Late in the afternoon, they arrived at the grand gates of Auralba. The red sky before dusk threw light on the pristine white walls, making it look as if it was covered in blood. With the burning torches, it looked like hundreds of menacing eyes on a lookout for the enemy.
It was imposing and majestic at the same time, giving the newcomers the silent warning not to misbehave inside.
"Let's first find an Inn for the night," Gerald said after paying the gate toll for his group.
As soon as the sun dipped below the mountains, the copper bells sounded and the gates swiftly closed. Those that came late were left outside the city walls no matter who they were or how hard they begged.
They were forced to sleep outside in the cold. Rules such as these were never broken and they were followed to the utmost standard. The wall was the first and also the strongest defense against wild beasts and bandits, as well as any potential enemy invasions.
Now that the commotion around the gates calmed down, the nightlife in the Capital was just beginning.
Now that the hardworking people had time to rest, the brothels and gambling houses, as well as Inns and fancy restaurants were starting to work at full capacity.
No matter where you went, at least in the outer ring, laugher and music were heard everywhere. People were drinking and having fun with friends, watching street performers do their tricks and magic, as well as cheering on a brawl that occasionally erupted among the drunk customers.
Being in the middle of it all, Gerald almost felt like he was back at home. Apart from different clothes and buildings, the atmosphere was quite similar to those of big cities on the weekend nights.
With all the noise, chaos, and bustling human activity, Gerald almost felt homesick.
Shaking his head he quickly removed this emotion out of his head. He was in a different world now, so bringing up old memories would do him no good, instead, he should spend his effort adapting to the new environment here.
The group found a quiet place, away from the main road, and ordered some food and a room at a random Inn. Since there were a few rooms with multiple beds, Gerald didn't bother with room separation and simply ordered one for all of them.
With a good night's rest and a substantial breakfast, they were finally ready to visit the Golden Pouch Auction House.
"Welcome to the Golden Pouch Auction House, how can I help you?" the apprentice behind the counter asked with a smile. Gerald placed his silver token on the counter, "Please deliver this to miss Emily, it's important."
"Hmm? What is this?" The apprentice picked up the token and observed it closely. A second later he recognized the design and his body shuddered. He quickly bowed and said, "Respected guest, I'll deliver it to the miss immediately! Please wait!" With these words, he ran up the stairs not far away to the second floor.
It was obvious he was informed of the significance of the token from his reaction. This time it all went smoothly and they were soon invited up to the office.
When they stepped in, miss Emily was already waiting for them, although, after she saw how many people came she was shocked.
'What is this? Wasn't the deal about taking care of one apprentice? Why are there four, is our Auction house a kindergarten?!' she thought, but not a single word came out of her mouth.
"Could you please wait outside? Go and explore the city, we will meet at the Inn in an hour," Gerald said to the girls behind him and handed them a few gold coins.
When they were gone he gently bowed and said, "Miss Emily, I presume?"
She nodded, "That's right! Come, sit, have some tea. Tell me about yourself."
"Thank you!" Gerald sat down on the fancy sofa and started speaking, "My name is Gerald, I come from Geldern, and my master told me to visit your place after he was gone. Do you... Do you mind if I put this here?" He turned his metal hand and with a silent 'click' it detached and fell to the floor.
"Uff, much better! This thing is heavy!" Gerald relaxed.
"…" Emily.
'What the hell?! I thought it was just metal armor, it turns out it's a prosthetic!' She hid her shock quite well, but she couldn't help herself but ask, "What happened to your arm?"
"Oh, I got into a fight with a big lizard last month…" He waved it off like it was nothing.
"Ah," Emily mouthed. "So you came here by the order of your master…?"
"That's right!" Gerald replied.
"Your master…?" she spoke as if trying to remember his name.
"…" Gerald.
"…" Miss Emily.
"If the master didn't tell you his name it would be inappropriate for me to do so… Please forgive me," Gerald quickly explained after he figured out that the woman wanted.
Emily Rosecloud quickly reacted, "Mn, yes, of course…"
'This is going nowhere!' Gerald roared in his heart, 'Okay, calm down, I need to keep friendly relations…'
"Master gave me a small gift for you just in case you were unsure about my identity…" He handed her a small box with half-a-dozen Stamina Potions.
"Oh, how generous! Thank your master in my stead, would you?" She gladly accepted the gift.
"Err, okay… I'll do that… Next time I see him…" Gerald was slowly losing his mind with her. 'Thank my master? He is gone for a year! Is your brain still working?!'
It appeared his words reminded her why was he even here and she felt embarrassed by what she just said. But, as any good businessman, she didn't show her embarrassment at all.
So, after wasting another ten minutes on useless banter, they finally got down to business.
"According to your master's wishes, we prepared a place for you. But we didn't know you would bring so many friends with you…"
"That's alright, we will manage. Actually, I mainly came here to talk to you about another thing altogether," Gerald stated. "Since you control the merchant guild here in Auralba, I was wondering if we could sell some Healing Potions to you in bulk. You see, I plan on opening a small potion shop and I was hoping if I could get your help?"
"Potions? Are those young friends of yours alchemists as well?" Emily asked in shock. 'You have to be kidding me! Two of those Elves looked like small children! Although they age slowly they can't all be apprentices of master G, can they?'
"Err, well…yes. We aren't as good as our master, but if it comes to brewing Health Potions, I think we can manage!" Gerald answered confidently even though he was bluffing.
"Really?" Miss Emily lifted her eyebrow, she was skeptical, "Give me an approximate number, how many can you produce per week?"
'How many? Uh, let me think.' Gerald thought for a while and then said a nice round number, "I think about one hundred should be accurate… Yes, we can produce one hundred Health Potions on a good week!"
Pff!
Miss Emily spat out her tea hearing that answer. "One hundred per week with four people?!"
'That's... that's more than three per person per day! And that's with a 100% success rate, are you all masters of alchemy?'
Having forgotten that normal people wasted a lot of time while making potions, Gerald based the number on his speed and while he gave a way lower number, as it turned out, it was still too high!
He had to think of something to cover his mistake quickly!