Adyra talked to the two women for an hour while Goggles spent all his money and even splurged on some bets or settle "debts" his "friends" had just remembered he owed them. The old sailor seemed to have a bottomless bag of platinum and was intent on testing that theory. More and more people entered the tavern, more and more money changed hands. Goggle's bag was no longer bulging but that night was a very long one. All of them were.
"I'm sorry, dear," Martha said, completely intoxicated by the whiskey and ale combo, "But we need to go to work."
"I understand," Adyra said. "Is it true you are prostitutes?" She asked with sincere curiosity.
Marhta hesitated but her companion didn't. "Yezch. We are the night ladies, the hookahs, the red-light mistresses, prostitutes. Why? Now you are too good for us?"
"No!" Adyra waved her hands. "No! I have nothing against your line of work. I was just curious. My sister mentioned prostitution once, is it true that men PAY you to have sex?" The mermaid was shocked.
The friend broke into fits of laughter. "Yes, it is true. Why would we do sex with them if they didn't pay us, girl?"
The prostitute pointed at the tavern patrons, the majority of them male. Adyra racked her brain to find an answer, the first one that came to her seemed too plain, too obvious. But she went with that anyway, because it felt like it was the truth, "Because it feels good?" She delivered with upturned eyes.
Even Martha was laughing now. "Keep that innocence, little Adyra. Keep that innocence, and keep those filthy sailors' hands off of your hips. We'll talk more tomorrow. Come, Jennifer. We need to go to work. And please, this time, turn your head the other way if you are going to vomit."
The two left the tavern. Adyra waved goodbye at them. Spoiler alert, Jennifer puked. And no, she didn't turn her head the other way.
Turning around, the [Princess] found that her table was taken by a bunch of men. Jeffries, the helper boy, was dragging cask upon cask of booze. She heard someone say they would drink the tavern dry. Elyse went up to Goggles' table and demanded the man pay in advance for the whole stock. She then ran to the kitchen with some coins clutched to her chest.
More people entered and Adyra found she was being pressed by the crowd.
For some strange reason, people parted to the sides as she walked even though it didn't seem to be enough room for them to move like that. Upon closer examination, they seemed to be squished flat on the sides. Some of them were complaining but quickly shut up as she moved past.
She reached the door and opened it. Inside there was a room like the ones she saw when she visited the humans on the barge. A bed, a table, a dresser, a trunk, and two chairs. The opening in the wall for illumination was shuttered by wooden panels.
Before they closed the door, they lit up a large and thin candle that looked like a reed on the table. After locking the door, Adyra and sat on the bed.
Nenandil and Arista-fairy appeared. "You should rest for tonight," Arista said. "The fight is about to begin."
"Fight?" Adyra seemed as curious as she was scared.
"Yes. That sailor is too dumb. The people with power in these surface cities, sister, they hate when others are more fortunate than them."
The young mermaid seemed a bit lost. "Why would they?"
Arista thought for a while. "Do you remember when we were negotiating the order of the festivals for the Heralds? How they started to bicker?" When the younger [Princess] nodded, she continued, "That was a combination of pride, jealousy, and envy. They didn't want to seem less than their sibling. They wanted the best date for themselves, even though they didn't know which one was the best. And they needed the festivals to be exactly the same, and yield the same results."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Downstairs, sounds of things breaking started to reach them. Arista started to sing in a high frequency only Adyra could hear. The walls, floor, and roof of the room creaked and seemed to move minutely. Two minutes later, she stopped. "This should make the building sturdy enough to stand still while chaos runs wild downstairs. Come to the window, sister. Let's watch."
Adyra went to the window, that was the word she was missing and looked outside. People were fighting on the streets, most of them with their fists but others with knives and a few swords.
"Don't do anything," Arista warned her. "We cannot participate in this fight, not even to heal them."
"Are they fighting because that fat man had a bag of coins?" She asked.
"Yes," Arista answered. "Everyone wants part of the money, even though they have no right to it."
The rhythmic sound of steps rang in the distance. "Is that the guard? Soldiers?"
