Chapter 172 - Growing Marketplace

Walking down the concrete road, a small group of four large wolves admired the smooth finish under the pads of their paws. They eyed their surroundings carefully, paying attention to the grid-like layout of the growing town, along with the many building either in construction or going through renovations. It was easy to follow the road and find their way to the center of town. This left them startled again, marveling at the strange make-up of differing races meeting in what seemed to be a central market.

The space was large and vast but wasn't anywhere near full as of yet. However, it was clear that those designing the city were planning for aggressive expansion based on the available space as well as the many buildings under construction. And though there wasn't too much foot traffic as of yet, there were enough customers in the market to meet the needs of the few merchants that had set up shop.

"Look who's here…" one wolf whispered among the group. 

Catching sight of the human merchant, the younger and slightly smaller wolf howled jokingly, "Look who it is!"

"Oh… Master Ajuur, it's a surprise seeing you here," the human merchant chuckled nervously. He stopped fiddling with the wares on his wooden display and thought about retreating to the safety of the tent behind him.

"Wilburn, is this where you ran off to?" joked the young wolf, leading his escorts toward the merchant. "We had been wondering why you'd run away so quickly. Is it because you're chasing the dream of inequality among humans and beasts? That's hilarious!"

As the wolf and a couple of his retainers laughed, the human merchant maintained his smile without showing the distress on his face.

One escort commented, "How has it been since you've left? The grass isn't always greener on the other side, right?"

"Well, I've lost a decent amount of business since I left, but--"

"Then why are you still here? Tell you what, we'll escort you back home to make sure no one here will bother you," claimed the younger wolf, unafraid to speak for the party.

"There's no need for that," the merchant replied with a friendly grin. "I'm doing fine here despite the loss of sales."

"Really? But there's no reason to--"

"Excuse me!" A feminine voice called out to the merchant, cutting off the wolf's bantering. "Have you got any more cores?"

The wolves paused their jesting for a moment as they looked over the new arrival. Immediately, the leading wolf grinned cheekily and stepped to the beautiful lady appearing to be around his age. "And who might you be?"

"I'll warn you, anyone who dares oppress another based on their race or species within the Iron Territory will be punished for it. Here, your clan's bloodline and reputation don't mean anything if you squander it with belittling others," the fox girl stated, only sparing the wolf a light glance. "So, were you able to find more cores?"

"I did, actually. Give me a moment…" Heaving a sigh of relief, the human man entered his tent briefly before returning with two black cores. "These should be to your liking, Miss."

"Oh? You've been holding out on us, Wilburn!" laughed Ajuur. "You should've shown us--"

"I'll take them both, please." The fox cut-off the wolf yet again, not caring at all for his higher-than-thou attitude. "How much?"

"For you, I'll take a single art." 

"Oh, but I can--"

"No, that will be enough," stated the merchant, calmly passing the cores to the twin-tailed fox.

Nodding, the fox agreed, "Very well, then will this one do?"

A light flash of energy passed from the fox's forehead to the mind of the merchant. It only took a few seconds for the merchant to grin and accept the offer. "For you, Miss, this will be more than enough. But, are you sure that you're allowed to--"

"Excuse me, but we were talking first, Wilburn. You can't give away the merchandise I was browsing without offering a price," complained Ajuur, looking for any reason to rejoin the conversation that he was irritatingly cut out of. "That's not how business should be run. Has coming here taught you bad manners?"

"That's enough." Storing the two cores in the void choker around her neck, the fox girl looked up at the wolf and met his gaze unabashedly. "Here, strength is necessary but so is equality. Either accept that or leave. You'll only cause trouble for yourselves if you keep this up."

"Little lady… There's no need to get cross with me…" The wolf whispered gingerly, stepping closer to the fox. Casually reaching his tail toward her head and extending his head to sniff her tail, he mentioned, "Why don't we both relax and start over. We can--"

Thwack!

"Master Ajuur!" Two of the three wolves rushed to the aid of their arrogant young master, who had been promptly slapped by the young fox and thrown to the floor.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" howled Ajuur, rushing back to his feet. "You dared strike me?! The--"

"You've barely an early-adept and your affinity is so poorly trained, yet you have the gall to be arrogant here? Hurry back home if you want to be babied by your clan's reputation. Here, you're nothing special. In fact, you're worse than average."

The wolf was astonished by her comment, stunned speechless for a moment. This gave the girl a chance to bow her head to the merchant. "Thank you. I look forward to purchasing more goods."

"And I look forward to your continued patronage." Smiling from both relief and pleasure to see the wolf young master treated so lightly, the merchant waved goodbye to the fox girl as she left.

"You… give us your cores…" grumbled Ajuur.

"Sorry, Master Ajuur, but I've got none left." 

"Don't lie to--"

"I'm not lying, Master Ajuur," Wilburn confidently commented. "I'm sorry that I don't have anything left for you, but that's only because I wasn't expecting your arrival. I sought those cores out at her request, so of course, she would be the one to claim them. It's only fair."