Chapter 89: Chapter 89
“Fuck you, Andre! The next time we’ve met shall be your last!” Eru threw a tantrum which Ling watched with joy. “Well, it’s too late now. You have already begun your pilgrimage. Once you started, you cannot go back”, Ling said with a wide grin on her face. Eru sighed in exasperation, “I know. So, what should I do here?” Ling chuckled, “Well, for now, go rest, and we’ll do it tomorrow”, she said with a blush. The burly captain was taken aback while Eru shouted, “Don’t make it weird!”
Ling giggled, “Haha, do you want to rest here or find an inn in town?” she winked at Eru. Eru immediately answered back, “I’ll go find an inn”, he said, dragging An Lin out of the building. Eru sighed, “I hate that woman”, he quipped. An Lin chuckled, “Haha, give her time, and she’ll grow on you.” Eru looked at An Lin strangely, “I doubt it. I think she’s even worse than Andre. I dreaded what my task would be like.” An Lin tapped Eru’s back, “I’m sure it wouldn’t be that bad. So, what’s your plan next?”
“I’m finding an inn. Care to recommend it to me?” Eru asked for An Lin opinion.
“Sure”, An Lin grinned; he brought Eru to the west part of the city. “Here you go”, An Lin brought Eru to a small and humble inn, right at the edge of the city. “Here?” questioned Eru. An Lin nodded, “Yup. Although there are bigger inns than here, this inn, the Peace and Quiet Inn, had the best service in the whole city.” Eru’s right eyebrow raised, “Really? What kind of services? No naughty stuff, I hope,” An Lin grumbled, then he dragged Eru inside, “You’ll see for yourself.” Inside, Eru found himself in an inn similar to the inn on the mountains. “Well, this looks familiar”, Eru murmured before a waitress came approaching Eru and An Lin.
“Ah, welcome, captain An Lin”, the waitress greeted with a warm smile on her face. The waitress wore a traditional Chinese dress, resembling Ling and Mei. The difference was that the waitress wore a white apron. An Lin let go of Eru, “Hello, Little Yu. I’m bringing you a customer!” An Lin smiled wide. The waitress innocently looked at Eru with a curious gaze, “Is it him? Whoa, a foreigner…. You don’t see ’em every day.” Eru grumbled, “Yeah, yeah. I’m a rare animal. So, how much for a night?” An Lin had a troubled look on his face while the waitress chuckled, “Sorry, sorry. Not many visitors came here that are from outside of Gale territory.”
“How much then?”
“70 Bani, with breakfast and dinner, it’s 80 Bani”, the waitress informed. Eru rubbed his chin,
“Hmm…. Fine, I’ll take it with breakfast and dinner.” The waitress flashed a beaming smile, “Okey dokey, Boss! One room with breakfast and dinner!” The waitress’s voice reverberated all over the inn before a loud roar replied back. “What! Really Little Yu!? Somebody’s staying at our inn!?” a loud female voice replied to the waitress. “Yup, come over here, boss!” the waitress yelled back.
Then a giant of a woman came out from the inn’s kitchen. She had a stern face, thick eyebrows, and squinted eyes. The woman came out holding a giant butcher knife in her hand. “Who is it, Little Yu? I need to see them”, the woman scanned the entire room. She was disappointed when all she saw was Little Yu and An Lin. “Oh, it’s just An Lin”, she shook her head. Then, she noticed something twitched behind the awkward captain’s back. “Move”, the woman barked, and An Lin stepped aside, revealing a scared Eru behind him.
“Uh, hello….?” Eru awkwardly greeted the large woman. The latter eyed Eru with curious eyes, “A foreigner with black hair? That’s rare….”
“Yeah, yeah. Treat me like a monkey in a zoo, will you” Eru was starting to get annoyed with the stares he was receiving. The large woman shook her head, “Don’t misunderstand, boy. I’ve lived long enough to see enough foreigners that it would make me sick,” the large woman said with disdain. “It’s your hair and face”, she pointed her finger at Eru, “It reminded me of a certain womanizer. You’re not a womanizer, aren’t you?” the large woman scrutinized Eru. The latter quickly shook his head multiple times, “No, no. I’m not a womanizer.”
