Chapter 108: Adam’s Shopping 2

Then he asked,

"And sugar?"

The woman looked at him.

"Sugar?"

Adam quickly described what he was looking for.

She finally understood.

"Ah. No, we hardly ever use that here. To sweeten, we usually use honey or certain fruit syrups."

Adam frowned slightly.

"Don’t you have granulated sugar?"

"Not in the regular products."

That complicated several recipes.

Not terribly.

But enough.

So Adam bought several kinds of honey.

Light.

Dark.

Floral.

An almost red one.

Then he continued on his way.

About fifteen minutes later, something caught his eye.

Long, thick stems piled on a stall.

Adam slowed down.

Then he approached.

He took one.

Looked at it.

Breaked it off slightly.

Bringed a small piece to his mouth.

Sweet.

Very sweet.

His eyes lit up.

"Sugar cane."

The shopkeeper obviously didn’t understand the term.

But Adam didn’t need to.

"How much do you have?"

The answer was:

A lot.

Adam bought a large quantity.

The shopkeeper seemed pleased to get rid of a product that was clearly nothing special here.

For Adam, on the contrary...

It was potentially the basis of a whole new category of preparations.

Sugar.

Caramel.

Syrups.

Pastry.

Jam.

Desserts.

Adam continued his shopping with considerably more enthusiasm.

Eggs.

Milk.

Cream.

Butter.

Oils.

Several flours.

Wheat.

A lighter flour made from a local grain.

Another slightly sweet one.

He took several bags.

His inventory practically eliminated all transportation problems.

Might as well take advantage of it.

Then he noticed a small stall that seemed to be getting far fewer customers than the others.

Nuts.

Or rather...

Nuts.

Adam approached.

Hazelnuts.

Almonds.

Walnuts.

Pistachios.

Or their extremely close equivalents.

But the prices...

Adam reread the label.

Then looked at the shopkeeper.

"Is that the price for this quantity?"

"Yes."

"Not for just a handful?"

"No." "For the whole bag."

Adam remained silent.

It was ridiculously cheap.

Compared to the Earth...

Almost free.

"Why?"

The vendor shrugged.

"Because it grows everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"Practically."

She pointed to several bags.

"Some of these plants are almost considered weeds. They’re mainly used to produce oil."

Adam looked at the hazelnuts.

Weeds.

He almost wanted to laugh.

On Earth, some of these goods could be relatively expensive.

Here...

They seemed almost to be getting rid of.

But the more he thought about it, the less impossible it seemed.

Since he started shopping, several market women had told him about the harvests.

The plants in this world produced enormous quantities.

Even without special care, some fruit trees could yield up to four harvests a year.

With well-maintained soil.

The right fertilizers.

Mana.

Proper farming techniques...

Some even achieved five or six harvests.

At first, Adam thought he had misunderstood.

But several people had given him similar information.

Mana must certainly play a role.

It probably accelerated certain biological cycles.

Or improved the amount of energy available to the plants.

Adam promised himself he would study this later.

For the moment...

He bought.

A lot.

Hazelnuts.

Walnuts.

Almonds.

Pistachios.

Various seeds.

Then he went to two other vendors offering different varieties.

If these products were so inexpensive, he had no reason to hold back.

His future spread had just become much easier to prepare.

After the vegetables, Adam headed to the butchers’ quarter.

He bought several cuts of beef.

Chicken.

Duck.

Mutton.

As well as some local meats he hadn’t yet tried.

There again, he limited the quantities of the unfamiliar species.

He had no intention of serving anything before testing its taste.

Then came the fish.

The market there was considerably smaller.

Valoria was far from the sea.

Even with magical preservation methods, sea fish had never truly become part of the local diet.

A few freshwater species were quite popular.

But seafood...

Much less so.

Yet Adam found several items that immediately caught his eye.

Whole fish.

Shrimp.

Squid.

Octopus.

Lobsters.

Crabs.

He checked the prices.

Then the fishmonger.

Then the prices again.

"Is that all?"

The fishmonger laughed.

"You’re the second person today to ask me that."

"It’s not expensive."

"Not many people want it."

She shrugged.

"Especially things with multiple legs."

Adam looked at the crabs.

Then at the lobsters.

"They don’t know what they’re missing."

"Excuse me?"

"I’ll take everything."

This time, she was the one who remained silent.

"Everything?"

Adam gestured to his entire stall.

"Everything fresh."

The woman looked at him as if he had just announced he was planning to feed an army.

Which, on reflection...

might not be entirely wrong with Selene.

Adam stored everything in his inventory.

Its preservation properties solved the main problem.

He could experiment at his leisure later.

After that, he spent almost two hours exploring different stalls.

Southern produce.

Dwarven produce.

Elven herbs.

Local grains.

Mushrooms.

Roots.

Syrups.

Oils.

Cheeses.

Legumes.

Condiments.

Each time, Adam applied a simple rule.

If he knew the product or a close equivalent, he bought in bulk.

If he didn’t know it...

A few samples.

His inventory was starting to resemble a restaurant’s storeroom.

