My Magic Age

The living habits of the Palestina people in Ilinus are closely related to this sea. They seem to have gotten used to the peaceful days of going out to sea at high tide and picking up shells at low tide.

The Palestina people are much more hardworking than the people in the imperial capital. Every day when the tide is low, they carry baskets and short rakes to go to the sea, and they will not lie in bed because the sun has not risen yet.

Coming out of the Duke of Mensa's manor, our carriage chased the morning sun. The roadside trees along the way were actually olive trees, and now the trees are full of green olives.

The gift of the Endless Sea to the Palestina people is countless fish, shrimps, crabs and shells. Originally, our plan was to pick up shells at the beach, but the coachman told us: This is the stage of high tide, even if we go to the beach, we can't pick up any beautiful shells, which can't help but disappoint us.

The coachman is a Palestina native born and raised in Ilinus. When he speaks, he has a strong local accent. At the end of each sentence, he will add a rising tone, and when he speaks, it sounds like he is reciting poetry.

I asked him curiously, where is the most fun place to go at this time?

The coachman told us that the busiest place in the city in the morning is the fishing port pier. It should be interesting to go to the pier to see the fishing boats returning from the sea.

Before this, I had only seen illustrations of fishing boats in some miscellaneous books. When I came to Ilinus City, I only saw a sloop moored in the harbor from a distance, but I didn’t really appreciate these ships that can sail on the sea up close.

I discussed with Ying Li. Anyway, there was no better idea, so why not go and have a look first.

…

The fishing boats moored at the fishing port pier were like small wooden houses drifting on the sea. These small wooden houses only had a wooden pole erected on the roof, and a sail covered with hard cowhide was hung on it, so that they could drift back and forth on the sea.

There were constantly such wooden house-style fishing boats floating back on the sea. Some fishmongers crowded on the pier, and without waiting for the fishing boats to dock, they loudly discussed with the ship owners about the fresh fish to be collected on the ship.

The fishing port in the early morning is more like a lively market, except that all the goods traded here are fish, shrimps and shellfish.

Outside the pier, there are stalls one after another. Some stalls are covered with huge banana leaves, on which are placed fresh fish just caught from the sea. Some stalls are equipped with large wooden basins filled with various shellfish, of various types.

A row of pavilions were built a little further away, which looked a little neater. Some fish vendors placed high-quality fish on trays covered with crushed ice. This is where the coachman recommended us to go.

Looking at the bustling market in front of me, I really want to squeeze in front of the fish stall and bargain with the fish vendors.

I excitedly pulled Ying Li and wanted to walk into the fish market at the pier, but no matter where I went, the crowded civilians would try their best to dodge to the sides, just like avoiding the plague god, forming a circle within one meter around me.

I tried to take two steps towards the market, and the crowd, which was already very crowded, immediately dodged to the sides. I pulled Ying Li back, and the people in the fish market began to move around casually again.

"Dear magician, if you are just curious about what fresh fish there is in the market, please come to the pavilion and take a look. The best fish in the fishing port will be sold here." A fish stall owner in the pavilion kindly reminded me.

I walked over and saw that there were snappers on the ice in his stall, which were really very fresh. The wooden basin next to it was full of huge conches, luminous shells, and some fresh shrimps and crabs.

"Is this your first time in Ilinus City?" The stall owner greeted me familiarly.

I nodded slightly.

"If you want to try these fresh fish and shellfish, our restaurant here can also cook these delicious ingredients according to your requirements." He pointed to a simple restaurant in the middle of the pavilion and introduced it to me.

"Some fresh fish can hardly retain their freshness even if they are placed in a magic box. The nobles in the city are full of praise for our fresh fish and shrimp." After saying that, he bent down and took out a two-foot-long colorful lobster from a large wooden basin filled with seawater, shaking it proudly in front of me.

"Respected magician, would you like to try one?" The fish market stall owner asked me.

