One of the retainers looked at her with a respectful expression. Was his name Daren Dru Siorcan? The man, who was said to be a distant relative of Varkas, spoke cautiously.
“If there is anything that catches Your Highness's eye, I shall purchase it for you.”
“That won't be necessary. I don't need—”
Talia, who had been about to reject him out of habit, suddenly closed her mouth.
Truthfully, she was beginning to grow tired of sitting still like an ornament.
After stealing a glance at Varkas, who was surrounded by administrators and council members, she pulled her hood lower over her head and rose from her seat.
“Fine. Lead the way.”
As they exited the meeting hall through the rear door, a vast space crowded with hundreds of merchants revealed itself.
Standing by the railing, Talia looked down.
Mountains of brightly colored wool fabrics and felt had been piled high upon tightly arranged stalls, while behind them stretched long rows of carts and crates packed with cargo.
“This way, please.”
The man guided her toward the stairs.
Clutching the railing with one hand, Talia descended carefully. The moment she stepped off the last stair, the bustling scenery of the auction hall filled her vision.
As she walked through the crowded aisles, she watched merchants fiercely competing with one another in bidding wars.
Men dressed no less extravagantly than nobles shouted themselves hoarse during negotiations, while brokers calculated commissions and taxes with scales and abacuses. Carriers loaded neatly stacked bolts of cloth onto wagons and hauled them away.
It felt as though she had suddenly been dropped into the center of a mad banquet.
After briefly examining spices sold by foreign merchants, she turned toward a comparatively quiet shop.
Crude handicrafts made with mediocre skill were arranged atop a rather shabby stall.
As she looked over them with disinterest, the man following behind her like a silent bodyguard spoke.
“The jewelers are located in the side gallery. Shall I guide you there?”
“No need. I don't wear anything except dwarf-made ornaments, anyway.”
“Ah... I see.”
The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Ignoring him, Talia stepped into an alley lined with small shops.
Then a tapestry hanging on the wall caught her eye.
She approached and stared intently at the strangely patterned decorative cloth.
Woven from threads of gold, red, and deep reddish-brown, it depicted a young woman with pure white skin and a black beast with three heads.
Frowning as she studied the somewhat eerie image, she suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice nearby.
“Do you like that tapestry?”
Turning her head, Talia discovered an eastern woman inside the stall and immediately became wary.
Setting down the ledger she had been holding, the woman politely offered a deal.
“It is listed for thirty Soldem, but if milady purchases it, I shall let it go for twenty-six.”
“Who would buy something this bizarre?”
At Talia's curt reply, faint curiosity appeared on the woman's face.
Tilting her head, she carefully examined Talia's features.
“It seems milady comes from another region.”
Talia shot her a guarded look.
“How do you know?”
“This tapestry depicts the most famous folktale in the East. Since you did not recognize it, I assumed you were from elsewhere.”
“A folktale?”
Talia looked back at the hanging cloth.
Perhaps pleased by her interest, the merchant immediately began her story.
“Long ago, there lived upon this land a monstrous beast that sought to devour even the stars in the heavens. Filled with greed, the creature tried to swallow every living thing in the world.”
Having set the stage dramatically, the woman paused to observe Talia's reaction.
Talia motioned with her chin for her to continue.
The woman's clear voice, carrying a strange resonance, slowly resumed.
“One day, the spirit of the earth awakened to put the beast threatening the world to sleep. She sang without rest for one hundred days and one hundred nights and tamed the creature. In time, a great warrior was born between them. The ancient people of the East believed themselves to be descendants of that warrior.”
Talia frowned.
She recalled hearing a similar story from the maids of Laedgo Castle.
Rummaging through a neatly folded pile of cloth, the merchant pulled out a handkerchief and spread it atop the counter.