It was chilly when I walked outside, overlooking our small village. While it wasn't technically a kingdom, it might as well have been. After all, we were self-sufficient and had adequate trade, and Valeria could not invade us.
My father exited his house and stretched his arms as my mom swarmed me, pinching my cheeks and praising me.
"It's way too early for this, mom," I muttered, promptly getting ignored.
Leon shot me a tranquil smile. "God, it's so nice to have quality alone time with your wife without worrying about your maids—"
"Can you not, father?" I sighed.
"If I don't, how can I prepare you for treating your wife right?" he asked.
"Just pray," I retorted.
“That’s a piss poor way of thinking about your women,” Leon replied with a frown. However, he shrugged and looked around. "What type of witchcraft are we doing today? Everything seems to be perfect here."
"We're teaching our new hires how to stockpile food," I answered. "Moreover, I'll be teaching new food preservation techniques."
"You mean like salting and drying meat?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's like that, but far better," I replied. "These methods allow you to preserve the same food for years."
My mother, father, and workers turned to me in disbelief. However, it was true.
There were multiple things that I was bringing to Elderthorn to stockpile food.
The first method is canning, which involves using hot water to kill bacteria inside glass jars. Once the bacteria are eliminated, the food can stay preserved for years without spoiling.
Among the harmful bacteria, Clostridium botulinum is particularly dangerous. It causes botulism, a severe illness leading to paralysis and breathing difficulties. This bacterium thrives in improperly canned food.
Most bacteria, including Clostridium botulinum, have difficulty growing in acidic environments, so fruits, jams, pickles, and certain vegetables like carrots, corn, and beets can be canned in a hot water bath, meaning you place them into boiling water after sealing a lid.
On the other hand, non-acidic foods like stews, soups, curries, and meats are more susceptible to botulism and require a pressure cooker to ensure bacterial annihilation.
Pressure cookers have a tightly sealed lid that traps steam inside, raising the pressure and increasing the boiling point of water, thereby killing bacteria more effectively.
They use a simple weight system to prevent the pot from exploding due to steam pressure. When the pressure exceeds a safe level, the weight opens, releasing steam and lowering the pressure.
The challenging part is designing the latches and ensuring a proper seal without a rubber gasket. However, lacking a gasket, our cooks will use clay to create a temporary seal.
After picking up the pressure cookers I ordered, I went to Kaley, who ran the glassblowers guild, to collect hundreds of large jars with twist caps that I had her make. The pressure seals came from the other blacksmithing guild specializing in hammering and cutting thin metal.
I headed to the food court afterward, a massive building that accommodated three hundred people at a time. Everyone ate there together to prevent soul mana meat waste and allow for cooking efficiency.
"Hey Randy," I said to a blonde in a white gown, cooking stew for the morning as others kneaded bread. "Are you all ready to start learning canning?"
"My liege," Randy said, bowing with a big smile before responding.
"Canning requires thorough attention to ensure everything is clean," I explained. "First, we need to heat water until it's barely touchable and then add the liquid soap to wash the jars thoroughly. Don't forget that we're making food that can last for years, so use the soap liberally."
Liquid soap isn't difficult to make. It only requires making soap completely from vegetable oils instead of tallow, then adding distilled water as it saponifies. After sealing it for a few weeks in a large wine cask, it creates liquid soap.
As for the oil, we're grinding down soybeans and pressing out the oil before fermenting soy sauce and making soy milk.
I'm not going to tell a goddamn person in Solstice it's ethically sourced because I refuse to fuel superiority complexes while living in a death forest!
Wait! Scratch that. I can do that in Valeria and other kingdoms to increase the cost of the product. Yeah... I like that.
Back to business.
"Once washed thoroughly," I demonstrated to Randy, washing the glass. "Once you're done, add the stew to it."
"The stew?" Randy furrowed her brow.
"Correct," I replied. "The best part of canning is that it can preserve anything."
Randy complied, filled the jars to the brim, and closed the cap and the metal seal, which we also sealed with clay.
"Now add the jars to the pressure cooker, which is just a steel pot with a normal lid that becomes airtight, and add water until there's five centimeters of water covering the tops," I instructed. "We'll heat it after that, progressively building up the pressure for an hour. Once it's done, we'll cool them on a tray. That's it. That's all it takes to keep food for years."
That really is it. There's no magical future technique that would make it easier. It's simple yet revolutionary.
