Interspecies Trader

I woke up in Suuru's arms once again. If I thought she couldn't get any clingier before, I was wrong. No matter what she said, I could tell she enjoyed the previous day's massage and its conclusion, making her even more affectionate than previously.

Right after breakfast, I started a conversation with her.

"I'm thinking it's time for me to learn the language. I can't keep relying on sel forever."

"That's a good idea. So… You're planning on staying here for the long term?"

"Yes, but only if I'm not a bother to you."

"Of course not! You can stay as long as you want!"

"Thanks, Suuru."

I kissed her again and she seemed bewildered.

"Why did you do this now?"

"You can consider it as a sign of affection. Do you dislike it?"

"Affection? I didn't dislike it at all. It's quite nice."

"Great. Anyway, back to the topic. Do you know a place where I could learn the language?"

"Hm… You're a bit too old to go to school. Then, probably the library."

"That sounds good. Where is it located?"

"It's close to the city hall."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"I'll come with you today."

"Do you have business in the city too?"

"I'll go and sell my work. And buy some more food and scrap metal after that. It's a big help that you bought all that water, it'll save us a lot of money."

The way she said "us" instead of "me" spoke a lot about her feelings. I also wanted to learn the language quickly so I could start a business and repay her kindness.

Since our plan for the day was decided, we moved into action. Suuru had a lot of metallic items she sculpted recently. We put them all in a metallic wheelbarrow she kept in storage for that purpose and headed toward the city. On the way, she watched me with a serious expression.

"Tila, you know… Don't be too surprised if some people look at me weirdly, okay?"

"Why would they do that?"

"That's because… Some people don't like me too much."

That was a surprising revelation.

"Can I ask why?"

She seemed ashamed of herself as she responded.

"I'm… not the sort of person people want to associate with."

Even I could tell she wasn't telling me the whole story but I had no plans on forcing her to talk. It felt like something she didn't want to expand too much on.

"How strange. I want to associate with you a lot."

"Yes… Well…"

My words didn't make her feel any better, on the contrary. As usual, she was easy to read. Her face looked guilty now as if she had something to blame herself for. It was hard for me to tell what could be wrong with her since I knew so little about this world. It might even be some concept I knew nothing about. Even babies came out of the ground here, after all.

After a few tens of minutes, we reached the city. Just like she said, some of the people we met on our way scowled when they recognized her. It wasn't that many, though. It was a relatively large place and there was no way everyone would know her. Yet, since this was her way to the city center, some folks were bound to see her often.

Suuru was walking with her head lowered and tried not to pay too much attention to the glances full of disapprobation. There was even an old lady who clicked her tongue on our passage before closing her window. This was quite the chilly reception, to say the least. Fortunately, it got better as we arrived in more populated areas. From that point on, there were so many people going around that no one paid us more attention than necessary.

Suuru knew her way well and we moved forward without hesitation together with our wheelbarrow. We were soon met with the familiar sight of the city hall, where I failed to get work previously due to not having any ID. Our destination was the building right in front of this one, about the same size, but with much less traffic in and out.

"We're here. You can't take any book home with you but you can read as much as you want. You should start with simple books for children. Ask any of the librarians if you don't know where to look."

"Thanks, Suuru. Do you need any help with your business?"

"No, I've done it many times so I'm fine. I'll go back home after buying what we need and I'll work there after that. Don't come back too late, okay?"

"Sure. See you later."

"Have a good day, Tila."

She went on her way together with the wheelbarrow while I entered the building. There was a reception area in the middle of the first floor with corridors and stairs on both sides, leading to rooms full of books. No one stopped me as I came inside and I went straight for the reception. It was manned by two women, one older than the other, who were currently busy handling a large pile of books. They looked up at me when I was right in front of them. After the usual exchange where I needed them to put some sel over their ears, we were finally able to communicate.

"Hello. I'm from a faraway dome and I've moved here recently. I'm trying to look for easy books to start learning the language."

"Welcome. You've come to the right place. Which dome are you from?"

"I'm from dome 14."

After chatting with Suuru a bit, I knew dome 14 was far enough to have a different language.

"14? Alright, please come with me. We have some very easy books with all the different kinds of alphabets. It's perfect to start with."

"That's great."

The older woman was the one to guide me. I followed her while she took the stairs and entered a room.

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