Chapter 42 - An Old Acquaintance (3)

The tinkerer, a man with a heavyset beard that shrouded half of his dirty face, gave me a wide smile that showed off a few of his yellow teeth. “Glad ta help ya, young sir. This tournament be the best thing ta happen to this city. It be hosted by the baron ta celebrate his eldest daughter coming of age. All ta fighting men be coming here, hoping to win the attentions of his daughter. Business be booming, especially ta whoring.” At his last sentence, the dirty, bearded man gave me a wink, thinking that I was most likely a young, lost noble or a rich merchant. The quality of my clothing also helped his speculation. “You be participating in ta tourney too?”

“Thank you, and have a nice day,” I said, ignoring his question and tossing the tinkerer a silver coin for his troubles. I was being generous, but it wouldn't hurt since I had a lot of silvers and golds in my purse, which was hidden underneath my shirt. There were barely any coppers and the coins were just blood money, anyway. I could always kill more thieves and bandits.

The man deftly caught the silver coin, his action akin to that of a snake striking at its prey. The coin disappeared into the folds of his tattered, heavy robes. It was as if the coin had never been there, so fast it had disappeared. There were only his pair of hands with its long, dirty fingernails left to be seen.

Even now, I was still receiving stares from newcomers. They were getting a little tedious, even though I did not mind the stares. It would do me no good to stand out in this city initially with the goal I had in mind.

I put up my cowl, hiding more than two-third of my face and went to look for an inn. I didn't want to attract any attention yet.

The tournament event had left open a new possibility for me to use. I could, in effect, participate in the tournament and win the attention of Baron Serle's eldest daughter, which would in turn win the baron's attention.

It would make finding out the cause behind my father’s and my death much easier if the baron were to trust me. I could also make use of his daughter, but the possibility of failure crossed my mind.

My other choice was to directly storm the baron's house and cause chaos everywhere, but many innocents would die. A waste of lives and unforeseen circumstances might result from doing that. Torture would be a good method to use, but the possibility of lies was a great risk. Most creatures, under great pain and pressure, would do anything and tell anything, including lies, to get out of it.

I weighed the two choices inside my mind. They were closely tied, but the first choice was better. I had to assume that I could not transform into a dragon, so it would be harder for me to get out of unforeseen situations.

In my human life, I had not heard stories of such enormous dragons who could fly. I knew better now, though. Only the lesser dragons (Xieth), much smaller and less intelligent, were seen in the human lands. And even these sightings and battles were rare. It made me think that Astlan dragons were a secretive bunch, and perhaps it was why the eldest gave me a subtle warning with his creation of garments. The outline of the roaring red dragon on the front of my shirt, however, left me a little curious as it gave clue to what I was. But perhaps it was just one of the eldest's quirk; he did love getting me into troubles.

Some more moments passed as I navigated through the bustling city, dodging the torrents of children playing games and the flow of grown men and women doing their tasks. It was only when I found a good sizable inn that I stopped walking.

From initial appearance, the inn did not look cheap, nor luxurious, just somewhere in between. It would suit my needs perfectly. The name of the inn, Silver Beauty, also did not sound bad. The inn would most likely be peaceful and dignified, with no rowdiness, or so I hoped.

Once inside, I found myself in a large, spacey room with a few of the many wooden tables occupied by groups of people talking animatedly to each other. Almost all of them barely gave me a second glance before resuming their conversations. I suppose the sight of a cowled man carrying a shabby, short sword was not a new sight.

I headed toward the prim, young woman behind the counter at the side of the room. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion when she saw the weapon behind my back, her initial smile quickly turning sour despite my luxurious-looking clothing, albeit a bit dusty.

“I would like a room, miss,” I said, my voice formal, but indifferent.

The woman moved forward a little, trying to peer into my cowl with no luck. She was most likely already making judgments about me from my youthful voice and from the way I was dressed.

“Remove your cowl, stranger. It is bad manners to do conversation with someone without showing your appearance.” The woman's voice was crystal-clear, firm with a hint of sharpness in it. Her dark brown hair was tied into a long tail by a yellow band, making her forehead appear more prominent.

Ah, the disadvantages of having white hair, I thought as I removed my black hood. I would have to remember to ask Navra how he could so fluidly change his appearance into anything he wanted. The eldest had already told me that it was an intrinsic magic, which only he could do, but I wanted a more in-depth explanation, regardless.

I observed the woman's fair, heart-shaped face, but the only signs of surprise she showed at seeing my piercing green eyes and white hair was a laugh and a twitch of her light eyebrows. “You know, stranger,” she said, her voice lined with no little mirth, “you would fare much better were you to show your handsome face. It would certainly have relieved my suspicion.”

“Ah, I will take your advice into consideration,” I said politely, wishing that she would hurry up and explain about the room I was asking for.

