#pologies this took just a Touch more time than i'd liked

[venalier]

undercover operations had never really been her strong suit. it just wasn't how she'd been trained as a sky knight, though of course she understood its importance. her fatherland wouldn't be anywhere without its ninja, of course, so highly respected that throughout history there were plenty of times when they had overtaken knights and standard military in their value to the royal family. caeldori can't believe she's thinking this, but she almost wishes asugi had been here to give her a few pointers before she'd decided on this course of action. but he's not, so she just has to give it everything she's got.

for you, you no-good, candy-loving slacker.

and so she'd pulled the hood over to conceal her brilliantly red hair and made her way into the elemental fairgrounds.

after the incident with the girl and honomi, caeldori hadn't been able to let the whole shrunken-student situation go. a bunch of her classmates weren't able to live normally or even really attend their classes, and she was just supposed to go on day to day like usual? eventually, her searches had led her here to this festival market of some kind, hosted right under the monastery's nose by a population of nature spirits from the southern landmass. it's a little hard to wrap her head around, but she's sure that the court diviners in hoshido would have a field day with it if they knew. ( the scroll spirits they used for their magic really didn't need to be jumping out of those anytime soon though. )

some of her allies and classmates should be here — though in what sense, she's not yet sure. would they be hiding in plain sight because of their tiny size, or gathered somewhere? head on a swivel as she explores down what looks like the main aisle of stalls, she's surprised to see that she's not the only regular person here. elementals still outnumber them easily by the flock, floating and moving around in a rainbow of colors, compositions, and shapes; but she spots others like herself milling around too, standing out in a place like this like a sore thumb, at little risk to themselves. if anything, some of them looked like they were actually getting along with the spirits, chatting and talking prices and wares.

these people were normal-sized though. hmm.

gradually, a swelling of the crowd and line of intrigued voices draws her attention to a larger establishment near the end of the row — this one is housed in a curious kind of tent instead of a simple stall, and when she ducks inside, eyes adjusting to the dim interior, hardly anyone bats her an eye. that's a good sign, right? but there aren't any people in here... and she doesn't want to just ask around the elementals for clues on the shrinking phenomenon. just as she's considering trying her luck elsewhere though, movement in one of the jars on the shelf behind the lightning spirit at the counter catches her eye. is that...? an officers academy uniform!

heart leaping to throat, she holds the tiny young man's gaze for just long enough to convey that she's seen him, before looking around for any means to get him out. it's then she catches the murmur of conversation currently passing between the two spirits at the counter:

"—n thousand gold if you want him." "fourteen thousand? for one human... no one's ever going to buy that. i could just go catch one myself in the woods." "be my guest. you'll find it's not that easy. if you don't want him, someone will. and if no one does, i think he's pretty cute myself."

... they were... selling them?

caeldori almost blanches with the wash of disbelieving horror, fighting to keep the color from draining out of her face. she looks back to the other student again — what was she supposed to do now? buy him herself? urgh, did she have fourteen thousand to spare? what other option was there? the turned-away buyer is leaving, so if she's going to take a chance, then... it sounded like this — ugh, business — was pretty popular, so who knows how soon he'd be gone if she hesitated for too long. swallowing hard, caeldori musters her boldness and all her bargaining ability, and strides forward on legs feeling somewhat numb. "excuse me. i'd like to consider that... er, little person over there for sale." she hopes nothing even close to similar ever has to come out of her mouth ever again.

Dirt Got a Jar of Me