That day, Arcus was visiting one of his favorite large stores. While a nobleman with his own estate might very well call on a merchant to visit, he felt it would be too arrogant; he didn’t yet have his own title and he was still a child. So, as usual, he sent word to let them know he was coming before setting off.
When he arrived, he was greeted by the proprietor and the clerk with whom he often dealt, who then showed him into the reception office. Inside was a glass table, leather couches, and a faint, floral scent. Arcus took a seat on the couch, at which the other two men sat across from him. The maid, who had come in with them, held a glass water jug with red petals floating in it. When Arcus took a sip from the glass he was poured, the aroma of roses spread over his tongue, and he took a moment to savor it.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.” He addressed the broad-shouldered storekeeper.
“Not at all! We are honored that you choose our store for all your engraving needs. It pains me to think that you so often call on us, when we should be coming to you.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Oh, but it is! You hold the Order of the Silver Cross, at your age, and you even have a workshop within the Magician’s Guild! We are endlessly grateful that you still continue to do business with us.”
“Oh... Oh, right. I guess when I start getting more responsibilities, I’ll have you come to my estate instead.”
“Are you expecting things to change in that regard?”
“Not expecting. Hoping, I guess.”
“My, my. Well, it is certainly our intention to maintain a good relationship with you, no matter what happens.”
“Same here.”
The storekeeper bowed his head.
Unless he was dealing with especially important seals, Arcus tended to deal only with the clerk. Lately, however, the storekeeper had been coming to see him too, providing he had the time to do so. Arcus supposed he shouldn’t be surprised—as the proprietor had alluded to, he did have his own seal workshop in the Guild now.
“How have the sales been on those pull-cord Sol Glasses?” Arcus asked.
“They have been very popular. The authorities have been eager to get them in their offices, and we have had floods of requests from novelty-loving nobles hoping their own employees will reverse-engineer them.”
“In that case, please be sure they put forward the necessary royalty forms for the regular switch versions to the Magician’s and Artisan’s Guilds, as we agreed.”
“Certainly.”
Arcus had developed two forms of Sol Glass that could be turned on and off on demand: one with a simple switch and one with a pull cord. This store was acting as a mediator for their sale. The Magician’s Guild didn’t sell anything directly, so it was common to sell one’s products and technology wholesale to a trusted venue, then collect a portion of the profits as royalties. Though both he and the Guild were dipping into those profits by quite a bit, it seemed the store was not faring too badly at all from the arrangement. Otherwise the storekeeper wouldn’t be beaming like he was.
“We look forward to serving you again,” he said. After handing a few bills to Arcus, he left, still bowing.
The boy turned back to the clerk, who, as ever, was rubbing his hands together eagerly enough to start a fire. Arcus had to wonder whether he still had fingerprints, or whether they had been dissolved by friction long ago.
“Have you got what I asked for?” he asked the clerk.
“Aah,” the clerk sighed dramatically. “This is the first time you’ve ever asked for a gemstone. Might there be a lovely young lady you wish to gift it to?”
“It’s nothing like that. Sorry to get your hopes up, but I just need it for magic—as usual.”
“Is that right? Well, if you ever find yourself in need of a gift, I would be happy to help. I guarantee to find you something sure to put a smile on the face of the recipient.”
Arcus laughed nervously. “I’ll bear that in mind. Thanks.”
When he had contacted the store to give warning of his arrival, he had requested to be shown a certain jewel.
“You must seek an emerald.”
That was the instruction Chain had given him—something she had claimed would “prove useful.” He wasn’t sure how the jewel would help him, but he figured the first step would be to get ahold of one.
The clerk spread a cloth over the glass table, upon which he lined up a number of gemstones. “This one is sodalite, mined in the Stone Valley. Here we have a ruby, and this one is a diamond from Zeilner. And finally, a sapphire—one of Sapphireberg’s finest.”
“Wow, look at them! Is that all of them?” Arcus asked.
“Yes. These are all the gemstones we have in stock at the moment.”
The sun streaming in through the window caught each stone and set it aglow with shimmering light. Their vivid colors and clarity spoke to their quality. None of them, however, were what Arcus was looking for.
“Um, would you happen to have any emeralds?”
“Emer... I am afraid I might be unfamiliar.”
“An emerald. Haven’t you heard of them? It’s a green stone and, when you polish it, its color gets even brighter.”
“A green stone? I know of jades, but...in all the thirty years I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen anything like what you are describing.”
“Oh...”
Arcus must have looked disappointed, because the clerk bowed his head deeply.
“I apologize that I could not be of more use.”
“It’s fine. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it.”
“An...‘emerald,’ was it? Would you like me to see if I can locate one for you?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. They’re not the same shade of green as jades. If you could be as thorough as possible in your search, I’d appreciate it.”
“Understood.”
Now that the arrangement was made, it was back to the drawing board for Arcus. Thinking about it now, he had never seen anything resembling an emerald either. The only time he had even heard the word was when Chain had appeared in his dream. His knowledge was limited to the pictures and videos from the man’s world—the man whose life he had once experienced through another dream. It was quite possible that the precious stone wasn’t a part of the gem industry in this world. That was likely why he had been told to “seek” one, rather than to “obtain” one, which also seemed to suggest that “obtaining” one would be far from an easy task. All things considered, however, Arcus did not possess a mine of his own, and he had no idea in which sort of mine he might find an emerald. Though he revisited the man’s memories, he couldn’t recall any sorts of documents that might help him either.