BANG!
A young man enters an inn, rough-looking, swords by his waist, four bags of items on his shoulder, his masculine body gives a wild aura which adds perks to his already devilish and charming looks and well proportioned skin tone which was light brown. The young man greets everyone and drops the bags off his back, Alice the mistress of the inn rushes over from the backyard in her tight gown which shows her well proportioned body and starts to complain to her husband.
The wild-looking young man dropped the sack bags and sat down on a rattan chair like he owned the place, ordered the head chef whose name was Mccarthy to bring him some Ale, some roasted chicken, baked potatoes and some goose soup. Told the inn owner about the hauls in the sackbags and how to distribute them.
Aswan kebab didn't give off any impression that he was the owner of the inn and Rank two sword grandmaster, Ignored the endless complaints of his wife, Alice, and he took a few beast skin parchments, and wrote in a wolf-fur wrapped beast skin register and rummaged around a rattan box,and took out a feather pen to write the expenses of the young man who walked into the inn down and the purchases he was going to make from the beast skins as well as the bags, as he mused:
"Four pieces of Dark-scaled alligator skin, this is Thrapston the Armorer's order..."
"Eight pieces of Crimson-eyed white wolf skin, for old Parker from the cobbler's..."
"Seven pieces of Sliver Snake skin, Jaron from the weaponsmith's needs these to make weapons scabbards..."
"One Striped Wildboar's tendon, Jocks wants to use this as a bowstring..."
....
"What is this?" said Kebab as he lifted up a grayish-white, meter-long femur bone.
Larne put down the roasted chicken and said, "It's a legendary Razorteeth Flooddragon's femur that is used by the indigenous kamandu people on the island as staves. It's both light and tough. I believe Sir Maleik asked for this."
According to legend, the Razorteeth flooddragon came about from thousands of years ago from experiments conducted by the ancient mages and spiritual masters by cross-breeding a crocodile and a dragon, which resulted in the creation of a large combat beast that was savage and adept in combat and good for close-quarters battles. Only, it has already been extinct for a long time. The only complete skeletal specimen was only found some hundred years ago at the Treasure Archipelago by an expedition team sent by the Mani Empire. It was named as such due to its seemingly large body and razor-sharp teeth.
Sir Maliek was one of the more high-ranking regulars of the La Mesa Inn. Rumored to be a noble from some faraway Kingdom, he came over to Nornak City and lived a life of seclusion in a house near the inn, citing his hatred of war as the main reason for his leaving his Kingdom. He is a man who likes to collect weird and eccentric items.
"Oh." That's just another one of Sir Maleik's eccentricities. Placing the bone down on the floor, Kebab took out a leather pouch that contained several test tube-like fine intricate wooden containers which contained liquids of different colors. "What about this?"
"Seven types of magical beast blood, as request by Professor Simon of Rosa Academy. He said he got an ancient tome that detailed a recipe for a potion that required the blood of these magical beasts. He wanted to see if he could synthesize the potion mentioned in the book," explained Larne.
Only now did Kebab notice the small labels at the bottom of the fine intricately wooden containers, with names of various magical beasts, including, Whitish sliver snakes, Grayback Mounwolf, Dark-scaled sabertooth lion, etc.
"That old guy Simon sure has a lot of gold to lavish around. Replicating a potion? That's ludicrous! Magic doesn't even exist anymore, and the mages and spiritual masters are nowhere to be seen faring better. How can you make potions without magic?" mused old Tompkins as he shook his head incessantly.
"Then what about this thing?" Kebab waved around a large, sealed bamboo container that was half a meter long. Sounds of flowing liquid could be heard as he shook it around.
"Erm....Erm...." hesitated Larne, embarrassed. He mumbled for a moment before replying "That's some Tiger penis[1] I got for Evans..."
The Tiger penis was a native product of the Treasure Archipelago which was famous for being a potent asphrosidiac stimulant. It was very popular among the nobles, especially the men whose sexual potency withered early.
"Pffft!" Upon hearing about Evans's request, Alice laughed her guts out .
Kebab looked grim. "What is wrong with him... That little runt using aphrodisiacs at his ripe young age... Skirt-chasing all day long without actually doing anything useful... I gotta teach him a lesson! Leave this with me and tell Evans to see me when he asks about it.
Evans, or Aswan Evanport, was one of the gang's heads some districts away. He was a Rank two Master Swordsman as well as kebab's one and only family member; his nephew.