"Next up is smoking meat techniques," I said. "Instead of using a wood smoker, we're going to use a smoking oven. It's insulated, has vents for controlling heat, and will allow us to do hot smoking while curing meat."
The second blacksmithing guild built smoker ovens, metal drums, or barrels with lids and metal racks. However, they had vents. Yep, that was it.
Despite being simple, it’s ruthlessly effective because the smoke is lethal to bacteria, while salt and heat remove moisture, inhibiting future growth.
I explained this to others. By that point, I taught people that bacteria was a curse on food, and certain things eliminated the curses. After I instill proper education, I will tell the truth, but I’m doing what I can for now.
I called it a day after teaching people about hot smoking, cold smoking, modern curing techniques, and canning.
The next day, I returned to the cooks to teach them fermentation techniques.
That was the easiest, as the village already knew fermentation as a general form because it made beer, wine, vinegar, and sourdough. However, it was time to teach people how to make pickles, sauerkraut, soy sauce, and soon-to-be-introduced chocolate, coffee, and hot sauce!
I’ve missed hot sauce so much.
Fermented and pickled food starts with a "brine." A brine is a pot of water with 25% salt, making it intensely salty. It's like southern sweet tea for the cholesterol lover's soul. Then you add vinegar as a preservative, flavoring spices like dill and peppercorns.
Add everything into a jar and cover it with a cloth or a lid to release oxygen daily at room temperature.
That’s it.
You officially have pickled and fermented vegetables.
The benefit of fermentation is that you can leave it at room temperature for a long time. It works by feeding the sugars of vegetables and fruits to bacteria that multiply until no dangerous bacteria can grow.
Gross? Sure. However, it's in all your favorite foods, from cheese and yogurt to bread and wine. Hell, chocolate is fermented cocoa beans with sugar. We just don't talk about it.
After teaching this to everyone and giving them recipes, they got to work fermenting cucumbers, beets, and other vegetables en masse.
"This is all... simple," Leon said after we left. "Are you sure it will work? If things were this easy, we would've done it a long time ago. Well, that's the logical thing to think."
"It's all about appeasing the spirits," I grinned. "It's not hard, but it requires little things like glass, soap, and recipes."
"I know there are no evil spirits," he replied, frowning. "You can treat others like fools, but don't treat your dad like a layman."
"Fair enough," I shrugged. "Millions of tiny organisms are all around us, in our stomachs, the ground, and the air. That's a fact. Canning, smoking, and salt kill them to prevent them from growing, and fermentation introduces a special type of bacteria that can survive in salt and thrive, inhibiting the growth of dangerous ones. That's all it is."
"Is that so?" Leon mused. "Well, I'm sorry I asked. That creeps me out."
'Welcome to Microbiology 101,' I chuckled internally. 'I remember that over half of the students started washing their hands a lot more after taking that class.'
***
My mother, father, and new brother trained with us for three months learning all the processes and training their knights. They and their main soldiers consumed guardian-class soul meat in high quantities, learned magic, and how to operate ballistas.
Everyone knew my power was great, so protecting our territory from the Redfield Kingdom was important when they tried to take hostages. Naturally, what we were doing wasn't a secret, but the kingdom couldn't do anything about it. Except for the loyalists, no one in Elderthorn, except trusted merchants, could enter or leave Elderthorn, and we kept our inventions and practices hidden from them.
Therefore, all the kingdom knew was that we were powerful. However, they didn't know we were equipping our family with overpowered weapons.
I felt much better with my family in a position where they weren't helpless hostage targets. Moreover, with canning, fermentation, and smoking underway, we now had a stable food source for the winter and possibly war. We had ballistas to kill flying creatures that could invade, steel swords and cannons to fend off monster hordes, and everyone in Elderthorn knew basic magic and had more soul mana than King Redfield.
Now it was time to go on a quick vacation for tropical goods for my forced diplomacy mission.
***
As winter approached, we stood before everyone with steam billowing from our breath, explaining that we would be gone until spring and they needed to prepare for potential attacks. Naturally, we didn't spring this information on them spontaneously. They had been preparing for it, but they were still nervous.
"You are citizens of Elderthorn, the most powerful barony in Solstice!" I roared from the sky, riding on Zenith, her wings flapping hypnotically. "We've survived exploding plants, quicksand that can swallow a rhinoxen, and fungus that turns people into zombies!"