Hearing that, the young woman stood taller, straightening herself and jutting out her pair of not insignificant breasts toward me. They were nicely shaped and rounded, I observed from the corner of my eyes.

She had been hoping I would stare at her two “weapons,” but only frowned a little when I did not—trust me when I say that I am very good at observing my surroundings. The frown was only momentary, however. It soon turned into a large smile. “So why have you come to this fair city of Asolance for?” she asked. Then a small look of embarrassment came over her. “Oh right, silly me. I need to ask for your name first.”

“Tournament.” I paused a little. “Verath.”

I had made my replies as succinct as possible, hoping she would get the hints.

The woman was not even a little deterred. She continued on with her conversation, ignoring my hints or perhaps she did not even notice them.

“That is so exciting, Verath!” she exclaimed in a voice as sweet and soft as a kiss. “Are you going to enter?”

I was now overcome with multiple responses forming in my mind. Should I lie to her to cut short this conversation or should I ask her about the room again, ignoring her question. Before I could decide, however, a voice interrupted me from behind.

“You will have to forgive my daughter, good stranger. She sometimes cannot take a hint. I almost believe most of her brains went toward her breasts.”

I turned around in time to see the older woman giving a short sigh and a shake of her head. Her face, though older with the passage of time, was similar to the prim young woman behind the counter. It was obvious that this older woman was her mother.

The mother walked passed me and glared at her daughter. “Alice! I leave you alone for just a moment to mind the counter and you are already making a guest uncomfortable.” The mother then gave a small smile to lessen her scolding. “Not that you don't have my sympathies.”

“Were I a little bit younger and unmarried, I would have certainly gobbled you up like a small animal.” The mother gave me a small wink. “Now then, what can I do for you?”

“A room, please,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable at this mother and daughter pair.

“Ah yes, would you prefer one of the nicer rooms for 30 silvers or the normal one for 20 silvers. The charge is at the rate of two days.”

“The nicer one,” I responded, taking out one of the two coin purses from underneath the pockets I had made under the shirt. I counted out twenty, small silver coins and a gold coin, and by the time I was done, the coin purse was significantly lighter with only a few coppers and gold coins left. The rooms were expensive, but that was only to be expected of one of the largest cities in the kingdom and of a medium-priced inn.

The coins were soon swept up by the mother and placed inside the locked chest behind the counter. The amount of money I had paid would give me a room for eight days, sufficient time to achieve my goal, or at least I hoped it was sufficient.

“Ah yes, normal meals will be free for however long you are staying, but the nicer and more expensive meals, you will have to pay. Alcohol, you will also have to pay yourself,” the mother said.

Beside her, the daughter was happily smiling, trying to meet my eyes with her own soft-brown eyes in hopes of catching my attention. She was most likely smiling because she had seen that I was going to stay here for eight days. It was either that or the young woman had a cheerful attitude; I was not a haughty man, or rather dragon, but it was obvious to me that the woman was happy because of the former reason.

“Oh yes, could you tell me more of the tournament? Such as when it will start and where to sign up for it?” I asked the mother, knowing that asking the daughter would be a waste of time, having experienced her verbosity.

There was a slight frown on the mother's face. “I don't really condone violence but I suppose the tournament is a good thing. Brings good business.” Her frown disappeared when she gave me a better look and a better glance at the shabby short sword behind my back. “Well, it is none of my business if you are going to participate, stranger. The tournament will begin in three days time and you can sign up and enter it after passing a test from one of the three places where they give it out. The three places will be at the northern quadrant, the western quadrant, and the eastern quadrant of the city. Just ask for some directions, since most of the people will know about them. Or follow the other fighting men.”

“Thank you,” I said, quickly taking the key from her daughter's hand. I had done it in such a quick fashion that the daughter would have no chance of trapping my hand.

The mother noticed, but did not say anything about it. “Your room is the room numbered 3 on the third floor.”

I nodded before asking another question, “Do you give out baths?”

“Yes,” the mother said, “a bath will cost a silver and our helping hands will deliver the tub straight to your room after heating the water. Or if you prefer, you can just go to the city's public baths.”

I thanked the mother again and headed toward the stairs leading to the third floor, but not before receiving curious stares from the guests around the occupied tables.

Just like she had said, the room was numbered 3 and opening the door with the iron key was a smooth process. The inside of the room consisted of two, nice single beds, a desk with a chair, a large window, and the beds themselves looked comfortable enough.

Undressing everything, I put the clothes, the short sword, and the coin purses on the desk. Then I chose the bed closest to the door and immediately went to sleep on it. I had been flying at a fast-pace for a whole day and night and was a little tired with circling around populated areas and killing bandits and thieves for money. An hour of respite on the bed would make me fully-rested and by the time I would wake, it would be early afternoon.

My last thoughts before I fell asleep were of my death, the Serle family, and the tournament they would host.