VII

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  Arc VII Chapter 13

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  19th Aqua Solar XI AAC 753

  Even from afar, even from down below, the black spires of the cathedral stood proud and tall. Carved from stone and granite, the spires towered above the mundane world, rising higher and higher, ever skywards. Undisputed, the spires grasped for heaven, a testament to both the authority and the wealth that the Church and the clergy of this world still possessed in this day and age. An institution both ancient in origin and respected among the common populace, at least, according to her knowledge. And yet, her walls cast a long shadow, even when in the service of the Gods. Not that a certain brave little girl and her cute, little doll companion cared. Ecclesiastical matters were hardly her concern. For now.

  “Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?.” Armed with her doll, Aurora was strolling along the streets of Freyburg with a certain destination already in mind. The merchant quarters were awaiting them. According to their information, the merchant quarters were situated in the middle of the city, past the cathedral, not far from the adventurer’s guild.

  In fact, very much in the vicinity, which was of course excellent news. It meant that she did not need to walk very far to complete her next assignment.

  If Erika were to be believed, the merchant quarters were impossible to miss. Just outside the guild across the square, then left down the street until you get to the cloth market. Her directions left somewhat to be desired, considering the multitude of intersections and market squares along the way. Corn Market ... Bread Market ... Fish Market ... Meat Market ... Herb Market ... Wine Market ... Mercer’s Market ... Market ... Market ... Market ...

  The situation was only worsened by the fact that neither she nor her predecessor were particularly versed when it came to the city’s layout.

  Based on her experience, where merchants were, usually there was also money. As long as she followed the trail of money, and with the assistance of some kind strangers, she and her doll should be able to locate them. Because, as it turned out, the city featured both ‘more respectable’ areas, and ‘less respectable’ areas. The ‘more respectable’ areas were located around the castle and the city centre, whereas the ‘less respectable’ areas tended to be confined to the outskirts of the city and were mostly populated by the ‘less fortunate’ classes. Unsurprisingly, the merchants fell into the former category, belonging to the more prominent and well endowed strata of society. As such, money was not necessarily a commodity which they were lacking.

  Just as predicted, her expectations came to be confirmed. The narrow alleys and unsavoury corners vanished entirely. Meanwhile, the streets widened, each paved with cobblestones. The stones were worn smooth by the centuries.

  Houses lined the streets. They were the homes of the rich and wealthy, the homes of the burghers and patricians, two, three, some even four storeys tall, the roofs tiled in red clay. Their fa?ades rose proudly, stone, brick, marble at their base, timber and lumber above, their colours vibrant, painted in white, black, ochre, vermillion, terre vetre, verdigris, azure, indigo. Their windows glistered from high above. Their coloured crystal glass sparkled under the sun.

  Shops and counting houses populated the arcades and halls. The stalls on the streets overflowed, with vendors shouting, yelling left and right, against one another in direct competition, each of them utterly convinced of selling the finest wares within the realm. Heavy brocades woven in Etruria. The finest silk imported from the Far East. Stained glass produced in the furnaces of Vittoria. The sweetest wines of both Burgund and Aquitania. Dyes and ink, tomes and manuscripts from Flandern. Copper, brass, tin, pewter, silverwares by the smiths of Norgard. Furs, honey, wax shipped from Livland. Gems, pearls, crystals from Archaia. And above all, lay the sweet fragrance of far distant lands, of sugar and almonds, of coffee and chocolate, of cumin and pepper, of saffron and cinnamon, of cloves and nutmeg.

  Even the people had changed. Gone was the sight of the common rabble. Labourers, hired hands, servants, paupers, beggars, they had all but disappeared from sight. Their presence was not desired. Even if, the city guard would have seen to it quite persuasively. Instead, wealthy burghers and their servants, rich merchants and their spouses, nobles and their retinues filled the streets and alleys. This was truly a different place, a different world. A place where gold and silver were at home, which meant that she was not far from her intended destination.

  “Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?. Hmm~ ? ?.” Aurora proceeded with her doll and a courier’s satchel slung across her shoulder, her cute little boots ambling along the streets. Her steps were light, as usual. In the meantime, Dollrora was safely nestled in her arms, which allowed her to monitor their surroundings for any suspicious activity. Dolly and she, were they not a perfect team? Clearly they were.

  The recent weeks had been proven to be rather uneventful. Each morning, they were forced to abandon their warm, cosy, fluffy bed, most of the time, unwillingly. It proved harder and harder the later the season and the colder it became. It would be a lie to say that, on such occasions, she did not miss her noble privileges. How she sorely missed them.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  After waking up, they, or rather she, to be exact, greeted Iris whom they were still sharing a room with. All depending on whether she was present or not. Sometimes, she was. Sometimes, she was not. Sometimes, she, Lambert, and the rest of them were on a mission. Sometimes, not. Which reminded her that she still needed to thank Lambert and Iris for their magnanimous hospitality. Perhaps she should buy them a little present. Not today, though. Also, not tomorrow. Maybe later. Maybe never, which sounded like a superb plan.

  Afterwards, breakfast followed, consisting of a few slices of trusty rye bread, butter, a healthy dose of cranberry jam, and a cup of sweet and warm hot chocolate, and another if Angelika’s purse allowed it, which became increasingly rare. As things stood, sooner or later, she would need to procure alternative sources to secure her vital supplies of hot chocolate. Imagine her running out of hot chocolate ...

