The guard pointed at Miranda and Yuki, whom he thought were children due to their small stature and youthful appearance. I can't blame him I would also think the same thing if I were to see these two girls for the first time, they really look like lolis.
"I-I am not a child!" said Yuki. "I am actually… around seven!"
"That's a child…" said the guard.
"Oh… But I am actually mature for my race!" said Yuki.
"You really want to make your friend pay extra?" asked the guard.
"…No, sorry." Apologized Yuki.
"I guess I am also a child, sure." Said Miranda. She didn't seem to have any issues with it unlike Yuki.
"Do you accept payment in mana stones? We have yet to trade for coins." I said. "We come from the snow lands where there are only small sects that use mana stones as currency."
"Oh, sure thing, it would be eight mana stones per person and big monster." Said the guard. "I am sorry for these prices… It is a tax that the landlord made, many Adventurers complain about it, of course, those below the ranks that make it free…"
"I see, well, it is indeed pretty expensive but it's nothing I cannot afford." I said. "I am quite a wealthy man, it could be even said I am an aristocrat in levels of money… Keep the charge." I said, giving the young man the stones in a bag.
"R-Really? Are you a merchant, sir?" asked the guard. "Do you come from faraway lands?"
"Yes, I do, I am somewhat of a merchant, so soon, I might begin selling my products around." I said. "Do I need some sort of certificate?"
"Yeah, you need to join the merchant guild to make a shop or stall… If not, it is illegal and some of the other guards might even apprehend you and give you a penalty fee." Said the guard. "So make sure to register and do things legally, please."
"Understood, thanks for your help." I said.
We quickly moved inside of the village. Some areas of it were paved and others were still with grass and dirt in the floor. There was a large house at the end of the entire village, which resembled a manor, that's probably where the landlord or the village's chief or whatever it could be called lives, isn't it? he probably owns this entire place then…
We moved around the streets as it was getting late already, and we reached an Inn.
"Sorry but its already all filled…"
It seems that our first Inn was filled.
We moved to another Inn to see if there were any rooms…
"It's all occupied, sorry."
"What? Again?"
And then we ended going to the third Inn.
"There's no rooms left."
"Damn…"
There were only four Inns, in the fourth inn is filled, then we'll either sleep in the streets or just fly back to Fuyu, and I guess we'll fly back to her.
"Ah, yes, there is a large room and only two beds left…" said the woman.
"That's good enough." I said.
"W-Where are you leaving the monster? I don't now if we can fit such a big wolf inside…" said the lady.
"Don't worry. I got that covered." I said. Frost quickly jumped inside of my shadow and disappeared, while the two crows flew atop the roof of the Inn as watchguards.
"Tonight they'll guard the place, so feel lucky." I said.
"O-Oh, is that so? Thank you…" said the lady with a surprised look.
The Merchant Guild was closed at this hour, so we paid with mana stones again, although the inn lady didn't liked it as much, but she accepted it anyways.
We moved into the bathroom and decided to take a bath after we changed Benladra's diapers and washed her down there. There was a special item that produced warm water using a Water Spirit Stone and Fire Spirit Stone.
These magic stones had elemental mana inside and were called spirit stones because they only emerge inside of mountains where there is a high density of spirit energy, natural energy produced by the world when there is a lot of spirits.
After taking a warm bath over the wooden bathtub, we dried out with some of my wind magic until we were all well dried and then we got some clothes and walked back to the room. The rest of the part was already getting themselves comfortable there. I had brought some extra beds just in case inside of my inventory, and I put them around the room so everyone could sleep comfily, alongside Benladra's cradle.
"Alright let's have a quick meal before sleeping, we have to wake up early tomorrow morning." I said.
"Oh, orange pie again?" asked Benladann excitedly.
"Yeah, we bought a ton of it, so let's eat as much we can while it still warm and tasty, Benladra seems to love it." I said. "The buttery crust is really good; I have to admit it."
We all enjoyed several slices of orange pie with some warm and aromatic tea, and then we quickly went to sleep, Benladra has been behaving very good lately, she was growing more used to the people, even strangers now.
I was happy that the trip ended well, so I quickly closed my eyes and decided to sleep for now, waking up early tomorrow is going to be a hassle…
The guards of the Orange Village silently watched over the vast grasslands and forests of oranges in front of them, as they seemed rather relaxed, nothing bad was occurring tonight either.
"Yawn… That guy really was nice giving me the spare money left… Though it is a pain to go change the mana stones, but there's nothing I can't do for money." Thought the guard.
"Oi, look, what's that?"
The other guard told the first guard, as he pointed at something that was moving around the trees of the orange forest… shadows that began to move around, the forest trees started to drop fruits as they were shaken, and these figures began to take the fruits and run away…
"Oi! Thieves! Who do you think you're stealing the oranges?" roared one of the guards, generating several spheres of water and firing them at the people.
"Light Flash!" said the second guard, unleashing a flash of light that illuminated the forest, revealing a group of five scaled creatures resembling lizards standing in two legs.
"Gryar! R-Run!" cried one of them, grabbing the oranges and running away from the place.
"Damn it, those are lizardmen?!"