The table was cluttered with utensils and plates. Finishing what's left of his ale and burping in satisfaction, Lorist called for Mccarthy to clear the stuff up. "Big sis Alice, can you go see if old man Lukas from the back alley is busy. If he isn't, I'd like to get a haircut and a beard trim. Oh, and, get me a nice room upstairs and prepare the bath for me. And, please get the clothes in the wooden box cleaned and go buy me some new ones at Auntie Nina's as well. Put that bill on my tab."
Old Lukas packed his tools and was a little bit tardy. At this hour, there was usually little to no customers for the barber shop behind the inn. Putting a gray linen cloth around Larne, and placing a shiny silver mirroring plate on the table that was just cleaned up by Alice, Lukas took up his scissor and walrus tusk comb and asked, "Would you like your usual haircut?"
On the Elysium Continent, nobles from certain countries were expected to wear a certain hairstyle to differentiate themselves from the commoners. There was no rule of such for commoners though and they chose whatever hairstyle they liked, though sometimes hairstyles like ponytails gained popularity and many people followed suit. Aside from the slightly inferior barber tools, everything else pertaining to hairstyles were pretty much the same with that of Larne's previous life.
Larne has always preferred a low cut for two reasons: In his previous life he served as a scientist turned during his country's extermination for eighteen years and it has become something like a instinctual feeling to him. It was also much easier when it came to cutting his hair.
"Yup, I'd like the usual," replied Larne as he straightened himself in his seat.
Old Lukas cleared his throat and said, "Actually, lil' Landon, your hair is very lush and black. I bet you would be able to easily charm countless young maidens with your charming looks if you kept a ponytail."
"Get out, that kind of hairstyle requires so much difficulty to handle. It's too difficult. By the way Lukas, why don't you tell me about the things that happened here during the past eight months?"
Old Lukas loved to gossip and chat about unnecessary things when he gave haircuts. He was very well versed with the rumors and stories being passed around in the local grapevine.
Lukas made a thoughtful expression as he continued tending to Larne's hair. "Well, it's been pretty much the usual. Five months ago, Linda, the one who runs the roadside snqvk stall, had her stall run over by a startled horse. Despite that, the owner reimbursed her with six gold kans coins and she even profited from that incident. Just three month ago, Watson the fishmonger's wife got into some trouble with a mercenary. The funny thing is: the mercenary actually got slashed in the shoulder by Watson, a person who hasn't even trained in CoreEnergy! What a joke!
"Idle gossip aside, six months ago it was announced on the newspapers that the war on the Fields finally ended, most of it thanks to the various trade alliances slaving away for three years nonstop. A peace treaty was signed and the Northern market seemed like a treasure trove to many. For seven whole months the papers were filled with recruitment notices for mercenaries and northern business investment advertisements. There were also multiple reports of people getting attacked by bandits though."
"Oh, The Empire finally stopped attacking?" Larne really didn't expect such a big historical event occurred in the eight months he was away on expedition. As for the peace treaty, nobody really treated it seriously as The Adox Empire had been enemies with the Akan Trade Alliance for almost two centuries, during which at least eight major conflicts erupted between the two powers. Why would the Trade Alliance bother to settle anything, given that The Adox Empire had already began to tear itself up since the start of the power struggle between the six warmongering children of the former Adox Empire and eight years ago? It was already a blessing that the alliance did not take advantage of both empires situation.
"What does the treaty entail, exactly?" Larne was very curious about the specific agreements between the two powers. The northern empire princes and nobles has been at odds with each other for almost eight years now, uprooting the once stable foundations of The Adox Empire and crippling The Adox Empire's economy, causing much poverty and famine and high-rise crime rate. Even the nobles had to rely on loans and banditry to maintain their daily lives. If anything, it was much more believable for the trade alliance to have been involved in putting The Adox Empire into this precarious predicament.
"Hmm, I really didn't pay much attention to the details of the treaty. I'm just a barber, you know. I've never really been into these confusing political things..." said old Lukas with a slight blush.
