Unbeknownst to Lars, Felix had felt that half-Lycan's gaze as he turned by the corner of that street. He'd be lying if he said he didn't know who Laris was. It wouldn't be the first time he'd seen this person, whether it be from a far or from the posted sketches of a wanted person by the city bulletin boards; but, it is the first time he had allowed the other person to see him. Unexpectedly, this person had become a rebel the next time they met. Felix was aware that he'd have to relay this information to the Ministral Mage so that they could inform the Alpha King as per the two country's alliance.
Felix tilted his head robotically. Human emotions eluded him, as if he was a robot designed to mimic and display pre-recorded expressions based on the data provided by the people around him. If there ever was any emotion unique in him, it might've been apathy, with a tiny dash of curiosity.
What's your next move, little rebel?
He envisioned the movement of the tiny chest pieces, the dark and white pieces soon to break out of their stalemate; the faces of the players shrouded in the dark. Who was it really—the person who had been manipulating the strings all along?
Felix felt intrigued as to what would happen now. He had knowingly let the rebel leader pass the borders and enter Sorcerer's Nation. Felix wondered what his 'master' would do now. For him, who did not know displeasure, he could only let this 'lover' try and manipulate him, however, was he really in control?
Squinting his eyes slightly, it looked as if Felix was just a few moments from sleeping, as he passed by the different aesthetically-pleasing buildings by the street.
Just like Salciorne, Evidna City was a city tailor-made for most races; the shops, houses, and inns having multiple entrances for convenience so whether their customers were a Sorcerer-kind or of a different race that was either somebody's slave on an errand or not, they'd be welcome.
Sorcerer's Nation had always thrived upon tourism. Their tag line in attracting many other had always been 'Smile more in Salciorne'. Of course, this attraction for the other weaker races wasn't always a good thing, as most of the time, the naïve and innocent would be kidnapped half-way through their vacation, only to be trafficked as a slave on the next day. So albeit the beautiful scenery of cobbled roads and exquisite housings, the kind and hospitable residents, and the freedom they try to advocate every time, Laris knew that the people heading this nation could only be hypocrites. And if people of this nation knew these atrocities that happened in the shadows of their community but decidedly turned a blind eye, then they're also one and the same.
Disgusting, Laris thought. He turned to look at the inn in front of him.
There was a small platform and door by the roof, as well as in several other levels of the six-storey building. They seemed to be randomly placed on whichever level, however, they were vertically aligned. Upon opening the door was a long pole stretching from the roof to the ground floor. Sorcerer customers tend to travel by broom so to get to the reception, they typically just zip down the pole unto the ground floor to talk to the reception counter.
Albeit small, this inn was already one of the bigger inns in Evidna City, but because of its bad position, there were fewer customers than expected.
Having been a fortress for so long, many people come to Evidna City to trade goods from everywhere. Eventually, this fortress became a buffer city that also promoted in trading, similar to Port City. However, unlike Port City, they had full control of what happens in Evidna City. The inn that Laris entered only had an average amount of people coming in.
He guessed that there'd be a lot more people come rush hour.
Due to the broom travel ban, only the inn's main and ground floor doors were open.
"Ann, Mina", a staff from the counter greeted. It seemed as if they were regulars of this in. "I received your fire-bird letter. You're just in time. I've reserved three rooms for you. Where's Felix?"
Ann cheerfully greeted back this person and answered, "He went back to the rentals place to give back Roxy to his rightful owner." She sighed.
"Roxy?" The staff peeked at Mina in question.
Mina, "The ox."
The staff suddenly looked enlightened.
"Do you have another room to spare?" Mina asked as she glanced at me.
"Another room?" The staff unconsciously followed Ann and Mina's line of sight. Once the staff saw me, they quickly agreed, no questions asked, "Sure! One person just happened to leave a few moments ago. If you don't mind, then why don't you have the first three available rooms. Then, while Felix isn't here yet, we'll clean up the fourth room just in time for him to come back."
Mina, "Sounds good. Thank you."
"Then, please come with me", the staff passed under the counter and escorted each of us to our rooms. They weren't adjacent to each other but my room and Mina's room were on the same second floor while Ann was on the third, and Felix's room was supposed to be on the fifth.
"I'll leave first", Mina waved as she walked to the end of the hall for her room. The staff had notified us our own room numbers.
"Will you be fine?" Ann worriedly peeked at me, only to be pushed by the staff towards the stairs.
"What, got something to say about our service?"
Ann simply laughed, "Fine. I'll come back after my bath. Bye bye~." Her worries eased at the staff's playful retort. She left shortly afterwards, climbing the stairs to her floor.
"This way, please", the staff smilingly gestured to a door.
Opening the door, the room revealed was not to small but big enough for a single person. It wasn't lavish in the least bit but it had the essentials along with a small table and a sofa as well a cabinet and a built-in bathroom. It was good enough for the lower to middle class who come by to visit.
"There are clean towels and clothes in the cabinet over there. There is also a lot of space in it for your things. The bathroom is over there. You'd need to set the magic item there for the hot or cold water if you want to bath. If you have anything you need or anything you need to ask, please don't hesitate to call us." The staff gestured to one of the magic items than looked like a well-polished sheep horn.
Laris didn't say a thing as he watched the staff kindly demonstrate the proper way of using the inn's telephone, assuming that Laris was also a previous slave that was freed by Felix, just like Ann and Mina. Unlike the Lycan-kind that were temporarily ordered to guard the gates, the staff here were purely from the Sorcerer-kind, so none of them could guess that Laris was a half-Lycan.
Of course he knew how to use everyday magic items. Even before he rebelled, he had been exposed to a lot of the magic items and potions that this nation had provided. They even had their own small Magic Market at Lycan Kingdom.
One could see the importance that the Alpha King had placed among this race as they're the only ones allowed to go in and out of the double walls that protected the wolves' kingdom.
"This", Laris stared at the colorful pebbles neatly arranged by a small square cushioned box.
"Oh. These are the new trends nowadays. What's it called, oh! Dye-a-Little! Or was it Dye-a-Lot? In any case, these pebbles are imbued with hair color changing magic that would last for a few days. Our inn was one of the few to endorse it since the manager knows the product promoters, and with the festival happening soon, the manager also decided to give the customers of our inn free exclusive Dye-a-Little's. Feel free to use them."
The staff leaned a little closer, the back of their hand covering their mouth in a whispering gesture, "If you could just advertise our inn at the festival in exchange for it, we could highly appreciate it." The staff winked at Laris.
"Thank you." Laris nodded gratefully at the staff, giving him the signal to leave him on his own. Once alone, Laris headed to the bathroom to take a long awaited bath.