The first place that Pate took Lone's group after he and the scouting party had happily received their warm welcome home from their friends and family, was, in fact, a slightly larger looking door than the others that led into the earth.
"Is this the home of the leader of your community?" Lone asked as he fully tried his best to absorb the rich environment he was in. Such a 'city' was unheard of to Lone back on Earth and it was his first time seeing such a quaint place, so he was enjoying himself.
Pate turned to look at Lone with an amused grin. "Used to be treated with great respect, are we?" he asked before he pushed open the door only to reveal a lively and boisterous hall of an unimaginable size filled with various people from all kinds of different races.
Pate couldn't help but be amused by the stunned looks on Lone, Breena and Swind's faces. Eolande wasn't as impressed. "This might have looked like a small village to you, but in actuality, we mostly live underground and this is actually one of the largest port cities of the Deerkin which welcomes people from almost every Demihuman race to trade and do various types of business," Pate explained with a satisfied expression.
"This... this is incredible..." Lone mumbled as he gaped at the humungous room that was filled with tables, bars, loud groups of various Demihuman, Deerkin waiter's and waitresses busily moving around the tables serving everyone and a band of what looked like elves singing and performing an energetic dance of some sort. The whole place gave Lone a very warm feeling.
"As I said earlier, we don't have a strong say in the Beastman Council, but we're probably one of the most financial adept races amongst the Beastman Alliance. I would go as far as to bet we'd have the strongest voice if the Council wasn't based purely on strength," Pate said as he stuck his chest out and smiled with pride.
"I see... what exactly is this place? A tavern?" Lone asked while he continued to look around and inspect everything with care. This gathering place gave him a much friendlier feeling that the Adventurers Guild did back in Milindo. The contrast was honestly shocking.
"Indeed it is. Welcome to the 'The Glowing Goblet', the most popular tavern in this port city of ours, Everlast," Pate replied before he waved over a waiter who came over to receive them.
"Hello, how might I help the four of you... oh, if it isn't Captain Pate! How can I help you and your friends?" the waiter asked with a generic tone before his voice clearly picked up in excitement.
Pate smiled and said, "These four need a few rooms for the next three days, could you please help them?"
"Of course," the Deerkin replied before he took out a ledger of some sort and started writing stuff down in it.
Pate turned to look at Lone and asked, "You do have money, right? I can lend you some if you need it since you're an associate of Lossa's, but you seem capable, so you must have earned some money, yes?"
'Some... heh... I'm probably the richest person on the planet,' Lone thought arrogantly, but thankfully he kept his words from sharing the same attitude that his thoughts had. "Yeah, I've got a little bit, enough for some rooms for a few nights, at least."
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"Good. Well, this is where we part ways for now. I'll come looking for you in the morning. I have tomorrow off from duty, so I'll show you and your friends around Everlast if you'd like. Take care Lone, and don't make me regret placing my trust in you," Pate said happily before he patted Lone on the shoulder and went to leave.
"Thanks, Pate, you've been a great help," Lone replied to which the Deerkin nodded before he finally left.
"Well, Sir, I presume you're your party's leader, correct? Might I have your names and your group's name," the waiter asked Lone very politely as he bowed slightly to show his respect to the customer.
'A name for our group? That's a great point... I should make a name for us to help me obtain my goal of being the most famous person in existence... hrmm... ' Lone thought as his dream of becoming exceedingly famous resurfaced in his mind. "I'm Lone Immortus, the leader. This is Breena Redtail and Eolande," Lone said as he gestured to his Foxkin and Tylwyth Teg companions. He then pointed at Swind who was receiving a few curious looks from passing patrons and said, "And he's Swind."
"Excellent, and your group name?" the waiter asked with a beaming smile that was obviously fake and only strewn across his face since it was his job.
"We don't have one, should we?" Lone asked with curiosity evident in his voice.
"Ah, my apologies. You looked like a strong adventurer so I assumed you had a guild registered group. My apologies," the Deerkin said with a humble bow.
"Don't worry about it," Lone replied. 'I'll ask Gilbert about this later, it sounds kinda interesting. Maybe there are benefits to making an official group under the Adventurers Guild?' he thought with mild fascination.
"Of course. Well then, Sir Immortus, what type of room, and how many would you like to rent for your stay of three days here?" the Deerkin asked as he pushed his small glasses up, highlighting his well-defined facial features.
"Three rooms of the best quality should be fine," Lone said, much to the surprise of the waiter. 'Even if I'm trying to be less arrogant, living in comfort is kinda needed. I won't cheap out when it comes to spending all of this money, otherwise, what was the point of creating it all?' he concluded in his mind.
"O-Of course, Sir Immortus. Three diamond suites for the duration of three days will cost a total of nine-thousand gold coins," the waiter said with a slight shake in his voice, but overall, he was calm.
'I guess that's a lot of gold for some people, huh? I wonder how much this guy makes a year? Maybe I'll give him a nice tip,' Lone thought before he put his unarmoured hand into the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out a small brown sack.
This sack jingled with the sound of metal. Obviously, it was full of coins. Lone slowly opened it up only to reveal that it was full of white-gold coins. 'These are worth a hundred gold coins, so it'd be better for me to use these instead of the ruby-gold coins that're worth ten-thousand gold, right? Hahaha,' Lone thought with a laugh. For some reason, he found it all to be pretty humorous how little money actually meant to him since he could create it out of mana.
Lone leaned in towards the Deerkin waiter and said in a low tone, "Here's one-hundred white-gold. Take care of us, okay?" He then beamed a smile, showing off his nearly perfect white teeth.
"Y-Yes, Sir!" the Deerkin then performed what was probably the most respectful bow of his entire life. 'I've never gotten a tip so large before... .this is two months wage for me!' he exclaimed to himself. Working as a waiter in The Glowing Goblet was very profitable, but two months wage wasn't anything to scoff at. "Please follow me, esteemed customers," the waiter expressed with genuine care before he turned and started leading the three towards the other side of the inn.
As they were walking through the lively tavern, suddenly, a man draped in several layers of baggy clothes, bumped into Lone. "Ah, sorry, Sir," the man said before he lowered his head and ran off.
"That was weird," Lone said to himself as he continued to follow the Deerkin waiter. 'Was that man a Dark Elf? He had grey skin and pointy ears... red eyes too. He looked cool, strong as well. Hmm, I wonder what he stole?' Lone said to himself. He hadn't expected the man to steal from him, but he was certain that with the man's apparent skill, bumping into Lone couldn't have been an accident.