  Aurora shook her head, her dismay patent even at the mere thought alone ... Truly, sacrilegious!

  Then, they were training together in the morning. As usual, Ludolf was his brash and loud self. Erich, meanwhile, kept to himself, quiet and shrewd, aside from being still distrustful of her and her intentions. Not that she could blame him. And Angelika ... Well, Angelika was Angelika. Good hearted without a doubt, but admittedly, far too naive for her own good.

  During the afternoon, they finally saw what could be remotely defined as ‘action’. After lunch, Angelika gave them some ‘missions’, which in practice consisted primarily of an assortment of random chores and errands. Really nothing too exciting.

  Performing a few deliveries here and there. Carrying crates from left to right. Searching for lost items of differing importance. Based on her experience so far, scholars in particular tended to ‘mislay’ a rather staggering amount of important books and manuscripts. Carrying more crates from left to right. Fetching some materials and ingredients from the market. Carrying even more crates from left to right, and then from right to left. Taking care of cats, which was a task that Erich and Ludolf left to her. The reason being that she was a girl, and that ‘girls were good with cats’. While their argument had some merit, that did not keep her from hissing back at them every time.

  All that being said, she had really hoped that her ‘adventurer life’ would be a tad more ‘adventurous’, but such was life. No evil dragons to hunt. No vile demons to slay. No sparkly treasures to uncover. She could not even blame the guild for being cautious. Obviously, it would be utter lunacy on their part to assign anything even remotely dangerous to a party of freshly baked adventurers without so much as a shred of experience. As such, the guild was correct in their assessment. At least, on paper, but still ...

  Aurora halted, her gaze directed at the townhouse in front of her. Her hand produced a small piece of parchment from her pouch. Her eyes looked down, then up. Then down, then up. Then down, then up. “I think ... that we should be at the right place.” Unless they were mistaken, this had to be the right address. It was or should be the home of the merchant Kallnitz, merchant extraordinaire and of note, apparently.

  Little Aurora studied the home intently before rubbing her imaginary chin. “Are you sure, though?”

  “...” Aurora merely nodded. “Well, I would say as sure as we can possibly be, considering that all we got is ...” She had a quick glance at their parchment again. “‘The red townhouse within the merchant quarters that is set among the finest cloth houses and goldsmiths of the market which only those rich in coin dare to visit, and that is located along the large street that leads from the great cathedral whose mighty towers may be plainly seen above the tiled roofs towards the ancient castle of House von Schwarz, directly opposite of the tavern whose doorway is marked with a sign featuring three interlaced keys ... ... ...’” How she hated addresses in this time and age ... They were truly infuriating. Perhaps Postgirl Aurora was not such a smart idea, after all ... Even if she needed additional funds to finance her hot chocolate addiction after using up most of her monthly guild allowance.

  “... ... ...” Her doll looked at her with an equal measure of bewilderment. No matter how often they read it, this so called ‘address’ hardly got any better.

  Aurora pointed at the house. “Look at the house in front of us, it is red.”

  “True.” Little Aurora nodded.

  “According to the sign, we are at the cloth market. There are also goldsmiths here, just around the corner. This street leads to our castle. And we can see the cathedral from here. And last but not least, there is a stupid tavern with a stupid sign with three stupid interlaced keys. So, yes, I am quite sure that we are at the right place.”

  “Hmm ...” Her doll pondered, tilting her little head. “If you put it like that, I guess that you must be right.”

  “... ... ...” Aurora merely stared at her doll, her eyes totally blank. “Now that I think about it, were you not born here? Are you not supposed to know Freyburg better than me? Or, at least, somewhat better?”

  “Well, ...” Little Aurora lowered her gaze, her hands fidgeting in an apologetic manner. “You see, I grew up quite sheltered ... I was a sickly child. And Mother was always quite protective, so ...” Aurora could guess the answer even without it.

  Aurora gave her doll a gentle pat. “Anyway, when we meet Father, I will urge him to introduce house numbering. Seriously, things cannot go on like this. The current system is utter madness.”

  Dollrora raised a curious eyebrow. “House numbering? What is that?”

  Aurora explained, raising her index in sagely manner, “You see, where I came from we had something called ‘house numbering’ and ‘street naming’. Each street is assigned a specific name that is written on multiple signs to clearly distinguish it!

  Then, each building along the street is assigned an individual number that must be written in front of it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on. This allows you to easily identify every building in the city.”

  “Hmm ...” Dollrora listened, tilting her head.

  Aurora continued, “Obviously, such is useful when it comes to postal delivery, not to mention in terms of urban planning, record keeping as far as property and ownership are concerned, and most importantly, taxation. If we cannot even tell where someone’s property is, how are we supposed to tax them properly? And if we cannot tax them properly, where is the Duchy supposed to get its money from? Proper taxation is thus essential!”

  Little Aurora marvelled at her words, completely in awe of her. Even if she probably understood only half of it. “That sounds like an excellent idea. Father would surely approve.” She clenched her tiny fisties in determination.

  “Exactly.” Aurora nodded along sagely, both of their minds being in complete agreement. “Anyway, let us go. Time is money, as the merchants say.”

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