An explosion of cheers echoed through the skies, causing massive birds to take flight from the forest in different directions.
"See, even the birds are afraid of us," I joked, eliciting laughter before continuing. "We've befriended a wyvern and built weapons that rival calamitous beasts. We've feasted on so much soul mana you'd think you were kings!"
Battle cries rocked the airwaves, and bloodlust permeated the air.
"No one can survive hell but you!" I declared. "So show me that you can survive a winter here alone before I return!"
With those words, Zenith took off as Thea wrapped herself around my waist, her expression filled with jubilation as she giggled while we soared against the wind pressure. On the other hand, Lyssa was far less amused as she held onto a saddle since Thea was too tiny!
From above, we surveyed the fruits of our labor. Our once deathly patch of clay that wouldn't even support mud was now a thriving community with hundreds of homes and farms. It had expanded four times its original size and was filled with guilds and self-sustaining operations.
Plumes of smoke unfurled from the blacksmiths' furnaces, their steel wares commanding a high price upon the return of the skyships for their regular deliveries. Despite their expansive offerings, there remained a line drawn at artillery. A sword, after all, was simply a sword, and an arrow, nothing more than an arrow. But ballistas and cannons—these were formidable weapons. They were assets we steadfastly refused to sell.
Multiple waterwheels worked around the clock, producing soap, operating trip hammers, and heating blast furnaces. Next year, we will automate lathes for woodworking and pottery operations. But for now, it was a bustling operation.
This was Elderthorn: the beginning of modern civilization.
It was the world's most closely guarded secret, surrounded by the hellish black forests inhabited by large avian birds that only ignored the sky whales due to their size. Nightshade Forest was truly a godforsaken hellscape. But it was home, and we were proud of it.
Feeling sentimental, we flew across the skyline until we reached the boundaries of the forest and then soared into the air. We chose a cloudy day as it allowed us to navigate south above the clouds to avoid speculation of an attack or causing panic over dragon sightings.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Moreover, we were heading south over Ironfall’s territory. Therefore, we wanted to avoid sightings. We didn’t want to give them a reason to invade, as my father controlled the border.
Thea giggled as we flew into cumulus clouds, the large milky types that seemed to dominate the sky. They blasted us with mist, making us clutch our fur-lined peacoats, made from Warpshires, guardian-class hellhounds known for being over 20 feet tall and having veins of fire flowing through them.
We were finally on our way to paradise.
***
"Why are we going to Soracan?" Thea asked as we soared above the Mystic Azure Sea. Her skin was red from sunburns as the scent of saltwater engulfed our senses. "Crops from Valencia are super expensive."
Expensive was only natural, as seafarers had to navigate the sea for two months to travel back and forth between Valencia, the continent home to the country of Soracan.
Moreover, it was dangerous. The Mystic Azure Sea got its name from common lore, which claimed that it held ancient creatures from the birth of Solstice. That was believable because Zenith had to regularly eat massive snapping creatures that flew twenty feet in the air like water landmines. Furthermore, we had to take turns using Divine Sense to search the waters in shifts when she rested in the water at night, or Triassic-era dinosaurs would drag us under. It was a terrifying place.
"Soracan is a tropical location with four very important crops that we need at any cost," I replied. "And don't worry, we’ll get our money back twenty fold."
Despite it being winter in Elderthorn, the temperature was heating up as we approached the equator. When we reached Soracan, we would enjoy a beach vacation during their summer season while everyone in Elderthorn suffered in the blistering cold.
This phenomenon is often referred to as "snowbirding." Or as I like to call it: "winning."
On the tenth day, we finally arrived in Soracan, flying over the vibrant and colorful Valedor Rainforest, which looked like someone had melted crayons over the large trees.
Once we passed through that area, it revealed everything we had come here for.
"Do you see those trees and fields?" I asked, pointing at the farm fields and two trees from which people were picking fruits. "Those trees and fields contain shea, coffee, cocoa, and sugar cane. These four crops will give us an advantage in any war."
Caffeine, cosmetics, chocolate. With these three substances, I'll bring Valeria to its knees.
"They'll win wars?" Thea asked in confusion. "How?"
"They're addictive, and people will go to war over them," I grinned. "Or, in our case, they'll trade with us at a loss to obtain them."
