Trade Town was a dump. At least compared to the dwarven cities Alexandra knew of. Granted, she had spent most of her time in Borsdown and only once visited Serrington but still. The difference was staggering. It was even more apparent once one remembered that Borsdown was considered a backwater town and only recently had started to properly develop.

The little pile of buildings that marked the border of dwarven and human trade should have been… fancier. It was literally called Trade Town. Why was there so little money invested into the infrastructure?

The living fortress waved goodbye to the dwarves she had been travelling with. Their caravans were motorized with magical technology, artefacts as they called them, but they also stopped on a hill about half a kilometre away from the town proper. The traders would be busy moving their goods to wooden carts for the next hour or so. She did not want to wait that long.

The merchant had explained that Trade Town was home for humans and dwarves alike. Since they wanted to avoid having their more powerful technology fall into the other race’s hands without proper compensation, they used mules for the last part of the trip. That was likely the main reason why the place looked so medieval, as well.

The landscape around town was much steeper than further south. Grey cliffs shifted both east and west, the wall built into a divot just between them. She could spot ragged ridges and rocky hills further north into the human lands. That was why the main goods the dwarves traded to the humans were wood and food. Alexandra was still a little confused by the furry-eared short-folk being more like industrialized elves than the gem-greedy diggers she knew from fantasy. They still loved to dig, it just was far from everything they did.

As the living fortress got close to the gate in the four-metre tall wall, she double-checked her disguise. She was wearing a long coat with heavy boots and gloves. A hood covered her glossy black hair, the only part that could pass as human. On her face, she wore a dull bronze mask in the style of the dwarves. Blackened glass hid her eyes and it had a sign of the unaffiliated etched into the cheek, signifying her as a citizen of Borsdown. Or an independent living in a thaumaturge’s mansion. Though the latter rarely, if ever, left their homes.

The dwarven guards took one glance at the mask and waved her in. The backpack holding a few simple belongings rapped against her back as she pulled the strings tight.

As someone with a clearly human stature entering from the dwarven gate, quite a few eyes turned to her. There was a wide main street leading straight to the northern gate, a large market in the middle busy with all kinds of people, both humans and dwarves. A tiny child from nearby pointed and asked her mother a loud question. The dwarf knelt down and calmly explained that some humans were welcome in the Hills. Alexandra smiled underneath her mask at the open and friendly culture these people had formed for themselves. This would be the last she saw of it for a while. But finding clues on how to fix or destroy hungry nodes was more important than a few months of living in a nice place. Especially since her Species would not age.

She nodded to the dwarven mother and then slowly made her way to the market. There was no rush. Fio was definitely much faster than her. It was not on Alexandra to find her friend. She had no wings, after all.

The living fortress reached the market much too quickly. Shouting and laughter filled the area. A few dwarves stood around in full armour, carefully eyeing the humans. But the interactions were peaceful. That was at least one good sign. She found a dwarf sitting behind a small table showing off different kinds of coins and made her way over to him. The man looked up from the book he was reading.

“Good day, young lady, how can I help you?”

“Good day. I’m gonna need some human coins.”

She held out a purse of dwarven currency.

“All of this.”

The dwarf’s face lit up into a smile.

“Of course, of course. My, are you travelling the plains? I would not know why you would need this much coin otherwise.”

Alexandra nodded.

“I am. Don’t know how long. I might have to find a job there…”

“Oof. That’s not gonna be fun. Well, I’ll make you a deal here. You have two vis coins worth in total. That would normally amount to two-ten Cathedral gold. Are you only visiting Eterios or going further?”

“Further, probably.”

“Then I’ll give you one-fifty Cathedral and one-twenty Eterios. That’ll leave me with about five gold for the transaction, give or take. How’s that sound?”

Alexandra looked at the sign placed on the table. It read one dwarven gold went for nine Cathedral silver or nineteen Eterios silver.

“That’s a good price.”

“You’re one of us. These are prices for human humans if you know what I mean.”

