I’m hanging from the light at the top of the store like typical, watching all the workers scurrying around like ants. Although people are still running around everywhere, it’s definitely calmed down since we first walked in. I can’t say that it’s organized though. 

Anyways, Adelia’s been helping out by giving some of the workers fabrics and stuff, which seems pretty tiring. She’s been running back and forth across the entire place. I wonder how many dresses they’re gonna have to get done since it’s already seemed like FOREVER. This is so boring.

My eyes wander towards an open window near the counter. Man, it looks so nice outside, and a lot more fun too. I mean, I can’t even feel the warmth of the sun, but I know it must be that perfect weather where it’s sunny, but not enough to be burning, and the wind is blowing, but not too much that it’s too cold. I wish I could go outside so bad-

Wait a minute. There’s no rule saying that I have to stick to Adelia at all times right? Yeah! Even Adelia wandered around sometimes when I was watching T.V. She’d stare at me doing nothing and somehow get so annoyed that she’d fly outside our apartment saying that she’d be back soon. It wasn’t soon, by the way. It was like three hours after and she’d suddenly appear through the walls as I was brushing my teeth. I don’t really remember where she went though. 

Anyways, my point is that maybe I could get a good look at the town and gather some information! Plus, since no one can see me, I can probably eavesdrop on tons of conversations! Finally I can hear some gossip again! Oh, and I’ll be of use at least. Yeah, that part too. Being a spirit can be pretty handy sometimes.

I float down towards the window, and send Adelia a quick wave and a thumbs up to let her know what I’m doing. At this point, I don’t even bother explaining. She seems to be able to read my mind anyways. As always, she, like the dramatic little prick she is, sighs deeply before waving me off me off with a smile. Then she gives me a stern look as if to say “If you mess anything up, I swear to god I will hunt you down.” I swear, she can be such a drama queen sometimes. All I’m doing is checking out the town, so it’s not like I’m doing anything bad, right?

I mean, Silver seems to really care about ‘spirit etiquette’ or whatever, but technically I’m not a spirit, so I think I could be an exception.

I exit out the open window and fly up to the roof of the neighboring building. I take in a deep breath of fresh air before getting a good look at the place. Even though I can't see that much, it’s pretty obvious that this town is absolutely massive. There are rows of buildings going in so many directions stretching as far as the eye could see. All the roofs of the houses and stores have similar colors yet all seem to have a distinct personality to them. I smile at the sight. It’s so nice to be able to fly around. I’m seeing everything that I’d never be able to see as a human. It’s so refreshing.

There are a couple workers setting up some flowers on the lamp posts talking to each other. Ooh, my first mission! Listen to what they’re talking about! God, I miss socializing and gossiping and making new friends. 

I float down from the building and land gently on the cobblestone ground. There’s a bench conveniently placed right next to them, so I go sit on one of the men’s heads. This way I can definitely hear what they’re saying! Also, the other man is wearing a hat, and I would prefer to sit on a bald man’s head. It’s just easier. Look, I have my privileges and I’m going to use them.

“I’ll betcha I’m gonna sell a lot more than last year! Thanks to all those nobles in district three, to the south, word of this year’s festival’s been spreading fast!” the man in the hat says enthusiastically. He’s probably one of the shop vendors then. Also, it sounds like the nobles had a hand in something?

“Well said! I can definitely afford the cost for all the right materials now. Last year’s festival was pretty disastrous for my shop. Nobody wanted to buy any of my products since they were apparently ‘out of season and plain’,” the man I’m sitting on says and slumps his shoulders. I notice the other man smirking.

“How bout’ I propose a little competition?” the other party chuckles. “Since we’re both receiving an equal amount of funding, I'm sure we both have a similar amount of high quality products. Still, I wonder who will be the one selling more.”

The bald man stares blankly at the other, before bursting out in a hearty laugh. I hold onto his head to prevent from falling over.

“Alright! Challenge accepted!” he says loudly for the world to hear. “If I win, you’ll have to give me some of your finest spices. Don’t even think of backing out mid-festival, or even now!” They both slap their hands together in a fierce handshake.

“And if I win, I want you to sell me some ivory. A large one at that. And same to you brother!” hat-man says with a wild grin on his face. They both start laughing loudly. Okay, so maybe I chose the wrong people to eavesdrop on, but that was pretty interesting nonetheless. I’m kind of surprised that spices and ivory were still important in this era. I float away awkwardly and maneuver towards the next bench I see, a little bit farther away from those guys, who are still laughing at full volume.

