The Ghost King's KeeperCh100 - The gardens, the stalls

A few meters of space outside of the courtyard remained vacant, except for the blue robed guards, there were no hawker stands or stall lining up against the walls, however, a wide street laid itself out right in front of the barricaded compound, both corners of the street running parallel with several colored awnings and bustling crowd. It was so colorful and lively, that anybody entering this area would be tempted to shop around. Even Ruzen, who had yet to walk around such crowded street fronts was surprised to see the excitement that had crossed the threshold long time ago, this was similar to a massive scale festivity.  

“Where would you like to start from, Keeper?” Mo’Ze’s boisterous voice snapped Ruzen out from his daze, so he hurriedly pointed towards the left side of the wide street. Despite the street being this wide, the footfall of the crowd was so heavy that everyone was bumping here and there in order to get through. “Should we come again later?” Ruzen asked without stepping ahead, he had half a mind to just go back and rest on the bed. Although excited, he was well aware that this crowd was not really suitable to make his first appearance among. It was too busy and enjoyment would be harder to find.  FSP2Nf

“If you are worried about the crowd, Keeper, then why not wait for nighttime? At night the footfall will lessen.” 

Ruzen looked at Mo’Ze who shared his advice and nodded a little hesitantly, “I can come then, but would the stalls still be around? I don’t want to walk around on empty streets.” 

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“Yes, these stalls will be open even at night, want to follow me somewhere else? It is a nearby leisure garden, we can take a look at the flowers and exotic trees.” 

Taking a relaxing walk in a garden sounded rather interesting, so Ruzen nodded, he was aware that this world’s flora was certainly not the same as his, “That sounds nice, take me there then.”  4ULCdk

~  

“This is very interesting,” Ruzen mused, following the trail behind Mo’Ze as they ducked beneath a low hanging creeper, its leaf very broad and wide, with a metallic luster to it. The entire garden was massive, with gigantic trees resting in the middle and exotic flowering creepers and shrubs encircling the passage around those trees. The species here were certainly not normal ones found in forests around Manjo, Ruzen had seen some of them around his master’s mill, but majority of them were new and scarce to find.  

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From Mo’Ze, Ruzen found out that most of these plants and herbs were used to make medicine and other uncommon drugs. To be more specific, this was a healer’s paradise and anyone interested in medicine and such would die to come here for research purposes. 

It took more than two hours for both of them to come out of the other end of the garden, and they were met with purple shrubs with white flowers hanging right above their heads. Since Mo’Ze was tall, he had to duck a little, and Ruzen was shorter so he didn’t need to do anything. Ruzen found out that these white flowers had glowing body and even in evening sunlight, they were especially sparkling. Something about them made Ruzen nostalgic, as if he had seen them somewhere but he just didn’t recall it. 

“Do you like them, Keeper?” Mo’Ze asked, giving a look which was neither heavy nor gentle, “They are called Soul Binder, an ingredient which can be used to heal souls. They originally don’t have any scent of their own, but after mixing them with certain ingredients, they can be used to make aromatic scents which can strengthen your constitution.” 

“Ah?” Ruzen found the usage of it quite interesting, but didn’t want to take away something so precious, he knew these scentless flowers were not cheap in any sense, “N-Not really, I just felt they were attractive.” 

“Indeed,” Mo’Ze agreed, but didn’t say anything else. If Ruzen was to probe further, Mozen would have answered him sincerely, telling him that these flowers only attracted those who suffered from soul deficiency. 

As Ruzen shed away his previous focus, his steps immediately became brighter as he hummed a tune and exited the garden. While Mozen stared deeply at him, all the while thinking how beneficial it would be to give him some Soul Binders as his afternoon snack. But before knowing the reason for him forgetting his own name, taking such risk was uncalled for.  Fb82s1

Letting it be for the moment, Mo’Ze followed behind Ruzen who was patiently waiting for him to take him to another destination. 

~ 

At night, the crowd was scarcer with less noise and excitement. A few who came out to shop were generally all couples who found a nightly stroll very romantic or male folks who were not afraid to go out at night. 

However, despite the crowd being less threatening, Ruzen felt even more exposed than he was before. On his side, Mo’Ze quietly stood as he watched around for anyone who was there to harm Ruzen. Like a perfect bodyguard, his behavior was nothing like that of the Ghost King. Due to this difference, Ruzen kept forgetting that he was not alone with some stranger.  O6hFJY

“Shall we start from there?” Ruzen pointed at the right side of the street this time, looking at the fawning owner of the stall who seemed to smile at every passerby, gesturing them to buy his merch. From far, Ruzen couldn’t tell what exactly his merch was, but it seemed to be something interesting. “I wonder if he is selling any fake goods?” 

