by Pirateaba
And as for the recipe…
Shaking her head, Erin flipped the coin into the air and caught it. It really was amazing. But it wasn’t useful. She plonked the coin back onto the counter. After a minute, she mumbled into the silence.
“Besides, I probably wouldn’t get away with it…”
—-
Halrac was in a foul mood, and he didn’t bother trying to hide it. Not that that was particularly surprising to his teammates—the [Scout] was usually grumpy at the best times.
But right now he was sitting in an inn, and contrary to most people’s preferences, Halrac preferred to be outdoors sitting in the rain or sloughing through mud than indoors. Part of that was because of the company he had to share.
Gold-rank parties were often highly selective as to the people they recruited. New adventurers went through a thorough vetting process, but even the best parties usually had their moments of friction.
In this case, friction was a daily state of being between Halrac, Revi, and Typhenous. Ulrien was their silent leader and usually didn’t get into their arguments, but Halrac made no effort to hide his feelings about his new teammates, and Revi and Typhenous were typical mages through and through.
“Calm down, Halrac.”
Ulrien said it, but Halrac had been adventuring longer than his Captain, and he’d known Ulrien back when the other man had been a Bronze-rank adventurer. Halrac glared at his Captain and moderated his tone only slightly.
“I’m telling you, we shouldn’t be here! It’s a waste of coin, especially if all we do is sit on our asses!”
Revi frowned at Halrac and Typhenous barely looked up from his spellbook. But he spoke in a bored voice.
“We don’t have much to do but sit while we look for someone to dig out those ruins. I don’t see what the problem is, Halrac.”
The [Scout] gritted his teeth.
“The problem is that we’re not doing anything while other adventurers could be getting the drop on us!”
He pointed out of their private room. Griffon Hunt had been seated in this expensive side room in the inn, ostensibly as a mark of respect for their rank and the amount of gold they were paying the innkeeper—but also he suspected, to keep them out of the sight of the regular clientele of Drakes.
“That damn Drake seems to delight in serving us all the local recipes. With what we’re paying him, we should be eating whatever we want.”
Revi raised her eyebrows.
“Then tell him to make your local specialty or whatever, Halrac. But stop grouching because we can’t find anyone to dig.”
“How are there no [Miners] in this entire damn city?”
“There are. But they’re all Antinium. If we hire them—”
Typhenous broke off as Ulrien shook his head and Halrac growled.
“I’m not working with those monsters. Besides, the Halfseekers have tried and had no luck.”
“Well then, until we either decide to call out some people from Esthelm or pick up a spade ourselves, I think we’re stuck here. Come on, sit back and have a pint.”
Halrac shook his head and stood up.
“I’ve had enough of sitting in that inn waiting for something to happen. I’m going to look for some [Diggers] or [Miners] again. I’ll be back tonight or tomorrow.”
None of his comrades stopped him. Ulrien went back to reading, Typhenous did likewise, and Revi made another attempt at downing the bottle of wine she’d bought. Halrac shook his head as he stomped out of the inn, completely ignoring the Drake innkeeper who halfheartedly tried to persuade him to sit and have a drink.
Halrac walked through the streets, avoiding the crowds and trying to find his way through the unfamiliar territory. That was another thing. He was a [Scout]; he could fight in cities, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed trying to find his way through streets where everything was written in the Drake’s language and incomprehensible to him.
He scowled as he passed by a group of laughing Drakes. They fell silent as he walked past, which only caused Halrac’s scowl to deepen.
This entire quest for the dungeon’s treasure – if there even was a dungeon – was pointless. He never should have let Ulrien talk him into this. Griffon Hunt was wasting time and money here when they could be doing good somewhere else.
Plus, Halrac hated this city. He didn’t like Drakes much. Halrac had spent too much time fighting them off-and-on over the years as a soldier to trust them. The same went for Gnolls, and as for the Antinium…
The [Scout]’s gaze darkened as he saw one of the Workers scuttling down the street. He could never trust one of them. They were all heartless monsters.
