Today, the City of Scholars was no longer blessed with sunshine. While Shade was still inside the Blue Ink Library, he could hear the patter of rain outside. Sure enough, when he emerged into the alley beneath an umbrella, he found that it was raining locally.
However, both the Upper City District and Lower District of Arcadia City were built on cliffs, so there was no need to worry about flooding. As for landslides, the city had existed for a thousand years, so that should not have been a concern either.
Carriages were hard to find on rainy days. Shade waited at the entrance to Green Vine Street for quite a while before catching one to the Tower of Marvels in the Upper City District. Since they were traveling uphill and the streets were slippery from the rain, the coachman did not dare drive too quickly.
As a result, Shade was unusually late for an appointment. When he had parted from Margaret, he had clearly accounted in advance for possible mishaps. Yet by the time he got out of the carriage at the entrance to the Tower of Marvels beside Scholar Square, it was already 11:03, three minutes past the agreed time.
Shade felt very apologetic and had even thought of exactly how to apologize. But when he found the 1st Floor counter and explained that he had arranged to meet Mr. Finch and Old Mr. Munoz, the Tower of Marvels manager hurried over and apologetically told him:
"The two gentlemen mentioned earlier that they were meeting with you, but they have not arrived yet. Perhaps it is because of the rain outside. Would you like to rest on the fifth floor for now? Or perhaps I could have someone show you around the Tower of Marvels?"
The two old