Chapter 644 - Oranges Everywhere
-----
The beautiful clear blue sky, the warm and bright sun, the grasslands, the wonderful and aromatic Orange Tree forests, the village made of wooden houses with the people walking around, the children playing around a small fountain, and the noise of many people talking and selling stuff.
This is really a pretty place… I am happy we finally reached this area of the continent, no more boring ice! Although I am an ice dragon, so internally I kind of want to be surrounded by ice and snow, but I suppress that instinct.
We moved forward trying to get into the village, as we were suddenly greeted by small stalls selling products made out of oranges, and well, raw oranges too.
"Sir! Do you want to buy this fresh and cold ice juice? It is cold for the warm temperature!" said a small racoon-kin beast girl, as she greeted us.
"Candied Orange Slices are also a great combination with orange juice! Oh my, you got a kid? Children love this snack! And it is also healthy!" said an ice giant woman near the racoon-kin girl.
"Orange Pie! Come buy a nice slice of freshly baked Orange Pie!" said a young human man who was selling orange pie with his little daughter at his side.
"Owange Pwie!" said the little girl.
"We got fresh oranges straight out of the trees, a kilogram for only a twenty Mana Stones!" said an old ice elf woman.
Our entire party was being overwhelmed by sellers that put their stalls around the road so they can sell to anyone passing by. There were also more people than us, there was a constant influx of carriages carrying merchants, and a lot of adventurers, hunters, and explorers walking by as a daily basis, so this strategy was actually good to make money.
We saw several Adventurers getting tempted by the tasty treats, and several parties ended buying stuff and eating it on the way back to the village or the duchy. There were also some merchants that stopped and bought a few kilograms of oranges to probably resell back in the duchy or something, some even bought the snacks as they were coming with their children.
"Papa! Papaaaa!"
Benladra began to call me while Benladann held her in her arms, she was pointing at the ice giant woman selling candied oranges. The woman was winking back at us and offering a free sample.
"Here dear, come here! I can give you a free sample because you're way too cute!" she said.
"T-Thanks…" said Benladann, as she gave the small slice of orange that was candied.
Benladra felt its scent for a bit and then stuffed it entirely inside of her mouth, her eyes quickly started to shine brightly as she felt the citric and sweet flavor of orange. It was a completely new flavor for her.
"Twasty!" she said, having already eaten the slice.
"You can buy a small bag for twelve mana stones." Said the lady.
"Twelve… With that we can buy bread, meat, and more back in the sects. Aren't these places a bit inflated?" asked Benladann.
"Huh? These have always been the prices here! Don't be so rude, young lady, you're just an outsider!" said the ice giant woman, getting a bit angered.
"Oh… S-Sorry…" sighed Benladann.
"I'll take five bags." I said, as I paid the woman with a pile of mana stones.
"Oooh, thank you!" said the woman, as she quickly gave us the bags and I distributed them around the party.
"By the way, do you know where can I exchange mana stones for this country's currency? It is gold, right?" I asked.
"Yes, it is gold, but travelers from afar always have mana stones instead so we also accept them as payment. You can trade them in the Merchant Guild Outpost that they made in the Orange Town, or the Merchant Guild itself back in the duchy." Said the woman. "Thanks for buying!"
"I see, thank you for the information," I said while waving my hand.
I decided to taste the candied orange, and put a slice in my mouth.
Sweet. Way too sweet! And then, as I bite it… it is very dry, but citric, and tasty! The flavors are exploding inside of my mouth, yet they're actually so simple too…
"Ooh, so this is the taste of orange? So nice!" said Benladann. "I love these sweets!"
"Nom… Nom… Twasty!" said Benladra.
"Yes, this is really nice…" said Miranda. "I can't stop eating, but my mouth is getting all dry too…"
"I guess that's why the juice goes well with these, although I am still loving them alone." Said Yuki. "Drake! Buy some juice for us."
"And who are you to order me around?" I asked angrily. "Well I was going to buy it before you asked me anyways."
"Ahhh… I can actually eat with this slime body! S-So this is the flavor of candy, sweet, citric, all these things!" said Fuyu. "Wonderful… I am melting…" Fuyu began to literally melt over the head of Frost.
"Woof!" Frost wanted some candy too.
"Okay but only because you're an actual monster that can digest anything. Normal dogs cannot eat sweets, or they get sick." I said. I shared with frost some slices of the oranges and he ate them rapidly. He seemed to like the flavor.
After that we moved into the other stall, and decided to buy some orange pie for later, and then, we also bought some juice which they sold in large bottles, it was quite expensive to bring it with you because the bottle cost money, but you can also drink a cup there for a cheap price, that's what most people did, sitting on tables and drinking juice while enjoying pie and other things.
It was a very spirited atmosphere with many people here and there, there were even people from the village coming to buy stuff here. Although most of the things were all about oranges, that's why it was called Orange Village.
-----