'It's been a while since the last time I was so excited over something so damn simple,' Theo thought as he walked across the open space of the academy's interior, struggling to walk at a normal pace after first climbing all the way up to the top of the academy's main tower only to then descend all the way back.
Regretfully, the naive logic of a child didn't apply to the real world, and getting down from the tower, rather than restoring the strength he lost while climbing up, turned out to be even harder, for not only did he have to cope with the already stacked exhaustion from the earlier exertion, he had to actively slow himself down not to let the momentum push him off rhythm and thus off the stairs.
Thankfully, now that he was on the ground level, Theo no longer had to worry about tripping and falling off the stairs to his death. And while his legs hurt with every step he made, the goal of this trip, the goal of all that he did up until this point, filled him with enough determination to keep going.
If anyone were to see him, they could easily assume he was out to buy something for cheap only to then reveal it to the world as the priceless treasure that all had missed.
That was the level of determination and anticipation brimming in his eyes, at the very least.
Little would that observer know that all Theo wanted was... meat.
"Finally here," Theo whispered to himself as he finally stepped underneath a small, stone arch before entering a huge, extremely busy plaza.
Located at the very outer ring of the academy, it was a place frequented mostly by the academy's lowest of staff, ranging from cooks, maids, butlers, all the way to the few servants working for the exceptional students and teachers that could afford to hire them.
That's why, the very moment Theo stepped through, he felt as if everyone's attention zeroed in on him.
For once, it wasn't because of his infamy; here, in a place frequented mostly by servants and auxiliary staff, chances were no one had ever heard about him, and even if they had, he was merely a character they'd heard about in some passing stories and rumors.
No, in this lower-level market dealing with the most mundane of things, what drew their attention was not his face but his teacher's robes, a sight that everyone was perfectly familiar with yet one that stuck out like a sore thumb.
'Nothing out of the ordinary, huh?'
Theo smiled lightly as he passed through the entrance arch, only for all of the attention his arrival harnessed to quickly die off, decreasing to just some passing glances as he moved in deeper.
In a place like this, people were too busy with their jobs to waste time staring or talking around. Their orders wouldn't deliver themselves, their meals wouldn't magically cook in their bags, nor would their customers' money automatically transfer to the sellers' pockets. And if someone had the time to chat an unorthodox appearance away… chances were, they wouldn't be here in the first place.
Saved from the excessive attention, Theo walked past the rows upon rows of various stalls, some offering their wares directly over a makeshift counter, while others were there merely to present their employer's produce, trying to catch the interest of potential customers before inviting them out to any of the bigger shops or wholesale warehouses where the actual sale could take place.
Theo ignored all of those, directing his steps straight towards one of the bigger stores marked with quite the ingenious marketing tactic—a picture of a raw ingredient coupled with a picture of how it could look when properly prepared.
A simple swine would be paired with a rather artsy picture of braised pork, a barrel with an image of a hop-like plant was coupled with an image of an overflowing cup of beer, a cluster of grapes coupled with an image of a glass of wine standing over a plate of fruit salad.
Whether it was its purpose or not, those pictures were enough to draw Theo into a simple, perfectly square cube of a shop rising as high as three stories, with the first, brick-based floor making a solid foundation for the two wooden floors above.
No one came to greet Theo as he stepped inside. Heck, in the dimly lit insides of the building, hardly anyone even noticed his robes to begin with! In the end, Theo had no other choice but to approach one of the counters himself before anyone paid him any attention.
"Welcome to the Grass and Brass!" a young-looking boy, maybe around fifteen years of age, greeted Theo from behind his high-rising counter. His smile then froze for a second as he finally took notice of Theo's robes, only to then twitch a little before regaining its professional vibe. "How may I help you, sir?"
"Do you have a gunny sack?" Theo asked as he leaned over the counter. "Like the ones commonly used to carry a bulk of grain around."
The glint in the boy's eyes and the twitch in the corner of his smile revealed just how out of the ordinary Theo's question was.
"You mean, a burlap sack, sir?"
'Oh, they use this word here?' Theo's eyebrow twitched.
From what he could remember, it was a word that came into use quite a bit later than the period of Earth's history the world around him appeared to be based on. Even then, it was a word that came from an intersection of several languages and several different things at once—from various ways different languages called coarse cloth, through the old word for a peasant, all the way to a very specific material that ultimately claimed the burlap name.
It was but a small detail, a likely insignificant piece of the puzzle this world really was for Theo, but a piece of the puzzle nonetheless.
"That's right," Theo nodded his head, putting his philosophical pondering aside. "Do you have them?"
"I m-mean…" the boy hesitated a little, his eyes escaping to the bottom left first as his confusion triumphed, only to then move to the upper right as he scoured through his memory. "I think I could… get you a few, sir?"
Hearing this, Theo finally allowed a proper smile to visit his face.
"Great," he said before reaching to his belt and snapping the very same pouch the vice-principal parted with just recently, before gently placing it down on the counter. "Then, I'm going to need a burlap sack full of beef cuts. It doesn't have to be taken from the top shelf, just the average quality will suffice. With that said," Theo raised his hand with his forefinger stretched only to wave it in the boy's face, "no trash cuts, though! I only need stuff that will be good enough to put on a plate."
The boy's eyebrows raised.
"A…" he hesitated again, his throat moving as he gulped his saliva down. "A sack full of meat, sir?" he asked, as if to confirm the order, still not sure whether to take Theo's words for some elaborate prank from someone of a higher status or an actual request.
"That's right," Theo nodded his head before pulling on the string of his pouch to reveal the golden shinies inside. "And throw in a small bag of spices," he added as he used his finger to play with the edge of his pouch, as if to tease the sight of the golden coins to the boy.
The shopkeeper's attitude changed instantly upon the sight of the money, all his hesitation and doubts vanishing as he put on a wide, charming smile on his youthful face.
"Right away, sir," he cheerfully called as he took a step back from his counter. "I will get it all prepared for you right away!"