"You ever been here before?" Red asked
They had climbed away from the harbor and now were wandering around the busy streets. Red wasn't even sure what he was doing except gaping. The number of people was simply mind-boggling. That wasn't even mentioning the hundreds of different stores and other buildings that were scattered everywhere.
Wale Port was totally different from this strange place. There, everyone had a job, and that was what they did. Everything had a purpose, and everybody knew everyone else. There weren't multiple bakers, just one. So far, he had already passed five different bakeries in the Fallen Isles.
"I have been to the bay before but never got the chance to explore the city," Derrin replied.
"Is it like where you're from? Montrel, I mean."
"Not at all. Montrel is made up of many different smaller cities, each of which has its own individual rulers. Valencia has a few central locations, and each of them is much bigger than any cities in my home sea…that includes the Fallen Isles."
Red had thought Derrin's height and brown hair color would stand out in the heart of Valencia. He couldn't have been more wrong. While a vast majority had blonde hair, like his own, there was also a large scattering of other colors. He had even seen a few other Montrelans in the crowd.
"Well, is there anything you want to see? Cause I am stumped. I'd rather be back on the ship doing anything else," At that moment his stomach rumbled, "Or get something to eat…"
Derrin pursed his lips, "If you're hungry, why don't we stop at one of those bakeries or restaurants back there?"
Red glanced behind them at the throng of people, "I would have a while ago. The problem is I am utterly broke, and that damn guy didn't give me any money."
"You don't carry coins with you?" Derrin asked in befuddlement.
"It's a bit challenging to carry coins with me when I am fresh out. I spent my last ones on lunch…goodness, that was a week ago already."
"Then how about here," Derrin pointed at a small restaurant at the end of a street, "I'll pay."
He stared at it and then stared at it some more. He read the sign to make sure he got it right. The big wooden sign stood tall above the small storefront, proclaiming, "So Croissant!" What the actual hell type of name was that? Red wasn't sure what they were trying to do with a name like that, but it did not sound edible. Besides, he had no goddamn idea what croissant meant.
"What does that even mean?"
"So Croissant? It's an inside joke in Montrel. I'd guess it's owned by a Monterlan and most of the customers are Montrelan too. They also take my sea's currency, which is the only thing I have."
"That isn't exactly what I meant. What the hell is a croissant?"
Derrin's body turned to him as stiff as a Gearborn, "You don't know what a croissant is?"
"Of course not. It sounds like a type of wrench."
Red discovered for the first time that Derrin could actually make facial expressions when his jaw practically fell off his face.
The inside of the restaurant was tiny, with barely any tables to sit down at. Red wasn't sure if this was a normal occurrence because he'd only ever eaten at a restaurant once. However, despite the cramped interior, he couldn't help but feel a little cozy. The interior was very unlike anything he'd seen before. It was entirely wooden and filled with massive beams. A small fire was lit in the corner fireplace that kept the room at a nice, warm temperature compared to the cool outdoors.
Red was certain that this was a Montrelan-style building. Valencian buildings always focused on far more practical matters first. As a result, most of them neglected their interiors. That wasn't the case here at all. A middle-aged woman stepped out from the back in a light blue apron. Her brown hair was nearly identical to Derrin's, only curly instead of straight.
"Is it noon already?" The woman asked in a very un-Valencian accent that was almost unintelligible.
"Not quite, ma'am. We are just looking for a simple meal," Derrin glanced at Red, "Do you happen to have any meals with croissants?"
"Most of them do," The woman laughed.
"Either fellows like us want a taste of home," she paused and looked pointedly at Red, "Or ones like him want to try and figure out what exactly we eat up in Montrel."
"That's good, then we'll take anything, we fall right into both of those categories."
"It'll just be a minute. We're preparing for the lunch shift anyway. You'd think that we wouldn't be very busy with all the other more local restaurants around, but everyone wants a taste," She spun and disappeared into the back.
Red could already smell the faint scent of fresh food in the back. He was guessing that it was this strange crescent that Derrin kept talking about. However, it smelled an awful lot like one of the buns from Wale Port.
The pair took a table in the corner of the room and waited. Which was rather unfortunate for Red because he always liked to keep himself busy. When he didn't, his thoughts tended to go towards things he'd rather avoid. Currently, that was about what he was supposed to be doing now.
He wasn't sure what was next for him. Ayjax had been very vague on his potential options. Red was pretty sure that had to do with him not fully knowing either. What he did know was that he had no intention of going back to the tiny island. He was going to live here, for the time being at least. In order to do that, he'd need a job. It was all going to be chaotic in this massive place.
Derrin also seemed to be contemplating the future. Red was not certain how long Derrin would end up following him around, but it would definitely be a while. He was not interested in jumping into a dangerous situation anytime soon. Which was the only way for Derrin to complete the weird blood honor thing.
Luckily for him, his thoughts were cut short when the Montrelan returned with their food. She set a plate of strange bread roll things in front of both him and Derrin. Red looked at it with mild interest. It looked like someone had taken his favorite rolls and thought that roundness was too good for them. He had to remind himself not to judge a book by its cover…or in this case, a food by its oddly shaped curves.
Derrin's eyes seemed to widen slightly as the woman set an additional plate of weird yellow mash in front of them. Now, that was just plain disgusting-looking. Who in their right mind would look at this and think, wow I should eat that! Red grimaced but remained silent as she placed a couple of mugs on the table as well. Where the heck were these weird crescent things Derrin kept talking about?
Derrin and the woman exchanged a few words before he handed her a bunch of coins. Red was too busy trying to understand what he was looking at to notice. Eventually, the two of them were left alone as the woman retreated into the back.
"So what do you think?" Derrin asked, seeming ready to devour the entire table.
"Uh, where exactly are the crescent things you were talking about?" He pointed angrily at the yellow mash, "And what the hell is that?"
It seemed like Derrin's head must have been hit during the fight because it took him far too long to process what he had just said.
"Red. Those are the croissants, "He said quietly as he pointed at the strange bread rolls, "And those are scrambled eggs…"
"I'm going to be honest with you, Derrin. I have no idea what those last two words are, but I guess I'll try these crescents."
Red took one of the rolls off the table and bit into it. His face gave no reaction as Derrin watched on. Inwardly, he was not so calm. Afterall, these damn things tasted exactly like what he had expected. What's worse was that he couldn't even complain about them because they were so damn good! He was stuck with the fact that the Montrelans had managed to steal their perfectly good rolls and keep the flavor intact.
"How do you not know what an egg is?"
"Probably because the food palette around here consists of two things. Bread and fish," Red said as he waved around the half-eaten crescent.
Derrin picked up his own croissant and bit into it. "Well, then this will be your first time trying something different."
"Already got to do that this week. I've had enough of new things for the moment, thank you very much," Red paused and looked at the strange yellow mush in between them, "I am not going to be eating that weird egg stuff."
Derrin frowned and, with a shrug, simply took Red's entire plate. Red simply stared at the empty spot for a moment. With a nod, he stuck the rest of the crescent into his mouth.