Look at the Brightside

Saif wandered through the tight streets around Ralmine’s shop, trailing behind one interesting looking person to another until the streets widened and he was face to face with the clock tower. He made it to the center of the city. Now, to the map-maker. Strolling around some more, with a little help from Instinct, Saif found his way to a farmer’s market.

People of all types were selling their wares out of carts, lining the streets as shoppers, carriages and buses continued as normal. It was a familiar sight, though Saif thought the vendors were a little too quiet in promoting their goods.

There, across the street and directly behind the vendors was a large compass dangling off the side of a building. Right, that had to be the map-maker. Saif bee-lined towards it, glad he found it without too much trouble.

Even with his small size, Saif had to squeeze himself between a fruit cart and a stack of woven baskets to reach the door and someone wasn’t happy about it.

“THIEF!” A plant person screamed, grabbing him by the back of the nail with a vine and holding him airborne. “HORRID AND VILE, THREATENING MY VERY LIVELIHOOD! UNHAND MY WARES!"

Saif wriggled around, trying to escape the grip to no avail. The plant kept yelling at him to surrender, calling for the guards. People came out of the surrounding stores to see what was going on. They watched as Saif was shaken vigorously. But no matter how much the plant thing shook, nothing escaped his pockets. He didn’t have any to begin with.

The lights of the map shop flicked on, but the door could barely crack open before bumping into the plant person’s cart. The door was forced open much further, pushing the carts with enough force to send some of the fruits and baskets tumbling down to the sidewalk, though the plant paid it no mind. A wide man walked out with a frown, approaching the plant from behind.

“Mantriss, you claim this… creature… has stolen from you?”

“It has! I saw it with my own six eyes!”

“Right.. What is it that they stole?”

“A fruit! Right from under my gaze!”

“Which fruit be it then? Where is that fruit now?”

“I- well. It must have hidden it somewhere, I'm sure!” The plant shook him more, but nothing dropped still.

“Bug beast, is this true?”

Saif shook his head no, pointing to the compass.

The man sighed, rubbing a large hand across his face.

“Mantriss, you common fool. It was trying to enter my shop, which you’ve blocked with your carts once again.”

“I’ve done no such thing!”

“I’ve forced my door open with my own two hands. I’m a lucky man if the paint is unharmed. Unhand the innocent being lest I banish you for obstructing my business.”

Mantriss the plant let go of Saif, letting him free fall to the ground, where he landed on his forehead. OUCH! That really HURT! He reached up to try and soothe the spot just over his eye. Wait, it hurt him? Why did it hurt? He… he got hurt on this same spot before, hadn’t he?

Bystanders went back to their routines, the commotion no longer interesting to watch. Saif heard a few passing comments as they left. “I can’t believe they’d do that again.” “That’s the third unlucky fellow this week alone.” “I thought someone actually tried stealing from them.” “Their prices are too high, but their goods are too cheap. No one would bother with Mantriss’s Wares.”

Saif managed to stand, still trying to soothe his head.

The big man didn’t appreciate the plant’s attitude. “Ungrateful, that’s what you are.” He muttered under his breath.

The plant’s smirk and cocky attitude wiped away, instantly, “Mr. Carte, I am not ungrateful, I only-”

“Mantriss, please. I’ve had enough of you for one lifetime. Come now, bug thing, you were interested in a map?”

Saif nodded, following Mr. Carte into the map shop. It smelled like a library, the comforting scent of wood pulp and ink soothed the bump on his forehead. It wasn’t covered in open maps like he thought it would be, but there were enough around to make his head spin, along with various barrels and baskets full of curled parchment hiding more maps.

“Well then, bug thing, what can I get for you?” Mr. Carte stood behind a counter, pushing aside half-sketched maps of various levels of detail, wells of ink and scrapped paper to make room for Saif.

Saif looked around, admiring the art until he found a map of the capital. He pointed to it with his pincers.

“That one? Are you sure? Isn’t it a little large for you?”

Saif shook his head, pointing again and miming with his hands a shrinking motion. The map man caught on.

“Ah, you’re looking for a small scale map of the capital. Is that correct?” Saif nodded, Mr. Carte ducked down behind the counter and rummaged around. “I should have one here, let’s see.”

He pulled out a map and unraveled it. It was a good size for the human, but still too large for Saif to comfortably use. Saif mimicked shrinking again.

“Are you looking to hang it up somewhere small?”

