The sky was full of clouds, the wind blew harshly leaving a whistling blow. No sunlight was directly visible through the clouds. Gray clouds overhead.
"What a beautiful day it is!" Tetsuya said to Darius. "Why are you wearing such a large coat? The city today will be full of life."
"It is not a large coat, it is thin. But, I'm not a dragon like you, I still feel the cold. The weather is quite chilly today." Darius responded back. "Is THAT all you are wearing? You're practically naked."
"This is an awesome T-shirt I purchased from some humans awhile back. I love it, it feels nice against my body. Also, these pants are cool. They even made a hole in the back for my tail." Tetsuya said while admiring his outfit.
"Your shorts are, well, short." Darius said
"Thanks!" Tetsuya replied, oblivious to what Darius was suggesting. "Once we are in town, we're going to stop by a couple of shops. I'll introduce you around, that way nobody looks at you funny anymore."
"Yea, I would get weird looks whenever I would go into town. It has been a year since I got here, but everyone is still very wary of me." Darius said.
"You usually come in with Ryuu and they probably think you are a big shot. They get the impression that you are a dangerous figure to not bother. Ryuu comes off as unfriendly all the time. Once you hit the town with me, they'll change their mind." Tetsuya said smiling, reassuring Darius.
The town was still covered by clouds, however that had no impact to the rush of the city. The buildings were tall but mostly single floored. A lot of buildings were front loaded where people could get most of what they want from there. Some made by bricks, other cement. The others were made with what looks like would stick them together structurally. Only a few brick buildings were two stories. Creatures from all different sizes would need to enter, not just the normal human size.
"First stop, our family's butcher. He has connections to food sources, the highest quality. He is expensive though, but that's why we like him. Can't quite get food like that unless you kill them yourself." Tetsuya said as they entered the city.
"This place looks a little different than last time I was here. Did they construct new buildings?" Darius asked.
"Well, some of the buildings aren't built all that well. They crumble at the slightest weather changes." Tetsuya explained. "We are here. I'll properly introduce you to him."
"Tetsuya! So good to see you my boy! Come in, Come in. I have some good quality meat that just came in. I want you to see if your family would like any." The shopkeeper exclaimed.
"Nice, right on time Butch. Also, if you haven't been properly introduced, this is Darius. He is learning magic theory from my brother. He's chill." Tetsuya said gesturing towards Darius.
"Nice to meet you sir. I am curious, if you don't mind me asking. How do you get your meat? I notice that everyone here lives quite calmly, where do you get all your supply from?" Darius asked.
"You get straight to the point. I love it! There are some prominent people who offer their bodies for a high price. They have a highly certified surgeon who extracts their meat while they are asleep, and a highly skilled magician who focuses on healing and resurrection magic. That way, the meat is fresh and consensual. They are paid well for their meat and thus that raises the price of authentic meat that hits the market." Butch explained.
"There's fake meat that is sold then? I didn't know that." Darius said.
"You're from a human village, you guys probably had farms. That only exist for you, since we wouldn't kill an animal here and then sell it for profit." Tetsuya explained. "Also, we can make meat, or meat substitute. It does taste and feel quite similar. Not exactly the same but it is close. It lacks the nutrition that eating from the source provides. It is also much cheaper, meaning that most people eat the science-made meat instead of real meat."
"Exactly, I seen you have been listening to me this whole time, Tetsuya." Butch happily said. "You are right on the marker with it. That's also why I have high prices. You have to catch me when I have something hot. Today, I have this fresh lamb that came in. The donor is still in town, probably spending the big check he received. He went out of his way to deliver as much as he could, though you can only donate one organ once per three months. His was a bit on the risky side, but he came out better than he came in. He was missing a leg."
"That sounds good, I'll take a look and we'll get to talking numbers." Tetsuya said as he went deeper into the building. Butch's shop was a brick building with two floors. He lived on the second floor and the food was in a deep freezer in the back of the first floor. Several locks and authentication steps to go through but at the end was the prize.
Outside once again. "That's how we find out meat and this will go quite a long way. We dragons don't need to eat all that often, this goes a long way for us." Tetsuya explained to Darius. Tetsuya is holding the meat in a paper bag.