Alright! So the information I’ve gathered from that situation! They’re both shop owners. I’m not sure what they’re selling though, but that doesn’t really matter. The fact that I just chose two random people on the street and they happened to both be shop owners probably means that there are going to be a lot of shops, although honestly, I kind of saw that while I was getting off the carriage. They also said something about the nobles, and that they're receiving some of the “best funding” so that means that the nobles are giving extra funding towards the festival for some reason. Man, this place sure is filled with rich people. For all that ‘the rich and the poor are extremely divided’ crap, I sure am not seeing any peasants around here.

Oh, but why are the merchants and shopkeepers getting funded? Is it somehow related to that civil war thing going on? Uh, but how would that even relate to that? I wonder if there are some people who are curious about that too. I close my eyes in order to pick up one of the conversations in the bustling street. Let’s see, a ripped dress… no. Annoying customers… A chicken stuck in a tree??? Wha-

“Isn’t it unusual that we’re receiving such large amounts of money so suddenly?”

I open my eyes and look up towards the direction of the conversation. Huh, that was quicker than I thought it would take. It’s like I have powers now. I float towards the two women talking. I really want to eavesdrop on that chicken conversation, but information gathering is more important. I mean, I want to go home, after all. I’ll try and hear about that chicken conversation later if I can find the time.

This time, I float above the two women instead of sitting on one of them. Hey, I don’t discriminate between genders, but I do discriminate whether they have hats on or not, and the two women are wearing bonnets, so of course I’m not going to sit on them.

“I’ve noticed it too,” says the woman wearing a blue dress, continuing their conversation from earlier. “It’s been helping my shop a lot, so I don’t really see the need to complain! I can afford the best materials as of now.”

The other woman, in a sunshine yellow dress, gives the latter a grim look. “It’s the same for me, I’ve been able to get hold of some of the best fabrics, but doesn’t it seem odd? Why would the nobles be giving us such large sums of money if there wasn’t some sort of catch?” She shakes her head with an uncomfortable expression.

“Are you perhaps implying that it could have something to do with the country's current situation? You know, with the war…” The blue dress woman gradually ends up whispering. 

“It could be something like that. But I can’t think of a reason why, unless it's regarding how much we’re being taxed? I was talking with Alice the other day, and we ended up on the topic of how the nobles are not getting taxed.” The yellow woman crosses her arms and starts tapping her foot. “Isn’t that just unfair?! Why are we having to pay more when the nobles are the ones with all the money?! Then after taking at least two-thirds of my money, they still say it’s not enough! I’m lucky that my business has been thriving, or else I might have gone into debt, or even…” She shudders, not finishing her sentence. 

Oh yeah. In our history books it did mention that one of the main reasons for revolts was because the lower class were getting too heavily taxed and the nobles weren’t. Actually wait, that doesn’t make sense! I’ll have to talk to Adelia about that later. Maybe she’ll know something about it.

The blue woman tries to calm her down and cautiously says, “... You know, they told us that if we don’t have money to pay, we can pay by sending them grains and meat instead.”

“Oh my! Is that why so many people have been taking up hunting and farming lately? Don’t they know that the people who’ve failed at growing their crops ended up worse than before?” She cups her hands around her mouth as she doesn’t want this information to sneak out. She’s kind of being obvious that she’s gossiping though. “Remember that young boy Benjamin? Apparently he was too stubborn to use some kind of field method, and all his crops died from lack of nutrients in the soil. That’s why he had to move out. I heard he’s living in the southwest of District 7 now.”

“So that was why he suddenly moved out? Oh, poor young Benjamin, he was only sixteen. Hah… This might be good for the peasants working under the nobles, but not for us shopkeepers! Why don’t they do something about our workers and handcrafted goods?!”

This time, the yellow woman shushes her, and with solemn faces they both sigh in unison.

“Oh well, it was nice catching up with you again Rosalynn. I hope your shop does well in the flower fest this year,” Yellow says while adjusting her grip on her handbag. “Let’s pray that the nobles like our supplies enough to keep us in business.” She turns with more than a little annoyance and starts walking away.

“Same to you Martha.” Blue, or now Rosalynn, replies while turning on her heel as well.

Welp, they just left me floating in the middle of the square. But hey! That was a pretty worthwhile conversation! I can’t wait to tell Adelia what I’ve learned so far. I glance at the clock nearest to me. It reads 2:46 pm, which means I’ve only been here about an hour or so. I’m so bored. How much longer is Adelia going to take?

