Back when news of war used to turn the place into a ghost town, Krais would often grumble.

["Do you know how hard it is to get hold of anything?"]

Still, he had profited as much as he complained. Hadn't he said it was only natural for prices to rise when goods became scarce?

Compared to those days, this was an entirely different city. More shops had opened, and merchants selling their goods on stalls had gathered along one side. The market was divided into sections, with soldiers standing guard here and there.

He even spotted a familiar Frog. What was his name again?

"I'm not looking for a fight."

The Frog with the distinct facial scar showed his white palms as he spoke. Encrid dug through his memories for the name.

"... Meellun?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Encrid had heard he had joined the Gilfin Guild under Krais. His glossy cheeks suggested that city life suited him very well, and that he was living comfortably. Healthy Frogs had glossy cheeks, apparently. Luagarne had told him that when the dry climate had left hers parched.

"I'll be going."

Once past Meellun, he spotted Beastmen, Fairies, dwarves, and Frogs scattered among the humans. A Giant, too.

They were called demonic beasts with red blood, but just as not all humans or Fairies were alike, neither were all Giants. Some pursued things other than fighting. This seemed to be one of them.

The Giant walked along with a bundle of rolled black cloth on his shoulder, easily large enough to be mistaken for a club. Their eyes happened to meet, and his gaze was unlike a Giant's. It reminded Encrid of the guileless, steadfast eyes of the cattle he had seen in the West.

"Good day."

Their gazes met only briefly before they passed each other. The Giant offered a greeting as he went to his spot and sat down among the stallholders. Some of the surrounding merchants looked frightened, but others were perfectly calm.

"You're late."

One merchant even spoke to him familiarly. He was a traveling merchant who could easily have passed for a mercenary. Peddlers needed to know how to fight, after all, and many were little different from mercenaries.

"I found something good," the Giant replied.

Judging by the familiar exchange with the human merchant beside him, this didn't seem to be his first visit to Border Guard. The guards' silence confirmed it.

Curious, Encrid approached as the Giant unrolled the cloth from his shoulder. That bundle held the means of his livelihood. Inside were a sack large enough to hold an ordinary human whole and a chair that looked to have been cut from a log, among other things.

A Giant peddler. It couldn't be a common occupation among his kind.

"Want a look?"

His voice resonated as though it came from deep inside a cavern. The Giant looked at Encrid as he asked, and Encrid simply stood there and nodded.

He didn't seem to know who Encrid was. Some of the soldiers patrolling or standing guard might recognize him, but this wasn't an age when fame meant people knew your face. Distinctive equipment or unmistakable features might help. Black hair and blue eyes were somewhat unusual, but in a crowd this large, he would be hard to recognize at a glance.

"You said you'd found something good."

At Encrid's repetition of his earlier words, the Giant untied the cord securing his large leather sack and began taking things out. All it held were large stones, uncut gems, and a few rolls of hide.

Which of these was the good find? Encrid had been a mercenary, and he was a swordsman. Naturally, he had some eye for goods, but nothing like a merchant's. This fellow clearly gathered and sold raw materials. Encrid wasn't equipped to judge anything other than weapons and armor, but one roll of hide caught his eye for some reason.

It was hardly large compared to the Giant's body or hands. Its exterior was dark brown and thick. How heavy was it? It certainly looked weighty.

"You've got a good eye."

The Giant wasn't smiling, nor was there any particular warmth in his tone. He didn't seem the sort to engage in the usual merchant's sales patter.

"Do I?" Encrid answered, turning his gaze back to him.

"Ever heard of the Black Leather Guild?" the Giant asked in his booming voice.

Of course he had. There were certain names one heard while wandering the continent: groups like the Shepherds of the Wastes, the Black Leather Guild, and the Glacier Rangers. The Black Leather Guild were said to be the continent's finest hunters.

"I got it from them. Don't know what kind of hide it is, but it's tough and light."

The Giant paused, looking Encrid straight in the eyes, then lifted the roll between his thumb and forefinger and finished.

"And expensive."

Price didn't matter to Encrid. He held out a hand, and the Giant set the hide on it.

Unrolled, it proved to be well-tanned leather. It was very light, just as the Giant had said, and not merely by a Giant's standards. It wasn't featherlight, but it weighed far less than its appearance suggested. There was no foul smell, either, and it was wide enough to wrap his wrist and cover his forearm.

"Unusual."

"It's not something you see every day."

