It was awfully convenient to find someone speaking in English, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Oleandra walked up to the stage and tried to get the merchant's attention. Even though she was much taller than the Dwarf, she had to look up to him due to the stage's height.
"Excuse me!" she shouted. "How is it that you came to learn English?"
"Hxzxkzl? I do not know this language," the merchant said with a puzzled look. "Judging from your clothing and your light skin, you must be Dusk Elf agents. Did your superiors not give you translation earrings?"
Oleandra nodded slowly. It seemed as if these Dusk Elves looked pretty similar to humans, as long as their ears were covered.
"In that case, why not purchase some of our wares?" the Dwarf said. "No need to worry, we'll give you a fair price; we don't discriminate against your kind. For Dusk Elves, that'll be two gold coins for a pair of translation earrings, or the equivalent in hacksilver."
That actually sounded pretty discriminatory to Oleandra, but she wasn't there to haggle. She fished out eight Gold Galleons from her pouch and handed them over to the salesdwarf.
"Goblin-wrought, aye?" said the Dwarf with an air of disgust.
"Is that a problem?" Oleandra asked him.
He shook his head. Despite looking as if he had just been handed a steaming pile of dung, he still pocketed the gold pieces without giving them a second glance.
"You must be with those two others," the Dwarf said, handing Oleandra four pairs of earrings. "They also tried to pay with Goblin gold and silver. One of them wanted to buy my entire stock of Light Elves, but his companion stopped him. Shame, that is."
He pointed to the back of the stage, where a bunch of dirty-looking House-Elves sat docilely. Each one of them had a price tag pinned to their chest. Most of them cost a handful of silver coins, but there was one with a monstrously high price tag.
"Why's that one so expensive?" Oleandra asked, pointing it out.
"Ah, dear customer, you have a discerning eye!" the Dwarf exclaimed. "You're of course aware of how our benevolent gods conquered Alfheim; of course, they rightfully took most of the best spoils for themselves: the Light Elves who possessed magic. We Dwarfs, as faithful servants of the gods, received the rest to use as slaves. However, what I have in stock is something truly rare indeed; a magical elf! Only five thousand gold pieces, limited-time offer only!"
"You mean those Elves aren't all magical?" Oleandra asked with wide eyes. This certainly explained where Earth's House-Elves had come from; they had been imported from another world.
"Of course not!" the Dwarf said, looking at her as if she had come from a different planet. Mind you, that wasn't too far from the truth! "The gift of magic is rare indeed in any species, which includes your own race, Dusk Elf! Odin's beard, how sheltered are you?"
Looking as though he had come to a certain realization, the Dwarf's expression changed, suddenly becoming much more servile and friendly.
"Dearest customer, would you happen to possess magic?" the Dwarf asked obsequiously. "If you did, then you would be afforded treatment as Honorary Dwarfs; you are entitled to a fifty percent discount for any personal purchases on top of having access to preferential prices reserved to dwarven citizens; it's the law!"
"Lumos," Oleandra muttered under her breath, producing a small ball of light at her fingertip, eliciting a gasp of amazement from the salesdwarf. The Wand-Lighting Charm was easy enough that she could use her own finger as a medium for the spell.
"Valued customer, here are your six gold pieces back," said the Dwarf, bowing deeply as he offered Oleandra her money back. "Is there anything else this lowly servant can help you with today?"
It looked as if things were very different here than on Earth. Back home, Wizards had to hide in the darkest corners of the world in order to avoid being discovered by Muggles. But here, it looked as if magical beings lived as kings! It certainly didn't feel bad to be treated this way, but at what cost could such luxury be afforded to this upper class?
"Yes," Oleandra responded uneasily. "You said earlier you had served two of our kind; do you have any idea where they might have gone?"
"They headed towards the mountain at the centre of the city, your worshipfulness," the Dwarf said respectfully. "You can't miss it."
Oleandra thanked the salesdwarf and returned to the others with the translation earrings. To her surprise, upon closer look, the earrings had been engraved with two runes in their Nidavellir forms: Ansuz on the right, and Gebu on the left. Together, they meant 'Gift of Communication.'
"Hel's bells!" she swore. "I could have bought a single pair and made three others if I'd known they were based on rune magic!"
Even though she had only spent two Galleons from the original price of eight, she still felt as if she'd been scammed!
"Well, at least now we know where Draco and Ginny went," said Daphne, thinking. "But we still don't know why they haven't returned. We should proceed with caution if we're to retrace their exact steps."
It's not as if they absolutely needed to go after the two. They were currently in the City of Gateways, and Oleandra had deciphered the runes necessary to activate the Midgard gate. The Realm Travel spell required a constant flow of a certain level of power to create a gate out of nothing, which was why Oleandra had needed four other Wizards of her age to power the spell.
However, even a first year had magic potent enough to open an existing Gate, even if it was only to crack one open a sliver; which meant they could all go back home to Earth right now if they wanted to. Even so, Oleandra felt responsible for bringing Draco and Ginny into this mess.
In the end, the four girls decided to separate into two groups; Oleandra and Daphne would head towards the city centre to find their missing members, while Tracey and Stacey would find the Midgard gate and return home.