I wasn't being dramatic. The British imported countless metric tons of opium into China to force a two-way trade route between the countries, all to gain access to black tea. Two ensuing wars claimed nearly a million lives, driven by the demand for caffeine alone. They were dubbed the Opium Wars and are one of the darkest moments of modern history.
"As for cosmetics, shea and cocoa butter will spark an instant revolution," I explained. "Because the makeup people are using is highly toxic and harmful."
Toxic was an understatement. Like in Victorian England, cosmetics in Solstice contained lead for foundation, arsenic for eyeshadow, and mercury in vermillion for blush and lipstick. They even used radium in facial powders, which is highly radioactive.
One look at the list makes it clear that inbreeding wasn't the only reason 19th-century monarchs looked like hillbillies who won the lottery and blew it all on a castle.
“People don't understand it yet, but once they try these cosmetics, they'll demand trade deals with us, filling our war chest," I concluded.
"You're evil," Lyssa scoffed.
"I prefer the term forward-thinking," I replied.
"I'm sure you do," she rolled her eyes.
"What are those?" Thea asked, pointing at the serfs picking mango-sized fruits from the trees.
"That will be used to make chocolate, which will cause a frenzy," I replied. "It's sweet but slightly bitter, offering a great contrast. Trust me, it's worth starting a war over."
"Are you being serious?" Lyssa asked.
"Dead serious," I smirked.
History provides a treasure trove of highly effective, truly evil ways to get what you want, and I plan to use all of them.
For the greater good. Of course.
“You’re so smart!” Thea gushed again, gripping my stomach and rubbing her ears on my back.
“Stop enabling him, Thea! Ryker gets one enablement hug an hour… she’s not listening,” Lyssa sighed, giving up and looking at the scenery.
"Let's touch down here," I said to Zenith, pointing at an area between the cocoa and shea trees.
The moment we descended, panic ensued, with the serfs screaming for their lives. After all, we were flying on a blue dragon!
"There's no way we'll be able to calm them down, so it's best not to land," I said. "Change of plans—take us above the forest."
Zenith complied and flew over the forest. When she was above the trees, I stood on her back and scooped Lyssa into my arms, causing her to flail. "What are you doing?!" she cried.
"Doing what needs to be done," I grinned, jumping sixty feet through the trees as the woman screamed in terror. "Mollis descensio," I said, waving my hand and creating a gust of wind to break our fall, allowing us to land safely.
After setting Lyssa down, still stuttering and shaking, I looked up and raised my arms high.
As if by magic, a radiant blue figure crashed through the trees and landed in my arms. Now that I was fourteen, I was much taller, and my muscles were more defined. Catching the seventeen-year-old cat woman posed no problem at all.
Then again, Thea could have easily made her way down alone, but she simply wanted to fly into my arms, and I obliged. I treasure this woman.
I took a moment to look around and take a deep breath. The forest smelled of fresh cocoa, earthy roots, and edible fungi that carpeted the ground. It was a beautiful, atmospheric palace with semi-transparent canopies that cast an iridescent glow on the forest floor.
However, the high humidity made the air stick to my skin, which was quite uncomfortable.
Crack.
We turned to the side and saw Zenith walking through the forest with a white hood covering her face.
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[https://i.postimg.cc/3R5sPc2n/Margrave-silver-haired-dragon-woman-scientist-with-blue-dragon-55499191-a690-430f-b7c7-5dd0c6f07195.png]
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Crack! Crack!
I sighed when I heard cracking behind me and saw a large group with spears surrounding us.
"We come in peace," I said, looking at them, hands raised. However, they didn't reply and continued to advance, which made me chuckle. "Oh, right; I can't speak Veshir. Zenith?"
Zenith stepped forward and raised her hand high, creating a massive blue flame with a cold expression. "Diran narun zoka eris vak."
The workers trembled in terror, and one tan man with dark brown hair, wearing a red loincloth, yelled, his voice shaking, "Lava sana ore wilan ataki!"
"What are you doing?!" I seethed, aggressively turning to Zenith. "What did you say? What are they saying?"
“I said, ‘Submit to us or die,’” Zenith replied. “They said, ‘Leave now, or we will attack,’ thereby indicating they wish to die.”
"No, they don't wish to die," I growled, grabbing and closing her hand. "If they attack, then we'll be forced to retaliate. Now say this..." I quickly racked my brain. "Apologies for my poor Veshir. I meant to say, 'We come in peace. I offer you my great power.'"