He turned away in disgust. Even if he’d ever consider hiring the Antinum – and there was little chance of that! – he’d heard they were refusing to dig even for other adventuring groups. Self serving, useless—
“Oh, hey, you’re that [Scout] guy!”
Halrac stopped and turned. A young woman was approaching him down the street. A Human. He recognized her, but dimly. Where had he—?
Oh. The inn. She was the owner of the undead skeleton. The [Scout] debated walking off, but at least she didn’t have scales, fur, or chitin. He tried to remember her name. Solstice…?
“Good evening, Miss.”
“Hey, how are you doing? Sorry about the other day. Uh, you’re…H…Hal…?”
“Halrac.”
The [Scout] tried not to frown at her, or glare, or do any of the hundred things which he had been told he shouldn’t do when talking to people. But the young woman had an energetic enthusiasm about her and more importantly, the ability to completely ignore Halrac’s own dour mood.
“Halrac, right! I’m Erin Solstice. We uh, met when you were trying to kill my skeleton. I threw a rock at you.”
“I remember.”
“Um. Right. Sorry about that.”
“It’s nothing.”
What did she want? Halrac looked around. He had no idea where to find a guild for [Miners], if there even was one. He could start asking around, but that was likely to be a fruitless endeavor.
“So, um, how are you doing?”
Halrac looked back at Erin in mild surprise. He wasn’t used to people continuing to engage him in conversation.
“Nothing in particular. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I mean, I heard your party was staying at an inn, but I’m always looking for customers—and I made this great new food! So I was wondering if you’d like to try it. At my inn, I mean.”
The older man blinked down at Erin a few times. He opened his mouth to refuse, and then hesitated. It wasn’t an issue of money that made him pause; he had more than he could spend when it came to drinks and food as a Gold-rank adventurer, but he was on a mission.
And yet, the idea of interviewing a bunch of unfriendly Drakes and Gnolls lost a lot of its appeal when he considered sitting by himself in her inn. It was certainly better than the other Drake’s inn where the large innkeeper would be constantly laughing and talking with a raised voice and getting on Harlac’s nerves.
“…How full is your inn?”
“My inn?”
Suddenly, the young woman looked wary. She scuffed at the paving stones.
“Well…there might be a few people, but even if there’s not, I’m great company!”
She didn’t expect the smile that appeared on Halrac’s face, but then, neither did he. An empty inn? Perfect. He was a [Scout], and used to isolation. And it beat having that fat Drake waddling around all the time.
What was his name? Peslas? Halrac shook his head, but he accepted the girl’s offer.
“Just give me a table in the corner and I’ll be fine.”
The girl beamed at him and led him towards her inn. Halrac followed, bemused, as she chattered to him the entire time. Erin Solstice seemed to have no trouble carrying one a conversation by herself, but to his surprise he found himself talking to her after a bit.
“If money is an issue, why not become an adventurer?”
“Really? You think I’d be good at it? I don’t like—I mean, I’m not a killer.”
Halrac shugged uncomfortably as he walked through the snow with her. It had been a long time since he’d chatted with anyone who was female and not part of his team. It was a nostalgic, slightly bittersweet experience.
“You picked a fight with a Gnoll warrior and won. Barehanded. That’s as good as any Bronze-rank adventurer, and your skeleton is dangerous.”
“Yeah, yeah. I guess you’re right.”
“Is it still…alive?”
Halrac had pierced the undead creature’s skull with an arrow, but he had seen it walking around after the battle was over.
“What, Toren? He’s fine. But you know, it’s weird. I think he had some kind of gemstone in his head—this red gem that I got after these undead attacked my inn. It made his eyes purple, but even after it broke his eyes haven’t changed back! How weird is that?”
As far as Halrac was concerned, the skeleton was a walking mystery that he desperately wanted to solve by grinding its bones into dust, but he held his tongue. He didn’t understand the comment about the undead, but that did explain the skeleton’s gaze that seemed to emit fear.
