Adam looked surprised at the middle floors market; the last time the boy came to buy the white robe, he had come during rush hour, but now it was very early, and the market had a different look.
Everywhere, people with black robes could be seen moving boxes from one place to another; this was a time for market workers rather than customers coming to shop. But fortunately for Adam, the stores were still open to the public, although it was somewhat annoying to be served while they deposited new merchandise.
As for the market's appearance: like everything in the middle floors, wood predominated. The wooden aisles didn't have doors on the walls to enter the stores; instead, there were paintings, and each painting represented a shop. If one immersed their hand in the painting, they could enter the store depicted in that specific painting.
Therefore, the famous middle floors market was a large complex of wooden aisles filled with paintings. For Adam, it was quite picturesque to see how the workers constantly immersed themselves in the paintings. The most interesting part was watching the workers being sucked into the paintings; it seemed like they collided with the paintings with their boxes and vanished into thin air like magic.
The most common shops in this market were the bookstores. There was a specific bookstore for each literary genre, dedicated to trading that type of book. But there were also stores for curiosities, groceries, toys, and furniture.
The second most common stores to see in the market were clothing stores. As the old bookshelf had said, the librarians cared more about their attire than the faces of others, even though they all wore the same robes.
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In the market, there were several stores dedicated to selling robes, and only one store exclusively dedicated to modifying robes. Then there was a single store dedicated to making glasses and several stores for making shoes.
There were also shops with attire not so traditional among modern librarians, like stores dedicated to making hats and canes. There were even stores that solely made earrings and rings. Although these shops were not as frequented, Adam couldn't understand how they managed to keep functioning without customers.
Adam was heading to a shoe store to meet with a cobbler who could help him find high-quality shoes, ones that would befit a middle floors student and wouldn't arouse suspicions. After passing through several colorful paintings that moved as people worked inside, Adam found the store he was looking for.
Placing his hand on the painting, Adam felt a tickle and stepped inside the painting.
Adam appeared inside the store and heard the sound of a little bell that served as a doorbell, indicating the arrival of a new customer to Doña Camila's shoe store.
The store seemed to be empty, so Adam ventured further inside to see if he could find someone. The walls inside the store were lined with shoeboxes, and there was a comfortable armchair with a footstool in the middle.
Finally, someone approached to assist him. It was a somewhat plump woman with a friendly face. She didn't appear very old, but definitely not young either. She was wearing a black robe and had a pair of beautiful glasses on her face.
—It looks like you're in a rush to come at this hour, young man— the lady said with a rather soothing voice —Welcome to Doña Camila's Shoemaking, I am Camila, your trusted cobbler. How may I assist you, young man?
—My dad told me I need a new pair of shoes— Adam replied, somewhat nervous —These got torn while I was playing.
—Your dad... I see...— Camila said, somewhat flustered, but with a smile —How about you make yourself comfortable in the armchair, and I'll measure your feet. It will only take a few minutes, and you'll surely make it to school on time.