Chapter 31- Capital Exploring: East- Part 3

[Luna POV]

When we left Mister Bart’s shop, I realized just how nice of a place it was.  After exiting the door, it was like someone started playing speakers on full blast.

“Velvet, let’s get out of here before my head explodes.” I said, the sound giving me a headache bad enough to make me tear up.

“Follow me then, I’ll try to get us out of here as fast as possible.”

We stuck to some of the alleyways to avoid going through the crowds though some of the alleys amplified the noise.

‘This reminds me of bigger cities in my previous world.  How do they manage to get so loud without machinery and vehicles to add to it?”

{It’s as loud as it is to you because of your race.  Most beastkin have this problem until they get used to it or, if they have the money, buy a magic item that dampens sound.}

‘…’

‘Why was I never told that something like that existed, it would have been great to know about those beforehand.’

{I didn’t know about them either, Atmos just came over again and saw you were struggling and told me about those.}

‘And does she know where to find one?’

“Hey, Luna, it’s me Atmos.  If you want one of those items, all you have to do is keep following your friend there, they should sell them at the place you’re going.”

{Atmos stop grabbing my head to talk to Luna, you can talk to her like you do when you give oracles.}

“I know that; I just wanted to see if this worked as well, and now I know it does.  By the way, what did you do to get your hair so soft and silky?  It’s always been nice, but now it’s exquisite.”

{That was Luna’s doing, I think it’s a part of her new unique skill.  She only brushed my tails last time, but the effect of that skill must extend to the whole body of whatever she brushes.}

“I might have to ask her to help me out with taking care of my hair next time she comes here then.”

{‘No.’} Both Tamamo and I said simultaneously.

“Why not?  Is it because I interrupted the two of you right when things were getting good last time?”

‘While I’m still a bit upset about that, that’s not the reason.’

{Same, but the real reason is that we’re going to try out an idea Velvet gave us earlier.}

“Fine, but I’ll get your help one day, Luna.”

‘She gave up easier than I thought she would.’

As I was talking with Tamamo and Atmos, Velvet led me onto another side street that opened up to an area that had several shops that clearly catered to nobles and other wealthier people.

“Now that we’re over here the noise should be more manageable.  How are you doing, Luna?”

“Better than earlier, Tamamo and Atmos have been talking with me and that helped keep my mind occupied.”

“So, the Goddess of Fate is talking with you as well?”

“I don’t think it’ll be a regular thing, or at least I hope not.”

“Did she do something to offend you or something?”

“Aside from one thing, no.  It’s just me being selfish in wanting my head to be filled with only Tamamo.”

‘Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!  You should see the look on your face, Tamamo!  It’s so red it looks like a tomato!  Hahahahahahahahahaha!’

“I see… Anyway, the shop I wanted to bring you to is close by.  We’re about a 15-minute walk from there.”

“Good, by the way, Velvet, did you know about sound dampening magic tools?”

“Are those a thing?”

“Apparently.”

“Do you think they’ll have one at the place we’re going?”

“They do, according to Atmos, though how she knows that, I have no idea.”

When we arrived at the shop, I saw a few carriages parked outside.

“Should we wait a little bit before going in?” I asked.

“Hmm, probably.  The crest on the leftmost carriage is the Du-Fis family crest, and the Baron himself should still be meeting with the guild master, so that leaves only one other person it could be.”

“Then let’s come back later.”

We walked away from the shop and spent a few hours looking around.  During that time, I picked up some nice-looking clothes that would transform when I used my fox transformation skill.  I also got pick out some cute clothes for Velvet.  It was then that I found out that she is one of those people who look good in anything.

“Velvet, how do you look good in anything you wear?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Luna.  Especially when you put on lighter colors.  It makes me jealous.”

She was about to continue when a commotion occurred in front of the shop where the carriages were.

“Do you realize who I am!  I am Jarred Du-Fis, the younger brother of Baron Du-Fis!”

We saw the fat wolf harassing a lady that was trying to get on a different carriage.

“You would think that he would have learned to stop doing that by now, don’t you think?” I asked in a monotone voice.

“I don’t think people like that can learn.” Velvet said in the same monotone voice.

“Should we get involved, I think my face would be good enough to scare him away?”

“No, his brother’s knights should show up any second, see.”

True enough, two knights came up behind the fat wolf, knocked him out, and unceremoniously threw him into his carriage.  One of the knights got into the coachman’s seat while the other kept apologizing to the lady that was being harassed.

“This is going to cause the Baron another headache.”

“Was the person he was harassing a noble in a higher standing again?”

“Yep.  This time it was the daughter of the only Duke in this country.”

“I really pity the Baron.  It can’t be easy to have a brother like that.”

“I agree, but now that he’s gone, want to head over there?”

“Let’s go.”

We walked over to the shop and saw that the duke’s daughter was still there.  A maid was standing next to her examining her arm.