"So are you."

"Does that matter?"

"You caught my eye."

The Giant showed no reaction. So what? Was he buying or not? As a merchant, that was all that mattered.

"I'll take it."

He liked it, and already had a rough idea of how to use it. Then he might as well buy it. Lack of Krona wasn't going to stop him buying anything.

"Twelve gold coins."

An exorbitant price, and an oddly precise one. Ten was ten, but why twelve? That was very expensive for a piece of leather barely long enough to wrap once around his arm, covering it from the back of his hand to just below his elbow. On Audin, it might barely cover a fist.

"All right."

Encrid didn't haggle. He saw no need. There was, however, a problem. He searched his belt and the inside of his clothes for a moment. Come to think of it, he hadn't brought any Krona.

-Doesn't anyone ever tell you you're a bit dim?

Aker hummed, having grasped the situation.

Hadn't this bastard of a sword said its thoughts would gradually dissipate within a month of its consciousness awakening? Why make it take a whole month?

Encrid finished searching himself with that thought. Naturally, no Krona appeared. As he rummaged without so much as a single coin clinking, the Giant narrowed his eyes.

Was this bastard a thief? Or a robber, since he carried a sword? What a joke.

This was Border Guard, where even pickpockets lost their hands if caught, and robbers were a rare sight. Try any shady business in the back alleys and you'd find yourself facing a Frog. The soldiers here wouldn't take so much as a copper coin in bribes.

Well, a few copper coins kept a city running as quietly as a well-oiled hinge, so they probably took that much. The point was, this wasn't a city where bribery worked.

The Giant folded his arms. Two guards happened to be nearby. Should he call them? After a moment's consideration, he gave Encrid a chance.

"If you've got no Krona, piss off."

"... I'm friends with Leona."

Encrid spoke quietly. It was true. Twelve gold coins were no problem; he could fetch them in no time. He would have done just that, if not for the man from another trading company who butted in, greed plastered all over his cheeks.

"I'll buy it. Seven and a half gold coins."

This bastard. Encrid was a little angry. Couldn't he see Encrid was trying to buy it?

Rousing his Will would amount to a threat, so he deliberately restrained it as he looked at the merchant. The merchant returned his gaze, then lifted his chin.

"What?"

What are you going to do about it?

Border Guard was a merchants' paradise, thanks to its excellent public order. No wonder: swindlers, robbers, and pickpockets had a very hard time making a living here.

The Gilfin Guild, whose main business was illegal activity, had personally stepped forward as the night's watchmen and guardians. Meanwhile, the Border Guard standing army, which kept order by day, wouldn't take sides for a few silver coins. In short, they did their jobs properly.

Of course, a great deal had happened before things reached this point. But this was the atmosphere now.

"I'll be right back. If you'd just wait a little..."

Encrid sounded thoroughly pathetic, but there was nothing he could do.

"Look, if you haven't got the money, step aside. I'm busy enough as it is."

The merchant with the spiteful cheeks cut him off. Encrid's hand twitched. The man spoke like Krais and looked like a toad.

It was tolerable when Big-eyes Krais did it. Hearing it from a man whose fleshy cheeks shifted between spite and greed stirred a murderous urge. Looks weren't everything, but apparently they did make a difference. Encrid swallowed his anger. This wasn't something to lose his temper over.

"And you're friends with the head of Roquefried? Ha! Then I'm General Encrid's uncle."

Should he kill him? Surely he could? Didn't being a general entitle him to kill one bastard like this?

As the atmosphere grew tense, the two nearby soldiers approached. Neither knew Encrid's face.

"If you start fighting, we'll have to determine who's at fault. That won't be good for either of you."

"And let me warn you: Border Guard's lord doesn't take sides."

Justice Is Cold.

Those words hung in Border Guard's courthouse. The soldiers were warning them not to let things go that far if they could help it.

Krais had created this atmosphere, too. Trials required manpower, and he often had to get involved himself. He couldn't simply allow people to suffer injustice, but if someone brought a petty dispute to the city's higher authorities, they would take a hefty sum of Krona in taxes.

That way, only those who had truly been wronged would come, while those trying to exploit authority over trivial matters would disappear. In fact, the taxes were reduced or waived for people with genuine grievances.

There had been plenty of complaints and trouble at first, but the rules were now established, and merchants knew them well. Encrid did not.

'He'd take my side.'

He was the man above the lord, after all. But if he revealed that here...