"I know about it!" beamed old Tompkins with a bright smile. As a retired Newstand clerk, he has always liked to pay attention to the political undercurrents on the continent. "There were four main clauses. First, The Adox Empire is to be partitioned into Four Kingdoms and Six Grand Duchies. In other words, the old Adox Empire has ceased to exist and there will no longer be any northern invasions. Secondly, the stability and security of the trade routes are to be maintained and taxes will remain the same for all nations, regardless of whether they are kingdoms or duchies. Additionally, the subsidiaries of the trade alliance shall be allowed to conduct business freely in any territory. The third clause states that the trade alliance is to give loans to the Ten Nations with different interest rates ranging from 13 to 70 percent depending on the nation. The Fourth clause states that the Empire's sword saint is to never to seek revenge or retaliate against the trade alliance or its allies. The Fifth clause states that the Partitioned nations cannot unite nor can be allied in any way or manner even if they face risk of extermination. The Sixth clause states that the nation rulers can't in any manner hold large military crusades even if it is for an internal conflict.
"Brother Landon, aren't you a northerner yourself? I remember you riding in a carriage with some kind of insignia, usually the kind used by noble blood. Given that the war is no longer ongoing, wouldn't you like to go back to your hometown for a visit?" said Mccarthy as he reminisced the time when he first met Lorist in front of the academy entrance twelve years ago.
"Lil' Landon, are you really a citizen of the Adox Empire? A noble at that?" exclaimed old Luke with a surprised tone.
Back when the Adox Empire wwas still standing strong, conflicts between The Empire and the Akan Trade Alliance were common and battles frequently happened on the Planka Fields. Many of the soldiers were led by the nobles who really caused the folks of the trade alliance a lot of grief. Although not everyone in Nornak City would actually assault anyone of the empire, nobody had any good impressions on them either.
"To be precise, I came from the northern parts of the Adox Empire; I'm a northern highlander. The highlands should be located thousands of miles from here, which is way too far and impractical for soldiers over there to come over. The march itself would take more than five months. My father is a vassal noble whose name is the Lion of the North and his dominion is situated in the far north. I have two elder brothers as well as a younger brother. I guess that makes me the third son, which means I won't be inheriting the dominion at any rate. The fact that I'm so far out here means that my family has abandoned me. I've had to rely on myself for eight whole years since I lost all contact with them. That's why I now consider myself a Nornakian and have nothing to do with the north or my family anymore," explained Larne.
"That's right. Many nobles send away every child but the heir to the land to prevent infighting and strife, usually by means of exile, separation or marriage. Lil' Landon case is pretty common. After all, his family is a noble family after all," appended old Tom.
Lukas worked quickly and finished the haircut as well as the shave. He ended the session by applying a final layer of special oil made from a white-lilly flower to moisturize the skin.
Larne stroked his clean-shaven chin with satisfaction and paid old Lukas a small silver coin. He subsequently asked Mccarthy to get Lukas and Tompkins a glass of ale and put it on his tab. He took his swords and went upstairs with Alice.
There were twelve rooms on the second floor of the inn, six on each side of the corridor.
As they arrived on the second floor, loud sounds of men and women during intercourse resounded throughout the corridor.
Larne asked with much curiosity, "Who is the one getting it on at this kind of time?"
"That's Julie. She picked up the two Black brothers from the streets for nine large silvers. They've been at it for three hours or so. I wonder if she can still get up tonight."
"Julie was also one of the serving girls of the inn. As for the Black brothers, Larne knew for a fact that the twin brothers were low-ranked mercenaries, usually only working on short escort missions and miscellaneous tasks for others. The pair of brothers were burly and dark-skinned and people started calling them the Black brothers and eventually, the name caught on and stuck.
Alice brought Larne to his room, which was situated at the far left end of the corridor. The bathtub was already set up and filled with hot water.
Taking out a fragrant bar of soap and a white linen cloth, she subsequently collected the clothes on the ground and placed the wallet, the sword belt and the waist bag on the table and was just going to leave, before turning back and asking, "Lil' Landon, are you free on the night three days from now?"
"I don't know, what for?" Larne popped out from the water and took a deep breath.
I need you to help me with a new serving girl, she needs money, so please me for me and her.
"Hmm? Doesn't the inn already have you, Julie, Sheila and Nancy? Is it going to hire another one?"
"Nancy got married last month and isn't coming back. The girl I am bringing from my village is also going to work here for two to three years for some money before going back to the village and finding someone to marry. I promised her that her first client would be a handsome and magnanimous young lad. Come on Landon, help me out, won't you?"
"I... I'll think about it later," said Larne in an awkward, almost whisper-like voice as he submerged his head back into the bathwater.