Looking at the lobster struggling with its claws and teeth bared, I didn't know how to catch it.

At this time, Ying Li was beside me, took a step forward, stretched out his hand to grab a lobster, and said to me with a smile: "This kind of lobster has claws and no claws. I prefer the kind with claws!"

The fish stall owner knew the waters of the empire very well, and said directly to Ying Li: "We don't have lobsters with claws in the waters of Emerald Bay. Your Excellency the female magician, you are probably talking about the lobsters produced in the waters south of Qiyan Province."

Ying Li nodded slightly, turned to me and said: "Let's buy this shrimp. There is no such delicious seafood in the imperial capital."

I nodded in agreement, looked at the fish stall owner, and waited for him to make an offer.

When he saw Ying Li actually said to buy directly, he immediately put on a friendly smile on his face, took a grass leaf soaked in water from the side of the stall, and tied up the lobster neatly, saying: "Such a lobster is worth six silver coins!"

After the leaves of this horseweed are dried and soaked in water, they are very capricious. When I make magic scrolls, I also like to use them to tie the scrolls.

I originally thought that this seafood would be very expensive, but the price offered by the stall owner made me feel that it was nothing to buy a few times to try.

The five of us, Yingli, Catalina, Helena and Becky, naturally did not plan to share such a lobster, so we directly took out a gold coin from our purse and asked the fish stall owner to tie up five more.

The fish stall owner did not expect that we did not care about the price of these seafood at all, but bought five lobsters at once, and was so happy that he could not close his mouth.

A family of three next to them was also looking at other fresh fish on the stall. Two young couples were holding a babbling girl. The young woman was looking at a mackerel on the stall. The stall owner said to the young woman with a pleasant face: "This mackerel was just caught this morning. It is very fresh. If you want to buy it, it's twenty copper coins!"

This stall owner is a qualified businessman. Whether it is a big business or a small business, he can treat customers equally.

The young woman held the little girl and looked at the man next to her gently.

The young man was distracted by the beautiful girls around me. When he found that his wife was staring at him, he realized that he had lost his composure. His face turned slightly red. He saw that his wife had already picked out two saury. He quickly took out copper coins from his purse, paid the money, and left with his wife and daughter in a hurry.

The girl had the same golden hair as her mother, and her blue eyes looked so innocent. At this time, she saw the colorful lobster in Catalina's hand, full of novelty and love. She pulled her mother's skirt and refused to leave, begging her mother: "Mom, mom, I want to eat that big lobster too!"

The young woman looked a little embarrassed, squatted down, gently held the girl's tender face with both hands, and said: "Nannan is good, we don't eat big lobsters today, mom will cook fish for Nannan today, and when we celebrate the Harvest Festival in autumn, mom promised Nannan that she would buy a slightly smaller lobster for Nannan to eat, okay?"

"Okay!" The little girl immediately became very happy when she heard her mother say this, and happily took the young woman's hand and merged into the crowd of people in the market.

At this time, I suddenly realized that it was not that those delicious seafood became cheaper.

It was because I was blessed by the goddess of luck and became a magician. Whether it was drawing magic scrolls or drawing magic pattern structures, I quickly accumulated some wealth that ordinary people could not accumulate in their lifetime. My concept of money became weak. Those people living at the bottom of the Green Empire, who could only earn dozens of silver coins a month, would still be entangled in a delicious lobster.

However, I saw the happiness of ordinary people in that family of three. That is, they did not pursue luxurious things such as food, mansions, and magic caravans, but got simple happiness.

Seeing that family of three, I suddenly thought of asking myself, what kind of happiness do I want?

Ying Li seemed to feel that my mood had changed, and she stood quietly beside me.

After a while, I was freed from my meditation. Seeing Ying Li blinking and looking at me curiously, my heart was warm for no reason.

Then I bought two luminous shells under the introduction of the stall owner.

I leaned over to look at the sea bream on the ice pile. I wanted to try every kind of seafood here.

