The journey down the mountain was as long as Leon knew it to be, although it should have been much quicker than taking the Ox pulled wagon into town. Both Equine and Baku with one or two riders ought to be swift and agile. However, though the stunning white equine with its long, slender, but able legs was peerless in speed amongst its own, the fat, pale pink Baku wheezing and stomping along side it was most definitely not.
The stables beside the inn in new Julip were clean, with fresh straw for their occupants and although the lazy Piku, flopped down, huffing and panting, the two beasts were left in good care. At this point, Leon thanked Maimai and left the girls outside the inn, while feeling as if a cold glare was chasing him down the street.
It wasn't until he began crossing the bridge into the familiar and older side of town that he began to relax with a sigh. He'd become a slightly familiar face, the student of the Ascending Mountain Institute that did not come from this side of town, but still visited here. And of course, the Blacksmith Mars knew of him as did his apprentices, and the Seamstress Mitsu knew him and the Pharmacist Clawse knew him, that was enough for others to send greetings his way as he passed them and being the amicable soul he was, he offered greetings in return.
He first visited Mitsu's shop, who placed down her cup of tea and dragged him into see her new wares. Seeing as Jin Li had purchased the thigh length outer robe that she had dyed and embroidered for a wedding as an every day piece, she had taken to experimenting, creating interesting robes or simply ones dyed in other colours to see if others would willingly purchase for more regular use. As it happened, there was interest, for while the most elaborate designed robes were still favoured for weddings, it did not mean that the men and women in the old town disliked nice pieces to wear for best instead of their plain, everyday robes that were worn until thread bare.
Leon was an honest youth and would openly say whether he liked something or not, though he still preferred the hard wearing and plain hemp, Mitsu had taken it as challenge to see him in something new. The older woman thrust a neatly folded robe into his arms with sash and belt placed on top and shooed him behind the simple painted screen, insisting that the little brother ought to try them on. "I d-d-don't..."
"Just try i' on!" She said returning to her cooling tea while she waited for him to emerge. He appeared a little time later, a little embarrassed by the attention, dressed in outer robes of a pale sky blue, over loose trousers, with a sash of a darker shade about his small waist and a plaited rope belt holding the ensemble together. Mitsu was delighted by her creation and although he attempted to kindly reject the clothing, as he hadn't come to purchase new robes, she began talking about how these were as hard wearing as his usual robes and wouldn't it be a good change to wear something a little different now and then? And what person did not feel good when they looked good?
Little by little, Leon acquiesced until he found himself handing over a silver piece for her troubles. He almost walked away all confounded, when he recalled his actual reason for coming here. He withdrew the beautiful, snow foxbear pelt from his interspacial bag. "C-c-could you m-make this into a c-coat?"
Mitsu marvelled over the stunning skin, almost worried to touch such a fine pelt. "I've deal' wif skins before... bu' you sure? "she asked. "I'm no' entirely confiden' workin' wif such lioke this." Leon smiled and said that he trusted her, even handing her a carved talisman to boost confidence.
"You liked the p-p-peony r-right?" He asked shyly. She enveloped him into a hug, careful not to damage the pelt and promised to do her best.
Leon next visited Mr Clawse, who happened to have a couple of clients at that time, a disagreeable pair by the sounds of them. "It isn't a good idea to get on the wrong side of us, Mr Clawse," the unpleasant woman chided him in poisoned honey tones. She wore a long set of silken red robes with slits up each side revealing the dark red of her narrow silken trousers beneath. The robes had patterns of scorpions amongst bamboo shoots along the hems as did her Male companion's, who was intimidatingly tall and thick of figure. His robes were mostly black with the scorpions upon them in red.
"The sect is welcome to trade with me like others," Mr Clawse advised, "however, I cannot offer exclusivity. It goes against my principals."
"It is not that we ask for exclusivity," the woman said, sweetly, "it is that we ask you to keep us in mind for those pills first. If we do not want nor need them, you are of course free to sell them to others."
"I only am able to obtain a few of those pills at any time," Mr Clawse picked apart her reasonable sounding words with ease. "How would you not want nor need them at such quantities? It is the same as demanding to be the only ones I sell them too! I refuse. Now if you will excuse me, I have others I need to attend to." His eyes glanced up to meet their reflection in the thick spectacles of Leon, who hovered a little at the entrance of his shop. His face did not express his suddenly plummeting mood.
"Oh," the woman glanced at the small, plain looking youth with his cheap, blue robes and ugly glasses. Only his hair was worthy of note and that was likely due to a deficiency in cultivation. This child was obviously a waste, but that did not mean he had no other uses. "I've not seen this one's face frequent your establishment before," she said.
"He's just one of the students from the Ascending Mountain Institute," Mr Clawse said without falsehood, "who come to sell me spare, common pills from time to time. You do recall that this town is in the shadow of the institution, do you not?" Leon quickly picked up on the word common and rummaged around in his interspacial bag for a bottle of clear spiritual pills. Though they might be of good quality, they were still common pills and did not appear any different to others unless one looked very, very closely at what made them good.
However, just seeing the simple, transparent pills in the jade bottle was enough to convince the woman that this boy was just another hopeless case. That being so and with Mr Clawse being so stubborn, she huffed thwarted and walked out of the shop, companion in tow.
Once she was at a distance, Mr Clawse let loose a held sigh. "Not good timing, Leon," he said, his voice still low. "They might have left for now, but they will return. So I suggest we retire to my rooms upstairs to talk business this time, alright?"