“Milady, are you sure you’re alright?  That disgusting wolf grabbed on to you pretty hard.” Said the maid.

“I’m fine, Louise, it’s nothing putting some ice on it won’t fix, not to mention it would take a lot more than that to hurt me.”

“That’s true, but I still think you should go see a healer.”

I looked over to Velvet and whispered; “Should I go and heal her?”

“Why get involved, it has nothing to do with you?” She whispered back.

“I just feel some weird sense of camaraderie with her.”

“Do what you want, I won’t stop you.” Velvet said with an exasperated look.

I walked over to the two and spoke up.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, I can use some healing magic on you if you want.”

The two of them turned towards me and the maid asked; “Who might you be, Miss?”

“My name is Luna, Luna Reed.”

The duke’s daughter’s eyes widened a bit when she heard my family name.

“I heard Marquis Reed had a daughter, but I didn’t know that you were in the capital.  My name is Shana Ashe, daughter of Duke Ashe.  This is my personal maid, Louise.  It’s nice to meet you, Lady Reed.”

“You can just call me Luna, I came to the capital to be an adventurer, so you don’t need to act formally towards me.”

“I see.  Is it true that you can use healing magic?”

“Yes, I thought I should speak up since I have had a similar run in with that fat wolf, though in my case he lost an arm.”

“I was wondering why he only had one arm.”

“Yeah, that was my fault, anyway, would you like me to take a look at your arm?”

“I don’t mind, it’s not really a big deal, but Louise won’t leave it alone.”

“Of course, I won’t.  I can’t let my lady be injured, no matter how insignificantly.”

I looked at her arm and saw a handprint was left behind.

“I wouldn’t even call this an injury, but here you go.” A silver light shone, and the mark disappeared.

“Thanks, is there anything you want in return for taking up your time?”

“Not really, though if I can ask, don’t blame the Baron for that fat wolf’s actions, he’s having a hard enough time dealing with him as it is.”

“I understand.”

Louise walked closer to Shana and whispered into her ear.

“It seems that it’s time for me to go, until we meet again, Luna.”

The two of them got onto the carriage and left.  After they were gone Velvet came up to me.

“Did you get everything out of that that you wanted?”

“I really just did that because I wanted to, though now I also have a connection to a duke’s daughter, so I guess you could say so.  Shall we go in then?”

“Sure.”

When we entered the shop, I saw lots of different styles of clothing.  It ranged from formal wear to casual.  What really caught my eye were several styles of kimonos and yukatas.

“Oooooo.  Those are so pretty.” I said, walking over to them. “I wonder if I would look as good as Tamamo does in one of these?”

{I think you would look great, especially in that blue one over there.}

I looked at the kimono Tamamo was talking about.  It was really pretty.  I went over to a clerk and asked about it.

“Excuse me, could I trouble you to allow me to try this on?”

“Of course, go and wait over there and I will bring it over to you.”

I walked over to what I assumed was a dressing room and waited.  The clerk brought it over and asked; “Will you need any assistance with trying this on, Miss?”

I was about to decline when Velvet walked over and spoke.

“I’ll help her out.”

“OK then, if either of you have any questions or requests, please let me know.”

“I can dress myself you know.”

{These are actually difficult to put on if you don’t know what you’re doing, Luna.  Just let her help.}

After hearing Tamamo’s words, I relented.  After a few minutes of struggling, I got the kimono on.  I looked into the provided mirror and was shocked by what I saw.

‘You were right, Tamamo, this does look great on me.’

{It really does.  You look so good that I want to see you wear that every day.}

‘Maybe in the future.’

“You look great, Luna.  I would have fallen for you if you weren’t already spoken for.”

“Thanks.  I think I’ll buy this then.”

I asked Velvet to help me take it off so that I could buy it.  When we were done, I walked up to the clerk from before and asked to check out.

“Luna, don’t forget about that other thing.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”  I looked back to the clerk and asked, “Do you have any magic items that dampen sound?”

“We do, they come in several varieties, are you looking for any particular style?”

“I’ll just take a look at what you have and decide from there.”

The clerk pulled out a trey that had several magic items that were shaped like earrings.  They were all quite pretty, but the ones that sought my eye the most were a rather simple pair of rings.

“How much for this pair?”

“These will be 20 silver and the kimono is 15 gold.”

“I’ll take them then.”

“Thank you for your patronage.”

After that we left the shop and headed back to the inn.

“Today was fun.” I said.

“I agree, though I’m a bit worried about your funds, Luna.  You bought quite a lot of stuff today.”

“I’ll be fine, I have enough to last me at least two months before I have to worry.”

“OK then, do you want to meet in the same place from this morning tomorrow?”

“Sure, I’ll see you then.” I said as I walked into the Fox’s Mirror.

Author's Note:

Sorry I didn't get this out earlier, I overslept and then had to go to classes yesterday morning.  Thanks for reading.