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TH-THIS is the capital?!
The conductor signaled their arrival, and Olivia nervously disembarked the horsecar with wide eyes.
It’s so big!
The ceiling, supported by massive pillars, was so high that she had to crane her neck to see it. The platform seemed to stretch on forever; she’d never seen a building so large. There were so many people that she almost wondered if some festival was going on.
Anyway, she should at least go outside. She picked up her things and joined the long line under the sign for the exit. After she handed her ticket to a surly worker, she stepped outside, and her jaw dropped at the sight.
W-wow! Oh my gosh, this is just…just wow!
The square in front of the station was so huge it could fit ten of the mansions she grew up in, and she’d never seen so many people bustling about.
And the buildings are so tall!
A tall building in Daregas was at most three stories high; the majority were two stories spread among some single-story buildings.
Here, though, all the stone buildings she saw were five stories high, lining the straight streets. She was surprised at what she saw from the horsecar window, but it hit her even more once she got out on her own two legs.
“I guess that’s why they say Daregas is basically the countryside…” she murmured, frozen at the edge of the square with her bag in her arms. What she saw was so far beyond what she imagined that she was filled with shock and unease.
Can I really make it in a place like this?
Right then, her eyes fell on something she recognized.
Ah! That’s a magic item!
At regular intervals along the cobblestoned path were streetlights. They were of a much more elegant design than the ones in Daregas and filled the evening streets with a soft light. Olivia approached one of those familiar objects on unsteady feet and placed her hand on its cool post as she looked up at the light.
Amazing! It’s the newest type!
Then she realized the people passing her wore magic items she’d never seen before.
That’s a poison-detecting cane, isn’t it?! I’ve never seen one in real life before. And those earrings, I’ve never seen that sort of magic stone! I wonder what it is…?
She looked hungrily at people’s accessories and was so focused that she didn’t notice anything happening around her. It wasn’t until someone said, “Excuse me, is everything all right?” that she realized people were giving her sidelong glances.
Oh, gosh! How embarrassing!
She must have looked like the sort of person best avoided. Her face turned bright red, and she felt embarrassed at how she’d already messed up the moment she’d arrived in the capital.
The person who’d shaken her out of her obsessive zone sounded relieved as he said, “Oh, good. You seem fine. I was certain you were feeling unwell.”
It was the same young man who had called her “madam” before. He doffed his cap and gave a polite bow. “Hello, miss. I’m sorry about earlier.”
“O-oh, no, please don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for shouting like that.” Olivia looked away apologetically and returned the bow. She was embarrassed he’d also happened to see her acting awestruck.
He politely asked, “Pardon me for asking, but where are you headed?”
“Uh…” Olivia faltered. She wasn’t sure if she should tell a man she didn’t know where she was going.
He seemed to guess her inner thoughts and gave a reassuring smile. “It’s all right. I only thought I could take you to wherever you’re going as an apology for earlier. As you may have guessed, I’m quite familiar with the capital.”
She then took a good look at him. He was tall and wore a brown, pinstriped suit with a matching flat cap. Unruly, pale blonde hair peeked out from beneath the cap, and he wore a pair of green-tinted spectacles that merchants often wore. His clothing and the briefcase he carried made Olivia think he was a trader of some sort. She guessed he was in his late twenties and was from a well-off family, based on his put-together appearance and good looks.
He did apologize both then and now. He doesn’t seem like a bad person…
This was her first time in the capital, and she barely knew her right from her left. She would appreciate someone showing her the way. Luckily, she had essentially no luggage. If something happened, she could run.
“Well…if I could take you up on the offer, that would be appreciated,” she relented. “This is the address.” She took a piece of paper from her bag and gave it to him.
He looked at it in thought. “This is in the center of the shopping district. I think it would be faster to walk than to hire a carriage. It should take about fifteen minutes. Is that all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Then let’s head off,” he proclaimed and started at a slow pace.
Olivia followed a pace behind, feeling overwhelmed by the size of the capital as she walked. Buildings towered over her from either side of the cobblestoned road that seemed to go on forever. There were so many people in fancy clothing and a myriad of things she’d never seen before.
What caught her eye most, though, was the magic jewelry—she became obsessed with observing what people were wearing.
That man’s cufflinks are incredible. There must be skilled artificers here. And the magic stone on that bracelet is huge. Is it a ruby?
The young man leading the way watched her with amusement as she did nothing but stare at the jewelry of people passing by. “Do you have an interest in jewelry?”
“Not jewelry, per se, but magic jewelry, yes.”
He looked somewhat surprised. “Magic jewelry? That’s quite the specialized field. Do you mind if I ask your profession?”
“I’m an artificer,” she replied in an offhand way while she quizzically examined a large brooch a lady walking by wore.
“Ah, that makes sense,” he noted with a nod. “You do seem quite passionate about observing magic jewelry.”
“It’s all things you don’t see in Daregas. I’m learning so much.”
After fifteen minutes of walking through the crowded streets, they arrived at a magnificent five-story-high shop. The large windows in the front were decorated with all manner of magic items, and the grand shop sign overhead displayed “Gordon’s Magic Appliances” in gold lettering.
Olivia’s jaw nearly dropped.
Oh my gosh, it’s enormous! It’s got to be ten times the size of Father’s shop!
As she looked up at the building, the young man stated, “I suspected that address was for Gordon’s Magic Appliances.”
“You know it?”
“I do.” He nodded. “It’s arguably the finest magic item shop in the capital. Will you be working here?”
“Oh, no, no, that’s not it…” She looked away. She was proud of her significant experience as an artificer and confident in the skills she learned from her father, but she was still just a country artificer. Could she really make it in the capital, where everything was far more advanced?
The man saw her uncertainty and smiled. “I don’t think you need to worry,” he continued.
“What?”
“I think you can manage fine in the capital, or anywhere else for that matter. I can tell. I have a good eye for people.” He smiled encouragingly, then pointed at a building further down the road. “That hotel has a reputation for being reasonably priced and serving good food. I’d recommend staying there.”
And, in the time it took Olivia to look at the hotel, he bade goodbye and turned away. By the time she looked back, he’d disappeared into the crowd.
Olivia sighed. He’d been kind enough even to recommend a hotel, but she didn’t have a chance to thank him.
It annoyed me when he called me madam, but he seems kind.
Feeling bad about her attitude toward him, she decided to thank him properly if she ever met him again.
She then reasoned she shouldn’t drop in at the shop late in the evening and asked for a room at the hotel the young man recommended with plans to visit Gordon tomorrow morning.