Imperial Market

After a proper meal, my friends chose to go with Tara's pick next. They complained that due to our visit to the Grand Library, we wasted a lot of time. Though admittedly we wasted some time, the visit wasn't pointless. The Imperials were misleading some people, or maybe all people, since the records were either faked or missing.

Their schemes ran deep, that much was certain. 'I hope dad met up with grandpa already. He can have a proper look at them, and whether they're planning something stupid'. I decided not to worry about that, since we couldn't solve these issues ourselves anyway.

Once our group made it to the largest market in the city, Tara kind of lost her bearings. "Hey, don't drool. People are watching", "Yea, yea, whatever. Check out all these merchants though. They sell all sorts of things, and even those from other cities… Tsk, making good deals will be a bit more difficult now", she replied.

We weren't sure what she expected from the largest market in the city, after all it was 'the largest'. Tara proposed to split up, and check whatever we were interested in. "I'm fine with that, but where should we meet?", Dawn asked. "How about that place over there? Seems unique enough", Tara proposed while pointing her finger.

She pointed at a fountain, a large fountain with various sculptures. "That's fine by me. Dawn, you heading off alone, or wanna tag along?", I asked. She decided to head out alone for the time being, while Tara grabbed Teri and left without much of a farewell. She was that excited.

Before Dawn left, I handed her some money just in case. "Perhaps a hundred gold coins isn't a huge amount, but should be enough if you get hungry, lost or whatever. Though if you see anything useful, go ahead and buy it", "Hehe. Yes, mom", she replied before leaving. 'Really? I'm even handing you money now, and you were supposed to be older than me', I thought but didn't voice it.

I wasn't really interested in most items, maybe except some treats for Curly or me. I had my weapon, clothes and whatnot. There was no need for me to spend money on unnecessary things. I planned to give whatever was left to my family at Savala Town and nearby villages. The North didn't use Human money, so once we left the Imperial City, they'd become useless.

"Arf!", Curly grabbed my attention, and pointed towards one of the stalls. "Of course it's food, what else could it be?", "Arf, arr!", she protested as if wronged. "Oh well, let's go and give it a try", I agreed. They sold some sort of meat cubes with vegetables on a stick. Of course they roasted that as well, no Human enjoyed raw meat.

"Huh? This is great. I'm not very familiar with that taste though… It's kind of sweet, but sour at the same time. What did you use to make it?", I asked the stall owner. "Hehe, sorry kid, that is our secret. Otherwise, who'd buy or food?", the old woman replied. Curly enjoyed that taste as well, she even asked for more even though we ate a while ago.

"I'd like five more of these… Actually, give me ten. I'll eat them later", "Hehe, sure. Though they are the best when hot. Anyway, here's your order", the old woman replied and passed me ten more sticks. I gave one more to Curly, but hid the rest of them. These things weren't big, yet expensive. One such stick was priced at five silver coins. One could eat a proper meal in a town, or feed a group of people in a village for that kind of money. 'Cities sure are expensive… Well, one night at the tavern costs a few gold coins', I figured.

We visited a few other stalls and shops, but found nothing of interest. Dawn already sat at the fountain when we got there. Tara and Teri were of course absent. "How long do you think they'll take?", "Judging by the visit to the library? We'll sit here for a while", I replied. Dawn decided to ask me about the second floor of the Grand Library. Since they couldn't enter, she was a bit curious.

"Other than the historic records and such, there was one interesting book… Or rather a diary. The author wasn't skilled at writing, but the story itself was interesting. Apparently, one of the past Emperors set out on a voyage. They discovered an island, where some sort of race lived… Or maybe lives to this day, who knows?...".

I narrated the rest of that story to her, and she was a bit intrigued. "Do you think it's real?", "I mean it can be fake, or some sort of tale, but the author's feeling seemed to be real. Whoever it was, couldn't describe everything properly. Yet the way it's written would suggest a real event", I replied.

"We can speculate about the events, but the puzzling part has to be the help they received. Moreover, the person described how that past Emperor got really friendly with them. They also spoke another language, and there's only two that I know", "Are you suggesting it's that language?", Dawn asked in reply.

"The author didn't include any words from that language, but there's a high possibility it could be the one I know. Of course, there might be another language. Totally unique and perhaps present on that island alone. I'm planning to ask my father about that, maybe he knows something", I said. "Hehe, yea. He's probably the only one around who'd know that kind of stuff", she agreed.

"... You'd like to visit that island, right?", "Hahaha, was it that obvious? The island cannot be too far away from here, if it exists. A new place, totally different from our continent. Maybe everything looks different there, and the beings… I'd like to see another race as well", I replied honestly. "We'll find out sooner or later, I guess. Anyway, Should we look for Tara? We might sit at this place for hours. She can lose herself in this sort of environment", Dawn proposed.

I agreed, even though searching for her wouldn't be easy in a huge market. We searched for about an hour, yet found no trace of Tara or Teri. They had to be somewhere in the market, but the size was simply too annoying at that stage. We returned to our meeting place, and decided to wait there.

Tara and Teri showed up after another hour. They wore different sets of clothes, but not the multicoloured one. Teri's face said it all, he was tired and wanted nothing else but rest. I could emphasize with him, shopping with Tara was quite demanding.

"You had your fill for today, let's go back. Everyone's tired", "Sure, I made some money too. Hehe, they liked the multicoloured clothes so much, I had to sell mine and Teri's set as well", she replied in a good mood. 'Great… At least we don't have to look at them in these clothes anymore'.

The next day, we chose to go with Dawn's pick. The Hall of Fame resembled the Hall of Founders at Ortava. Though the place was bigger, and there were almost no Formation masters. Most of the historic figures were soldiers or officials. Their deeds were on full display, together with their portraits or sculptures.

"You guys check whatever you like, I'll search for those archers", Dawn told us. "I'm sure you guys don't want me to tag along", "Why? You are always welcomed to come with us". Teri tried to be nice, but Tara had a different idea. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure there will be a man in your life, and you won't be lonely", "Yea, that's exactly why I'm not tagging along. Have fun you two", I replied and left them alone.

The Hall of Fame had its own corner for all the Emperors alone. Of course Endros was there, and looked fairly similar to the one inside the Grand Library. There were others, such as Verion, Alterin or Johnatan. All of them lived a long time ago, at least three-hundred years ago. 'I wonder which Emperor went on that journey… Hmm, maybe there will be some information here', I thought.

Of course they wouldn't provide information about that voyage, but an Emperor who used ships would be a great match. I checked all the statues, historic descriptions and came to a conclusion. There was only one Emperor who favoured ships and the seas. His name was Hector Ravensoar.