OOC: @BeetrootSalad and I wrote this because Erwin needs medicine for his terrible burn wounds. It is the anime filler episode written by the deranged intern. But we think it has some nice insights anyway. It is difficult to get to the Sihai part of the capital city of Regalia. Even as one considers their struggle with the zoning laws that keep them from building their own district on the main road, it is a series of winding alleyways behind the Isldar District - in the shadow of the burgeoning Dragon District’s construction site - that one may find where the capital’s Sihai presently live. Representing many of the cultures of both Dexai and the Four Kingdoms, their space is a chaotic mash of small wooden buildings with banners and advertisements draped between them, narrow dirt pathways choked with vendors hawking things to people on their way home from work. However, the way there begins near Arena Court. Despite her position as its Minister, Maiyusa did not actually hold much love for the Arena. It was a soulless place where men spilt one another’s blood for little reason, and hours were wasted away on practice that would never actually be implemented against the real foes of any of the attendees. Just another way to show off, or to commodify combat for social value - so she thought. As for Erwin, however, any position of authority was to be respected, and so he followed the good Minister into a district that he had never once even considered stepping foot in. It showed. Very much so. Passing under the last of the outlying shops, one can spy the fate of the businesses that do not receive the love of Regalian capital. Well-stocked shop fronts offering everything from groceries to Clockwork appliances to furniture to expand one’s houses, a butcher with rows of sausages hung in the windows or an Alchemist with thirty-person long lines out the back, give way to boarded-up shacks and broken glass windows, where the Metropolitan no longer deigns to go on its daily patrols. Perhaps a discomforting sight for the both of them, who had clawed their way up to a reasonably proper stature from nothing. A Soldier and a Minister, both far out of their depth - reminded then of where they were going to go back to when their time in the sun was over. There was not much small talk between them, as neither exactly had the personality for it. There had been none since they had left the main street of the Mercenary Keep, where keeping up a little chatter was good for the appearance of identifying oneself as a noncombatant. Still, some ideas like this one could be shared with a glance in a direction, or the shuffling of hands behind backs. Even Erwin, face sealed behind a mask, managed. Next was the Isldar District. An oasis of absurd wealth in the middle of nowhere, connected by silver-spun bridges to the ramshackle edge of Arena Court and guarded day and night by sentry militia with longbows strung over their shoulders, its smooth pale rooves are considered by some a marvel of architecture, by others a stinging eyesore. The Isldar District had been an attempt to string together Isldarrin and Regalian architectural sensibilities into a cohesive whole, by using Isldar stylings and shapes combined with Regalian ordinance limits on height and shape to fit the size of an acceptable rental plot. Though Maiyusa knew this place well enough, she did not have reason to come there very often: after all, the Isldar were not of the character to run businesses, and they seldom invited others over to rest with them and theirs. And though he might not explicitly say it, the abundance of purple eyes made Erwin’s skin crawl, whatever distasteful expression graciously hidden behind that plate of steel. His pace hastened and the Minister knew better than to force him to dawdle. The two of them went together under the white arches that signified its outer boundary, and through a few turns and twists later, emerged under the faded red-painted archway that brought one into what was considered the Sihai District. Immediately, Erwin was assaulted by the loud sound of chatter in a language that he could not understand in the slightest. Moreover, not just one language - his Ailor ears, used to picking through the thousand tongues of the Empire, could discern that there were at least ten flying in the air around him. Maybe languages, maybe just dialects. Hard to say, hard to tell. Though he cared little, it was hard not to be a little imposed on by the volume of words he simply could not comprehend. Maiyusa, for her part, did not exactly look at home either. The Sihai migrants who lived in Regalia usually did not come from the region she did. Despite all presuming her brotherhood with them, she was as distant from them as a Calemberger might be from an Ithanian in many respects. Certainly, they held in common a religion and a court language, but beyond