'Wouldn't that damage my honor?'

-Hey, rather than reveal who you are now, put me between your teeth and jump off a cliff.

Aker was a sword with a mind of its own, and it had some timely advice. Encrid decided to throw it off a cliff rather than have it repaired. It was already losing its sharpness, wearing away into a useless lump of metal, wasn't it?

-Don't get any stupid ideas. Let me enjoy my last month.

Ignoring the sentient sword, Encrid looked at the Giant. He tried to speak with his eyes. Here: trust. A gaze worthy of trust.

"What?"

"... Nothing."

The Giant turned to the toad-like merchant and spoke.

"And I'm not selling it to you, either."

"What? Twelve gold coins for a scrap of leather like that is already highway robbery!"

The merchant flared up at the Giant's words. To Encrid, it looked like an act, a ploy to gain the upper hand in haggling. The Giant hadn't seen through it, but shook his head anyway.

"I'm not selling."

"Aren't you with Roquefried?"

"So?"

"I'm Malton. I've been trading with the Roquefried trading company for years. This could cause problems for you later."

Threats now? The two soldiers stepped back, apparently considering this still part of the bargaining. Encrid merely watched, too. He wasn't in much of a position to intervene. Honestly, if he stepped in now, they might mistake him for a robber. Without Krona, he'd have to settle it by force, wouldn't he?

"Not my problem."

The Giant didn't yield to the threat.

"You bastard."

This time the merchant was genuinely fuming, but he made no show of force. The two guards were still watching. Even without them, attacking a Giant would only end badly for him. And what could he do if the Giant wouldn't sell?

The toad with spite plastered all over his cheeks stormed off with a parting threat.

"Are you sure that's all right?" Encrid asked the Giant.

"Why wouldn't it be? I belong to Roquefried, but what I buy and sell is up to me."

"Is that so?"

"It is. I sell good goods at prices I set. That's how I've chosen to do business."

His trustworthy gaze had failed, but Encrid liked both the leather and the Giant. Especially the way those eyes shone when he spoke of how he did business, or of good goods.

A Giant sourcing goods and selling them. Could that process, that life, have been straightforward? Manageable? Easy?

'Not a chance.'

And yet the Giant merchant was here.

"Do you have a dream?" Encrid asked.

"What's it to you?"

The Giant's attitude never changed. Encrid liked that, too. He had better fetch the Krona right away. Where was Krais? No, he could go to Graham for it.

Just as he was about to turn, a familiar face approached from directly behind him.

"Buying something?"

She had said she was busy, and he hadn't seen her since dawn.

"The Black Flower," someone murmured.

Her robe wasn't open at the front today, but this time her skirt had a slit up the side. Her white leg was in full view. Several people had been distracted by it. A leg that appealed equally to men and women, perhaps. There were indeed plenty of women staring.

"You can't pluck people's eyes out for sneaking a look at your legs," Encrid said.

"Why would I pluck their eyes out? Is something wrong with your head?" Esther replied, blinking.

He'd only said it because of things she'd done before. Encrid decided to swallow his sense of injustice and let it pass. Apparently, today was his day to take the abuse.

"How much did you say? I'll pay."

Encrid found the situation a little awkward. Esther, who would have fit right into some mountain retreat as a witch or a sage, was handing over gold coins while he simply watched. She counted them out one by one.

"A good trade."

Only then did the Giant smile. He smiled at Esther and handed over the leather, which she passed to Encrid.

"A gift. I'm busy."

They had met by chance. Esther was about to be off again.

"Lady Black Flower, accept my love!"

A well-dressed man appeared from somewhere and made a show of courtship. He abruptly dropped to his knees in front of her and offered a bouquet.

Esther looked at the man. Encrid resolved to protect his eyes if things went wrong.

And Esther answered,

"I'll think about it."

Then she strode off and disappeared.

"Aren't you leaving? You're getting in the way of business."

As Encrid stared in bewilderment, the Giant merchant spoke behind him. He, too, moved on toward his original destination, the smithy, thinking that this was a very strange day indeed.

That feeling remained when he reached the smithy. He seemed to be seeing a great many rare sights today. Or was this normal? Did unusual things happen so readily when merchants and craftsmen all gathered in one place?

Three figures sat together in the smithy: a human, a dwarf, and even a Frog. The human craftsman knew Encrid's face. He was the royal-palace craftsman Krang had sent before.