I look over to an area surrounded by a few small oak trees. That looks like a pretty good place to rest and collect my thoughts. I’ve probably done enough research for today. Adelia had better be satisfied with all this extra work I’m doing for her sake! Actually, our sake, since I’m the one who really wants to get back home. 

I float up towards the trees, looking for the most stable and solid branch to lie down on. These trees are pretty high up, and I’ll probably be able to get a really good view of the city once I find a suitable place to relax. This one looks pretty solid, but there are too many trees in the way… This one has a little too many bugs. I don’t care if I can’t feel them, I hate bugs so much… and-

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a shadow hidden under a couple leaves.

Wait a minute… Is that a person?

I cautiously drift towards the area of leaves covering the shadow. I kinda want to see who it is, but what if it’s a monster or something? I mean, how often do you see a human shaped shadow in a tree this tall? And since holy power magic exists, I think, monsters could too. The only way a normal person could physically get up here is probably by floating.

Before I have a chance to debate whether I should uncover the leaves, or just poke my head through them, the figure parts the leaves away to get a better view of the place.

It’s Oliver.

Huh.

Are you kidding me? Oliver??? Adelia’s weird butler??? What’s he doing here?

Oh. Of course. He’s probably here to check up on her. I remember Isabel said a couple days ago that his “awkwardness” is just a way of showing concern or something. I didn’t know he went as far as stalking her! That’s kinda creepy, maybe I should warn Adelia about this.

I hear some rustling from a tree across the road, and what do you know? Isabel’s there too. Wait a minute… What the hell??? Why is Isabel in a tree too?! Actually, why are they both in trees?! And stalking Adelia?! Huh???

Yeesh, they’re a weird bunch of siblings. Maybe it’s better I don’t get involved with this. I let out a sigh. As soon as I do, Oliver’s arm pierces through my stomach.

 I stop breathing. My pupils shake as I look down without actually moving my face. Yep. The blade is definitely inside, going through my stomach. Cold sweat runs down my face and I try to make as little movement or noise as possible.

I exhale as slowly, the air around me heavy. Holy crap. If I wasn’t a spirit right now, I think he might have actually sliced me in half, skin and bones and all. His instincts are no joke. Don’t tell me Isabel is like this too. Oh, who am I kidding, she probably is, seeing how she’s also hanging around in trees.

We both stand there in silence, unmoving for what felt like hours but probably were mere seconds. He stares annoyed at what would look like an empty space to him and finally retracts his knife and puts it back on his belt. I quickly dart out of arm's length and I can hear him mutter “I guess it was nothing.” He seems to make an expression that asks himself, am I getting rusty? I stare at him in disdain, the shock finally dissipating.

Okay, not out of arm's length. I’m not going anywhere near them. At all. Never. Never, never, never again. Oh my god, I still have chills. Yup, that’s definitely enough exploring for now.

I move towards the first tree that I deem is very, very far away from the sibling and sit down on the sturdiest looking branch. It’s surprisingly perfect! There aren’t any bugs, it’s shady, and I can still get a good view of the place, so I won’t get lost. I let out a big sigh since I didn’t get to finish sighing before a hecking knife stabbed through my stomach. Anyways, enough of that. What was I doing again? Right, collecting my thoughts and looking through the information I’ve collected.

Okay, so first of all with those two men, I’ve found out that the shopkeepers and everything have apparently been getting loads of funding from the nobles, and the conversation with the two women proves that. Everyone’s been able to afford good materials and stuff, so maybe it's kind of good? Oh, but like one of those women said, maybe there’s a catch… She also said that everyone but the nobles were getting taxed. That’s pretty unfair if you ask me. Literally, monarchies back then kind of sucked. Also, some random boy named Benjamin did something, but I don’t remember. I think it had something to do with farming and hunting… Chickens? Oh, right… The chicken conversation… 

My eyelids are starting to feel heavy, and I yawn. I guess it won’t hurt to take a nap. I mean, Adelia’s probably gonna take a while. This breeze is pretty nice too. I think I did good enough today. Huh, wait, that’s weird, isn’t it? Don’t spirits not have to sleep?

Well, I’m not exactly a spirit, and I’m too tired to think about it right now.

Small steps. I just have to do this a little bit longer… 

Then I can go back to being a human…

Then I can go back… home…