To say that Derry was perturbed was an understatement.
The evenings in Kaba'a were dangerous enough on their own due to the diversity of destitution one could easily find. For every desperate merchant, where was an unsavory character lurking around a corner with a dagger in one hand, and someone else's coinpurse in the other. The young man wasn't so foolish as to believe that the same thing couldn't, or wouldn't, happen to him, so he traveled fairly light-handed when and where he went in the city, especially where guards were lacking. The thought of him getting attacked for money, only to turn out his pockets, was one that amused Derry more than it should've-- after all, it WAS still a crime that COULD still get physical.
And yet, most folk within the city-- even within Kaba'a for the most part-- weren't crazy enough to openly attack someone within the borders. So long as he kept a low profile, didn't wander around with money or excessive gold accessories, Derry knew he had little to fear from just about anyone, regardless of where he was. To add to that, he always carried a knife with him-- and while he wasn't anything special with them, he could at least defend himself (or bluff at it) to get himself out of trouble. With that mentality, he didn't even consider himself particularly in danger when it came to the two men he'd just naively followed out of anyone else's sight.
...And now he was slightly regretting that decision.
"Ah, um, I-I'm good on fruit, thank you for the offer, though!" There was... next to no way in hell he was taking anything from either of these two, for so long as they sat together in this dark, secluded tent where Derry head-canoned that no one would be able to hear him scream-- and yet, he couldn't deny that he was at least a little curious about all the curiosities that were stored within. "Ahem-- well-- I'm... let's see, I'm licensed by the Essyrn Adventurer's guild-- I have about 4 years of experience translating ancient texts, of varying languages from just that as a result. I've done some work with hieroglyphs, fae runes, curses, you name it." He explained, crossing his legs in the seat he'd taken earlier at their behest and nodding to himself. "I've done a little cross-culture work as well-- Yoreiqi, Hyoite-natives... a lion. Long story."
Yes, if there was one thing Derry was pretty sure he could do, it was translate. Didn't matter who, didn't matter what. He'd always considered himself pretty gifted at it, though his dad had always claimed that was 'just the tip of the iceberg of what a member of the Evans bloodline was capable of'. Dramatic, that one. That said, Derry-- reading the room-- had actively avoided the topic of money for the time being for two reasons-- obviously coming off as greedy so early probably wasn't the best call for his budding career, and secondly, he wasn't even sure if he'd agree to whatever it was they were looking for from him yet.
Instead, absentmindedly twisting the filled cup around with his right hand while it sat on the table, Derry figured it was better to get a better understanding of the job first and foremost. After all, it wasn't often that his clients didn't put their requests directly through the adventurer's guild... which was why Derry couldn't completely relax in this situation. "The, uh, the listing? It mentioned Essyrni myths and... an ancient language? Can you tell me more about that?" He asked, trying to stay as close to business as he could. As his mother had constantly told him, 'There's no free water in the desert'-- He wanted to get a better idea of what exactly the two men sought to gain from him.