“Why?” she asked. “They have no choice.”
“We want to establish trade relations,” I sighed. “It’s more complicated than making people pick and process fruits.”
Zenith rolled her eyes and addressed the people, removing her fire. "Apolis fo mi pura Veshir. Menat se, 'Zoka mova klena.' Mi lendan diran mi gran pova."
“Leshan!” the man snapped, thrusting his spear from a distance. "Diran demonis!"
“What did they say?” I asked, noticing her eyebrow twitching.
“They keep saying, ‘I want a swift and decisive death,’” Zenith declared. However, when I didn’t agree, she translated. “They're calling us liars and demons.”
This back-and-forth continued for about five minutes. Eventually, after I demonstrated my power by cutting through ten trees with a single wind slash and expressing our desire to speak with their leader to avoid bloodshed, they finally led us out of the forest and into a military-style campground.
"Lider! Thesa hethanis hosa ruga yova. Zoka apolis. Zoka had no chosa yesa leda thera hira."
“I’m offended,” I grumbled. While I didn't understand their language, their groveling and Zenith's twitching eyebrow told me everything I needed to know.
A female teenager around my age emerged from a red and gold tent, wearing a cloth adorned with geometric patterns in oranges, blues, and tans, which covered her head. Her dark brown hair and hazelnut eyes stood out against her smooth olive skin.
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[https://i.postimg.cc/6pFgvmbt/Regma.png]
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"Nami mi Regma, dara jori chieftain Zora," she said. "Chi viris diran?"
“Finally, someone reasonable,” Zenith huffed. “She says her name is Regma, the daughter of Chieftain Zora. She's asking what we want.”
“We're from Novena and we're very, very rich,” I replied. “We seek to trade for shea, coffee, and cocoa. Make sure to emphasize 'very'.”
“We should just force them into submission and be done with it,” Zenith rolled her eyes. "Zoka tikan Veridia nor peran, peran yura." she translated. "Zoka raska jel fe shea nor cocoa."
“You're from... Veridia?” Regma asked in Skylandish, speaking slowly but clearly.
My eyes widened. “Yes, we're from Veridia,” I replied slowly, pulling out a soap bar. “We're here to trade lucrative products with you.”
The chief's daughter's eyes widened as she touched the soap. “Soap?”
“Soap,” I confirmed. “The best.”
As soon as she realized what she was holding, her eyes widened in shock, and she immediately called for someone to inform her father. In less than an hour, soldiers with bare chests and spears approached, accompanied by the chieftain.
After a lengthy translation process, I explained that I was there to trade luxury soap for shea and cocoa. While I could simply buy these items, engaging in trade would encourage supply chains and double efficiency by having traders constantly moving to and from Valencia.
Things were more or less amicable until I mentioned that the Heartbeat Hibiscus soap I had handed him sold for 100 gold per bar. After that, I could see greed in the man’s eyes, and his guards prepared to strike.
"Do not threaten us unless you're prepared to bear the consequences,” I warned.
"Non tiran zoka, uska diran karani kastra," Zenith translated, our eyes icy cold.
The guards' pride flared up, but Zora, the chief, raised his hand, and we continued negotiating.
"Zoka soran atara tanja,” Zenith announced, indicating we wanted to make cosmetics.
“Tanja?” Zora furrowed his brows.
Thea pulled out lead-based cosmetics and began applying them as a demonstration, which resulted in the men bursting into laughter.
“Yova tali, mores!” a guard exclaimed, leading to a riot of laughter. Then he gyrated his hips, prompting even more laughter.
I stopped talking and looked at Zora, internally counting. ‘One... two... three... four....’
“Shalo runo konti?" Zora smiled.
‘Five.’
With ghostly speed, I delivered a swift blow to the crude man's testicles, resulting in a sickening snap as his pelvis cracked. The guards tried to retaliate, but I struck them with blunt wind magic, sending them flying twenty feet and creating dust clouds as they hit the ground.
Zora attempted to break up the fighting but found himself surrounded by blue flames. "Do you savages allow your people to insult potential business partners?" I asked, walking up with a fierce expression.
This situation went beyond mere insults toward Thea. If Chieftain Zora allowed his associates to mock us to our faces, it indicated that he would cheat and swindle us at the first opportunity. Therefore, I had to make a demonstration. Naturally, I chose to crush the man's testicles because he had called Thea a whore. The man deserved far worse.