“Who knows?”
“I don’t. Oh, here’s the inn!”
They’d come to it surprisingly quickly. Halrac watched Erin opened the door and usher him inside. There she seated him in a table near one corner of the room as he’d requested, but she was almost as bad as Peslas. She pestered him with questions, offering him a glass of warm milk, and then hovered around him as she gave him a menu with very few options, only two or three of which he actually recognized as food.
“Can I interest you in our newest dish?”
Halrac hesitated. His first response was a curt ‘no’, but it was a hard thing to say to the innkeeper’s friendly expression.
“…What is it?”
“Pizza!”
Halrac had never heard of pizza, but he listened to the girl’s description of what it was and decided he could always claim he was sick. But cheese layered over tomato sauce and bread? It didn’t sound that good.
It didn’t look that good to Halrac either when the innkeeper came out with it. He eyed the slices of pizza and touched it experimentally. Some kind of open-faced sandwich…?
Sensing the girl’s eyes on him, Halrac reluctantly took a bite. It wasn’t as bad as he expected, and the tomato sauce oozed into his mouth as he chewed on the melted cheese and dough. No, it wasn’t bad at all; had he been a soldier on a cold night huddled around a campfire, Halrac imagined he would have loved this food.
As it was, there were far worse things to eat for dinner, and Halrac hated wasting food. He took another bite and decided that the pizza was warm and filling. That was when the door opened and a girl stomped in.
“A [Barmaid]!”
She screeched at Erin as she hurled a bundle of sticks to the ground. Halrac half-turned with his hand on his dagger, but this new girl’s anger was directed solely at Erin Solstice. He watched as she stormed up to the other young woman and realized this was the girl he’d helped save.
Perhaps it had been a mistake. Halrac winced as the blonde girl raised her voice another octave and shouted at Erin, who was wearing a fed-up expression.
“What is it now, Lyon?”
“Lyonette! And I just leveled up as a…a…[Barmaid]!”
“That’s good, isn’t it? And hold on, why did you level up? I told you to get firewood!”
The girl named Lyon or possibly Lyonette hesitated, and Halrac rolled his eyes. He could see dampness on her thick winter clothes, and the girl even had snow caught between the folds of her clothing. She’d probably been taking a nap while she ran the errand—it was a miracle something hadn’t found and eaten her while she slept.
“I may have—that is not important! I am noble! I will not be sullied with a—commoner’s class!”
Erin’s brows snapped together and she began to argue with Lyon as Halrac grunted to himself and tried to turn off his ears. The girl was a noble? A runaway or an impoverished one, perhaps.
That explained a lot. Halrac had already heard people in Liscor grumbling about the Human thief, and she looked and acted like many of the jumped-up aristocrats he’d had the misfortune of encountering. He decided he didn’t like her and proceeded to ignore the girl’s argument with Erin as he reached for another slice of pizza.
Somehow, the platter was empty and Halrac was looking into an empty mug by the time Erin won the argument. The angry blonde girl sullenly gathered up her bundle of firewood and flounced into the kitchen. Erin came back over to smile apologetically at Halrac and refill his mug.
“Sorry. She’s—well, she’s new.”
He grunted and waved a hand. Now that his belly was full, Halrac was tempted to leave for his bed, but he doubted he’d be able to sleep just yet. Instead, he eyed his mug. Warm water was all very well, but—
“Alcohol? I mean, yeah, I’ve got some. I think.”
Erin blinked at Halrac a few times as if she was taken aback by his request. But she dutifully went behind her counter and exclaimed in surprise.
“Hey, look! A keg! I wonder what’s in it?”
As unwelcome as that statement was, it wouldn’t be the worst thing Halrac had heard when being served drinks. The girl came back with a mug full of too much foam, but with the promising amber liquid at the bottom.
“Thanks.”
He took a sip, and tried to hide a grimace. Erin glanced at Halrac as he took another gulp. This time his face didn’t change, but hers fell.
