Mira returned a few minutes later, with two plates in hand; one filled with fruit and meat and the other with just fruit.
Vondell scoffed at this. The fruits were easy enough to get, what with Antras being at the frontier of a Ruined Forest. But meat was another story. The animal rearing industry had just recently become stable here, so meat was still quite expensive to get your hands on.
"You should save your meat for paying patrons," Vondell commented, as Mira sat the plate in front of him.
She sat down opposite him with the other.
"I might as well just eat right now. Things will get busy once everyone else wakes up," she replied, ignoring his comment.
The two ate silently, and the whole time Surth released steady streams of smoke. She disliked Mila, and if she could leave this form, she'd no doubt increase Antras's meat supply, if only slightly.
"How does progress in the oasis go? I heard you and the others ventured to a new floor," she said.
Vondell looked up at her, before looking back at his food. "Who told you that?"
Mira moved in her seat uncomfortably, frowning as she took a bite of her fruit.
"Was it Marco?" he asked.
Ruin raiders weren't supposed to talk about what they saw down there. The treasures they came across could lure those of lesser skill into entering. And should they survive and make their way back out; they could be host to something... else.
"I mean everyone's talking about it. You got to the 97th floor, there's no way they wouldn't," she replied quickly, before moving in closer. "I heard even the Primaries in Mechalos don't clear floors as fast as you do," she whispered.
"Watch your tongue, Mira. Mechos is a petty god," Vondell replied. He doubted that the machine Empyrean had any agents working this far away from his city, but there was no need to test the limits of his influence.
"Does it matter? Three more floors and we become like the other big cities. Once we get a patron god, we won't have to worry about petty gods anymore," she said, now smiling.
Vondell felt a sort of stinging guilt. He'd try to get to the 100th floor sure, but there was no way he was going to give another Empyrean even more influence into the mortal realm.
"My father would've been happy to hear this you know," she continued, staring at Vondell with a sort of reverence. He hated when they did that; when they looked at him like he was one of the Primaries.
"That someone he used to adventure with was about to conquer a ruin," she added.
"Your father would've been happier to see you well. Conquering the resting grounds of those passed is not something to be happy about," Vondell replied.
"You do the gods a service, why wouldn't he be happy? He always said the ruins were the breeding grounds of ev—"
"Your father said a lot of things. And much of what he spewed is the reason you and Marco don't have a father anymore," Vondell interrupted.
He understood that normal people had no idea what the ruins were, but he would not listen to them insult the inhabitants of those sacred grounds. He had been surprised enough when he first came to this continent and found out that humans raided them.
"I will send you the coin for all this later today. I'm going to pass by The Hall to collect my pay," he said, before standing up.
Mira stood up with him, and touched her forehead with her palm, before holding it out to him. "May Ninkasi be with you," she whispered.
Her palm glowed a slight brown. It was a low-level cantrip, nothing more than a good luck spell. But for someone who wasn't a scion, this was something that required years of practice and dedication.
Vondell stared at her, before reluctantly touching her palm with his index finger. "And with you," he replied, before leaving.
*
It was still early morning when Vondell walked out, so practically no one was roaming the streets. He leaned against the inn right beside Mira's, before drawing back his helm. He reached into his throat with an armored finger, and after some gagging expelled the food he had eaten.
He pulled out a white vial from the leather bag in his inner armor and shook it.
'Activos," he whispered, before drinking it all at once.
He waited for a moment, to see if the elixir would detect anything, but after a few minutes, he was certain he hadn't been poisoned.
This time at least.
He began to make his way to The Hall, if anyone knew anything about runic inscription on the assassin's dagger, they would be there. It was located at the center of Antras, so in the more developed district, far different from this area.
He took the yellow stone path that cut through the very center of the city. Apparently, it was one of the newer Wright's ideas; it would help new merchants find the most important buildings in the city quicker than they otherwise would've.
Vondell didn't care much for commerce. But he admired when humans thought of their own kind like this. It was a welcome change from all the religious monuments and crafts that were so often erupted in the city.
As he was walking he passed by a street of unfinished inns. These were being built with textured stone, instead of the cobblestone that so many others were made with. The architecture was also different, featuring larger single-floor buildings, as opposed to the small high-rise towers from the outer districts
Still, Antras hadn't found its identity yet, and many of the buildings were mere copies of the architecture from more established nations.
"Look, it's Lord Black," he heard someone say. It was a boy, further up the street from him, walking with a group of friends and a cow in tow.
"Wave you idiots," another one of the boys said. Very little could escape Vondell's hearing, even from this distance.
They waved at him awkwardly until he was right in front of them.
"M-Milk?" the boy who had called out to him asked, holding out a full bottle.
"He's taller than I thought," one of them whispered to their friends.
"I don't have the coin, but thank you for the offer," Vondell replied.
"My mother says we should not charge heroes. Otherwise, the gods will be angry," one of the boys in the group butted in, before quickly dropping their head once Vondell placed his gaze on him.
Vondell thought it funny, that even in the absence of a church, propaganda like this still spread so deeply.
"Perhaps I will take one another time," he said, before nodding to the boys and going on his way.
"One day, I'll be like him. And become the Primary of Antras," one of the boys proclaimed as Vondell walked away.
"Yeah right. Lord Black will still be here by then, good luck with that," one of the others replied before the others broke into laughter.
The sun was properly up now, and a few people were beginning to walk the streets. They held out their palms as Vondell passed by them.
These people would praise him, but not look him in the eye. He found it ironic, that he would be treated like the beings he hated so much.