The daily life of monsters

Chapter 5: Ambassador

"I am an ambassador of the forest. I can guide humanity and nature towards peace."

Cioara Yaanve was a con artist. She travelled around the world using her silver tongue and deception to make a living. She had swindled thousands of silver out of foolish investors and swiped numerous precious treasures from collectors and today was no different. She wore silk robes she had stolen from the previous town alongside a meticulously crafted flower crown from various flower gardens to make herself seem authentic, alongside using a deeper tone of voice to sound more legitimate.

"But an ambassador needs to keep themselves alive. I would be incredibly grateful for any donations you could spare."

She talked to nobody in particular, but her eyes quickly caught people out, one judgemental glance sometimes being enough to get a few coins. She had been doing well so far; by the time lunch had come around, she had enough money to last her for three days. Feeling satisfied, she began looking around for a last few donations, looking around until she locked eyes with a man wearing overalls with a pink shirt.

"Do you have any spare change you could donate? It would make a big difference."

The stranger seemed confused for a moment, before coming closer cautiously, as if he had been told to not trust strangers a few minutes prior.

"What does donate mean?"

Cioara's friendly smile turned into a small frown for the first time in four hours.

"Donate means to give out of charity, or because they want you to succeed."

The stranger scratched the top of his head, the confusion still stuck on his face.

"Why should I donate to you?"

Cioara curled her fists, but her face remained neutral, slowly progressing back towards the friendly smile that she had perfected.

"Because I'm working to bring peace between the forest and the people. I simply need the money to eat and get an inn."

By the end of her first sentence, the stranger already seemed enchanted by her words, his confusion turning into a joyful grin and an overenthusiastic shuffling through the multitude of pockets on his overalls. After a few seconds, he grabbed something out of a low pocket and shoved his closed fist towards her lap, wrist facing upwards.

"Alright, I'm on board. This should be a good starting point."

"Starting point? I'm al..."

Cioara looked down to see that he had opened his hand to reveal a dozen of tiny, sparkling gems. They were opaque but reflected the sunlight off of them like a mirror, shaped in perfectly geometric patterns. She caught her arms unconsciously wandering forward but she managed to suppress her urge to snatch the valuables and instead placed a look of shock onto her face.

"I can't possibly accept this. At least allow me to buy you lunch."

The stranger opened Cioara's palm gently and placed the gemstones inside, which the woman almost immediately stuffed into the bottom of her pockets as gracefully as one could.

"That sounds nice. It feels like it's been a few years since I've eaten properly."

Cioara raised an eyebrow but assumed it was a joke and stood up, grabbing the stranger by the sleeve and gently tugging him along the cobbled street, marching towards the town square with a strange conviction. Once they reached the middle of the town, Cioara nervously looked around the somewhat populated streets, desperately trying to find a place for food.

"Where are we going?"

"There's a good place nearby. It's..."

She quickly swivelled the road which looked the fanciest and marched forward once more.