"How does that work? You guys exert a ton of power, something as strong as you, should be eating way more than the average normal human eats. That would feed my mother and myself for one night maybe two. I've always wondered about that." Darius asked.
"That's a good question. Our bodies actually shutdown certain parts if we aren't using them. For instance, we can conserve energy by retracting our wings and tails or shrinking our size even further to not eat. We sleep often, holding onto energy through that as well. I wish I could really go into more detail, but that's all I really noticed between us and others. It isn't something that we really thought about looking into. Just how it is being a dragon really." Tetsuya responded though pondering still.
"No big deal, what's the next stop?" Darius said to change the subject.
"Collecting debts. Some people owe my brother and since they have a hard time finding us, we come to them. It goes smoothly most of the time." Tetsuya said as he pulled out a list of names.
"They can get money from him? Or do they get something else?" Darius asked.
"Often it they purchase our sapphire gemstones, but either don't have the full amount or want to pay us back later. He makes a good amount of money selling them, he could say no to these people, but he has them pay extra for the later payment and they agree. The gemstones as you know have varying uses, and a lot of people want them." Tetsuya explained as they started walking to their first house. The houses are in a different area altogether, and less organized than the city. The walk distance ranges from ten minutes to an hour to get all from the city and different parts of the living areas.
"The houses over here look better than the rest. Is this where most of his buyers live? The buildings are similar to the ones in the city, they are large and made sturdier." Darius said.
"That's right. He generally only makes these deals with people he know can afford to. That's why they don't mind paying extra, and we don't have any issues collecting. This is the first house. Let me show you." Tetsuya rings a doorbell. There wasn't a traditional door with a doorknob, but material that locks and bends from the inside. The flap slides open and out comes a humanoid Tiger." Hey! I'm doing runs for my brother and he wanted me to stop by and see how you were coming along."
"Perfect timing, give me a moment. I have the money plus interest for you. You're looking healthy Tetsuya, from the smell of it, you are eating very well." The lion joked.
"Absolutely, in dragon years, I'm still a growing boy. We'll be having this tonight for dinner. I really hope it turns out well." Tetsuya said back while smiling.
"Sounds good, I'll be back." The tiger went back inside briefly.
"See? That's all. Everyone's happy to work with us here." Tetsuya said to Darius who looked shocked at the large tiger that greeted them.
"Here's the money back. This gemstone has been wonderful. There were some orcs pestering us and having this gemstone to produce a large scale water blast was very helpful with turning the battle. I have a cousin that'll be in town next month, and I'll see that he stops by and get a gemstone from your brother. How is Lord Sapphire these days?" The tiger asked.
"Busy, he's either reading a book, writing a book, sleeping, or playing with the kids. His books sales are picking up in the Science and Technology District. He's going to stay busy with that soon enough. But I will let him know about the feedback and give him the heads up for your cousin." Tetsuya responded. "We have more places to run to, nice seeing you."
After collecting money and stopping by multiple homes, the sun started to set. The sky didn't reflect it, as it still was cloudy, but it was darker and chillier. Nighttime people started waking up and went to the city. Tetsuya already took the food back to the cave and was outside hanging out with Darius and Turquoise. "The night is very pretty out here. I've always enjoyed that about living here. It is silent but at the same time full of life. I wish it was warmer though, it gets very cold at night." Darius said shivering.
"What was it like from your village with the humans?" Turquoise asked.
"Honestly, very much the same as it is here. There are more people here, but the liveliness during the day is about the same. You have skilled workers and people of trade and it is the same back where I'm from. It is a lot warmer though and the sky isn't filled with clouds as often. That I am still getting used to. Also, after being seen with Tetsuya, people started waving to me as we were leaving. I guess I just needed an "in" to get the welcome." Darius chuckled.
"I only hang out with the best people. Everyone trust my judgement of character." Tetsuya said proudly.
"Alright, UNCLE. Calm down. You're just really popular and everyone likes to be on your good side." Turquoise said mockingly.
"You are just mad, I'm more popular." Tetsuya says while doing a goofy pose. Turquoise shook her head.
"This was a beautiful day indeed." Darius thought to himself.