Xavier nodded his head in understanding and started moving to another section of the market. Around us, vendors were yelling their wares, attempting to entice others into buying their goods.
"Come get the freshest meat!"
"Spices! All kinds of spices from the south!"
"Lovely trinkets from the Fire City!"
The scent of spices got stronger as we moved through the crowd, making my nose almost twitch. I could only imagine how much the smell was affecting the beastmen around me.
Then again, it wasn't like it was all bad. Just strong. I could even recognize a few scents, but most were a mystery to me. So giving up trying to identify smells, I instead turned my attention to the stalls, sometimes nudging Xavier over to a few.
The bird beastman silently obliged, letting me lead for a little. Many merchants had giant woven sacks of grounded spices. However, there were also some smaller sacks with whole spices, all dried out to last the long journey.
A few vendors tried selling their wares to me, but I simply smiled and shook my head. I had learnt my lesson from the sheep beastman and wanted to get a bit more knowledgeable about prices before I bought anything else. It would be bad if I spent all the crystals before we got everything necessary.
Sure, Xavier could help me with prices and keep others from trying to rip me off, but I also didn't want to rely on him too much. Otherwise, I'd have to constantly drag him with me whenever I went to the market.
Which will probably happen for the foreseeable future considering Ahi would get attacked and Altas…. He's likely to fall asleep halfway. I mused to myself. Besides, I don't know much about him yet, so I could also just be judging him again.
"Come get the purist salt from the Mermaid Isles! Last chance to get this salt before the cold season."
I turned my head to the beastman shouting the words, my interest peeking at his words. Because one important thing I needed was salt. We were running low on it and one couldn't live without it.
It was probably one of the few other things I was willing to risk buying today. Especially if it was limited. Which it probably was.
The ocean had to be thousands of miles away and I wasn't quite sure of other ways one could get salt. I mean I had heard of salt mining and rock salt, but I had no idea how that worked.
"How good is the salt from the Mermaid Isles?" I asked Xavier, shifting my gaze to the bird beastman. "I think we'll need to get some salt…"
"It's probably the best on the Beast Continent which also makes it the most expensive." Xavier answered, heading over to the stall which had gotten a few beastmen thanks to the merchant's yelling.
I pursed my lips at those words. "How expensive?"
Salt was important to survive, but we also didn't need the most expensive kind. Then again, it could depend on the quality of the salt. That being said, the price could also affect how I preserved things.
Salt would be the easiest way, but considering Atlas had that ice ability… perhaps a frozen cellar would work too. Granted it didn't feel too good relying on that alone. Running the palace seemed to tire him out enough. I didn't want to overwork the guy.
It seemed that I would have to look at other ways of preserving stuff. Perhaps see how others were doing it in the city or if there were other things in the market that I could use.
Vinegar maybe to make a brine. That would take less salt, so I could prickle vegetables. Sugar was needed for jam, wasn't it? But where would one even get sugar or vinegar? One was from plants and the other could be made from wine.
How I missed the supermarket where it was easy to find things. Most of the time anyway.
"Usually you can get five pounds of salt for a crystal. Salt from the Mermaid Isles costs around two to three crystals for the same amount of salt." Xavier responded in a low voice. "But for many, it's worth the price seeing as the salt quality is better. Many just buy enough for their mate to use and buy the lower quality for themselves to save crystals."
The price was better than I expected, but it was still a little crazy that the salt was double if not triple the usual price. Clearly it said something about the salt.
Depending on what the merchant was selling them for, I decided to get about ten to fifteen pounds of salt. It would make for a total of six crystals which was the limit I decided for now. I did have more crystals, but I wanted to keep that for other things too.
Ten crystals for the fabrics plus the six I planned for the salt would mean I had only thirty four crystals left. And I had yet to look at storage jars and food. Granted Xavier spent his crystals on the fabrics, so I still had my ten.
But they were going to be saved for emergencies now.
Hopefully through it would be enough salt for the cold season at least. I didn't need much, doubted that I would use more than a pound, but I would need a lot for other things. If any went over that would be fine.
I could just use this year as my gauge on what and how much to get for the cold season. And maybe make a better list of things needed when we got back to the palace.
Get Xavier and Ahi's input too.
After finishing with the customer before us, the merchant turned to us. Xavier had set me to the ground and stood protectively behind me, letting me take in the stall.
The merchant was quite beautiful with light-brown skin and jeweled, silk clothing. His ears looked like fin-tips, making me suspect he was a mermaid. The white and black scales on his body added to that suspicion.
The stall was mainly covered with sacks of pure, white coarse salt, but I noticed a few fish bones and coral trinkets on the side too. Guess it was all from the Mermaid Isles.
He smiled widely at us, showing pointed white teeth. "What can I get for you, beautiful beastwoman? Perhaps some bright jewelry? Better than anything the Fire City can make."
"No thanks." I said, feeling Xavier stiffen behind me at the words. "We're just here for the salt."
"Ah…" The merchant nodded his head in understanding. "That would be two crystals for five pounds of salt. It's the lowest price you can get for this quality."
I nodded my head in understanding, happy with the price. Xavier had already told me the pricing and this one was on the lower end, so it worked for me.
"Fifteen pounds then please." I stated, moving to grab some crystals from my pouch.
The merchant silently nodded his head before grabbing one of the sacks of salt. He headed to the back of the stall, setting the bag down before grabbing some metal contraption.
It took me a second to realize that it was a large scale. He placed a bag on one side before placing some small metal slabs on the other before he began filling the bag.
It was then that it dawned on me that this world already had a way of measuring things. Similar to the one in my world. And I couldn't believe I hadn't thought much of it before.
Then again, getting things in measurements was so common for me, it didn't seem weird. But it was advanced for this world along with the basic maths the merchants would need to use.
Once he filled three bags up, the merchant asked where to have the bags delivered which Xavier answered. The mermaid beastman then asked, "Will that be all?"
"Could you give me a pound of salt and some of your coral trinkets?" Xavier responded, pulling out a crystal. "You can send the coral trinkets along with the rest of the salt. Just give me one pound of salt."
The merchant nodded in understanding, taking my crystals and Xavier's. He then measured out the one pound of salt, handing it to Xavier, before going over some trinkets with the bird beastman.
Once it was all settled, we left with me holding onto Xavier's arm while he slung the bag of salt over the other shoulder. I didn't ask him why he needed the extra salt in front of the merchant, but I was still curious nonetheless.
After getting some distance away, I finally asked, "What is the extra salt for?"
"Oh… um my father beast." Xavier answered, glancing sheepishly down at me. "I actually plan to get some things for him before I visit."
Right, his father didn't live in the palace. Guess Xavier took care of him because of his injuries. My stomach churned as I recalled what Xavier had told me. I understood firsthand now what he meant when he said he had a complicated relationship with his mother.
Shaking my head at the thought, I quickly asked, "Um… do you think it would be okay if I came with you?"