“You don’t like it.”
Halrac was starting to dislike this young woman’s ability to read his expression. He shrugged, and tried to pick his words carefully, which it had to be said, wasn’t his strong suit.
“It’s fine.”
He’d grown spoiled after becoming a successful adventurer. Halrac had drunk worse swill before, even if this keg tasted as if someone had watered the ale quite heavily.
“No, no. It’s not.”
Erin waved her hands about in distress while Halrac saw Lyon sneaking upstairs, probably to take another nap.
“I knew I shouldn’t have bought the cheapest kind!”
She rushed around, looking for another keg while Halrac debated whether it was worth drinking more just so he could get drunk, or cutting his losses and leaving now. But oddly, he was feeling relaxed, despite the oddness of this inn. Maybe it was just because he was around humans, or maybe it was just Erin. She asked constant questions without reserve, but she didn’t pry or judge like other people.
“Aha! I’ve got it!”
Halrac looked over and saw the girl standing by a windowsill. She was picking at something—a box set on a table illuminated by the sunlight. Halrac’s enhanced vision had no problems picking out the golden flowers Erin was gathering up and…squeezing into a mug?
The girl was crushing the flowers and gathering up the few drops of nectar into a mug. Then she added more ale—even more sloppily this time, so that there was just as much foam as liquid. She brought over the dubious concoction to Halrac and shoved it in his face.
“Here, try this! It’s a special drink.”
“What’s in those flowers?”
“Um. I don’t know.”
Halrac looked at Erin, and she hurried to explain.
“They’re magic flowers, and when you drink the nectar, you get sort-of drunk. And I mean it might go well with alcohol—spice it up, you know? I’ve got this skill – [Wondrous Fare], and it was telling me that this would work.”
Halrac had never heard of that skill, but Erin looked at him pleadingly, and it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do. Or drink.
He sniffed at the mug suspiciously. It seemed unlikely the innkeeper would try to poison or drug him, but he was always cautious. None of his Skills were warning him of anything though, so he took a cautious sip.
And—
The wind r
uffled Halrac’s hair. He glanced around and wondered where the girl had gone. But in the next moment he forgot about her, because he realized where he was.
Home.
Not the burnt wreck that was all that remained in the real world, but home, the home Halrac had known all his life before it had been taken away. He was standing on a green hilltop in the midst of a fall day, the trees around him full of color, the air crisp and fresh. Below him, his small hamlet bustled with life and motion as [Farmers] went about their chores and children helped chase animals or played together in the street.
Halrac looked down and saw his arms. Young skin, unblemished by scars and not yet tanned or covered with hair shone in the sunlight. He was a lad of seventeen again, and he felt as if his body were like air, full of youthful strength and energy.
“Halrac? What are you doing?”
His heart skipped a beat. Halrac turned, and saw Ariael. She was wearing the soft white cotton robe of the Harvest Maiden – given to the most beautiful girl in the village. And she was standing on the hilltop with him, smiling. At him.
It hadn’t been like that. Halrac remembered this day, when she’d been standing with Telfar instead, laughing with him while Halrac looked on miserably. But this moment was different, and Halrac knew she was in love with him. And he? He’d been in love with her all his life, right up until the day she died with the others.
And now she was here, with him.
Halrac laughed, and flung his arms around Ariael, swinging her around in the air like he’d always dreamed of doing. She clung to him and kissed his face as they tumbled around on the green hilltop, free and light, together for one perfect day.
The young man turned and saw his small village below him bustling with life and people after the harvest. He could see his father laughing together with his mother as he lifted a huge bundle of grain on one shoulder and she carried a bucket of milk inside their house. He pointed, and Ariael turned and saw the first pies being brought out and set on the long table for all to eat. She tugged at his hand and he followed, stumbling, laughing as he—
—-
Erin had never considered herself a murderer, but it was clear she had a talent for killing people. This was an issue she felt she should think seriously about at some point, but right now all she could think of was that she’d made yet another huge mistake.