“I do. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, let me just count it up.”

A few minutes later, Alexandra left with a heavy pouch. The Cathedral gold had a higher currency in gemstones but the 120 Eterios gold were just that. Gold coins. And a few dozen silver and copper. Which Alex ended up absorbing. Not fully, she wanted to use the coins after all, but she made a compartment in her chest to neatly hold the money right where her lungs should be. Being made of metal had its advantages. At least Eterios gold coins were very small. It seemed they had not only heavily diluted the purity of the material but also reduced the total amount by making the coins tiny. The country could not be an economic superpower, that much was clear.

It was starting to get dark and Alexandra decided to find an inn for the night. She could have gone with dwarven hospitality but their buildings were a little on the small side. Instead, she decided to get used to the human company sooner rather than later.

The inn she found was decent enough. The sign hanging outside did not screech at every gust of wind and the eatery on the first floor looked clean at a glance. The innkeeper welcomed her with a hearty shout, making every face turn but she was used to that, being near twice the size of every dwarf.

“Young lady, welcome! What can I do for you tonight?”

She walked up to the counter under the watchful gazes of a few drinking patrons. Some even had a meal in front of them.

“A room for the night. And a meal to my room.”

“That’ll cost you extra.”

“How much?”

“Two silver for everything.”

She slapped an Eterios gold onto the counter.

“Cathedral silver”, the innkeeper said.

“So? This is still enough.”

“… here’s your change.”

He slid two Cathedral silver over the counter. Alexandra grunted, not wanting to argue. He had short-changed her a little but it was only a few coppers. It was not worth the effort.

She received a key and was told where her room was. Half an hour later, a serving girl brought a bowl of warm soup and half a loaf of bread to her room.

“Is this everything you need, milady?”, she asked.

“Yes. Thanks.”

Alexandra slipped two Eterios copper into the girl’s hand.

“Have a good night”, she said and disappeared out the door.

The ‘good night’ ended up being interrupted by someone silently opening the door. Alexandra had decided to keep her body’s properties that of thaumium and not laid down on the bed. She was scared of breaking the frame with her increased weight. When the handle turned, she was looking straight at the intruder.

A young man she remembered from the tavern room below stood there, mouth open. She was still wearing her full cloak, including boots and gloves. Only the mask sat on the table next to her. In the darkness of the night, her thaumium face would not be easily discovered.

The essence of the man smelled of vinculum and sensus. Not enough to warrant vis enrichment but he was clearly using some kind of Skill. And he noticed her immediately. The knife in his hand nearly slipped out of his fingers. Alexandra sat perfectly still, not even breathing.

“What the fuck?”, the boy whispered.

He gripped the knife more tightly and seemed to fire himself up. Then Alexandra shifted her head to stare into his eyes.

“Aah!”, he squeaked as he jumped back.

His free hand quickly covered his mouth. Someone down the hall moved. Within moments, the knife was hidden underneath his shirt and he had closed the door. Alexandra smiled to herself as a commotion broke out behind the door. She put her mask back on and stepped up. The voices were getting louder by the minute. Eventually, she ripped open the door to catch two people standing there spitting insults at each other.

She cleared her throat, which sounded almost like a bell ringing. Instantly, all three men went silent.

“You are being awfully loud”, she said, “Would you mind letting a woman sleep?”

“O-o-of course!”, the boy stammered, “We’ll be right gone!”

“Pardon, milady”, the innkeeper spoke up, “This rascal here snuck around in the middle of the night. I fear he might have planned to steal from you.”

The boy swallowed.

“Is that so? Well, I have found nothing amiss in my room. After all, my door was locked.”

She rattled the key still in the lock for emphasis.

The boy went green, then white.

“I-i-i… I’m sorry! For disturbing your rest! Good night, milady!”

Alexandra nodded and closed the door with a “Good night” of her own. The voices on the other side quickly went quiet. This time, she properly locked the door. Then she sighed.

“Looks like I do have to be careful. Why can’t people just be nice?”