[ Noctis is starting to sense he's a little in over his head at this point, but he nods and listens anyway, casting a furtive glance at the indicated bookseller. She catches his eye briefly and arches a brow; he glances away quickly. ]

Right, so I guess I'll just...ask her.

[ From his pocket he unfolds his own crude sketch of what he remembers his father's ring looking like. The most distinct feature he remembers, really, is the stoic knight carved into the jet black metal, gauntlets clasped over the white gem set into the center like it were a blade - though he's no artist, and he's pretty sure his rendition looks more like an angry octopus.

She takes one look at it and laughs at him.

A few minutes of quiet conversation later, Noctis returns to Alucard, grimacing sheepishly. ]

She said she sees a lot of jewelry pass through here and I should be more specific. But she consults with a few different sellers in the neighborhood. Said there was a jeweler the other day who asked her to lift some curses off merchandise he couldn't sell - not completely successful - and.... she consulted with a trader of not-so-legal oddities who may have had some of his wares confiscated last week by the city guard.