that - incredible differences left unstated for the sake of togetherness. Red lanterns jingled and bobbed overhead, but they were not quite identical to what Maiyusa was used to in Dexai - importing the native dyes and the sheets of rice for purely a cosmetic commodity was absurdly expensive, if not a waste on shipping space. Still, it wasn’t like the Braunschweiger noticed, and those who were determined to bring their slice of home with them had poured cautious hours in each fold of parchment, so it could hardly be called ingenuine. Maiyusa generally felt that such things made the district feel cheap, or maybe posturing and trying to be something it was not - after all, there was no way to bring what made the Four Kingdoms actually home so far West - but she could not help but give her respect to the effort, showing this by stifling the urge to start pointing inconsistencies out to Erwin. Even if something in her stomach was urging her to pull him aside and start discussing the inaccuracies in different types of wood panel wall framing, she decided quickly that a hungry Braunschweiger might not be too enthused by that choice of topic (even if politeness would force him to listen) and pivoted towards one of the nearest vendors. Her desire to keep quiet on the way there was sorely tested as Erwin tried to point out those exact wood panels, offering occasional commentary on how foreign or impressive they were in hushed tones over the corner of his green jacket. The typically stoic Wirtemer only shut up once Maiyusa had directed his attention to the food stands, thankfully ending that chapter of conversation. A hushed conversation between them determined that Erwin was not actually after a large sit-down meal. He had not been since getting the mask on, a point he was well happy to leave out, but it remained true nevertheless. This brought them in front of a wooden counter, behind which a man stood over a low griddle with rows of neatly arranged bread to his right and left, and other ingredients in jars and boxes scattered within his reach. The seller attempted to brightly begin a conversation with Maiyusa in his dialect, who blanched and stumbled through what she thought were the right words, raising two fingers. Erwin heard something that sounded suspiciously like “Ithanian” followed by “toast” a few seconds later, sandwiched between a wall of South-Eastern Sihai Dialect and someone who natively spoke South-Western trying to imitate it to the best of her ability. The vendor grinned cheekily at her and swapped to the standard after a while, this being something even Erwin knew to usually associate with Sihai. He said something that must have been along the lines of ‘just messing’ before clapping an even more embarrassed Maiyusa on the shoulder and setting about his work, preparing the toast first by selecting six pieces he thought were about the right size and shape and getting to work. The man pulled a knife out and deftly layered the inside of each one with peanut butter, then sticking them together and slicing off the corners in a practiced way that resembled a guillotine more than anything. Erwin was mildly mesmerized by the knifework, sticking his face an ominous millimetre over the counter’s far edge just to get a better look and excusing himself with a low throat rumble. He cracked a number of eggs off to the side and quickly coated each one before tossing them into a small amount of oil and frying each side, attempting to make small talk with the both of them again, this time in Common. The first thing he asked Erwin was how he had come to know the Eminent, a polite way of phrasing a question as to why he was here at all. It wasn’t unusual for curious Regalians to venture into new districts, no less Heartlanders who had never stepped outside their own borders, but the staunch and austere choice of dress and an emblem of Tirgrunn emblazoned against his shoulder carried implications that anybody in the city would recognize. To Maiyusa’s surprise and then unsurprise, the Waldmarker spoke of her with incredibly high praise. Their relationship had never seemed particularly strained, but it also seldomly ever included flattery. If there was one thing that the Sihai and the Wirtem cultures had in common, it was that having no complaints was the highest compliment possible. This did not save Maiyusa from more cheeky looks, unfortunately. The vendor didn’t seem to take Braunschweiger’s appraisal very seriously, but then again, he didn’t seem to take much seriously at all. Maybe that was the charm in it - a comforting, lighthearted food to accompany an equally lighthearted merchant. Inevitably, Erwin offered an apologetic nod to the two before he pried his mask up to eat - pleasantly surprised by the lack of a distressed reaction with both, and then perhaps not so pleasantly surprised by the sudden onslaught