The large woman nodded, “Good. Now, you’re the one who wanted to stay in the inn?”
“Yes”, Eru replied, “One with breakfast and dinner.”
“Say less”, the large woman turned her head at the waitress, “What are you waiting for? Ready up the room, Little Yu.”
“Aye, aye, Boss!” The waitress moved in a flash. Holding cleaning utilities in each of her hands, she went to the second floor. And when just a minute had passed, the waitress had already arrived in front of Eru. “It’s done. You may follow me”, the waitress said with a beaming smile. “O-oh, okay”, Eru stuttered in his words before following the waitress. An Lin and the large woman was left alone in the inn’s lobby, “So, you knew the kid, Olga?” An Lin asked. Olga, the large woman, replied ambiguously, “Not really, no. But if my assumption is correct, he’s that bastard son.” An Lin’s right eyebrow raised, “Bastard?”
Olga nodded, “Yup. A womanizer that did not care about what he’s done. So, when I saw the kid, I was kinda surprised that the bastard settled down.” An Lin whistle, “I don’t know you hated someone that much.” Olga scoffed, “Humph, it’s not hate. Although that bastard was a womanizer, he’s also someone I owed my life to.” An Lin chuckled, “So it’s complicated, huh.” Olga humphed, “Yes. Yes, it is.”
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“Here you go, this will be your room. May I know how long do you plan to stay with us?” the waitress asked while tilting her head slightly. “At least until the pilgrimage is over”, Eru replied. The waitress tilted her head the other way, “Pilgrimage?” Eru sighed, “Yeah, the Adventurers Pilgrimage.” The waitress opened the door to the room, “What is that?” she asked. Eru brought his luggage inside, “It’s just an adventurers thing, don’t worry about it.” The waitress nodded, “Right. Here you go!” she handed the room key to Eru, “The room is equipped with new magi-tech. There’s a lamp switch right by the entrance, and we also had a toilet, a shower and hot water.”
“Quite modern if I do say so myself.”
“Yup. Our inn is the only inn that has them”, the waitress proudly said. “Although that’s the case, how come that this inn did not have any customers?” Eru curiously asked. The waitress’s shoulders dropped, “That’s because the people in this city are stuck up.” Eru’s eyebrow raised, “What do you mean?” The waitress sighed. Just as she was about to answer, someone interrupted her, “The people in this city… They’re so stuck up in their old ways that they do not see clearly what’s in front of them. If one does not evolve, one will face extinction.”
Eru looked to the source of the voice and found a familiar face, “It’s you!?” A scholarly youth appeared behind the waitress with his arms crossed, “You know me?” he frowned, his eyes squinted at Eru. Eru coughed, “N-no, never mind. What do you mean stuck up in their old ways? Isn’t that a good thing? This place could turn into a tourist attraction”, Eru quipped. The scholarly youth was about to reply when the waitress punched him on his arm, “Stop it, brother Long. This one is an esteemed guest of ours. Please let him rest. If you want to talk, do it tomorrow morning”, the waitress scolded Long, the scholarly youth.
“Fine, fine. I’ll stop”, the scholarly youth said, his arm’s twitching. The waitress bowed at Eru, “I apologise for his behaviour. Please enjoy your stay at our inn”, she said, dragging the scholarly youth away by his neck. Eru shook his head in exasperation, “What a weird couple”, he said, scratching his head before closing the room’s door.
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Morning comes, and a young man with raven hair could be seen sitting on the second floor, eating in what looks like a dumpling, a noodle soup and three chicken legs. That young man was, of course, Eru. “Whoa, the inn on the mountain’s food was good, but this is entirely on a different level. Freaking delicious!” Eru said with his mouth full. After enjoying his meal, Eru drank the after-meal milk and found that it was extremely delicious too. Just as Eru was about to get up, the scholarly youth from the night before, Long, approached Eru’s table.
“Mind if we talked for a little while?” the scholarly youth asked as he sat down right in front of Eru. Eru put his empty glass of milk down on the table, then he wiped his mouth with a tissue, “Sure, what do you want to talk about?” Eru smiled.
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