After successfully acquiring a visa for Kyōi, they met up with Leilani before heading towards a large building that looked like it was made of purple crystals. The door was made of the same material as the walls and was embossed with silver symbols. Noticing Kyōi staring at the runes, Malak explained, "Those are runes to symbolize good luck, protection, and to ward away evil. A lot of the taverns have runes like those either on their door or right above the doorway."
As Leilani opened the door, Kyōi glanced around the interior of the tavern, taking in the sights. At one side of the tavern, a roaring fire blazed cheerfully, its smoke upwards through the chimney xey hadn't noticed from the outside. Wooden tables were scattered around the room, with many of them filled with people eating and drinking.
At the side of the tavern opposite the fireplace was a small stage, where a few musicians were playing their instruments. Xey could see a lyre, a flute, an accordion, and an instrument that looked like a small guitar, but with four strings. The area directly beside the stage was empty of tables, instead filled by people dancing along to the music.
At the polished wooden bar countertop was an tall and muscular woman with dull green skin. She wore a set of animal skin clothes and had two large fangs jutting out from her bottom jaw. Upon seeing her, Kyōi was reminded of the orcs from RPG games in xeir previous life. Despite her appearance, the woman gave off a grandmotherly aura and was chatting cheerfully with a few of the people sitting at the bar.
Zoryn approached the bar as Malak, Leilani, and Kyōi sat down at an empty table close to the stage and dancing people. Xeir feet didn't touch the ground when xey sat down, making xem feel quite small. Shortly after, Zoryn came back to the table, carrying three large mugs and one cup of some sort of juice. He set two mugs in front of his adventurer companions, and gave the cup of juice to Kyōi. "This is crystalfruit juice. It's pretty good, and fairly sweet." Tasting the juice, xey felt like the flavor was familiar, but xey couldn't remember exactly what it reminded xem of. "It's good, I like it! Thank you!"
Xey drank the juice slowly as xey turned to watch the musicians curiously. The songs the musicians played were quite similar to the songs played in RPG taverns or in the medieval era of xeir previous world.
A tall woman with pointed ears approached the table, tapping the table once to gain the group's attention. "Hello, and welcome to the Amethyst Tavern adventurers. Would you like to order any food, or are you here just to drink?" Leilani answered quickly, "Can I get the lamb stew? Malak, you and Zoryn want the roasted chicken, right?" The wizard nodded slighter. Leilani then turned towards Kyōi. "Kyōi, dear. Do you want to get anything to eat?" Glancing around, xey noticed one of the other patrons of the tavern digging in to a large steak. "Can I get a steak?" The elven waitress nodded. "Of course." She left to go bring the orders to the chef. Kyōi could see that the kitchen was through a door behind the bar counter where the orc lady was.
Xey turned xeir attention back towards the musicians, humming and kicking xeir feet back and forth to the beat. Xey enjoyed the cheerful tavern music, although in xeir previous life, xey had preferred alternative rock/pop music. Xeir attention was distracted from the music and musicians as the elven waitress approached the table once more, this time balancing several trays of food.
"Itadakimasu!" Kyōi spoke the phrase from xeir previous life out of habit, before digging in to xeir meal.
~~~~~~
Vincent Larkcaster had always loved fairy tales.
Ever since he was young, his mother would read tales of fairies and dragons. He grew up listening to stories of demons and angels, heroes and villains. He learned about the mythical creatures that used to exist in the world, but had disappeared or gone extinct as time went on.
When he grew older, he began to collect many different kind of stories, though most of them were fairy tales, creating a rapidly growing library. As a noble, he had access to many different books that commoners wouldn't. Unlike most of the other nobles, he didn't look down on the lower classes. He had opened up his library to the public, even going so far as to host classes once a week to teach some of the kids that visited the library how to read.
Occasionally, he would dress down to mingle with the commoners. One of his favorite places to visit was the Amethyst Tavern, a favorite of adventurers from all across the city. It was a wonderful place, with a cheerful atmosphere and a kind staff. The couple who owned the tavern, retired adventurer orcs named Annie and Bertholt, even figured out who he was and agreed to not spread word of his identity as a noble. They were willing to treat him like any other person.
On one such trip to the Amethyst Tavern, after sitting down at a table he chosen at random, he finally completed his lifelong dream of seeing a being formerly thought to be extinct or disappeared. Thanks to a special item that was made from the same material as an Observer, he was able to view the stats of anyone as long as he could see them. The item was called the True Vision, and was disguised as a pair of regular glasses.
He checked the stats again. There was no mistaking it. There was a member of a species so rarely seen, they were practically legends. Most of the species had gone into hiding, after being hunted to near extinction. Occasionally, reports of a sighting were made, especially in areas mostly uninhabited by humans, but they were rarely confirmed to be the truth.
There, not 10 feet away from him, sitting at a table and drinking a cup of juice, was one of the species that was thought to be descended from angels.
~[Name: Kyōi Woodsworth]
~[Species: Avian]
Now, all he needed was an excuse to talk to this living proof of the legends he loved as a child.