Morning found Juna bouncing on her heels beside the clothier's stall, tail swishing, testing every seam of her new outfit.
Hajin counted the returned change twice, then tied the native coin purse shut before anyone invented another price.
"Well? Does the tail fit, or do I go yell at a tailor?"
"It fits, and the shirt doesn't strangle my arms, so no yelling... yet." Juna wiggled the tail through the gap cut in her shorts, then threw both arms high overhead.
The stretch yanked the hem above her waist, and she slapped both hands down, her ears flushing at the tips.
"Too much breeze, and you can stop inspecting now," she snapped, glaring hard enough to peel paint.
"I'm not inspecting, I'm, uh... quality checking." His neck went hot, and he suddenly found the clothier's awning deeply interesting.
He cinched the straps tight and gave the outfit one more honest look.
"It suits you, and running won't start with wrestling my blanket anymore."
Her hands reached for sleeves that no longer existed, then fell as she puffed her cheeks at the cobbles.
'Quit while you're ahead, idiot, she's still walking in the same direction as you.'
The stream stayed dark through the purchase, so he flicked it back on.
[ Stream: ON | Viewers: 24 | Soul Energy: 18 ]
[ Fragment Recovery: 0.001% | Wallet: 30 Credits ]
[ CringeSlayer91: new clothes, finally ready to leave the blanket behind ]
[ LurkerNoMore: looks like a hunting outfit, are we going outside today? ]
Native coins paid for bread, the room, and the clothes, so his thirty shop credits stayed untouched.
'Thirty credits for emergencies, and the guild wants fifty silver before I can earn money officially, fantastic.'
The pillar fine still waited in his pouch, but a farmer's contract needed no guild permission at all.
He jabbed a thumb at the gate road, bouncing on his toes like a kid at a festival, "Want to go hunting today? Something outside the farms that pays before the guild does?"
She drifted to a rack of wrist guards, flicking one with a claw and ignoring him with regal disdain.
"Hello? Ears? You have very big ones, I know they work."
"I'll come, if we hunt something with more sense than those men yesterday," Juna sniffed, nose already pointed at the road beyond the stalls.
"Wait, really?" Hajin's voice cracked as he stopped dead in the walkway and spun to face her, beaming.
She took half a step back, nose wrinkling, and raised one palm between their faces like a wall.
He hopped aside so the walkway behind him cleared, "Deal, your nose picks the direction, and I'll keep my excitement out of traffic."
Her palm lowered, and she came level with his shoulder instead of trailing behind him through the carts.
He patted the folded repair docket through his pouch, and the fifty silver on it patted back.
"Farmers pay for boars and rabbits wrecking their fields," he called over a passing wagon, "no guild card needed, and we register once we've earned the fee."
"Boars are stupid, rabbits are fast, I prefer boars." She licked her lips, and her tail thumped once against his pack.
The cart queue slowed near a crossing, and the stream's recovery number caught his eye again.
[ Soul Energy: Active attention, engagement, and gifts | Feeds Fragment Recovery ]
[ Credits buy shop goods | Personal EXP follows eligible deeds ]
[ Broadcast OFF pauses Soul Energy and Fragment Recovery ]
'So viewers fuel the goddess, gifts fill my wallet, and only real deeds grow the Ring or Juna.'
"Clear the lane! Royal carriage approaching, move aside!" Hooves clattered behind him, and a horseman shouted over the crowd with one arm raised high.
Hajin looked up from the text just as the first horse plunged into the gap between cart and walkway.
"Oh, shit—"
Juna grabbed his sleeve and yanked him sideways, and the horse's shoulder missed his arm by a single finger's width. His heel slammed the curb, his hand caught a doorway post, and the stirrup whipped past where his elbow hung.
The lead knight reined in, wheeled his mount, and scowled down at the doorway where they stood.
He rested a gauntlet on his pommel, lip curling while his horse stamped beside the curb, "Watch where you stand, next time you'll lose more than your place on the road."
'Pick a fight with a royal escort, right after she saved me, sure, brilliant thank-you gift.'
Hajin plastered on his most harmless smile and showed both palms, well away from his sword.
"My mistake, Sir Knight, the lane is clear now."
The knight snorted, glanced at the cart driver, and turned his horse to rejoin the carriage.
He eased his sleeve from Juna's fingers, and she let her hand fall, staying planted between him and the traffic.
"Owe you one, I found an amazing way to read instructions and ignore the road."
"Keep your eyes off that invisible window," she huffed, arms folded tight, ears still tracking the escort, "I chose hunting, not babysitting."
As the carriage passed, a royal crest flashed gold across its lacquered door.
The nearest curtain shifted, and a young woman with silver hair drawn back watched the pedestrians from inside.
'Is she staring at the guy who almost got trampled, or at something else on me?'
Hajin held her look until the curtain dropped and the carriage rolled out of sight.
[ CringeSlayer91: royal passenger, did she see the horse almost get him? ]
[ DarkBlade: that crest on the door looks expensive ]
Juna eyed the corner, then him, and hooked a finger through his pack strap, "Who was she, and why were you staring so long?"
"Never met her, I looked at the crest, then at whoever was looking at us." He laughed, letting her tow him onto the walkway, and spread his empty hands.
"You could just say you were staring, it takes less explaining."
"I'll keep asking twice until the answer stops dodging." She released the strap and started toward a quieter lane, glancing back with a suspicious squint.
"Bounties first, interrogate me somewhere horses aren't trying to murder me."
The lane spilled into farm traffic heading for the western gate, its portcullis raised high.
A notice board beside the gate office listed damaged farms below and restricted Gates far above his reach.
An attendant tugged a field slip from his stack with a bored sigh, tapping its first line, "Names, intended farm, and show this stamp when you return, it permits the trip, not entry into any Gate."
"Hajin and Juna, unregistered before you ask, we just want this farmer's reward." He slapped the south pasture notice beside the slip and beamed like a candidate for sainthood.
The attendant stamped the copy, slid it over, and pointed them toward a sergeant checking everyone on foot.
Hajin tucked the dated route paper into his pouch above the repair docket, keeping each problem separate.
Juna watched the flap close, then joined the inspection line behind the farmers, one brow raised, "Paper says we can walk, not that anyone pays for what we kill, right?"
"Exactly," he murmured, keeping his voice clear of the sergeant's business, "the farmer sets the reward, so we agree on price and proof first."
When their turn came, he showed the stamped slip and claimed no guild badge he didn't own.
The sergeant checked the date and waved them through, and beyond the portcullis, fences replaced walls.
'She's smiling, actually smiling, outside the walls is officially her place.'
Hajin eased the notched sword an inch from its scabbard and winced at the chewed edge.
'Thirty credits, though, enough to shop for something sharper before the next hunt tests this junk.'
He stopped by a milestone while Juna crouched beside the ditch.
Her ears swiveled toward the pasture as she sniffed above crushed grass and broken fencing.
She held her hand over the splinter without touching the marks beneath it, "Broken cedar and dung from the south pasture, something large passed through there, the smell hasn't settled yet."
"Then we'll ask what the farmer offers, and buy the blade before finding out whether that hide respects a notch." He tightened the strap across his shoulder and faced the track she pointed out, practically vibrating.