An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 25 - Chapter 1 - The Salt Road

Arriving on the 25th Floor, the first thing that became obvious was the large town gate that hid the town from the labyrinth exit. A large white brick structure, with black timber frames across the building, which set the tone for the town inside.

Market stalls as far as the eye could see, merchants from all floors of Aincrad, selling crystals, potions, items and materials to the players who'd reached this floor, all in the shadows of another building - the Town Hall. An imposing building that covered the town's market, giving it a bizarre feel of both an open air, and an indoor market, the strange feeling exacerbated by the shouting of merchants hawkishly hollering over each other, their voices echoing off the walls. Large timber framed buildings ran either side of the town hall and market, with horse drawn carriages running along a path built down either side.

The reactions from each member of the Concord were slightly different - the most overstated of them being Jet's, who immediately began to act like a child in a toy shop, bouncing between stalls with a dopey grin on his face. Though that was certainly not an easily won position, as Phillia, eager to find a good deal on new equipment or potions as well as any other kind of treasure, had also taken off... but in the opposite direction to Jet.

Koharu and Rain, now left standing there like lemons, looked at each other and sighed. "I'll make sure he doesn't get into any trouble..." Koharu sighed in exasperation, as she headed off after her boyfriend.

"I'll watch Phillia." Rain gave an understanding smile as she took off after the treasure hunter. With any luck, Phillia was still window shopping, and hadn't bankrupted herself (or them) yet...

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"I never thought I'd be feeling nostalgic here in Aincrad..." Jet grinned, as he examined a coat on a nearby stall. Koharu, having a considerably more developed fashion sense than her boyfriend, gave him a look that told him to put it back. Not only was it quite expensive - seriously, 10,000 Col... for a coat!? - but it was almost entirely identical to his normal coat, only in a royal blue colour, rather than purple.

"I thought you hated shopping?" Koharu asked, her eyes drawn to a jewellery stall opposite her as she spoke.

"Oh I do, but this place feels like somewhere we used to visit when I had family in the Midlands. Got the same sort of market town vibe to it." Koharu looked at him in confusion at the statement, "It's really hard to explain." He admitted, as he looked over at the stand his girlfriend was looking at. A collection of jewellery, from rings carved out of wood, to what looked like a sapphire necklace, and everything in between, were up for sale, all for the right price of course.

"Umm, excuse me? How much is this?" Koharu pointed at a pendant on the table. It was a small piece, no bigger than the tip of his thumb, but the amount of work that had been put into it must've been astronomical, given the ornate arrangement of the engraving on its face.

The stall keeper was an elderly gentleman, what little remained of his grey hair, and his hunch attesting to the man having clearly lived a demanding life. His red apron was covered in what he hoped were oil stains, and the clothes underneath looked fairly tatty too. "Ohh, that. It should be 500 Col, but for you, I'll do you a deal - 250 Col, how does that sound?" Yup, definitely a market town, Jet thought to himself, as Koharu happily handed over the 250 Col to the shopkeeper, and equipped her new pendant.

"So, how do I look?" She smiled, as she twiddled with her pendant. There was something strange about it that she just couldn't put her finger on. It felt as if it had just called to her, and she couldn't understand why...

"Beautiful as always, Ko." He smiled back to her, and just like that, her train of thought was derailed as she began blushing furiously and giggling nervously.