At the Northern Fort

"It's quite rare to have such young customers."

The big brother that ran the stall had dreadlocks and a rather eccentric appearance, but he was a very fashionable person.

His skin was a similar dark brown colour to Kugalg's, so he might be from a country far in the southern regions.

"Wow, how pretty!"

I picked up a necklace that caught my eye and unconsciously raised my voice. It was a pendant with a thin leather strap and a large aqua-coloured stone.

When I looked at the colour of the stone, which was transparent like ice, it reminded me of Mother's eyes.

(I wonder what Mother's doing around now. Is she worried about me……?)

I started to feel a bit lonely when I thought about Mother, so I quietly placed the necklace back where I found it.

When I glanced at Kugalg, who was crouching down next to me, I saw that he also had picked up a single necklace after carefully examining the goods in a serious manner.

This necklace also had a large natural rock attached to a thin leather strap, and the stone was a deep red that appeared as though a flame had been sealed within it.

"This……"

Kugalg put the necklace down for a bit and took out the money pouch from his pocket, handing it all over to the big brother.

The big brother counted out the money and-

"This is more than enough."

-returned a single silver coin to Kugalg.

Hm? What's with that beautifully coloured money? I didn't have something like that……no, it's good that I didn't. No matter how you looked at it, it felt far more valuable compared to the other coins, and if I had passed that over to the stall aunty, I might've had to walk around carrying three or four paper bags full of legans.

How dreadful……

I don't know who snuck that money into my rucksack, but just what in the world were they thinking by handing such a large amount of money to a young child like this, geez.

While I ignored the fact that I had casually handed over all my money while not knowing the value of it, Kugalg accepted the necklace from the big brother.

"Good for you, Kugalg."

I didn't know that he had such an interest in accessories, but something like this seemed like it'd suit him.

The colour of the stone was red too, so it was perfect for Kugalg.

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Kugalg happily nodded and then presented the necklace to me.

"Eh?"

My eyes grew round as I sensed Kugalg's intention.

"Don't tell me, you're giving it? To me?"

Kugalg nodded once more, and then gently put the necklace on my neck over the raincoat.

The stone that was the same colour as Kugalg's eyes shone passionately on my chest.

The raincoat and my hair was white, so the red colour stood out even more.

"Thanks, Kugalg!"

"Nice going, boy."

Feeling touched, my spirits rose, after which the big brother running the stall grinned knowingly.

On the other hand, after Kugalg saw me wearing the red stone, his lips rose in an incredibly satisfied manner.

After that, each of us held up one side of the paper bag containing the legans, and continued to walk down the main street for a while.

We still have one silver coin, so if there was anything we wanted, we could buy it.

That being said, it didn't seem like a good idea to buy anything that would increase our luggage any further. It was difficult to choose a single food to buy, and since we had to finish off the large amount of legans I had purchased, we couldn't just go around filling our bellies with other things instead.

"You don't want to buy anything else for yourself, Kugalg? There's still some money left."

"There's not really anything else that I want."

"Really? Then, shall we head out of town? There's not that many stores anymore, and the legans are heavy……huh? It's not heavy anymore……?"

Kugalg and I looked down at the brown paper bag between us and squinted at it.

Even though at first it had been so heavy that it hurt, before we knew it, it had become as light as air.

"Why!?"

When I quickly opened the bag, the inside of it was empty, to my amazement.

There really wasn't anything except air left inside of it.

"……??"

An illusion?

For an instant such a thought crossed my mind, but we soon identified the cause.

The bottom of the paper bag had a hole about the size of two legans.

There was no doubt at all. This is where all the contents of the bag had escaped.

Cooperating with Kugalg to carry the large and heavy paper bag while walking was difficult, and every time we relaxed even in the slightest, the bottom of the bag would end up scraping against the cobblestone pavement.

That is why every time that happened, we'd put in the effort to lift it up again, but it seems like the bag had ruptured unnoticed.

While I had been preoccupied chatting with Kugalg while looking around town, I did not think that I would be this clumsy, like some kind of character in a manga.

After gazing at the empty paper bag while feeling like I had been tricked by a fox despite being a fox myself, I looked back behind us.

I couldn't see any legans fallen on the ground anywhere.

Even though they should've fallen in a way that would've made a trail to track where we had walked, we had walked quite a long distance, going from one end to the other of the main road. Thus, I couldn't tell where the first and last legans had dropped between those points.

"Let's head back, Kugalg."

While still holding the holey paper bag with him, I ran back the way we came.

There were a lot of people, so most of the fruits had probably been trampled. The moment I started to feel sad, thinking that-

"There you are. You two were the ones who dropped these, right?"

"We finally caught up to you."

Some kind townspeople had picked up the legans and come after us. Some of them even had the legans piled into their aprons and hats as they ran towards us.

"T-Thank you sho muchh……!"

My voice trembled with emotion.

Everyone is so kind.

"Here you go."

"Be careful now, alright?"

When we placed the paper bag onto the ground and had them put the dropped legans into it, the amount pretty much reached the original level.

Thank goodness!

As I once again gave my thanks to the people who had helped us, they all waved while smiling as they left.

"It's great that there were so many good people to help."

Even Kugalg, who hardly had any interest in humans, gave a rare show of agreement as he nodded at my words.

Now then, -I turned back to the paper bag that had regained its heaviness.

There was a hole in it, so if we just picked it up like this, the tragedy would just repeat itself. That being said, we didn't have another bag, nor was there any tape or material we could use to reinforce it.

Just as I was wondering to myself what to do, a person suddenly appeared, extending his hand to us.

His large and thick, slightly sunburnt hand skillfully covered the hole in the paper bag as he lifted it up.

"I'll give you a new bag. Follow me."

After saying that, the uncle turned around and started to walk. Kugalg and I followed after him unsteadily.

"Thank you."

The uncle's head and body had a large dark green cloth enveloping him like a mantle. I couldn't really see his hair or attire, but he had a rather large build.

He was carrying a sword at his waist, but he also seemed to be a traveller.

At a glance he looked difficult to approach, but I could feel kindness from his deep voice.

"Over here."

While still carrying the legans, the uncle turned back slightly and guided us deep within an alleyway.

After advancing down the narrow path, we eventually reached a gloomy area between the buildings with nothing around, at which he stopped walking.

Is there really a new bag in a place like this?

The uncle silently turned around towards us and took off the cloth covering his head.

Short hair and a beard the colour of desert sand. His facial features were very distinct, and his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth were all big.

Coupled together with his large body size, he kind of resembled a bear.

Not only that, but he wasn't like a bear in the zoo quietly taking an afternoon nap. Instead, he was like a dangerous wild brown bear……

As I processed such an impression of him, the uncle placed the paper bag on the grown and approached us.

"Now then, come here."

Making an evil grin, he reached his hand out towards me.

That was when I finally felt a sense of danger.