Time is money.

The blue lady, Aku, seemed interested in a device from my world. I knew I could ask for anything in exchange for it.

Leonel: "This wristwatch allows me to determine the time of the day without actually having to look at the sun. If you buy it, I will explain how to use it."

Luckily for me, I had already adjusted the position of the hands before I left the first town we visited. So, in theory, the wristwatch must be in sync with the sun in this world, assuming that days have 24 hours here.

Aku: "How much do you want for it?"

I had no idea about the prices of food and lodging in this world, so I had to get very creative here.

Leonel: "I would like enough money to get a room for all of us for 2 days. And we also need food for several days of travelling, and perhaps some basic equipment like a sword and maybe armor. And since you own a bookshop, we would also like a contract that allows us to get any information we need from you whenever we visit. Also, we would like a simple regeneration amulet, and maybe some healing potions. And an additional 25 gold coins in case we need something else."

Aku: "Hmmm... You can use the guest room upstairs for 2 days if you want. There is only 1 bed though. I can get the food supplies ready for you by tomorrow morning, but each one of you will need a large backpack, which I will include in this deal. As for equipment, I can get you a short steel sword that is almost in perfect shape, and regarding the armor, well..."

Leonel: "You don't have any used armors here? It's fine. Just get us the money and we will buy some brand new stuff from a local blacksmith."

Aku: "That's not the issue here. No one sells body armors around here, not even blacksmiths. Some days, the temperature around here rises so much that armors become a burden and people take them off. And there is no time to put them on during a fight, so... most people don't use them."

Leonel: "Oh.... I did not expect that..."

Aku: "I can, however, get you something else. It's not a body armor, but a traveller once sold me an arm guard. It has metallic, serrated "teeth" on it that act as a sword-breaker. It can be used to stop and even destroy an opponent's blade if you are good at using it."

Leonel: "That sounds very useful."

Aku: "You also asked for a regeneration amulet. I have one, but it's dry. And it takes four days to charge it. Keep in mind that the moment you use it, it will shatter into a million pieces."

That was news to me. Apparently, magical amulets break into pieces after being used.

Aku: "As for the healing potions you asked for... I hope that's a joke. Only royalty and high priests have healing potions."

Aku seemed a bit angry. Were healing potions that rare? Expensive? or just hard to prepare?

Leonel: "Why are healing potions not common around here?"

Aku: "It's not just here. It's the same everywhere. Healing potions take extremely long amounts of time to prepare. They also require high-level healers and alchemists to produce them. I've never even seen a healing potion. Mana potions, on the other hand, are somewhat cheap, but if you want them, you need to go to one of the towns in the low-mana zones near the void. People living near the void discovered how to cheaply and efficiently create mana potions, which, to those people, are almost as good and useful as healing potions."

Aku: "You also wanted a written contract to get information from me whenever you visited this place. I will have it ready by tomorrow morning. And these are the 25 additional gold coins you wanted to cover any unexpected expenses."

Leonel: "Good, sounds perfect."

Aku: "That should be everything. Now I want you to explain everything about this wristwatch thing."

I proceeded to explain the basic concept of the analog watch to Aku, but apparently, I caught the interest of Faylinn and Astra in the process.
An analog watch is considered old technology in our world. These clockwork devices were invented hundreds of years ago, but in this world, no one has seen anything like it.

Aku: "I have heard rumors of a theoretical device that would work in a similar way. It was going to be designed to keep track of the movement of certain stars, but it was being developed by the Magician's Academy, which means it was going to run on magic. And it would have been bigger than a house if finished, but development was supposedly cancelled due to the device being too advanced for them. And then there is this little thing, running without mana... where did you get it? Is it a relic from the time before the void was created?"

Faylinn: "Actually! Leo is—"

I immediately stopped Faylinn.

Leonel: "Faylinn is right. I'm a collector of weird items. I don't even remember where I bought it."

Astra: "It's late. Maybe we should head to the guest room now."

Aku: "I'll take you there. Follow me."

Aku showed us the room. It was being used as storage for old books, but it did have a bed. Just one though.

Leonel: "Ok, you girls take the bed. I'll find a place between these old books."

Astra: "Actually, this bed is a bit small for me. There is no way that Faylinn and I can share it. Maybe the little blue girl can get us some blankets and covers that we can pile up on the floor to create something resembling a mattress."

Aku stared at Astra as if she wanted to punch her right there.

Aku: "I'll go get the blankets and the covers, but I'm only doing this because of the wristwatch I got. Otherwise, your tall, unnecessarily heavy silhouette and your two frontal gravitational disturbances would not be sleeping here. Don't push your luck."

Astra just smiled. She doesn't know when to stop...

Leonel: "So, let's get everything ready. We will be going out tomorrow. I bet we can ask the guards about any large groups of fire draconers or mountain draconers they may have seen. I also need to check out the local alchemist shop. I'm sure there is one in this town."

Astra: "Why do you need to visit the alchemist shop?"

Leonel: "You will soon understand."

If I could have seen my own face, I bet I would have seen an evil grin on it.

I eventually fell asleep. I was very tired. But something was waiting for me in my dreams... a familiar face, if it can really be called a face.