Sam kept walking around. There was a well in the middle for water. A few tents were erected towards the back while the front had two shops. One sold edible dried food and consumables while the other was for clothing and armors. The administrative block was linked to the circular wall that surrounded the outpost. Outside the wall were palm-like trees and a few shrubs growing to give the outpost a little green.
“You are new, aren’t you?” A little girl around twelve who was sitting inside the armor shop asked him. She had a skirt and blouse. Her face was covered with a thin veil. She had a silver bangle on her right arm and a decorative bead chain around her neck.
“Yes, I got here. I was looking to buy some local products to sell it out in the city.” Sam had to pretend, besides this was a little girl.
“No. there are no local products here. You must have washed up here from the desert.”
Busted.
The air turned awkward, but Sam had nowhere to go. She let a small smile. Then continued, “But if you want to make a trade, I would suggest buying a bit of desert salt. Sell it over at the cities. You could almost quadruple the income and a lot of merchants do that.”
“Do..”. I almost asked for salt from an armor shop.
“Where do you buy it from?”
“You can pick it up from the village down south. Do you have a compass?”
“Not yet, I lost mine”
“Get one from the administrative block. Also, don’t forget the map. If you wait at the village for a few days, you might find a caravan of merchants. They might help you out.”
‘I don’t have much money to buy salt, but they could help me get to some city.’
“Thank you, I will get on with it then.” He waved his hands at her and proceeded to move towards the administrator’s office. After buying a map and compass for 10 copper, he started heading towards the village.
He was stopped on the wave by the same guards again.
“Where are you going?” the look on their face was very serious. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Sam started to feel a bit scared.
“Huh to the village to get a caravan to the city.” Sam tried to explain, but he was stopped.
“You can’t go yet. If you want to get to the city, then it’s better to come with us when we are changing troops. We will be moving to Fermore city in an hour. Besides we need to take all suspicious individuals to the cathedral first.”
‘Looks like I’m stuck here’. Sam was forced to wait at the guard tower. Soon the new guards arrived and the old ones started packing. The guards changed stations every month. It was time for sam to say farewell to outpost 322. Before he could leave, the little girl once again appeared before him.
“You are going with the guards? Could you pass this letter to my daughter Laura? She works at the legendary merchant guild office.”
“Daughter?” Sam almost lost his cool. ‘There is no way you are over fourteen.’ Sama looked at the guard confused.
“Sicily is a half fay, they don’t age.” ‘What’s a fay?’. Sam was getting more and more confused. ‘Looks like this world has a lot more than humans ‘.
The guard, pulling Sam out of his confusion said, “Only merchants can enter the guild office unrestricted”.
Since he had nothing else to do, took the letter and slipped it into the paper box. This is to prevent the paper from smudging.
Soon the guards left for the Fermore city. After two days of travel, he was able to get out of the everlasting dunes. On the third day, they finally saw high rising buildings to the horizon. “Looks like we will enter the city at noon.” Said the coach driver.
The guards mistook Sam for a fay as Sicily never talks to anyone. For sam looked too young to be a merchant and was almost as naive as the other fays that they knew off. The city gates appeared right before their eyes and soon they were allowed in. There were many standing outside, but the guards' caravan was allowed entrance from the side gate.
Sam was later prepped and presented to the high priest of the Fermore cathedral. Only priests had the power to tell apart from lies.
A young attractive lady wearing a sky-blue gown with a long wooden staff was sitting atop the throne. A few maids and manservants were working around the place. She got up and approached Sam.
“Who are you?” her sound was like the tingling of bells. It was soft and pleasant to hear.
“Sam”. He couldn’t look away from her.
“Sam” she repeated. “A merchant? Well, we will find out soon.” With that, she went forward to the glowing glob erected at the right.
“Sam, place your hand on this glob. It will let us know who you are.”
Sam extended his right hand towards the glob. The glob started glowing and soon a few words appeared on the wall right next to it. ‘A screen?’
She saw my awe appearance and smiled at me.
“It’s just a magical projection, makes it easy to read.”
“I can’t see anything tho.”
“you need a magic potion to understand mana infused words. It's permanent but also expensive.”
‘A potion to help read? Yes.’
“Where do I get it from?”
She narrowed her eyes a bit. “Alchemist.”
She turned towards the others and said, “He is okay. You can all go now.” The guards bowed and left without even a glance at me. Her next few words kept my mouth hung open.
“I am curious tho, why does it say age 0? Where you summoned from another plane.”
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