A commission for a spy
Kira begins to run through the rooftops looking for the place that the Goat of Oblivion had told her about, although she ends up descending through the fabrics when the buildings run out. She walks in silence. Not even the flexible sole of her boots resonate against the ground. You can see the different things they sell in the stalls.
People ignore her, since everyone is busy with their own affairs. Kira advances until she reaches a huge square with a fountain in the middle that to get there she must go down a hill. She can see several traveling carts full of food.
"That man said that here I will find some information. The question now is where to start?" she thought before she started descending.
Smells permeate the area with a lot of power: There are strong meals with a heavy load of spices, lighter foods and desserts. It seems as if all possible varieties of food in the world are found in that square.
Kira stops in front of one of the sites, where they sell paninis, Italian sandwiches with different ingredients inside. She is somewhat hungry and the smell of food does not help her at all. She starts looking in one of her bags attached to her waist, looking for her wallet to buy something.
"It’s Maldey. He just won’t keep himself calm. And of all days in the year, it has to be when those dates are approaching," the annoyed voice of a man passed behind her.
Kira looks up before looking behind her. Watching as two men pass by in tunics of fine fabrics and olive skin. She curses in her mind and leaves the post to follow them but keeps her distance. She uses the people on the street to hide herself from being noticed by the men.
"That man never misses the Great Festival of the Logs, you know how he loves it. He knows that they extract honey then," speaks one of the men. "Take the opportunity to do your business under the table."
"I hope they will recreate those gelatin-like sweets, the artisans make them better every year," the companion says. "I've wanted to find out where they get their ingredients from, but they're not so easy to trick into talking."
"Leave them alone, you never get anything anyway. And I doubt you can replicate them. Just enjoy them as you always do every year."
"It's easy for you to say, you already have a business."
"Do not say such nonsense. You have a good business even if you have just started. Be patient."
"I wish I had Maldey's luck. He always has something special for the festivals."
"Haven't you heard the rumors?"
"What rumors?"
"Maldey has ordered a barge from Listothia. "
"The land of the high elves? It's rare to have dealings with them. Are you sure?"
"It's what they say in the artisans' market. Garzón, the one in the magic glass workshop, says he has lots of letters from the orders, maybe he's just bragging."
Kira stops her chase and smiles, letting them walk away as she got some important information and doesn't need them anymore. She just has to find out where the artisan market is. She returns along the path she went and goes back to the sandwich stand. Luckily they had not left the food area.
"Can I help you?" the owner of the premises asks, a man of small size.
"A panini wit meat and cheese, please," Kira speaks as she opens a leather bag attached to her belt and pulls out several gold coins and a 10 note. "Some juice too."
The man wraps the sandwich in a brown paper before handing it to her with a frozen glass container. It has an orange drawn on its label.
"Excuse me," Kira catches the man's attention again as she keeps her things in the bag. "Do you know where I can find the artisan market?"
"It’s quite a walk away from here. it is almost on the other side of Samahabdira," says the dwarf with an apologetic smile.
Kira curses through her teeth, snorting a little. She doesn’t know that place, and it will probably take her all day to get to the other end.
"Are you an apprentice?" the dwarf asks again.
Kira looks at him with a pucker, somewhat confused when she remembers her suit and what her godmother told her.
"Don't worry, here most of the owners are allies of the creed. If you do me a favor, I can give you a shortcut to get to the artisans' market."
Kira takes a deep breath. She has no choice.
"What do I have to do?"
The man gives her a bundle tied with a rope and an address written on a piece of paper like a map.
Kira nods, holding the package in one arm, and begins to walk the road following the map. She advances through small alleys, managing to stay away from the crowds and most of the owners thankfully ignore her.
After a long time she arrives at a building. The shop outside is open towards the street and made with a fabric roof and walls. There are rice paper lamps hanging from ropes here and there, giving the shop a slight mysterious vibe.
"Is anyone here?" she asks, entering the premises. It is a bookstore with large antique scrolls and worn books.
"Give me a second, I’ll be with you right away," she hears a voice in the back.
Kira looks around after storing the map in the bag, but without letting go of the package. ‘Things here are quite interesting’, she thinks, while looking at some book covers.
"Here I am, forgive the wait," says a young woman coming out of the back.
"Okay, don't worry. I brought him a commission from the dwarf Djorn" Kira speaks, giving the shopkeeper the package.
"Thank you very much!" The woman smiles and unties the box to see inside. Although Kira discreetly tries to, she cannot see anything in the bag.
Kira looks around again as the owner reviews the contents. She sets her sights on a small book that is a lot more worn out than the others. She goes over to take a better look at the old cover.
The name is written in elvish runes, something she cannot read; although that is not the most striking thing about it. It is only a cover made of scaly skin, engraved with golden thread. There is a tall and impressive tree on it, holding between its branches nine spheres, forming a staircase along its trunk and the upper part.
"That's the Yggdrasil."
Kira turns to see the owner of the place.
"The what?"
"The tree that holds the nine realities, the tree of the universes."
"What do the old Nordic legends say?"
"Every person believes in whatever they want, but some things can be real."
"Yes, of course, a gigantic tree that holds our universe," she says with a sarcastic tone. "Why is it in that state?"
"It's quite old and almost forgotten, I guess you must have recognized the elvish runes, right?"
Kira nods.
"Here is the curious fact, young one, they are not any elvish runes, They are from the ancient ice elves, those who come from Niflheimr."
Kira frowns. She knows that a piece like that could be worth a lot of money but it can also be an important piece of history, if it happens to be real that it comes from those extinct elves.
"How much do you want for that?" She pulls out a small wallet from her bag.
"Are you going to buy it?" says the woman with a surprise startle.
"That is my intention. It is the reason as to why it’s on the shelf, is it not?"
The woman tells her a somewhat ridiculously expensive amount, but perhaps after all she knows what value it has. Kira frowns again. Even so, why did she give it to Kira so easily?
She bought some books, other legends and Nordic tales. She is soon running out of money in hand. She will have to be careful until she gets to an ATM.
"If you still want to go to the artisan market, take a map and your change." The woman smiles, handing things in her hands, next to her shopping bag.
Kira leaves the store, moving a little through the streets, keeping the books in her backpack on her back. It is the same color as her suit, which makes it difficult to notice from a distance. She sighs,relieved that she is back to her original mission. Although she has a nagging curiosity to read everything she bought, she has to wait. She wonders why that book caught her attention so easily. She is sure that it’s thattree, the Yggdrasil. She has seen it somewhere.
"It will be discovered later."
She starts to eat her sandwich while walking down the street, using the less traveled alleys. On the way to the artisan market.