And he still wasn’t finished.

After about two hours devoted solely to food, Adam finally left the food stalls.

He then went to the clothing market.

For the trip, he wanted several extra outfits.

Nothing particularly luxurious.

Practical.

Durable.

Comfortable.

He bought a few ready-made outfits.

Then several fabrics.

Thread.

Needles.

Various sewing supplies.

Not necessarily for his own use.

But the Bridal Chamber could now create spaces suited to what was brought to it.

And having readily available raw materials couldn’t hurt.

As he left a shop, Adam suddenly slowed down.

Something came back to him.

During his grocery shopping, he had asked several questions.

Coffee.

Cocoa.

Vanilla.

Several shopkeepers knew about these plants.

But their answers had been strange.

Not really used as food.

Cocoa was mainly used in certain perfumes, alchemical preparations, or dyes.

Vanilla was considered more of an aromatic plant.

Coffee...

Some regions used it in various medicinal preparations, but practically never as a daily beverage.

Adam stopped in the middle of the street.

"You’re joking..."

He immediately changed direction.

He found a shop specializing in alchemical ingredients and rare plants.

"Do you have this?"

He described the cocoa.

The shopkeeper nodded.

"Of course."

She took out a bag.

Adam opened it.

The smell was enough.

He smiled.

"How many do you have?"

The shopkeeper pointed to several bags.

"I’ll take them all."

She blinked.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

A few minutes later...

Nothing left.

Adam went to a second shop.

Then a third.

Same thing.

Cocoa.

Vanilla.

Coffee.

He bought practically everything he could find.

The shopkeepers seemed delighted.

After all, these products weren’t particularly in demand.

Adam, for his part, felt like he’d struck gold.

"Chocolate..."

He smiled.

Then:

"Coffee."

And most importantly...

"Desserts."

Shiora was going to become dangerous when she discovered the commercial potential of all this.

Adam considered for a moment not telling her anything.

Then he immediately abandoned the idea.

She would find out eventually.

He continued to observe the plant shops.

And there again...

He had several surprises.

Parsley.

Mint.

Basil.

Thyme.

Rosemary.

Or practically identical plants.

Some weren’t even classified as food.

Aromatic herbs.

Medicinal plants.

Ingredients for perfumes.

Adam bought some of those too.

His mental list of recipes had just doubled.

Then tripled.

Tonight’s dinner was going to be interesting.

But his shopping didn’t stop there.

As he crossed a street, he spotted a bookstore.

Adam slowed down.

He immediately thought of the library in the Bridal Chamber.

Then he went inside.

An hour later...

The bookseller had probably had one of her best sales of the month.

Adam bought a copy of almost every available book he didn’t already own.

History.

Geography.

Crafts.

Local Cuisine.

Agriculture.

Botany.

Monsters.

Commerce.

Travel.

Foreign Cultures.

Fairy Tales.

Novels.

Collections of Legends.

Children’s Books.

Even several books he probably never intended to read himself.

The Chamber’s library was enormous.

Might as well fill it.

And since all seven women had access to it...

There was bound to be someone interested in almost every subject.

Leaving the bookstore, Adam checked the time.

Then he stood still.

"Four o’clock?"

He had planned to do some shopping.

Not to empty part of the market.

He mentally checked his inventory.

Fruit.

Vegetables.

Meats.

Fish.

Seafood.

Flour.

Eggs.

Dairy products.

Honey.

Sugarcane.

Nuts.

Spices.

Herbs.

Coffee.

Cocoa.

Vanilla.

Fabrics.

Clothes.

Books.

And an impressive number of unknown ingredients he still had to test.

Adam ran a hand over his face.

"Maybe I exaggerated a little."

His gaze fell on the black card Shiora had given him.

He had hardly needed to use it.

His thousand gold pieces were already more than enough for most everyday purchases.

Valoria’s food prices were much more reasonable than he had imagined.

Especially when buying products considered common or unpopular here.

He put the map away.

"At least no one can say we’re missing ingredients."

His mana was still compressed.

It had required several adjustments during the first few hours.

Sometimes when he’d focused on a negotiation.

Sometimes when a product had surprised him.

But the compression had never completely given way.

Even after four hours of walking, talking, and shopping, it remained stable.

Adam smiled slightly.

Vespera would probably be satisfied.

Which meant she would increase the difficulty even further.

His smile faded.

"I shouldn’t have thought of that."

He finally left the market.

The sun had already climbed significantly higher in the sky.

Adam calmly made his way back to the manor.

He still had several things to prepare for the next day’s journey.

But before that...

He had to organize some of his shopping.

Test a few ingredients.

And above all, decide what he was actually going to cook tonight.

He thought as he walked.

Beef.

Chicken.

Duck.

Potatoes.

Tomatoes.

Spices.

Herbs.

Cream.

Butter.

Seafood.

He had too many options.

Far too many.

Then his mind drifted back to cocoa.

A smile appeared.

"Dessert, at least... I think I already have an idea."

And with that thought, Adam headed back to the manor, his inventory so full he could probably feed the entire household for several weeks.