Cursed mage

Jessica, Ryan, and I bypass the person to see which businesses are here right now. Sometimes they leave the capital. That's why the list may be marked impossible. I scan the place. "Most of the business are floating stalls. But we do have a few businesses that are on the higher levels." I point out several with stationary businesses. They only have higher cost goods. They would find it worthwhile to pay for a magical protection than for magical movement. Things happen.

"I'll get them if there are any." Ryan pulls a key from his back. He sues the whistle for it. "Should take a minute to get here. Find the right stalls, Thomas."

I nod and place my hand in the right place. Then I look at the first word on the list. "Badger wood." It's specific. All things on the list are. A stall lights up. It's currently on ground floor. I look to Jessica. "Press the stall to call it. If you end up on another level find this box and do the same."

"Alright." Jessica presses the stall. It lights up a five minute timer and the letter 'G'. "We'll meet here between tasks."

I don't know if I should travel out. I can handle the search. Once we know where which stall has what we need, we can split up the final items when it comes to that.

A flyer lands next to Ryan. It is mostly just a large board with the same magical float balloons and propellers as a floating stall. He pulls up the handle and puts in the key. "Give me one."

I offer the next on the list and have the stall light up. Ryan won't look out of place. Flyers are common. With both off on the hunt, I start marking off which stall has which item. This will take some time but shouldn't be impossible. I look over the list. Were all of our lists duplicates? I should double check before we split again. At least everything can be found right now. And all of them are in the stalls.

With the items marked to stalls, I switch to figure out if any stall offers more than one of the items. This definitely was the fastest method.

Ryan lands first. "That wasn't too hard. Finding a stall in this mess isn't easy though."

"Yeah. The locations on the map are where they show for ground floor. If you called them to you from another level, you'll need to wait for them to appear but they do come to you." I scan my list. I think I have it organized. "Can I compare it to yours?"

Ryan hands it over looking over the map. "I can't use the device."

"Here. There's a fee that allows anyone to use it on the levels above." I tap the not in service box. "You can ask the person in the booth here for help, though. That doesn't exist on the higher levels." Everything between our lists are the same.

"I'll weigh the options." Ryan accepts his list back. I marked several for a few stalls. I didn't want him using extra money, so I gave him the stalls with the biggest lists. "That looks good."

"Ask very specifically and clearly. Those shops have a lot of items. If you ask for dung beetle, you'll get one." We want a dent beetle though. "Some shop can read others can't."

"That should be a requirement."

I shrug looking to Jessica moving to our side. "Someone needs to be able to read. That doesn't mean all their hires can. Got it?"

"Yup." Jessica looks between us. "Did you figure everything out?"

"Yeah. Can I see your list?" I can give her the eastern shops. I can take western. Then the biggest orders can be Ryan's. Should work. "Meet up here."

"Okay." Jessica clicks off two stalls. They sit next to one another. She should be fine doing both.

"Must be a map option for those running around." Ryan says getting his flyer to hover. "I'm going to call from the second floor. Should suit best."

"Good luck." I look at my list. If I pick the furtherest one, I can check to see if any on my list are still on the ground on my route back. Then I'll call for one who wasn't. Should work well enough. I slip out into the throngs of people. The hunt shouldn't be that difficult now that we're split well.

I'm calling my final stall when Ryan lands. "One more."

"No rush. I'll wait here." He closes down his flyer and sends it off.

Collecting the last item on my list has me returning to the information booth task complete. I find Jessica and Ryan chatting lightly. "Done?"

"Yup." Jessica holds up her bag. "Time to return back?"

"Yeah. Hope we made the time limit." It wasn't a short period where we wandered the capital. We weren't acting the tourists, though. We did as expected. It couldn't be considered a short task. As we walk back to the knights zone, we see four heading toward the capital. Bags and lists in hand. "Guess we weren't the only ones doing it."

Jessica nods. "Everyone has different tasks to prove skill and value." She runs once seeing Hydrangea resting outside of the gate. "We made it."

Hydrangea looks at each of us. "Everything?"

"Wasn't impossible." I show off my list where each stall is marked. "Did you think we'd fail?"

Hydrangea scans each of us. "No. As a group assignment, it is doable. Individually, you'd never manage." She motions us inside. "There is one final test."

I freeze noticing who is pacing among the knights: the king.

"He agrees to everyone. If the king doesn't want you as a knight, you do not get to join. Some months he just lets us decide things. Others he checks over certain people." Hydrangea moves to be before the judges. I keep myself half a step behind the other two. If he sees me here... What will I do?