It was a bazaar.
A big one.
"You know, I expected some buildings," Kyle said.
Selene laughed. "Why do you think it's called the Big Bazaar?"
"Got me there," Kyle answered.
Tents.
A bunch of them.
So many tents and stalls.
Kyle had expected a hub of commerce.
Gigantic buildings with the richest merchants.
Instead, he only saw tents and stalls.
Sure, some of these stalls were over ten meters high, but they were still stalls.
"Why are there no buildings?" Kyle asked.
"Because no one really lives here permanently," Selene explained. "The merchants just come here to sell their wares, and when everything is sold, they go back. Also, it's illegal to build buildings here."
"Why?" Kyle asked in surprise.
"Because there is only limited space, and building buildings means one space is permanently occupied by one merchant. With time, every spot would be taken up by buildings, limiting the number of merchants and wares."
"That would lead to an increase in prices, and the King does not want that to happen."
"You can not reserve any land for yourself, and the size of your stall can not be bigger than necessary."
"Additionally, there is a flat fee that increases each day for having a stall here."
"The fee is negligible in the beginning, but it essentially doubles every day and only resets after you haven't been in the Big Bazaar for a month."
Kyle blinked a couple of times. "That's crazy."
"How so?" Selene asked.
"I dunno," Kyle answered. "Just feels weird to me."
Selene shook her head, not understanding Kyle.
"Let's get down. Beast Tamers are not allowed to approach the Big Bazaar with their beasts without permission," she said.
The two of them jumped down, and Selene told Skweera to wait here.
Then, the two of them approached the Big Bazaar.
Kyle noticed a bunch of guards patrolling the vicinity, and his instincts told him one thing.
These guards were strong!
Every single one of them felt stronger than Skweera, and Kyle could see over 40 of them with a single glance.
Kyle also saw one guard with golden armor, and when he saw that guard, his eyes widened.
'This guy feels as dangerous as Theodor's weird stone dragon dog!'
This was the first time Kyle saw a human in the Third Realm.
"I dislike the Big Bazaar," Theodor commented. "Too much hassle."
"Whenever I traveled through here, I just told Hieronymus to run across the water and avoid it."
Kyle coughed into his arm.
"Isn't that dangerous?" he asked quietly.
Theodor snorted. "Who do you think I am? The only beasts that can threaten me are Peak Monsters and Nature Gods, and if any of those were around this place, the Big Bazaar wouldn't exist."
At that moment, Kyle heard a loud splash, and he looked over.
On the horizon, he saw a gigantic fish with shears jumping out of the water.
The next second, a lightning bolt hit the fish, stopping it in its tracks.
Then, several spears attached to ropes punctured it, and the fish was pulled on land.
"Did you see that big fish just now?" Kyle asked.
"That happens all the time," Selene answered. "Building anything near the Grand Ocean is dangerous because of the beasts. The Big Bazaar gets attacked by a Ferocious Beast at least three times per hour."
"Three times per hour?" Kyle asked in surprise.
"Occasionally, there are also weak Monsters that attack, but that happens only once every couple of months," Selene added.
"The Big Bazaar is one of the biggest sources of beast food. Many Beast Tamers come here to buy food for cheap."
Kyle watched as some distant hunters cut the huge fish apart at incredible speeds.
After walking for a couple of seconds, one of the guards approached them.
"Buying, selling, or traveling?" the guard asked with a monotone voice.
"Mainly traveling," Selene answered with a smile. "Maybe I will grab a bit of food on my way through, but I won't buy much."
The guard nodded and looked at Kyle expectantly.
"Oh, yeah, travel. I'm just passing through," he said.
Then, Selene took out a small card from her pocket and showed it to the guard.
"Do you know the rules for Beast Tamers?" the guard asked Selene while handing the card back.
"I do," she said.
"Any earthbound beasts must be at a depth of at least 50 meters," the guard said. "I noticed that you have a new beast. You might not have known that."
"Thank you. I already knew," Selene said.
The guard nodded. "You can enter."
Then, the guard walked back to his post.
The next moment, Skweera walked forward and stopped behind Selene.
"Let's go," she said, looking at Kyle. "Riding inside the Big Bazaar is forbidden."
Kyle nodded, and the two of them entered with Skweera.
Surprisingly, the Big Bazaar was quite busy but not very loud.
He had expected that the merchants would be shouting for the customers' attention, but none of them did so.
They all just silently waited in their stalls.
As Kyle walked past the stalls, he saw an incredible variety of wares.
Ores, meat, armor, weapons, magic supplies, gadgets, maps…
"Wait a second," Selene said, stopping in front of a stall that sold gigantic pieces of meat.
Naturally, most of the meat came from different sorts of sea creatures.
Selene approached the stall and talked a bit with the merchant.
Kyle saw Selene handing over an entire Ether Stone, and his brows rose.
'Dude, she just spent my entire net worth just to buy some food.'
At least, it was quite a bit of food.
An entire fish that was over five meters long was pushed out by the merchant's assistant.
Selene told Skweera that this fish belonged to it, and Skweera happily chomped down.
"Can you help me with this?" Selene asked, pointing at another fish that was just as big.
"Sure," Kyle said, easily lifting it.
As Kyle smelled the fish, his mouth started to water.
'Based on the smell, this is an Initial Ferocious Beast, and it isn't even that big! I could eat that in a couple of minutes.'
The assistant pushed two more fish out, and Kyle put them onto Skweera's back.
"That is all. Thank you," Selene said.
Then, Selene kept walking while Kyle still held the fish in his hands.
He looked at Skweera's back.
There was plenty of space left for the fish.
So, why did he have to carry it?
"Eh, should I put this on Skweera as well?" Kyle asked, showing the big fish.
"Why?" Selene asked in surprise.
"I mean, why not?" Kyle asked, unsure why Selene was surprised by such a basic question.
"If it's too heavy, I presume Skweera can carry your fish for you," Selene said with a playful smirk.
Kyle blinked a couple of times.
"My fish?"
"Yes, your fish," Selene said with a smile. "You've been a big help. Buying you some lunch is the least I can do as repayment."
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