Ch. 135 The Strange Cat of the Fish Market

Artoria planned to set out now.

As for the personnel arrangement, because Isdis had said earlier that he hoped they would wait for him to return with the money here,

Someone had to stay at the inn.

Melina naturally had to stay by Mia’s side.

Regarding the choice, Artoria hesitated between Wilden and Kay.

In the end, she hoped Mia would let Wilden stay here.

Although Wilden’s combat power was at the ceiling among them, given how much he stood out…

He wasn’t suited for running around everywhere.

So, Artoria decided that she, Mia, Kay, and Melina would form a team to go to the Fish Market to find the merchant who posted the request.

After putting on their equipment, the four of them asked the innkeeper for the location of the Fish Market and set off on foot.

“Speaking of which, I didn’t expect Brother Kay to agree so readily.”

Walking along the street, Artoria, carrying her sword, said.

“Oh?” Mia looked sideways curiously. “Wasn’t Kay like this before?”

“Mhm,” Artoria nodded with a proud ‘you’ve finally asked the right person’ posture. “The old Brother Kay really disliked these kinds of incidents.”

“I just can’t stand it when you suddenly jump into something that others could have solved themselves, and then make it hard to wrap up!”

Kay said, frustrated by her lack of improvement.

Mia nodded as if she understood. “So basically, you just hate trouble, right?”

“Sigh, Miss Mia is right. I’ve always disliked sudden trouble.”

Kay paused, then explained, “But if we take on a request together like today, I certainly won’t object.”

“See, I even turned down going out with Merlin to… um… go drinking.”

Artoria pursed her lips.

Kay’s words reminded her of embarrassing things she’d done in the past.

Now thinking back, Artoria, who also felt awkward because of past misunderstandings, chose not to respond.

She just kept her head down and walked forward.

Bangor, though called a city, was only a small town of about ten thousand people.

In less than half an hour, they reached the Fish Market.

Since it was a market for selling fish, it was naturally located by the coast. Even from a distance, one could smell the pungent fishy odor.

That figure, seen only once and completely unfamiliar, stood not far away.

Upon seeing the fully armed group, the fishmonger greeted them with overjoyed enthusiasm, originally intending to shake Kay’s hand.

However, Kay calmly avoided the gesture.

“Hello, hello—” The fishmonger beamed, seemingly well-acquainted with being shunned by others.

He haphazardly wiped the fish slime off his hands onto his clothes.

“You’re much faster than I imagined. You truly are people of your word.”

As soon as they met, he offered praise in a fawning manner.

“You flatter us,” Mia responded, also wearing a bright smile. “May I ask your surname?”

Faced with such immediate praise,

Mia’s genes for social etiquette from her past life were beginning to awaken ( ).

Speaking of which, taking on a commission is a business, right?

The person in front of her is a client, the employer!

“Surname, surname… haha,” Bridge gave a dry laugh. “I am just a merchant, not some noble. Just call me Bridge.”

A bead of sweat had already trickled down Bridge’s smiling forehead.

The girl before him, wearing a strange headpiece and appearing to be of noble birth,

was so polite it felt pressuring.

In this era of Britain, including the Franks to the south and the Germanic tribes to the north, surnames were not common; most commoners without noble births would introduce themselves using their place of origin as a prefix in formal settings.

For example, self-introductions like Geoffrey of Monmouth, Swanson of Cardigan, or Geralt of Rivia.

If someone practiced a certain profession, those around them would address them with an honorific title based on it.

Such as Henry the Baker or Ford the Hunter.

Another exception was when people introduced themselves by including their father’s name.

For instance: Bach, son of Short, or Isel, son of John.

At the same time, nicknames could also become part of a person’s designation.

Place names, professions, ancestral names, and nicknames—these were all the origins of later’surnames.’

But for now, these words clearly hadn’t evolved enough to be called surnames.

Most knights could only call themselves’So-and-so of Such-and-such.’

Even in the folk myths passed down from ancient times, most heroes did not have surnames that survived.

Only a very small portion, those influenced by Roman culture, possessed true surnames.

For example: Artoria Pendragon.

And Merlin Ambrosius.

Therefore, specifically asking for someone’s surname was naturally a form of extremely high-standard etiquette.

Had Bridge the fishmonger not felt that the young lady’s attire truly warranted such an inquiry,

he would have simply thought it was a joke.

‘It seems I’ve inadvertently invited someone quite extraordinary?’

Seeing the plate armor these people were wearing earlier, he had already sensed something unusual…

Bridge asked stutteringly, “Then, how… how should I address you?”

The fishmonger kept reassuring himself: I’m the one paying. No matter what the status of the people in front of me is, the indisputable fact is that they’ve been hired by him to deal with a monster.

“Mia. You can just call me Mia. This is Kay, and this is Artoria.”

“Oh, Miss Mia, Mr. Kay, Miss Artoria. Greetings, greetings.”

“Yes, yes, greetings, greetings…”

Enough! If they kept greeting each other, things would get out of hand!

Before the exchange of pleasantries became too absurd, Artoria quickly got to the point.

“Regarding the matter of your commission?”

“Oh, oh, please follow me.”

Wiping the sweat that appeared on his forehead despite the cool spring breeze, Bridge decided to watch his words and actions carefully.

‘They must be descendants of nobility out on a journey of trial, and high nobility at that!’

Feeling ill at ease, he led the group into the fish market.

There were no archways or signboards; the scene naturally transitioned from residential houses to a marketplace. In a spacious open area, dense clusters of various small stalls were set up.

All sorts of fish were simply piled in boxes or on tables.

Things like modern preservation equipment, or even barrels and pools of water, were non-existent.

Apologies, but in the 6th century AD, there were no food safety laws.

“Gulp…”

The three of them held their breath in unison.

Although the floor of the fish market was made of packed gravel, the lingering fishy, damp air still made the gravel path slippery.

It seemed some kind of moss was growing on it?

There was also a thick layer of filth, making it impossible to see the ground’s true color.

“Um, would you like to take a rest…”

“No need!” Artoria immediately refused.

It was just the smell of fish.

Since she was to become a King, how could she not understand the lives of the people?

Artoria’s stubbornness was quite timely.

Even in the afternoon, the crowd in the fish market showed no signs of dispersing.

Besides Britain’s spring-like climate year-round, which allowed fresh fish to be kept for a while,

there was also the issue of contemporary dietary habits.

With one meal at noon and another in the evening, most people managing households would choose the afternoon to buy ingredients for tonight and tomorrow’s lunch.

So, early morning was actually when there were the fewest people.

Bridge led them into a narrow shortcut used only by vendors, where no customers went.

They hadn’t walked long before the increasingly pungent fishy smell and the scent of spoiled fish meat nearly made the four of them faint.

Bridge the fishmonger remained unfazed throughout.

As they walked, he explained the situation to them.

A few days ago, when his employee got up in the morning to handle and check the warehouse, they found that some fish had been gnawed by something. He originally thought it was a stray cat or some other animal, but the amount consumed was far too much.