In the upper layers of Zeronoa, amidst markets and trading houses, the scene unfolds:
“Wow… I knew it was impressive from the sound of footsteps, but seeing it in person is sothing else.”
As soon as they reached the upper layer, a myriad of shops stretched as far as the eye could see. There were places like open-air stalls, and so that resembled large warehouses, offering everything from fresh food and daily necessities to furniture and accessories, and of course, weapons.
“It’s getting dark, but the lights of the market are dazzling, shining brightly, filling the air with overflowing energy.”
“It’s not as big as Rungis, but it’s certainly a substantial market. In this ga, it’s undoubtedly the largest.”
“There are quite a few ordinary people around. Maybe because it’s dinner ti?”
“That’s part of it. By the way, this is the Orca Market, considered the lowest tier in the market hierarchy here.”
“Lowest tier?”
“In Zeronoa’s markets, there’s a hierarchy. Basically, it’s like a rivalry between trading companies.”
At the heart of trade between the Empire and the Kingdom, it’s not just a bustling market. It’s a whirlpool of rchants’ sches and ambitions.
The Orca Market is for the citizens… more for everyday life. It mainly deals with food and daily necessities.
At its center stands a large building, the “Lila Liro Trading House,” akin to a departnt store or a large comrcial facility. This place is ho to high-end shops – stores with prestige and patronage.
I heard later that within this trading house, the rank of the shops varies depending on their floor. The differentiation is quite detailed, whether they are outside or inside, and whether they are on higher or lower floors. You see such classifications in reality too.
“It has a strange ring to it.”
“Sword God? Ah… um… now that you ntion it…”
The ntion of the Sword God triggers a faint mory, deep in their mind. The battle with Nocturne and the supre skill of the “Sword Saint” unleashed by Arthur.
“Sword God Li=Lar… that was it, right?”
“You rembered well. The Sword God Li=Lar, who governs the swordsman profession, and her twin sister, the Divine Princess (Shinki) Li=Lor. It seems the Lila Liro Trading House was nad after these sword goddess sisters.”
“Such impressive nas. If they’re sisters, then the Sword God is a goddess, huh?”
“It seems so.”
“It’s not their hotown. The sister served the Empire while the other fought as the sword of the Kingdom. Eventually, after her death, the elder sister was revered as the ‘Sword God,’ and the younger beca ‘The Seventh of the Seven Stars.’ If what Sukuna heard from Hakuyo is true, she beca a vanguard of the Creation God, guarding Iris’s treasure.”
“So, it’s in their honor?”
“Seems like it. Nowadays, they’re referred to as the ‘Infallible Sword God Li=Lar’ and the ‘Shimring Divine Princess Li=Lor.’ In this city, where people from both the Empire and Kingdom mingle, the Lila Liro Trading House stands as a tribute to these two legendary won.”
Hearing this, it feels quite… emotional, in a way.
Still, it’s interesting to think that these twins, one a god and the other a royal figure, might have had similar talents due to their close kinship.
“If we were to buy sothing other than food, we’d have to go to the central part of Orca Market. The closer you get to the Trading House, the better the quality of the goods, as they gradually decrease in quality the further away you are.”
“I don’t particularly need anything… But since the Trading House is the highest point, we don’t really have a choice but to go there.”
Their equipnt was recently upgraded, and they had an excess of healing items.
If they needed anything, it would be items with heat resistance for exploring the Dosorca Active Volcano, ho to the black wolves. Sothing like the cold Tomatton they ate in Fias’s Eternal Scorched Caverns. But such items would probably be sold anywhere in Orca Market. They were commonly available in Fias, so they could even buy them there.
That said, the highest building in the upper layer is undoubtedly the Lila Liro Trading House.
For the investigation of the “girls,” who are fewer in the upper layer compared to the lower and middle layers, it was indeed crucial to reach the higher floors of that building.
“Hmm, let’s just enjoy the night market for now.”
“That sounds good. With so many shops, it feels like a date.”
“Right.”
{date domain expansion!}
☆
“The at here is mostly rabbit, wolf, or boar, huh?”
“There’s quite a variety of vegetables and fruits though. How about this one?”
Rin-chan tossed a fruit from the produce stand that looked suspiciously like a durian. When I sniffed it, it slled like an unripe durian. Durian’s scent usually intensifies as it ripens, so these here, the Dodododurians, are probably unripe.
“Dodododurian… Despite the na, it doesn’t sll too bad, probably because it’s still green.”
“Well, you wouldn’t exactly sell a fruit with a strong odor in the middle of the market, right? Here in Orca, every shop carefully selects the green ones.”
“Ahaha, true.”
Nodding in agreent with the fruit shop owner, I decided to buy one, knowing that it won’t ripen further if kept in the inventory.
As we continued towards the Trading House from the center of Orca Market, the atmosphere of the goods changed drastically.
Firstly, there were fewer fresh food stores and stalls. The number of weapon vendors increased, along with shops selling pickles, dried food, and grains or their processed forms, like pasta or udon noodles.
“I was just thinking, in this world, food mainly serves to fill up your hunger, right? Why bother separating main dishes and side dishes?”
“You notice strange things. To answer seriously, it’s probably because this world was created with Earth’s culture and history as a foundation. The fact that the skill nas in this world are mostly in English makes it clear that these elents were embedded from the world’s inception.”
“That’s a ta perspective.”
“It’s a fantasy world built by human imagination, after all.”
lty once said that this world was created by the administrators giving a world seed to ‘Iris’ to design. Considering the comnts and Rin-chan’s words, it seems this world seed contains basic settings to nicely shape the world. It’s similar to those ga software used to create RPGs, which Rin-chan once tried and quickly lost interest in.
“There’s a lot to it… Ah, I think we’ve arrived.”
“This is the Lila Liro Trading House. This is actually my first ti coming here directly.”
The “Lila Liro Trading House” was clearly a massive building, even from a distance. Up close, it was impressively majestic.
“This feels as big as a do.”
“That’s an interesting comparison.”
Indeed, this building stood out more for its breadth than its height. Of course, there are departnt stores in the real world much wider than any baseball do. But in this world, this building is second in size only to Fias’s Imperial Castle, which probably makes it appear even larger.
“Looks like the top is about 70 ters off the ground. From what I can see, it doesn’t look like there’s a way to get out from the inside.”
“Of course, there wouldn’t be. There’s no reason to.”
“And it doesn’t seem to have anything like balconies… hmm.”
To accurately pick up sounds from a wide range, I want to be as high up as possible. This is to minimize directional interference – at least to exclude sounds coming from above – and to reduce obstructions as much as possible. Naturally, from this perspective, conducting the task indoors is a definite no-go. It’s likely impossible to capture all the necessary sounds from inside the Trading House.
Currently, we’re in the upper layers, which is relatively high compared to the middle or lower layers. Maybe borrowing the roof of one of these warehouses could give us a bit more altitude.
“Guess we’ll have to make do. Let’s find a suitable spot around here…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
As I scanned the area, thinking of negotiating with a store or warehouse owner for a higher vantage point, Rin-chan looked at with a puzzled expression.
“Just climb to the top.”
“Really… for real?”
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