The stall owner was still trying hard to sell me his seafood: "Dear magician, you can see that there are ice cubes on my chopping board here. I guarantee that these fish will not spoil even in hotter weather. This kind of fish stew is also very delicious."

... Actually, think about it, it's still very cheap!

Before leaving the fish stall, I asked the smart stall owner: "Why are they so afraid of me?"

My eyes fell on the people in the market of the fishing port pier not far away.

The stall owner laughed, and felt that such a laugh was a bit rude. He quickly bowed to me apologetically and explained to me: "In fact, these civilians are not afraid of you, but they are worried about dirtying your expensive magic robe. They can't afford to pay for this gorgeous clothing that costs dozens of gold coins!"

Seeing that I was still a little confused, he immediately said: "This is a fish market, and there is a fishy smell everywhere. You are a noble. Walking on the street, as civilians, they naturally have to be careful to avoid you. This is the regulation in the Green Empire Code and it is also a calendar that civilians must remember."

It turned out to be like this.

Recalling the life in El City, it seems that there is not such a big gap between the common people and the nobles there. Speaking of which, perhaps because the people in the north are tough, the nobles need to maintain a more friendly image to gain the support of the people.

As for the imperial capital, it is a place where princes and nobles are everywhere and there are as many nobles as dogs. Naturally, the common people there lack due respect for ordinary nobles.

I didn't expect that there would be such a big gap between the common people and the nobles in Palestina Province. It seems that the nobles here live a better life.

After saying goodbye to the stall owner, we followed his instructions and walked to the restaurant in the middle of the long pavilion with seafood. The waiter there seemed to be used to bringing seafood by stone, and immediately invited us in attentively.

When we walked in, we found that there were quite a lot of people who came here early to taste seafood. Several waiters in the restaurant were busy running around, communicating with the guests at the table, trying to make seafood into delicious dishes with that flavor.

After we chose a table facing the sea and sat down, we found that the location here was very good to enjoy the sea view. We could see fishing boats floating on the blue sea like houses.

My eyesight is very good, and I can even see a group of thief seagulls following the tail of the fishing boat nearby. They sometimes landed on the mast holding the white sail, and sometimes flew to the deck to steal the fish on the deck.

The waiter ran over with sweat on his head, grinned at us apologetically, and then asked how to cook these delicacies. My request seemed to make the waiter a little stunned, because my request was very simple, just wanting a grill with only charcoal fire.

The waiter agreed very straightforwardly, and soon sent a grill over. I casually gave him a silver coin as a consumption. He immediately thanked me with a smile, and then diligently brought us some clean empty plates, and also diligently asked if we needed some seasoning.

I shook my head to indicate that I didn't need it, and then said to the Yingli women: "Speaking of which, these seafood are still the most delicious when they are grilled in their original flavor, and I have an exclusive secret sauce. Let you see how a magician who likes food cooks some seafood!"

Originally, we came out to play, so the women naturally preferred to watch me cook, and naturally nodded repeatedly.

Although this was the first time I handled lobsters in my past and present lives, I was not unfamiliar with its methods. I skillfully peeled off the shrimp shells with a sharp dagger, and then drained the shrimp urine. The whole lobster was extremely luxuriously placed on the fire to bake. When the shrimp shell gradually turned red and the fragrance was forced out of the shrimp meat, I brushed some of the sauce that came with it.

Speaking of these sauces, I have been preparing them for a long time. After all, we are going to the Vashj plane. I know that I will have to deal with fish and shrimp on the ship for a long time in the future, so I naturally prepared some seasonings in my bag.

I didn't expect to use them at the market at the fishing port of Ilinus City.

We were enjoying the delicious shrimp meat when we heard a quarrel outside.

On the street, a noble in gorgeous clothes and a group of followers were chasing a young man in gorgeous clothes. The young man was Jacques who I met at the dinner yesterday.