The sun slowly began to set on the far Astorean Horizon. He didn't actually know if the trees that the sun slowly dipped behind were a part of Astorea. He knew that it constituted as a country, and had the size to show for it, but wasn't sure exactly how big it was. One part of the man remembered that the country was built by players, men like Astor who knew well of the worlds, both of them, and knew how to exploit the properties he knew from each. It was entirely possible that the area was huge, but Zelrius also glanced back to Dormont not a mile or two behind him. It was a big city, though ruined through war, and if even players couldn't build it back up to a shapely matter in time, the man doubted that the Kingdom could extend very far into either direction. He knew the woods to the north were of the dangerous breed; so much so that he hadn't heard much from that area at all. Not so much as a tale from the locals in Brisshal. And to the south, was the great Kingdom of Falderen. Though Great was debatable; it was quite expansive for a kingdom, but it also had very little centralization or control. He was reminded of places like Pormont, where the towns and farms were sparse and they had scarce population to begin with. So, he guessed, he didn't know how big Astorea was. Or how small, for that matter. There were Marquis and Barons, that much he knew, remembering back to when he had met Alonso not too long ago. Or not met, but had ran into. Still, so it had to have some land and titles to give, right? Those were the thoughts running through his mind as he opened the parcel of food that he had just bought. It was quite literally a bomb of food; filled with random assortments of essentials. Seeds, bits of Vegetables, chunks of meat and fruit. This wasn't unusual to the man, in fact, this was almost a delicacy. Back in Brisshal, all they had was the jerky and hardtack. That Yladian had actually blessed the man. Or so, he thought, picking away at the random assortment of stuff within the small bomb. He remembered the awkward encounter with her, each moment playing in his head slowly and painfully. There were many reasons that Zelrius didn't like Elves to begin with, one of them just being an ingrained sense of weariness around them. More often than not, Elves were smug and pretentious in games, and lorded that over the other races more often than not. That, and a myriad of other reasons, the man always felt anxious around their kind. Though, he felt so bad about the way he acted, Zelrius couldn't have helped it though. He had a stigma against them, the term Knife-Ear always coming to mind, though he disliked using it. Still, he was thankful for her little cart, wondering how it is she procured these goods and put them in the small parcels. He'd have to go seek her out again after the two he had bought were eaten, quite enjoying his small meal. So, thats where Zelrius was at the moment. A small Knoll, just outside of Dormont, somewhere in the middle of Astorea. Behind him, the moon Rose over the city, and in front of him the sun slowly dipped behind the rolling trees and foliage of the forest. Slowly, the mans Food metre filled, and his energy metre had been pretty refreshed. It was a neat sight in his Menu as he ate; all of the golden haired man's ducks were in a row, all the metres nice and full, a small gap separating where they ended and began at the bottom of of each symbol. Next to him sat two scabbards, both carrying a Sabre each. It was relaxing, the calm before the storm a Zelrius began to plot and plan his plans. The Handkerchief that Jeanne had given him earlier that day sat folded in his collar, a reminder to what he intended to do. He intended to live up to the Princess's expectations, and then far exceed. One step at a time, He reminded himself, popping a few of the seeds into his mouth and continuing to watch the sun sink, the sky now melting from the bright azure into the darker twilight.
It was a decent day of business. Unlike most people concerned with profits like worshippers of Endra would normally be, the azure haired Yladian baker was focused on ridding her inventory for money which would then be recycled back into cooking so that she could raise her mastery more. For the next few days she would either be making the rations and selling them, or procuring ingredients to make more. It was her version of helping for the war efforts as she was unsure if she wanted to fight or not. With all these Yladians in Astorea and being one herself, Sylpha couldn't help but want to protect them with what little ability she had. Cooking for those who had better combat ability was the indirect method she used to attract a few more into wanting to join the efforts. Whether it would pay off or not would still require more time. One thing Sylpha didn't exactly have, since she didn't know when the invasion would happen. Watching the sun going down, the Yladian thought of finding a spot to watch. Being stuck in a city outside of the game, she almost never paid much attention to it and it could never compare to the sights of Japan in her heart. Walking around, she noticed a man who made an impression on her: A blonde man who was taller than her, with a pair of weapons by his side. In his hand, she could see the product that she had sold him earlier. Instead of approaching immediately, Sylpha stood to one side and waited for him to finish eating so she could judge his reaction to the food. Seeing that he did not react with disgust, Sylpha was delighted. Generally, since it was a ration for soldiers balancing of the flavors was no priority; only maximizing nutrition and recovery effect. Since he didn't hate her food, Sylpha had less reservation in approaching him, so she did so. "Hello there." She called out to him as she retrieved some coinage from her purse. "I owe you this change for the rations you bought earlier today." She finished her explanation as she extended an open hand with the money that should be his.
