After a very strange and frightening morning, we all headed to the castle. A winding path through the busy streets led us to the marketplace below the castle. Yes, there are many markets here in Taiyo. Actually, this whole town is one big market. There's not a corner or a square where there isn't one. But it's understandable, for this city here, which bears the same name as the entire planet and is the center of the galactic gates and everything meets here. The people, the food, the culture and the things that can be traded here. In fact, you will encounter all beings and non-beings. Beings from all sorts of legends, fairy tales and myths that are told on Earth and thought to be dead or fictional. We stopped for a while at the marketplace below the castle. Each merchant shouted over the other, trying to lure the curious eyes that were walking around.

  "Young man, would you like some fish? It's fresh and delicious."

  "No, the gentleman must be in the mood for Sikar apples, isn't he?"

  The merchants were shouting over each other.

  "Oh, those people are pushy." Aki growls, throwing the merchants a murderous look.

  "Come on Aki... It's their job." Whimpers Kenji.

  At that moment, I remember that there are no ingredients at home to feed their sweet tooth.

  "Guys, there's nothing left to eat at home." I say.

  "Don't worry, Iruka. We're lucky there's mostly food and not junk. So I suggest we split up and do some shopping. I want to have something to eat for dinner. Let's go!" Natsu orders.

  Haru and Shika walk off to the right with him. Kenji and Aki split off to the left. It's just Fuyu and me. God, this must be a punishment... It wasn't enough this morning.

  "So what do you want to buy?" He asks me.

  I just shrug my shoulders and don't turn to look at him further. If I do I'll turn all red and I'm not going to give him that today.

  "Come on, let's go get some fruit." He says and grabs my elbow and pulls me.

  "Let go of me! I can walk on my own!" I shout at him and pull away.

  "Well you seemed to have forgotten." He chuckles.

  I just fix my gaze on the ground and walk away to a booth.

  ?????????????????????

  Fuy and I bought the basic foodstuffs for cooking. They also sold rice, which I bought immediately. Now we just wander around and see what the conjurers are offering. We stop at another stall, which at first glance had ordinary tomatoes, but with such an irresistible smell.

  "Do you like them?" An old woman addresses me.

  I look at her with a dumb question in my eyes.

  "Those are dragon tomatoes. They're rare. Their seeds come all the way from the Forbidden Land." She smiles and starts feeling around for one.

  The Dragon Country was forbidden to be mentioned. If anyone talked about it, they all called it the Forbidden Land. Why? The boys don't know when they initiate me, and I don't think anyone does.

  "Here you go. Taste it." He snaps me out of my thoughts and hands me one of them.

  I take it nervously. I can't resist the sweet smell and immediately bite into it. My taste buds immediately explode. Such a wonderful taste... I've never eaten that before! At first you were intoxicated by the sharp, spicy taste, but the more you bit, the more the taste became sweet like honey. I bit down again and again and again until I swallowed it all.

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  "Good, isn't it?" The woman asks with an unconcealed laugh.

  "Excellent!" I say and lick my lips.

  "We'll take two kilos of your dragon tomatoes." Fuyu, who was just watching behind me as usual, interjected into the conversation.

  Suddenly I notice Shika waving at me to come over.

  "Will you buy it please? I'll go over to Shika." I turn to him.

  "Yeah, go." He smiles slightly.

  In contrast, I show my teeth in thanks and run after her. Fuyu stares at me for a moment, stunned, then turns to the old woman.

  "That guy is unique. Extraordinary." The woman says suspiciously, as if hinting at something.

  "What do you mean?" She raises her eyebrows.

  "Nobody likes these tomatoes. I've been coming here with them for over 70 years and no one has bought them. These seeds are our family heirloom. Or rather, a curse, since no one in the family has been able to sell for years. The boy is strange, you know what I mean, right?"

  Fuyu knew exactly what she meant by the word strange.

  "Please..." He softened his voice.

  "Don't worry, I know what could happen to him. I will take this secret to my grave. I am blessed to have met him and spoken to him." She interrupted him.

  "Thank you." Fuyu breathed out.

  "Give him this chain. It's made of dragon silver. It's been passed down through the ages. I have no family to pass it on to. He's the one it should belong to."

  The woman unbuckled the chain from around her neck, which had a talisman of two dragons intertwined in a cross and was edged with thin silver forming a heart. Fuyu immediately reached for more money. However, the woman stopped him and tightly gripped the chain in his hand.

  "Take this as a thank you."

  "For what?"

  "That I could encounter magic that has been buried for centuries." She whispers.

  Fuyu smiles at her and accepts her gift. The old woman smiles and lets go of his hands.

  "Goodbye." She bids Fuyu farewell without further prolonging it.

  "Goodbye, Fuyu Naruno." The woman replies.

  Fuyu smiles awkwardly at the woman and walks away.

  ?????????????

  Everything was bought and we headed to the castle. We each held two bags in our hands. The guards at the castle just stared at us strangely, but made no comment. We could have bought it later. We could have taken it home. Yes, all of that was possible, but it didn’t occur to us. In front of the throne room, our bags were taken away with contemptuous laughter and comments from the guards. King Hiko was already waiting for us.

  “Welcome! I assume that since you are here, your mission was successful, right?”

  “Yes, my king. We would never return if we had not succeeded.”

  “True, Fuyu. But now tell me, what happened?"

  He gestured for us to sit at the table that had been prepared on the right. As soon as we sat down, Fuyu started everything from the beginning. He didn't forget a single detail. He even mentioned the threat of the Great Nine, which I hadn't heard, so it was as much a surprise to me as it was to the king. King Hiko didn't interrupt him once and let him finish. When he finished, he finally began to speak. The king's face was very worried.

  "The Great Nine, you say?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "That's bad. If they rise again, we're in danger."

  "Who are the Great Nine?" I ask. Everyone looks at me as if I've fallen from a branch.

  "The Great Nine are followers of evil. It's an order that only nine of the strongest and most insidious beings across the worlds are chosen to join. They are usually given a book of black magic that contains very powerful spells. It is said that the books have been here since ancient times to balance the balance of the universe. Therefore, the books cannot be destroyed and thus the Great Nine will always exist. In short, they are not beings you would normally want to encounter." Shika explains to me. I just nod in agreement that I understand.

  "Sir, as far as that goes, it could just be rumors. Maybe he was just threatening. This thing isn't 100%." Aki took over.

  "Yes, that's right. If it were one of the nine, a normal apprentice wouldn't beat him. True. True."

  I growl under my breath. A normal apprentice?! I could burn you with my dragon fire and you wouldn't even blink.

  "Sure, but let us investigate this situation anyway. I don't feel good about it and I want to be absolutely sure it was just a threat from a poor dark druid." Fuyu says, diverting attention. I think my pissed look was a pretty clear sign that I didn't like his comment.

  "Of course. You're the best hunters I know. If there's any dark magic, you'll be the first to be dealt with."

  "You don't have to exaggerate, Your Highness. We'll take care of this."

  Hiko laughs heartily and starts nodding his head.

  "True. I'll leave it in your capable hands. But now allow me to invite you to the ball I've decided to organize. We can celebrate your next victory there." He says in a more serious tone.

  "It would be an honor." He bows to Haru.

  "Excellent. I'm glad you'll accept. I hope you don't mind it being so sudden."

  "No sir. Victory should always be celebrated as soon as possible." Natsu exclaimed.

  "Hahaha. Yes, Natsu. Now excuse me, I have another audience."

  We all got up from the table and bowed. The king nodded and we started to leave.