Chapter 77: Stationery

“Can’t be. Already?” Milo gawked. “You said the trip would take a week.”

“I said that before those shocks made it easy for Littal to get through terrain that normally gives him fits. I planned on camping at the treeline tonight, if we got lucky.”

“Well, okay. That’s good, right?” Arthur looked around the town. “We can find your dad.”

“Yeah, we can. Whoo, I thought I’d have more time to get ready for this. And I have no idea where he is,” Milo said.

“I think I can help with that,” a young fox demon said loudly as he walked across the street. “You are looking for Minos?”

“He’s my dad. Yeah, I am. I’m looking for him. You know where he is?” Milo said, his words tripping over themselves.

“I do. The whole town does. He’s the most interesting thing to happen out here since… well, ever, as far as I know. And you know how frontier towns feel about explorers,” the fox said.

“I don’t,” Arthur volunteered.

“Oh, huh.” The fox demon rubbed the fur on his neck. “We like them. Right now, we’re on the edge of the civilization. Out there is an entire unsettled continent. Explorers help push the border back. Without them, we’re the last stop before wilderness. With them? We get help. Eventually.”

“Makes sense,” Milo said. “But listen, uh…”

“Velt,” the fox demon said.

“Velt. I’m pretty eager to see my dad, actually. And if Talca doesn’t need me…”

“I don’t. I’m just gonna stable Littal for the night and rest. We can meet up afterwards.”

“Then I’d like to see him as soon as I can.”

“Oh, right! Yeah, I can bring you there. I’m lucky I found you. I’m a crier. I know everything that’s going on.”

Spiky leaned over to Arthur. “He’s not sad. He’s a town news distributor type class. Sort of a social coordination role. In a town this small, they actually yell some important news out for people to hear, just in the center of the road.”

The fox started to move away. “He’s this way. I can take you. And your friends, if you want.”

Arthur looked at Milo, questioningly. He wouldn’t butt in if he wasn’t wanted. Spiky seemed to think the same.

“Probably tomorrow, guys. I’m not sure what kind of shape he’s in. I can find you tonight, or we can meet first thing in the morning,” Milo said.

“No problem. Spiky can explore the town with me until then,” Arthur said. He turned to the fox, “Can you help him find us tomorrow morning?”

“No problem. It won’t be very hard. Not that many places for you to go. It’s a small town. You’ll see.”

Milo and Velt moved off as Talca’s wagon rolled towards a large barn structure on the edge of town. Arthur and Spiky were now on their own time, with plenty of energy left for the day.

“Well, then. Ready to explore?”

Spiky dusted off his clothes. “Sure. Let's hit the town.”

As Velt had said, there wasn’t a lot of town to hit. There was the quarry Arthur had seen from a distance, which turned out to be an absolutely massive undertaking. Rectangular chunks had been carved into the terrain to supply the town with plenty of rock. There was also a whole set of buildings dedicated to storing and shipping the stone out, which apparently made up most of the town’s outside trade.

They passed a building which Arthur immediately identified as a tavern, although Spiky claimed it was much less about alcohol than it was about food, drinks in general, and having a gathering place for the whole town. There were a few signs indicating preservers and other food merchants, but for the most part, the rest of the buildings in town followed a pattern of either being normal homes for craftsmen and their attached shops, or small businesses of the kind you wouldn’t visit unless you needed them in general.

The one big exception they ran into was a big deal for Spiky.

“It’s a stationery store.” He was already across the street before Arthur figured out his porcupine friend was even gone. He was examining a table filled with notebooks in front of the shop. “And a pretty good one, from what I can tell. I never expected to see one out here.”

“And that’s exciting?” Arthur asked.

“It is when you deal with as much paper as I do. This is archival quality paper, Arthur. You can write things on these notebooks that will last for centuries.”

“Well, thanks for noticing,” a large, roundish bovine demon said through the door. “It’s nice to see someone who has an eye for quality around here for once.”

“I can’t believe you just sell these on the street. These would be impressive in the capital.”

“You can’t sell what people don’t see. And I’m not one of those who would make cheap stuff just because it’s faster.”

“It’s all this good?” Spiky said, visibly nerding out.

“Pencils and all.”

“I have to see the shop.”

“Of course. Although I was just about to leave.” She snapped her fingers. “Don’t worry. Leena! Come down here!”

“Why, mom!”

“Just do it! I need you to show some visitors the shop. The full tour.”

“You found a stone merchant who cares about paper?” A young girl bearing a striking resemblance to her mother came down the stairs, then stopped before she hit the landing when she saw Arthur and Spiky. “Oh, I see. You don’t look like stone merchants.”

Arthur waited for Spiky to continue with his fun, then noticed the porcupine was frozen, looking up at the girl with a mixture of interest, admiration, and sheer, unbridled terror.

I should have seen that coming.

“We aren’t. I’m Arthur, a teamaster. And this is Spiky. A librarian.” He elbowed his friend in the ribs subtly, but with significant force. “A good one. He goes through a lot of paper.”

“An actual librarian? In this town?” The girl’s eyes widened as she bounded over to Spiky and grabbed him by the hand. “I’ll show you everything. Mom, can I take him into the storage?”

The cow-demon’s eyes glittered with amusement.

“Of course. And don’t forget Arthur.”

“Oh, I’m fine. I was thinking I’d check out the tavern. See if there are any interesting tea things happening.”

The girl barely nodded before dragging the still-paralyzed Spiky out of view behind shelves, explaining various aspects of the paper stock with an almost unrealistic amount of enthusiasm.

“So that’s happening,” Arthur said to the cow woman as he watched them go. “I think she broke him already.”

“And him her. She just reacts to it differently. And she’s always wanted to spend more time with librarians.”