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Chapter 186: Es

During our drinking party, I considered checking the magic circles related to spirits again, when Dean took a jab at me and made it clear that I should behave. Retze, now Dean, how did they know what I was thinking?

And so, for today, I’m behaving properly and searching the continent where the dragons live. I’m currently in Es, the kingdom where the largest city protected by spirits is located. The country name is also the city’s name, as well as the river’s name too. A wide river flows through the vast desert, and the royal capital is situated on a delta near the rivermouth.

Rain does fall but only a little by the seaside, so the river is the lifeline of this kingdom. It’s said that the spirit of the river is the same spirit that protects the kingdom. The desert is littered with sand dunes and perfectly fits the typical desert that I know. And of course, there’s a lot of sand.

Got my hands on a lot of glass materials that are mixed in with the sand!

I gathered a bit of information from the sand spirits wandering about before I entered the city. Es had been ruled by queens for generations, and the river spirit is also said to be in the form of a woman. The women of the royal family are said to be shamanesses for generations too, so the woman who can See the spirits, Hear their voices or possess both abilities will be the heiress to the throne.

The temperature can go over 50 degrees celsius on a hot summer day. The current dragon king is said to be a fire dragon born during the era of the Fire Spirit. This place had turned into this state under both the previous generation’s Wind Spirit and the Fire Spirit’s influence — does that mean the current generation’s spirit will be that heroes’ Lightball? Ugh, I don’t want that.

I was wondering whether I’d see any dragons, and spotted them a while after, but it was too hot so I gave up. Oh how I yearn for shade~!

Various goods are sent down the river Es into the city of Es where they’ll be shipped off to Nalluahdid, so the city is thriving, being a transit point for trade. The products are mainly sugarcane, raw cotton, and gold collected from the river.

The desert sand is fine and yellowish with great potential for making glass, but the soil surrounding the river is black.This black soil is said to spring out and carried away from two whirlpools called Eyes of Es, the alleged dwelling place of spirits.

Es River overflows once a year, and that lasts for about half a month or so. There’s an old temple that only appears during that time, apparently, so I’m all for going back here just to see that. For now, I’ll be going around the city observing stuff.

The markets around the harbor don’t let commoners in, but the western side of the city has its own gigantic bazaar. The arrangement of stalls is quite complicated like a labyrinth and the goods and stocks are hung up all crammed together.

Perfume bottles, gold crafts, various amulets and talismans, goods made out of cotton, hookah and souvenirs that I don’t really understand are all lined up. I thought I spotted a pie with red bean paste filling so I bought one and ate it — turns out it’s dates. It’s sticky sweet alright, but that single bite makes it overwhelmingly obvious that it’s a different thing. Yeah, I keenly felt that difference.

I also go shopping for some clothes that look like national costumes with the baggy cut and ankle length size. My current getup is way too eye-catching after all, what with the pants and black shoes.

It’s baggy so I just wore it over my clothes. The temperature outdoors is a lot hotter than my own body temperature so this outfit that totally covered my hands actually feels cooler. Maybe that’s why the locals don’t wear anything underneath this.

I make my way through a store while pushing through the hanging carpets and rugs, then do some window shopping in another store while peering at the overflowing curious trinkets and stuff in it.

A man walking while carrying a basketful of bread stacked up high, a little girl with golden hoop earrings, and many others calling out to me, peddling their wares — I ignore and dodge all of them as I continue on my way.

It is then that a brass lamp with beautiful see-through patterns caught my eye among the many goods I’ve seen. It’s called ‘Palace Lamp’, and a lot of them are hanging from the ceiling of another store. It’s noon so it’s not visible, but I bet it’ll cast pretty shadows with a candle inside it while hanging from the ceiling.

It’s not really suitable as a working lamp, but maybe I can get a few pieces and hang them in my lounge room on the island? Oh, come to think of it, if I’m not mistaken, turquoise pendant lamps are also gorgeous. Black ornate metal and cracked glass lampshade — uh, I don’t think it’ll work out.

They have perfume bottles for sale, but the glass is quite opaque after all. Besides, I think it’ll be a material that’s hard to work on especially when they get to a certain size. It’s actually odd, even for me, that metal crafts are cheaper than the glassware lined up.

I choose some souvenirs while contemplating. Should I buy this weird doll? Ah, but I’m the type who never displays it.

After strolling and wandering about, I bought a huge amount of spices. I also end up buying cotton cloth for souvenirs. I should make some T-shirts and tank tops and distribute it to everyone since it’s Summer. I also got my hands on mangoes, sugarcanes and cotton seeds so I’m pretty satisfied.

For lunch, I have unleavened flat bread. The broad bean dip’s flavor can be changed with chopped onions, white cheese and other spices. Actually, I really thought flatbreads are the staple food — turns out it’s the broad bean that is the staple food; when I ordered meat it came with broad bean stew.

The desserts are extra sweet yet they still add a drizzle of honey. Heh, so that snack I mistook for red bean paste earlier was still moderate with the sweetness, huh. As expected of the country of sugarcanes.

I left the city then took a rest under the shade of a palm tree by the river side. The delta in this country is crammed with people, and goods are like sardines with how closely they are displayed together, so I feel a bit tired.

I got a vague idea where the old temple is located after comparing the info from an old man selling hookahs in the bazaar — dunno his age — to the story of the spirits. I already bought a lot of stuff, so let’s call it a day, alright..

— I found out a little bit later that the scope of the map given by the deities has expanded, but that’ll be a story for later.