Chương 1318: [1234] - Y06.134 - Arisa II

The salty air coated the inn with the smell of working bodies, those with calloused hands, those with alcohol running through their blood, those with pouches far too light for how hard they were working. The wooden inn had been built along the docks and out towards the rest of the city. It wasn't built like a normal inn, a square or rectangle, but spread out like a fungus trying to find water.

The lower floors were dirty, the higher floors much cleaner, with guards in blue, each wearing coloured turbans, the men with neatly lined beards, the woman scarves which covered the lower half of their helmet, providing greater protection than their male counterparts. Workers hurried to and fro, carrying large baskets, crates, rolling barrels, eager to open up said barrels with their calloused hands for the sweet nectar within.

"Faz! Faz!" called an Aswadian, waving a hand towards the younger fellow, the teen who was yet to become a man, but whose hands were beginning to grow the hardiness of a working man.

"Ay, Murad! Murad!"

"Ahm Murad, you cowsucker!"

"Aya, ahm Murad, ahm Murad, what troubles you?"

"What troubles me is that the barrel's lid has red paint, you bastara," Murad replied, his hands upon his waist as he took a cheeky break while telling off the younger fellow.

"Red paint?" Faz glanced down at the lid, staring at the mark upon the barrel, which needed to be cleaned away once it was stored, but he was fairly certain there was something about the red mark which meant this barrel was special. Faz looked up towards the Aswadian, who was almost ten years his senior, his eyes full of confusion.

"Red paint, red room."

"Acha!" Faz slapped his forehead, shaking his head, turning the barrel around to take it to the red room, where they would need to keep the wine for a few weeks, since they had paid so much for the wine after all. This particular barrel was from Aldland, meaning it had become more expensive in the last few years, especially now, while those marked with green were from Floria, the tax for each barrel decreasing substantially.

Which meant that the amazing Florian wine was so much cheaper, and the owners were more likely to slip them some at the end of the day.

"Faz! Remember! In the back, in the back, not the front!"

"Ahm! You cannot say such things, you are not my wife!"

"Bastara!" Murad threw an imaginary stone at the young man, chuckling to himself before noticing the large number of figures making their way to the inn. He narrowed his eyes, noting the large number of pale skinned figures, the tanned skinned Iyrmen, as well as the darker and the grey skinned Iyrmen, before his eyes darted to the dark skinned Aswadian wearing black vestments, fashioned in that way.

Dunes nodded his head towards the Aswadian worker, reaching out to shake his forearm, clasping the back of the man's hand with another.

"Sa'am, bless you this day."

"Wa'lay, always blessed, Mo, always blessed."

"I do not know any decent inns in Arisa, brother, can I ask for your help?"

"There are many great inns, Mo. If you wish to spend one beht, there are some inns, but they are no good for a Mo, two beht…" The man smiled in the way that said they weren't good either.

"Three beht, there is, if you follow Sulay's Road, you will see it, it has a tower with a rough dome painted gold, maybe, thirty minute walk at most."

"Thank you, brother," Dunes said, reaching into his cloak, and as he revealed the silver coin, Murad shook his head and refused vehemently at least ten times, until Dunes placed a hand on his shoulder, raising his brows, as if daring him to refuse again.

"I bless you and your family for a thousand days." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Noo-," Murad began, quickly clearing his throat.

"Praise be."

"Praise be." As Dunes dealt with the Aswadian, Adam handed over a large pouch to Captain Cumulus O'Shan, flashing a wide smile towards him.

"I wanted to say thank you again for helping us out, and for speeding all the way to Arisa for us," Adam said.

"It was no issue," the Captain replied, taking the pouch from the half elf, before noting it was slightly heavier than he expected for the size of the coins within, meaning the coins were gold, at least fifty, he surmised.

"Just a little thank you, to buy some nicer drinks for yourselves today," Adam said, winking.

"Are you running away?" Ashuk asked, inhaling sharply, his chest rising, the inasir flexing his muscles.

"No, no. We'll spar tomorrow in the evening, probably. Don't worry, I won't leave until we have a good fight. I'll prepare everything properly too, and I need to figure out which weapon would be best to use against you, since we'll be giving each other a proper chance."

"You said the sword was best?"

"Yeah, but that's only if you're not able to dance in time. If you do, this axe of mine might be better, due to how long it'll take for us to fight."

"Ah!" Ashuk nodded his head, since their fight would take so long, it was better for Adam to fight with a weapon that did not explode with might, but held a sharper edge for longer. Seeing the half elf actually putting in effort, Ashuk smiled, almost feeling a warm, boyish flush appear on his cheeks, not that the half elf would notice.

"I'll swing by around later afternoon, early evening, we can hang out a little, and then… we'll get to business after. Don't wake up too early, just in case we're a little too tired at the end of the day."

"Shall we fight in the morning?"

"No thanks, I don't want to feel like death all day," Adam replied, groaning lightly, his entire body already feeling the ghostly itch of the ache from fighting someone as powerful as Ashuk.

'Is that The Spear?' Murad thought, his eyes darting between the others, realising they were part of the Windy Warhawk.

"Oh, actually, any chance we could borrow a merman woman for Kizwolima, so she doesn't feel too alone, and… I don't know how to take care of a merman, you know? Does she needs to like, sit in a bath tub in the day?" Adam's jaw tensed up as he did his best not to laugh.

"More seriously, though, I don't want her feeling too lonely until she gets used to us over the next couple of days. I'll pay, whatever, name a price."

"Do you want to?" Ashuk asked one of the other mermen.

"I will do it," one of the mermen replied, the woman nodding her head to the half elf.

"We'll only need you for a few days, but whatever you want, I'll pay it. Hopefully, less than a hundred gold, but if you want a hundred gold, sure," Adam replied, shrugging his shoulders. It was fortunate John did not speak Elementi.

"Ten gold, and pay for my room and board, and I will watch over the girl," the woman said, reaching out to shake the half elf's forearm.

"Make it twenty," Adam said, reaching out to shake her forearm, and she shrugged, accepting the raise without bother.

"Jash, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Jash replied, raising her brows lightly.

"Really?" Adam asked.

"Yes."

"Jurot, I remembered her name!" Adam stated excitedly, suddenly so chuffed he had somehow managed to get her name right.

"Well done," Jurot replied, patting the half elf's shoulder. For Adam, this was perhaps more impressive than defeating Ashuk. Kitool could feel it, someone, something, was completely focused upon her, but she wasn't sure what. As she glanced aside, she spotted all manner of people, from the workers, to the guards, even to the nearby children, some of whom played near the docks, but none focused upon her.

Yet, she did not notice the one child whose eyes remained focused upon the group, fairly certain he had seen them here a couple of years ago.

'Her eyes are still keen,' the boy thought, nibbling upon his skewer, not that he needed to eat to live any longer. However, as he spied the children, he also noted the half dragon, who was certainly a dragon in disguise, confirmed as their eyes met.

'Ho?' Bael thought, surprised to see one of those here.

'I cannot believe someone was so courageous to try it.' The child nodded his head, and Bael returned the bow of his head, acknowledging the monstrous boy, who was perhaps more insane than even himself.

"Lord Bael," Taygak called, before trying to follow his line of sight, only for Bael to step in front.

"Young Taygak," Bael replied, and he met Taygak's curious gaze, but though she was curious, she understood she was too weak to have such a curiosity.

'Even today, Aswadasad is home to a thousand monsters?'