"Yes. They come to pacify the fight, but they'll do that by killing everyone that's fighting."
"That's terrible."
"Do remember, dear sister, that in the dark times before the Heralds decided to join forces and stop the tribes' separation, we too fought each other for no reason."
Adyra chuckled, "Before you forced them to join forces, right, sister?"
"Maybe. If it is too much for you, you can go inside," she said as the soldiers started beating up and slashing everyone in their path.
"No, I feel I must stay and watch this. As a [Princess] and future [Queen], I must see the world for what it really is. But it breaks my heart."
"Remember that feeling, sister. Treasure this pain. Nurture compassion and you'll be an excellent [Queen]."
Adyra hugged the tiny but well-clothed fairy with silver hair. "Thanks, sister. I feel blessed because you are here with me. Guiding me. Pushing me forward to be the best I can be."
The guards plowed through the crowd like a mad whale plows through a coral reef. Then they entered the tavern.
"Poor Goggles," Arista lamented. "It is a good thing he wanted to share the wealth with the others, but he was too weak to do it properly. Remember this, sister. Only display what can be coveted by others if you are sure you have the power to keep them from taking it from you by force."
"Like my staff? Martha and her friend Jennifer couldn't take their eyes from the gems. Is this expensive, sister?"
"For you? No," Arista answered in that tone when she was hiding part of the truth for Adyra to find out for herself. "The bag of coins Goggles obtained could buy almost seven of your staff if there were any for sale."
"Liar!" Bluffing, Adyra accused her.
"Okay. No. Because your staff is unique, it is worth much more than what the System says it is. You got me."
She felt proud. The fight now was dying down, as were everyone the guard mowed down.
"Goggles died," Arista announced. "It is over. Adyra, you should go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a tough day. Nenandil will be with you, I'm going out to take care of some business."
"Okay, sister."
Fairy-Arista vanished and Adyra closed the window. As she did, she noticed she couldn't hear any noise coming in from outside.
"Come, Adyra," Nenandil called. "If you are not sleepy, at least get some rest."
She went to the bed and the water fairy tucked her in. "Nenandil, what business sister had to take care of?"
Nenandil paused, probably thinking on what to say, "Innocent people died in this fight. Your sister will make sure they don't pass away."
"Like what she did with professor Marlowe?"
"Yes, but she isn't going to make them a new body. She'll just put them in their old bodies after she heals them."
The young princess took her time to digest the situation. "Is this compassion?"
"It is, [Princess]. A lot of it. For all the death your sister caused, she's saved ten times more people."
Adyra closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. She had a lot to process.
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Arista killed every single guard that entered the tavern to kill the patrons. Then she interrogated the souls, separating those she would bring back and those that didn't deserve that. Once she finished that, she cleaned up and repaired the tavern, fixing the bodies that would come back to life and tossing the others in her item box.
Using {Soul Shepherd}, she erased the memories of the last day and brought them back to life. She placed the inn staff in their beds at the back and put them to sleep. The patrons, she arranged around the tavern room, making it seem like they passed out drunk. The only soul that didn't yet forget and resurrect was Goggles's.
She held the bag of platinum coins in her hand. Goggles' money. She imagined several scenarios where she gave him the money, but in all these, he ended up killed by someone. The insurance industry was a few thousand years away.
"Goggles, this is your money. You sold me the heritage Perk. I still have it, so you can be sure I didn't have anything to do with your death. I'm afraid if I give it to you and leave you on your own, you'll be killed. Again."
"What do you suggest then? The ghost said."
"I'll let you keep the memories of today. Go, and travel to the Kingdom of Ackerton. Rent a room on the first inn to the north of the central square. One night, a girl clad in black will come. She'll help you use your fortune. Maybe even make you a noble."
"I think I'll do that. But one thing before we part ways," the ghost said. "Who are you? The fact I couldn't {Appraise} you distressed me a lot. Maybe that's what drove me to drink so much."
Arista smiled. "Okay. If I let you see one of my titles, will that be okay?"
"Sure."