Chương 50: Ars Behemah

Noah looked around the bustling city. The teleportation gate had brought them directly to the center of Lævateinn. Heat shimmered through the air, but the citizens moved through it as if they had long since stopped caring. Bards stood on street corners, singing old songs about past Heroes for coins. Children ran between stalls with sticky sweets in their hands. Merchants shouted over one another, selling roasted meats, bright fabrics, and chilled drinks.

Some people lounged beneath shaded awnings, drinking from coconuts. Coconuts, apparently, were one of the city's most imported goods. Second only to alcohol. Others wandered into the countless bars scattered across the streets, laughing loudly before the day had even reached noon. Overall, the city seemed happy. Bright. Loud. Alive. Then something wet dropped onto Noah's head. He froze. Ava slowly looked at him. Noah's entire body was suddenly drenched in warm saliva. He looked down at himself.

Then slowly looked up. Towering above him stood a hulking pig-man. His skin was gray, thick, and rough. Two massive tusks jutted from either side of his mouth, glistening with grease. His floppy ears twitched every few seconds as he chewed. He wore luxurious robes embroidered with gold thread, though several stains ruined the fabric. The man was enormous, even larger than the teleportation gate behind them. In one hand, he held what looked like an entire deep-fried cow skewered on a lance.

He ripped another chunk from it with obvious delight.

"Good to have you…" He chewed loudly.

"Nom." Noah stared upward in horror.

"In my city, Hero." The pig-man swallowed, then grinned.

"I hear you're here to get my good friend Charlie." Noah wiped his face slowly. Ava covered her mouth. Lux floated beside them with the expression of someone enjoying this far too much. This man was Lord Ars Behemah. Lord of Lævateinn.

"Yes," Noah said, forcing himself to remain polite.

"That's right." Ars took another bite from the fried cow.

"That's all good with me." He spoke with his mouth full.

"Took me hiring ten people, but we managed to fill the void he left." Noah tried very hard not to think about the liquid dripping from his hair. Ars laughed loudly.

"If you convince him, all the power to you." He swallowed again.

"But Charlie's been utterly empty since his wife died." For half a second, his voice almost sounded solemn. Then he lifted the skewered cow again.

"Only alcohol seems to fill the void now." Ars threw his head back and laughed.

"That Charlie!" He slapped his enormous stomach.

"Not even I can outdrink him." Ava blinked. Ars grinned wider.

"I'd die of alcohol poisoning long before he passed out." Noah stared at him. Then at the cheerful streets. Then at Lux. Lux smiled.

"Welcome to Lævateinn." Noah wiped more grease from his face.

"I already hate it here." Ava forced herself to look away from him before she laughed. Then she turned back to Ars and bowed her head politely. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Do you know where we can find Charlie?" Ars let out a loud laugh. The sound was so deep it seemed to shake the ground beneath their feet.

"Try any bar in the city." Noah stared at him.

"Any bar?"

"It's ten o'clock now." Ars lifted the fried cow again.

"So odds are, he and his buddy are already wasted." Ava's smile strained.

"His buddy?"

"Don't know the guy's name," Ars said with a shrug.

"But they drink together often." He ripped another chunk of meat from the cow.

"Part of Charlie's severance package was that I would cover any alcohol he purchased, so he could drink to his heart's content." Noah's expression darkened.

"That sounds incredibly irresponsible to give to a father whose wife just died." Ars looked down at him. Then he laughed again.

"Who am I to question what fills a man's heart?" His tusks glistened with grease.

"If he drowns in the fill, then that is simply a blissful way to…" He bit down on the cow's head.

"Nom." The crunch made Noah's eye twitch. Ava stepped in before Noah could say something that would get them executed on their first day in the city.

"Do you have any idea which bar he might be at?" Ars swallowed.

"Nah." Ava stared at him.

"There are forty-seven bars in this city." He paused.

"Probably." Noah slowly closed his eyes.

"Probably?"

"Just head to one and hope for the best." Ars waved one greasy hand as he turned away.

"Good luck." Then Lord Ars Behemah, ruler of Lævateinn, waddled back toward his manor while continuing to devour what remained of the deep-fried cow. Noah watched him leave. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he sighed.

"I hate that man." Ava nodded.

"Completely understandable." Lux floated beside them, staring down the crowded street.

"Let's just find Charlie." She grimaced.

"Hopefully, he isn't too far gone." Noah looked at the city around them. Forty-seven bars. A grieving genius. A tournament coming in six months. The Crows somewhere in the same city. And a lord who thought alcohol poisoning counted as emotional support. Noah wiped the last of the grease from his face.

"Right." He started walking.

"Let's go find our city manager." Together, Noah, Ava, and Lux headed into the blazing streets of Lævateinn. It took thirty-eight bars. Thirty-eight. By the twentieth, Noah had stopped hoping. By the thirtieth, Ava had started keeping count out loud just to annoy him. By the thirty-eighth, Lux had declared that if the next bar was not the right one, she was going to start drinking too. Then they found it. A crooked wooden sign hung above the entrance. Pour Decisions. Noah stared at the name.

"I hate that this might be the place." A loud crash came from inside. Then the doors burst open. A man flew out of the bar and landed face-first in the sand. Noah, Ava, and Lux stared down at him. The man groaned.

"Damn it." He rolled onto his back, staring up at the white-hot sky.

"I start one fight, and I'm already cut off." His voice was slurred. Then he sighed.

"There's always another bar." The man had short, messy black hair, crimson eyes, and crooked glasses barely hanging onto his face. He wore white pajamas beneath a black sweater covered in cats. His eyes were hazy. His face was flushed. And he was very clearly drunk. Charlie Jupiter. The genius who was supposed to help Noah rebuild Gram. Charlie tried to sit up, failed, then pointed vaguely toward the bar.

"Alaric, this is bullshit." Noah froze. Ava's eyes widened. Lux's smile vanished. Another man stumbled out of Pour Decisions. He had short green hair, small demonic horns, and deep red eyes. A white lab coat hung loosely over a black sweater, and square black glasses sat crookedly on his face. He barely seemed aware of Charlie. Instead, he stared down at an amulet in his hand. Inside was a picture. A woman. A child. A family. The man swayed where he stood.

"My beloved Natalia…" His voice was thick with alcohol and love.

"And Kel…" He sniffled.

"I love you both." Noah did not move. Ava did not speak. Even Lux stayed silent. Alaric Sanguine. Child of the Seventh Hero. Son of Lumiar Sanguine and Olivia Sanguine. The man Reverie had asked The Doctor to find. Noah stared at him. Then at Charlie. Charlie attempted to stand, stumbled, and immediately fell back into the sand. Alaric lifted the amulet closer to his face and began muttering words of devotion to his wife. Noah, Ava, and Lux stood in the street beneath the burning Muspelheim sun.

Somehow, they had found both men at once. The man who could help rebuild Gram. And the man who, despite his alcoholic devotion, looked to be one of the strongest people Noah had ever seen. Both of them were drunk disasters lying outside a bar called Pour Decisions. Noah slowly looked at Lux. Lux stared back. Ava covered her face with one hand. Noah sighed.

"This city is going to kill me."