"Dungeoneer's paste! Get your dungoneer's paste! DUNGEONEER'S PASTE! Buy one satchel today, and receive another free!! Just two silvers! Free rope!" Haigha shouted.
His voice chant echoed through the square, amplified by magic. People began to gather around us as we chanted, drawn by a tabard adorning both Tarrant's 'iconic' top hat and the Liddell company banner.
I squinted off in the distance as I saw a crowd of bards from different parties clustered together. The bards were dancing and laughing together in an impromptu symphony. Fiddle-like violin-shaped instruments sang to the group, backed by a heavy bassline that sounded like trombones, french horns, and tubas. It sounded like a Tchaikovsky concert here, almost like you would hear at a carnival, and it was oddly appropriate for the scenery. A bunch of rowdy dwarves and tall humans with gray skin sang along in a raucous choir.
"Hey, isn't that Haigha Marche? Isn't their party the one that halted the Seo Gi marauders last year?" someone shouted excitedly.
Tarrant gave a low bow next to him, and Haigha continued to run his sales pitch. The others had left to get the paperwork sorted.
"Indeed it is, sir!" Haigha called back happily. He waved cheerily, then turned to address the crowd again, "And now we are heading into the dungeon itself! You won't believe what lurks within these walls. If you dare enter, prepare for the most thrilling adventure of your life!!" He held up a pair of shears and started cutting away at an ordinary rope. It snipped apart in one fell swoop. Then, he held up a bundle I'd woven and struggled for nearly a minute before chewing through.
Several adventurers looked on in interest.
"Be sure to fully supply yourself with the Liddell family's certified line of adventuring equipment! Our party for the expedition - 'All in a Golden Afternoon' is officially supplied and sponsored by the Liddells and we've given it our full endorsement! Don't buy the quality? Try the shears out yourself!" Haigha yelled proudly.
The crowd cheered loudly, and many people rushed over to swarm the supplies at the table. I saw several adventurers who looked familiar among them. A crew of six dwarves, three of which were near-identical looking men with chest-length beards. One of them approached the table with his hands open expectantly.
Haigha looked confused, "Uh, guys? What do you need?"
The bearded man stepped forward a bit more and bowed slightly. "Why hello! My name is Sir Cedric Bristlestone. I would like to purchase a full set. Please show me your best product."
I blinked at the man in apprehension. He stood about five feet two inches tall and wore heavy plated armor, with a spear strapped to his back and a wand in a pocket. But, he was built like a brick house. His muscles had muscles!
"Sure thing, sure thing!" Haigha said eagerly. He pulled out three sets of rope from the pile and laid them on the table. One was made of sturdy hemp, one of solid cotton, and the third a thick woolen cordage. Each was neatly braided with a knot tied every ten feet or so.
Cedric picked up each one, inspecting the knots closely. His eyes widened ever so slightly after examining the fibers. "These seem well-made indeed. I shall take all three of them." He handed Haigha five silver coins, which Haigha gratefully accepted. He reached behind himself and placed the bags on a small shelf against the wall.
"Thank you kindly," Haigha said with a smile, bowing again. "Heyooo! Step right up! All adventurers are welcome! Make sure you stock up on everything you need for the trip!"
A few minutes passed, and Haigha was swarmed with customers. They bought everything from magically preserved food to lanterns and my modeling clay. I watched as he sold dozens upon hundreds, if not thousands, of items to the eager adventurers as time passed.
Finally, Haigha stood back up and looked around him as the crowds dispersed, eager to get to their respective entrances as the Adventurer's Guild's mages prepared to open the dungeon gates.
"Whew!" he breathed, looking around the empty square, "W-wow, that was q-quite the crowd..."
"You did great!" I said encouragingly, giving him a pat on the back. "How's the haul?"
"Oh, uhm," He glanced nervously at me, "Quite a bit I'd say, Alice! Quite a lot."
"That's awesome!" I said, grinning widely. "I'd never would have thought you could work a crowd like that based on first impressions."
"Well, yeah, I can erm, get very anxious sometimes," the rabbit man admitted reluctantly, "But... if I breathe compose myself, this stuff gets pretty easy!"
I could honestly admire that. Quite a lot, actually.
"It looks like you're doing a stellar job," I said honestly.
Haigha nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, thanks! Um, I should go meet up with the group."
"Thanks again!" I beamed, shakingly his hand firmly,
"Anytime, little Alice-chan!"
He gave me a thumbs-up and trotted off toward the crowd. I followed him with my eyes until he rounded the corner and faded into obscurity.
There was still plenty of time before nightfall, but there was also much to do. I looked around the base camp, seeing everyone busily preparing themselves for the next leg of our journey. Everyone seemed to be getting ready to leave, except for a row of merchants selling food and rations. Two other vendors were selling general supplies like we were, but neither had the same amount of goods available. Once they realized how savvy Haigha was as a salesman, they shifted away from general supplies to pitching weapons, armor, and equipment repairs.
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Tarrant was standing nearby, putting the coins we'd received into something that looked like a coin counter beneath the table.
"Ahhh, it's nice to see things coming together. Finally!" He sighed contentedly as he leaned on the edge of the table. He looked tired but happy.
"Are you okay, Terrant?" I asked worriedly.
"Oh, no, I'm be dandy! It's just been such a busy day, you know? I'm a middle-aged elf, but nothing makes me feel young like exploring a dungeon!" He smiled broadly.
"Yeah..." I responded, "That's good to hear."