of questions the vendor had, more fascinated than he was disturbed. Unfortunately, instead of being regaled with war stories, he was regaled with a stare from Maiyusa that didn’t need translation; ‘shut up’.He did not. Before the two even finished, he had already pressed them to buy more - some rather invasive comments made on the both of their weights without much regard to how muscular the pair actually were. When Erwin looked disturbed by the sudden familial chastising, he simply turned to Maiyusa to complain about the Braunschweiger’s stiffness as any old, overbearing uncle would. She decided that then was the best time to begin leaving for their next stop. This would be the inside of a low-roofed store whose windows were stocked with knives and other cutlery. Though she did not explain herself, Erwin could understand relatively quickly that Maiyusa had something to pick up there. There, her speech sounded more natural - her words resounded in her own dialect, and after a quick mutual bow with the shopkeeper, he showed her to a finished filet knife that was wrapped up in fabric. Briefly demonstrating the edge for both of them, he then handed it to her. Assumedly, she had already paid. Glancing to her as she weighed it in her hand and tilted its length up and down, Erwin peered over the armaments for himself, but only grew confused. Much of it was just plain jade, ready to be sung into tools at a moment’s notice - something he was quite certain he was incapable of and quite certain he did not want to try (at least in public). At last, having rounded out lunch for Erwin and one of Maiyusa’s many errands, it was time for the both of them to proceed to their intended destination. Erwin’s expression fell beneath the mask as she walked him past a set of gleaming, polished buildings with open doors towards increasingly more dingy rooms, painted signs swaying atop their exteriors. Before he could open his mouth to inquire about where exactly they were going, she made a sharp pivot right on one heel and ducked under an archway, leaving him with no choice but to follow her. His nose was immediately assaulted, even through the steel, with the thick scent of incense. It clouded the room, making it mildly difficult to breathe, but was a pleasantly smelling combination of herbs and roots that he could not exactly place. Sat behind a low wooden desk was a visibly middle-aged woman with long nails who appeared busy hunched over a row of bamboo slats connected by rope, which she was painting with the edge of a fine-tipped ink brush. She seemed in the process of delicately marking out characters for a purpose Erwin could not quite understand. But since the Minister seemed to be keeping her mouth firmly closed, he took cue and did much the same, waiting for a sign that it was alright to start talking. Perhaps more unnerving to him was the way she was standing at attention, her back straight like she was about to undergo a formal military review. He cut himself off from whispering the beginnings of a “What is it?,” pushing out his own shoulder blades and shuffling his heels together. Better safe than sorry. After what felt like two hours but was more realistically in the realm of two minutes, the woman stopped, raising her right hand and pointing a clawed finger at Maiyusa. Her words came in refined Common, clearly something practiced over the years, but her sentence construction was unusual to someone like Erwin, the Wirtem needing a minute to figure out that her tone was simply the way she talked to everyone. “Thank you for being a dear and waiting .. niece.” There was an uncomfortable momentary pause as she decided the last word to use. “I usually do not get many customers during the work hours. Are you unemployed? No, that would be impossible. You do not look unemployed. He does, a little bit,” she paused to sniff for a moment, waving a hand over one of the incense candles, “but I think that is just the .. stress of his occupation. Look at that posture.” Erwin glanced down with that, taking a quick inventory. From his point of view, everything was perfectly fine. “What do you need?” A far cry from the courteous, inviting nature of the average Regalian shopkeeper who lived for their customer, the aunt who ran this medicine store was well aware of her own worth, thank the customer very much, and had the brusque attitude to match. Maiyusa dipped her head and began to reply, keeping it simple and straightforward. “He has burns. Facial, across here.” A gesture marked the contours of where Erwin’s face had been gracelessly boiled by a particular Oltaran. “The scarring needs to regress. He is not fond of Magic, so I have brought him here instead. Most alchemy will not cut it.” The older woman clicked her nails together as she considered, then pushing herself to her feet and beginning to pull various ingredients off of the