Chapter 57: Ch57 – The Market

The marketplace sprawled before them like a living thing.

Stalls lined both sides of the cobblestone street, their wooden frames draped with colourful fabric and hung with lanterns that swayed gently in the evening breeze. Merchants called out their wares, voices overlapping in a chaotic symphony of haggling and advertisement. The smell of roasted meat, fresh bread, and spices filled the air, mixing with the earthy scent of leather and metal from the craftsmen’s stalls.

Ryan stepped through the crowd, Eleanor beside him, James and Jared just ahead. Ryan noticed other students from the academy mixed with city folk, nobles in fine clothing brushing past commoners in worn tunics. The energy was electric, vibrant, alive.

“This way,” James said, gesturing down the main thoroughfare. “The good shops are further in.”

They wove between stalls selling everything from fresh produce to jewellery, potions to books. Ryan’s eyes darted everywhere, trying to take it all in.

“Wait,” Jared said suddenly, stopping mid-step.

Ryan followed his gaze.

A stall to their left displayed an array of weapons. Swords, daggers, spears, axes, all laid out on thick wooden tables or hanging from racks behind the merchant. The blades gleamed in the lantern light, some polished to a mirror shine, others dark and functional.

James’s eyes lit up. “Oh, we have to look.”

Jared was already moving towards the stall.

Eleanor sighed. “Of course.”

Ryan grinned. “Should we just meet up later?”

“Probably,” Eleanor said. “They’ll be here for an hour at least.”

James glanced back. “We’ll find you when we’re done. Don’t get lost.”

“We won’t,” Eleanor called after them.

James and Jared were already deep in conversation with the merchant, pointing at a longsword and discussing its balance.

Eleanor turned to Ryan. “Come on. Let’s find a good tailor.”

They continued down the street, passing stalls selling fabric, trinkets, and dried herbs. Eventually, Eleanor stopped in front of a larger, elegant shop with a wooden sign hanging above the door: Threadwork & Tailoring.

“This looks promising,” Eleanor said.

They stepped inside.

The shop was warm and smelled faintly of wool and dye. Racks of clothing lined the walls, everything from simple tunics to elaborate robes. A middle-aged woman stood behind a counter, measuring out fabric.

She looked up as they entered. “Welcome. Soldiers?”

“Not really, we’re new students at the academy,” Eleanor said. “We need training clothes and robes.”

The woman nodded. “Right this way.”

She led them to a section near the back filled with simpler, more practical clothing. Tunics, trousers, boots, leather vests, padded training gear. Another section held robes in various colours, mostly black and dark blue, standard mage attire.

Eleanor immediately began sorting through the options, holding up different pieces and comparing them with a critical eye.

Ryan watched for a moment, then grabbed a few items quickly. He picked out a couple sets of sturdy leather training trousers, a padded vest for sparring, and two simple tunics. For his knight training, this should do.

Then he moved to the robes.

Most of them were black, the standard colour for mages at the academy. A few were dark blue or deep grey. Ryan hesitated, then spotted a set of white robes tucked near the back.

He pulled them out. They were plain, unadorned, lighter fabric than the others. Clean. Simple.

Perfect for a light mage.

He added them to his pile.

Eleanor was still debating between two nearly identical dark blue robes.

Ryan walked over. “I’m going to look around outside. Take your time.”

Eleanor glanced at his armful of clothing. “You’re done already?”

“I’m not picky.”

She shook her head. “Fine. Don’t wander too far.”

“I won’t.”

Ryan paid for his items at the counter. The shopkeeper tallied everything up. “That’ll be two silver hills and twelve copper Ceres.”

Ryan pulled out one of his gold crowns and handed it over.

The shopkeeper’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I’ll need to get you change.”

She disappeared into a back room and returned a moment later with a small pouch. “Twelve silver hills to the crown, so here’s ten silver back, the copper Ceres are on me, just remember to come back here for your future tailoring needs,” She said with a wink.

Ryan pocketed the silver hills, took his bundled clothing and thanked the lady.

He stepped back out into the marketplace.

The evening had deepened. The sky was a gradient of dark blue and purple, stars beginning to appear overhead. The lanterns seemed brighter now, casting warm pools of light across the cobblestones.

Ryan walked slowly, letting the crowd carry him along. He passed a stall selling fresh pastries, another with strange glass vials filled with glowing liquid, a third piled high with old books.

Then he saw it, a small stall tucked between two larger ones, easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention. It was cluttered with random objects. Pocket watches, tarnished candlesticks, chipped pottery, rusted tools. Junk, mostly.

He felt oddly attracted to the stall.

An old man sat behind the stall, half-asleep, his head nodding forward.

Ryan stopped at the stall.

His eyes scanned the items on display. There was nothing particularly interesting. Just refuse, things people had discarded or forgotten.

But then his gaze landed on something.

A bracelet.

It sat in a small wooden bowl with a few other pieces of jewellery, half-buried beneath a broken chain. It was thick and made of black metal, dull and unremarkable, but etched into its surface were faint yellow engravings that seemed to shift slightly in the lantern light.

Ryan felt his chest tighten.

He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t look away from it.

It was like the bracelet was pulling at him, a quiet insistence in the back of his mind. He needed it. He didn’t know why, but he did.

Ryan stepped closer.

The old man’s eyes cracked open. “See something you like?”

“The bracelet,” Ryan said, pointing.

The old man squinted at the bowl, then shrugged. “That old thing? Found it in a pile of rubbish years ago. Never sold. You want it?”

“How much?”

“Five copper Ceres.”

Ryan pulled out one of his silver hills and handed it over.

The old man’s eyes went wide. “A whole silver hill? That’s… that’s far too much, lad, I don’t have the change for it on me.”

“That’s fine, keep it,” Ryan said.

The old man stared at the coin in his palm, then looked up at Ryan with genuine gratitude. “May the God’s bless you, truly.”

Ryan picked up the bracelet. The moment his fingers touched it, a freezing cold spread through his hand.

Maybe this metal is particularly bad at conducting heat. Ryan pondered.

He slipped it onto his wrist.

It fit perfectly and the cold feeling it once had began to dissipate.

The old man was still staring at the silver hill, turning it over in his weathered hands. “Thank you, lad. Truly.”

Ryan nodded and walked away, the bracelet cool and light against his skin.

Ryan made his way back to the clothing shop. Eleanor was at the counter, finalising her purchases. She’d chosen practical clothing, similar to his, though her robes were a deep blue.

“Find anything interesting?” she asked as they stepped back outside.

Ryan hesitated, then held up his wrist, showing her the bracelet.

Eleanor’s eyes widened.

For a moment, she just stared at it. Then her expression shifted, something unreadable passing across her face.

“Where did you get that?” she snapped.

“A junk stall. Why? Is it important?”

Eleanor didn’t answer immediately. She reached out, almost touching the bracelet, then pulled her hand back.

“It’s… nice,” she said finally.

What a weirdo. Ryan commented… in his head, of course.

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