The nuts and berries weren't particularly flavourful, but to be honest, Zelrius was more than happy to slowly pinch off piece and bite at them. The Yladian wasn't a bad cook, just, Zelrius knew that it was probably very difficult for someone in this game to match the quality and quantity of food that was available back on Earth. Or maybe it was with a high enough skill? Despite his unease at the thought of their kind, the man began to question the woman's motives. Was it to simply help? Or make a profit? That was one goal he could sympathize with, a thought he had had just moments earlier in fact. Scolding himself for not opening a shop of his own in Astorea during these pressing times. War is good for Business afterall, especially if you deal with arms, supplies or armor. All of those sounded wonderful, but his thoughts drifted more towards another outlet. See, here's how the man thought, War was stress inducing, even more so for the players who seemed invested in it. His thoughts drifted to Marquis Alonso. The man had titles now, and more time than most did in the game, or so it seemed. So even for players, this war was probably a bit on edge, not to mention the NPCS. So here is what he had planned maybe instead. There already tons of arms and resource dealers, why not something a little different? Perhaps entertainment, perhaps a cafe where people could relax. Maybe he'd find some prospective NPCs or players looking to make a little extra money and he might invest in a Maid Cafe or of the like. Afterall, who doesn't like cute women dressed in classy dresses and skirts? He knew people like Kaede would probably show up regularly. A little let loose during the war, even if it was minor, can always go a long way. Still, he was impressed at the Elf taking advantage of the situation, but another motive hit his mind, perhaps it was those two things mentioned before, and/or an attempt to increase one's own skill? He dismissed that at the understanding of ridiculousness. It seemed like a dead-end goal; Make stuff, to get better at making stuff, so that in Terra with its own systems and rules, you can continue to make stuff. It made no sense from a logical standpoint. But then again, neither did the golden haired man's own goals. So, he gave her a free pass, continuning to pick at the chunks of meat and regularly switching which piece of the food bomb he was ingesting. He had a hand holding it, keeping the food from rolling off the leaves and down the hill, ruining the meal. However, it went from his right palm into the air as he was startled by a random voice of a person he did not even hear or expect to approach. "Jesus, alert someone before you-" His sentence was stopped short as he craned his head to see who it was. Within moments, the color drained from his face, a mix of anxiety and guilt washing over him. The man couldn't shake the impossible suspicion that she knew he was just thinking of her own goals. Though more of the anxiety and guilt came from not only her being a Yladian, but how he acted about that fact a few hours earlier. "C-change?" His voice cracked, as he couldn't even process the words right. He stood, quickly, an effort to not be impolite as he had earlier, extending a hand as she had hers, still not understanding what she meant. The man knew that was wholly incautious of him, not exactly sure what was in her hand, and really hoping she didn't have malicious intent. Though with a few blinks he sort of came to his sense, not exactly getting the words yet, but seeing the money, which caused him to withdraw his hand with haste, looking up - or well, actually - down to her face. A confused expression plastering his own. "Eh? I mean nono, I have nothing to-" And then it clicked as her words repeated in his head, and he decided to capitalize on the situation. "I- You, keep it. As a sort of apology. Its no big deal, I have plenty more." He actually had questions, but was thus far silenced from further speaking at the moment by the sheer awkwardness of their encounter, both earlier and now.
The man seemed to have been startled by her approach, which Sylpha could only chalk up to social ineptitude, introversion or just a lack of awareness in general. Well, probably not the last one, since his face paled for whatever reason. He scolded at her for not alerting him to her approach... though she was very sure she used an "excuse me" while approaching him. Was that not enough? Well, too late, he was already approached and the most she could do is apologize. Sylpha's following attempt to hand him his money failed, because he offered it right back. It was a meager amount and Sylpha was an honest trader, so it didn't make sense in her head to keep it. She tried to give it back one last time, saying: "I can't tell you what to do with your money, but it's still your money." Regardless of whether he accepted the money back or not, the Yladian did have other reasons to approach him. After she gave him a chance to take his coins back, she got straight to the point: "I'd like to know your thoughts about my product. It's meant for travel, so it wouldn't be my first choice while you're still in the city, but if you have any ideas for replacement ingredients I'd be happy to hear them." Yes, she wanted thoughts about her food. A product that was not designed to be tasty, but be consumed easily and provide as much nutrients and recovery of one's statuses as possible while keeping it's condition across a lengthy travel or march. She wanted thoughts on the taste of something like that. To be fair, he was likely the first besides Sylpha to actually eat it, so any feedback at this point would be appreciated.