“Under the King’s nose they dare not sell any counterfeits, these merchants wouldn’t have passed the censor if they were fake. Sama’Ya is an important location, those who come here are noteworthy, even the locals.” 

Ruzen’s eyes widened in understanding, so it was like this. No wonder even the locals whom he saw earlier or at present were wearing extravagant clothes and hairstyles, they didn’t look any less important than he himself.  

Understanding his own position, Ruzen asked with slight embarrassment, “Do I need to retouch my hairdo?” He was sure his robes would designate his importance over all others, but he didn’t want to look underdressed or poor in front of others no matter what they thought of him. He was well aware that he was no longer just a cursed one who just entered the protected lands, he was now his King’s Keeper, he would have to be more prudent with his appearance from now on.  jXbNcJ

“Keeper doesn’t need to worry,” Mo’Ze replied with a smile, and Ruzen felt he could hear a slight manifestation of his King in him when he explained further, “being his majesty’s Keeper doesn’t mean you need to have troops of guards following you around or you have to dress up in several layers every day to make others see your inheritance, your name and deeds hold more value in the eyes of the people. Sure, it is important to take care of your material image, but in particular you don’t need to mind them too much.” 

“Then I won’t mind it for now,” Ruzen responded, and with a big smile, he walked towards the first stall with Mo’Ze following after him. The distance was not short so it took a while to really reach the first stall.  

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The stall owner who saw him coming was a little confused at first, but after he took a closer look, his eyes widened and he hurriedly stood up. His posture as straight as an arrow and his small eyes gleaming with joy. His fluency even broke halfway as he stammered in greeting, “K-Keeper, your gracious, welcome, welcome, this small servant dares not neglect! Welcome, greetings!” 

Having faced with such enthusiasm before, Ruzen was much calmer when he greeted the owner with a smile, but his neck and face still heated up in embarrassment, “Greetings sir, what do you sell here? I was curious about this.”  9lWy54

The stall owner was excited as he hurriedly got around to showcase his merch. The other adjacent stall owners were also peeking at Ruzen and Mo’Ze as they took in the excitement. Ruzen’s senses were sharper than before so he could hear the increasing noise in the background. Looks like everyone had realized what was going on. 

“K-Keeper, this-this is my newest collection,” the stall owner managed out, his face starting to sweat as he pointed at the several small cups with strange metal shapes and bodies. “They are used for drinking soup as they impart nourishing effect in the soup. Since you are a c-cursed one, this… this one can be used,” the stall owner picked up a silver cup with shaky hands, the cup almost falling in his haste. 

Ruzen instinctively reached out to hold the cup but the stall owner laughed awkwardly as he saved the cup from being damaged just in time. “Pardon pardon my error, my error.” 

“No worries,” Ruzen chuckled subconsciously, “please don’t be too nervous around me, I am very patient, this is all very interesting for me.”  A1OkTR

Hearing this, the stall owner nodded again and again, his excitement only increasing. “Then how about this one your gracious, take a look, it is very pretty and nice.” He took hold of another cup, this time it was a dark metallic cup, with a very round rim. “This can help with making your soup more spiritually healing, calming and soothing. Although I know his majesty will provide with much better facilities, I hope this keeper takes something from this humble merchant as well. This cup is very effective, just 1 gold coin.” 

Although Ruzen wasn’t here to buy things, in his heart he felt it would be too difficult to ignore such an excited owner. But he was worried he won’t be able to pay for it at the moment, he didn’t bring any riches with him, he had just asked lightly, but this owner was too persistent.  

A little awkward, he just opened his mouth to reject the offer when Mo’Ze by his side suddenly spoke up indifferently, “You can settle accounts with the official lord who is in charge of your area, Bearer Ja’Hi will see to it, his majesty has ordered,” he stared at the stall owner as if he was not pleased with the owner’s receptivity, “for now don’t mention any price, if there is anything good then offer it, if Keeper likes it, he will take it.” 

The stall owner, and all those curious ears who were listening in, suddenly changed their temperament when they heard this, and there was a new reverence in their eyes when they took another look at Ruzen. Ruzen almost felt burned and wanted to stop the owner from continuing when the stall owner spoke in a hurry, “Sure, Guard, rest assured, I will show all the best of things only. Keeper, please take a look…”  DkWLen