Ugh, not talking sucks! He wished he at least had fingers to point. Saif shook his head.

“Oh, are you looking for a traveler’s map then?” Finally! He nodded. “Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

He went to the back room, slammed around some crates and returned with a very dusty rectangular wooden box. “Traveler maps are a tough sell in the capital. Cityfolk think they’re useless, country folk can’t get enough of em. I forgot I had some in stock when I moved here.”

He opened the box for Saif and pulled out a map small enough for Saif to comfortably hold.

“The magic in em’s old, but should still work like normal.” Saif tilted his head in confusion. The big man kneeled down to show Saif what the map can do.

“Well, traveler maps are enchanted to be far more detailed than a normal map. You could enhance the level of detail to accommodate tight passages and hidden paths, and with a guided touch, you could enhance the scope of the map to view the entire country at a glance. However, you would have to fill in some of the knowledge yourself by heading to these areas and writing information down yourself, or by acquiring a new traveler’s map that has recorded the area.”

… Now this was definitely familiar.

“Have you figured out what Mantriss was up to? Oh-” A different large man entered the shop, surprised to see Saif there.

“Oh, hello little Hero.” Huh?

“Huh?” said Mr. Carte. “You know this little creature, Ographer?"

“Well, not personally. Remember the whole thing at the food hall I told you about just now? When I was on the bus ride home, they said it was what caught the assassin.”

“I see. No wonder you were looking for a traveler’s map.”

“Give Hero a good discount and come help me with the oven or we won’t have any dinner tonight.” The man left the pair alone.

Mr. Carte waited for the footsteps to fade before whispering, “I was already going to give you a discount for how Mantriss treated you earlier, but Mr. Ographer gets what he wants.” He winked and cleared his throat, speaking in a proper voice. “Let's see- how does thirty-eight rupees for the map and two for a pen sound?”

Saif unclipped his wallet, dumping it out onto the counter, and letting the gems clatter around him. He blinked up at Mr. Carte, who was staring back wide eyed at the amount.

“Oh, are you familiar with the currency here?” Saif shook his head, “then you better learn quick. Shopkeepers more immoral than I might think you a test of greed.”

Mr. Carte pushed Saif’s money aside and pulled out gems from his own wallet. He picked nine gems, each a different color and set them down on the counter.

“You can count, correct?” Saif nodded.

“Read and write?” Saif shook his head.

“You should work on that. Anyway, this here’s a oner, this’s a fiver, a tenner, twenty, fifty, hundo, two hundo, five hundo and thousand. There’s also a ten thousand, but that one’s new. Only fools walk around with that much money and we ain’t that rich. Got it?”

Saif looked down at the spectacle of colors and tried committing it to memory before nodding.

“Good.” He took his money away, leaving only Saif’s gems on the table. “So, you owe thirty-eight rupees.”

Saif organized his money, and gave it in exact change. The map-maker placed his map in its dust box, wiped off the dust and handed it over.

“Good. Now get outta here.”

It was very dark when Saif tumbled out to the street, new map in hand. He pulled it out, watching it reflect the world around him through a top-down view. The map had a clock, a timer and even a compass that worked in real time! He used it to find his way back to Ralmine’s shop, but it was closed. Saif journeyed around town, finding the central tavern Shay Kha told him about.

He entered, a sweet aroma unfamiliar to him wafted through the air. Saif wasn’t sure what it was, but seeing how there were people fighting, dancing and slurring through their words, he could clearly tell it was alcoholic. Saif dodged through the drunks and made his way up to a barkeeper.

“Woah! You’re the bug hero!” Saif nodded, cringing at the smell. “You’re here earlier than we thought you’d be. Care for a drink?” Nope. “Alright then, suit yourself. Shay Kha’s room is the first on your left on the second floor.”

Saif scurried away, the sticky smell of mead still clinging onto him.

He heard a loud and dramatic sigh the moment he entered the room.

“I told you, Phileas, I’m not interested. You can take your shady business ideas elsewhere- oh. Hello, Hero.” Shay Kha barely looked up from the desk to face him. They tidied some papers and invited him closer.

“What brings you here, little Hero?”

Why was he here? He just stumbled around town looking for something to do to help him find Time. He pinched a few times, hoping that would be enough to get the message across.

“Oh right. That smith did say you should negotiate the terms with me. I suppose I can spare the time tonight. Come up, let’s have a chat.”