shelves. “Oh! Oh, very possible. If he would like to get looked at for any of the other ailments that I can see on him, then that is something we could get done today also.” Deft fingers picked through small boxes and pouches, laying out a collection on the counter in front of them. She slid out a small mortar and pestle and began to grind down the first ingredients of what was ostensibly a poultice. Chatter quickly began as the shopkeeper tried to strike up a conversation with Maiyusa. “/So/,” she began - the Minister’s face lowering and the lines under her eyes deepening as she knew exactly what that kind of ‘so’ always preceded - “have you settled down yet, hmm?” She ground out a pattern into the first substance within ten seconds or so, emptying it into a common mixing bowl and immediately beginning on a second one. The work process was methodical and machine-like, done without error. Erwin immediately cleared his throat, far too used to the more prudish nature of his own homeland. The hint was not taken. He quickly realized he was powerless here. Then Maiyusa opened her mouth slightly, almost outright stuttering over her first words. Braunschweiger had never seen this before, not anywhere, not facing down someone in a street fight, not being called out, not even during the night the moral fiber of her religion and her culture had been called into question by the State and common people had she been this obviously and forwardly nervous about a topic of conversation. Taking his cues, he immediately cut in at that, loud and abruptly interrupting. “So, what kind of alchemy is this!” It sounded far too stiff to be a genuine question. Though it may not have been a genuine question, it certainly received a genuine answer. The shopkeeper launched into a complicated explanation of just how exactly Sihai alchemy worked, describing at length to the two of them the nuances of what exactly she was preparing. Erwin quickly came to understand that it was actually not so different from the Regalian alchemy he was familiar with, or even from the mildly alien Hadarian alchemy. Different ingredients had set reagents from which effects could be expected, and so the mark of a skilled alchemist was the ability to prepare them to activate for the most effects out of the fewest ingredients, and combine them in the right order. The only major change was that she described things with names he could not understand, and did have a variety of unusual additions to the mix with strange shapes and colors. Erwin accepted the assurance that this was all perfectly mundane with a stiff upper lip, having long ago decided that he was going to ride out his stay in this odd herbal medicine store without causing a scene even if purely for the experience. It was not too long after all until she was done preparing the mixture, perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes spent learning about the intricacies of measuring, grinding, mixing, and sifting. Though neither of them were alchemists, and in truth neither of them had interest in the difficult art, a diversion from the much more difficult topic of marriageability was very well welcomed. Clapping her hands upon completion, she gestured for Erwin to lift up his mask with a tight little frown gripping the edges of her mouth. “Let’s see what we have to work with.” Without much hesitation, he obliged - a grand error. Perhaps he had grown confident with both the merchant and Maiyusa’s lack of reaction earlier, but with half of his face marred to the point where only old sabre scars and an eye were recognizable as human, to say that the alchemist had an adverse reaction would’ve been an understatement. In an instant, jade warded him out in one hand while the other flung red powder. “Aya! Out! Out! I have nothing for jiangshi! I do not resurrect! This man is clearly dead, so get him out!” Green eyes darted to violet for help. Maiyusa quickly stepped forward to intercede, putting a hand on the table. The clink of coins against it could be heard as she swiped up the completed bag of remedy, hushing and shushing the alchemist before motioning for Erwin to put his mask back on. A hasty bow later and they were making their way for the door, the Sihai offering him the collected substance once outside. “This should do, honestly. Give it ten days. You’ll look normal again.” He raised a finger as if to protest both the quality of the goods and the incredibly unusual circumstances that they had just escaped from, but after giving it a little more consideration, decided to close his mouth instead. Except for one question. “Ren. What is a jiangshi.” She laughed for a moment, tilting her head to the side. “Undead Vampire, Braunschweiger - Undead Vampire. You know, horrific burns aside, you really could do with a little more sleep. I won’t be the last to say it.” [-1 Self-Esteem] [Day complete.]