"Chi diran savagis alau diran pupla insulta potensia comercia partneris?" Zenith translated, intensifying the flames.
“N-Non,” Zora gulped, looking at his daughter in confusion. He quickly ordered his returning warriors to stand down and then spoke to his daughter.
“My father wishes to apologize,” Regma gulped. “He wanted to see how you would react to being insulted. It was a test, and you have gained his approval, but now the situation has gotten out of hand.”
I looked at the man writhing in pain on the ground. Then I spat and waved my hand. “Gustus.”
A petty gust of wind carried my spit and hit the man in the eye. Then I turned to the chief with a cold expression. "If you believe in strength, declare me your Lord, or grovel for insulting my woman,” I commanded.
"Kyan diran kredi in forta sora, deklara chieftain mi diran, grovela fo rickma partnera redi,” Zenith translated, smirking.
“Y-You cannot be serious,” Regma gulped. “You heard what I said, right?”
“I did,” I replied. “That’s why I’m 'testing him.' I have the power to wipe out this village. So if he believes the strong should rule over the weak, he should declare me his lord. Otherwise, he must grovel for his hypocrisy and apologize for not respecting Valerian culture during negotiations. It's pathetic.”
Regma grimaced and turned to her father. They argued about it for ten minutes before the man stood and bowed slightly. “This is groveling in a culture that doesn’t know the word 'sorry',” she stated. “He acknowledges your power but does not declare you his lord.”
“Good enough,” I replied, then looked at the man and mimicked his accent as I echoed his words. “Shalo runo konti?"
Zora gritted his teeth but proceeded. We discussed details for a couple of hours, including the distribution percentages and the process, which involved my people overseeing the cosmetics' production while his people handled the manual labor of harvesting, de-pulping, fermenting, and grinding the crops. This arrangement would allow me to keep the formula secret.
“Before he agrees, he would like to witness the process,” Regma said.
“Of course,” I replied. “Please provide roasted shea nut kernels and fermented cocoa beans.”
They nodded and led me to a location with a bowl of roasted shea nuts and cocoa beans.
Shea nut kernels, the edible nuts found inside shea nuts, resembled large almonds with the texture of coconut. I placed them in a mortar and pestle, which was a stone bowl, and a stick for grinding ingredients into a smooth powder. I spent around thirty minutes grinding the kernels into a smooth white paste.
Once it reached a paste consistency, I mixed it with water while Thea continued to stir. This process, known as emulsification, helped separate the oils from the paste.
After emulsification, I left the mixture to settle overnight. Zora then took us to their city, which differed greatly from the small village we had encountered. Naturally, it was akin to going from meeting serfs in the fields to arriving in Silverbrook.
“This is Luminara,” Regma announced, revealing an unwalled city adorned with red and orange tapestries. The red clay buildings boasted multiple stories and stunning architecture for an underdeveloped tropical region.
In the heart of Luminara, the marketplace was a tapestry of colors, sounds, and, most notably, fragrances. The air was filled with tantalizing aromas as skilled vendors prepared a myriad of delicious foods.
Amidst the bustling scene, a middle-aged woman skillfully pressed her bread dough into perfect circles before placing them on a hot clay griddle. The unmistakable aroma of freshly made nan bread filled the air, blending with the heady sweetness of cocoa beans roasting nearby over an open flame.
A few stalls away, a robust man tended to a rotating spit, carefully attending to a large joint of meat. The sizzling fat dripped onto the charcoal below, releasing a primal, smoky fragrance enticing people from every market corner.
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Men walked through the streets carrying woven barrels of fish from a nearby river, while women boiled and solidified sugar cane juice to create treats.
‘This feels like being in ancient Tenochtitlán,’ I thought, referencing the Aztec capital, now Mexico City.
“You can stay here,” Regma announced, leading us to a spacious room with cushions and water. Several women with palm leaf fans were waiting to attend to us. “We'll bring food and drinks shortly.”
I sat down, and Thea hugged me tightly, growling at the women attempting to make me “feel comfortable.”
After enjoying a hearty dinner of boar meat seasoned with lime, cilantro, and tomatoes, everyone left us to rest.
The next morning, we awakened to the sound of singing birds. Following a satisfying breakfast of corn cakes and fish, I retrieved the large bowl of emulsified shea. It was time to create cosmetics and slowly conquer the world.