed. “Well, I appreciate the information and if you do happen to see her again, tell her that Cobal is looking for her.”
“I will let her know.”
Mana had been distracted by something else in the meantime. “How much are these earrings?” she asked, holding up two ruby earrings.
“I didn’t think red was your color,” Cobal remarked.
“It’s not for me, it’s a gift.”
Cobal looked at the earrings and saw a few similarities with the necklace. He looked at Daves. “Let me guess, these were also made by Selvia, weren’t they?”
Daves laughed. “You guessed it.
Back outside, the two looked for a place to get some quick lunch before heading back to the inn.
“I really miss pizza,” Mana said.
“What’s pizza?”
“Does it not exist at all in this world?”
Cobal shrugged. “I’ve never come across it, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” He added. “It’s definitely not common, what is it, maybe we call it something else?”
“Basically, it’s a thin circle of dough covered in tomato sauce and cheese. You add pretty much anything you’d like on top of that and then put it in the oven for a while.”
Cobal thought for a while but it didn’t sound familiar. “Never heard of it, is it good?”
“You have no idea what you’re missing out on. There’s tons of great toppings, including salami, ham, bacon, different cheeses and some lunatics even put pineapple on pizza. I wouldn’t recommend that though, it’s not very good.” She laughed.
“Is that a joke?”
“People putting pineapples on pizza? No, that’s a real thing but it’s funny for a different reason. Perhaps when we’re back in the capital we can get someone to make it for us, it’s really nice and I’m sure it will be a big hit with nobility and regular people alike” She trailed off as they reached a nearby square with several small shops around it. “That looks pretty good right now.” Mana pointed at a shop that sold custom sandwiches. “That’s something we have in our world as well, although I hope the quality is a bit less dreadful here.”
Cobal followed her into the shop. Most of the time she would get this strange longing for her old world. At other times, there was a fear in her eyes when talking about it, but a rare few times she would get really excited about something. He wasn’t surprised that there were things she missed from her old world, and the idea of having someone recreate a dish she loved was clearly something to look forward to.
Opal Kaharis 