I swept my eyes over the crowd. The diversity of this kingdom honestly surprised me at first, especially since it was, to my knowledge, a monarchy established on one central religion. Yet, it had developed a culture of tolerance, communication, and harmony between different races.
It wasn't surprising to see elves, dwarves, beastmen, orcs, and halflings mingling freely when you really thought about it. My eyes glazed over in thought.
The Kingdom of Cheshire was surrounded by rolling hills by land on both sides, with a gulf primarily accessed through the Royal Capital along its entire northwestern border. Around the Royal Capital, there was a grid of navigable rivers that funneled out through the country and its neighboring countries alike.
These countries included the neighboring lowland majority dwarvish and orcish Republic of Ulomin to the west, which Tarrant was keen on establishing personal relations with to our companies, as well as a bunch of others. To the southeast, there was another melting pot in the significantly larger and more powerful Harbachian Empire, which was also united under the polytheistic religion the kingdom followed. North of the Harbachian Empire was the Oscastian Confederacy, a loose network of beastmen tribes roamed a humongous forest known as the Oscastian Forest, with one prominent halfling city-state located at the heart of the woods. The individual tribes had differing relations with the kingdom but were mostly amicable.
To the south, there was a virtually uninhabitable land the people referred to as "The Lost Lands" - a network of canyons, civilizations, and plateau cultures that had been utterly ravaged and destroyed by the demonic hordes. It didn't take too much manpower to lock it down from incursions, and it was a popular questing area for Rank C adventurers looking to make a name for themselves. However, a section of the valleys opened to a steppe region referred to as the Seo Gi Khanate, which occasionally made its way up to raid the Harbachian empire and the kingdom.
The kingdom had won several geographical lotteries with this setup. It had access to a warm water port primarily controlled by it at the capital Cheshire City, which continued to flow smoothly out into a web of satellite cities such as Halton and Rivershire Crossing. These rivers flowed out to its three most significant neighboring nations - the Oscastian tribes, the Harbachian Empire, and the Ulomin Republic. That came with a plethora of advantages in constant cultural exposure and communication, arable lands, and cheap transport of goods. This was assuming earth logic applied here, though, which I never took for granted.
The spiderweb of navigable rivers meant that trade and transport within the nation and its neighbors would be very inexpensive, and the natural barriers surrounding it would keep it relatively challenging to invade. Constant intranational trade through freighting fostered understanding between its people and reduced the accumulating effects of cultural pockets within its borders.
It was very similar to Germany's size, structural design, and economy in nature. Still, the kingdom didn't have the historical weakness the Germans suffered from being open to invasion on all sides via the plains that surrounded it. With fields of arable land, hills flush with deposits of precious minerals, and lush forests in the Duchy of Korvia in its north; it was entirely theoretically self-sufficient without international trade. That could only be said for a few countries in my original world.
In addition, the same barriers that protected it made it very difficult for the kingdom to expand outwards, which prevented it from turning into a militaristic power. It was known for its focus on research in the sciences, including magic, and held considerable soft power through the influence of its academies. The Royal Academy of the Magic and Sciences, which Alice had graduated from just weeks before I'd woken up in her body, was the equivalent of magical Harvard or Oxford.
How's that for expectations to live up to?
"Hey, we're about to head in."
I felt an arm on my shoulder, which snapped me out of my trance. I smiled at Lori as she straightened out her armor and flashed me her usual confident smile. I was really glad I got the chance to talk to her.
Dinah and Friar Dogson waved her over, and she took off into the dungeon.
I watched as the twenty-seven adventurers on our side of the dungeon approached the gates. There were five fully armed, supplied, and registered parties, and I was sitting out to man the camp and shop. The gates were massive, and I could see giant statues that looked like ancient kings, if not gods, lining our entranceway's sides.
As they arrived, the gatekeeper waved them forward while simultaneously raising his staff overhead and chanting some arcane spell. A moment later, a bright light shone across the entranceway, illuminating the room inside. As soon as the glow dissipated, the adventurers began filing past us, heading into the dungeon.
"Well, I'll scout on around!" Haigha shouted with a smirk before vanishing with a pop.
They filed quickly through the door and disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sat down heavily on a chair near the front desk.
This is it, huh? They've officially begun the crawl now... I wondered idly.
I felt lonely and just slightly bored now that the commotion was over. The camp was relatively empty and would no doubt be for hours.
So what should I do? Maybe I need to start working on my magic training again so I can figure out how to defend myself. I walked into our tent and flipped open the introductory self-defense spellbook. After reading a few pages, I found a 'Minor campsite barrier' spell. Well, that's an interesting one.
Looking at the spell formula, I began to search through Alice's travel bag. I brushed the scrolls aside, and took my wand out of the bag. Then, I threw a barrier up around our tent and goods. That should keep any low-level petty thieves out, at least.
I let out a long, exhausted yawn. It was time to put the book down, go back outside, and get some fresh air. Following that train of thought, I stepped outside, and wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes, taking in the scenery. The sun had just set over the horizon, casting long shadows over everything. The sky was a deep purple color, almost red.
The smell of cooking meat drifted towards me from the direction of the mess hall. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else noticed the lack of activity here tonight. Lori and I had spent so much of our time moving at a breakneck pace during my first quest, that I didn't have the chance to really sit back and enjoy the fabulously rendered environments all around me.
It was....so lovely out here.
Well, that was my thought, at least. Up until I felt the cold steel of a blade held against my neck.