Anton and Fenix arrived at the city square near the inn where his family was staying so he said his goodbyes to his guide and told him to return early in the morning. When he arrived at the inn he went directly to their suite and saw that Anna, Lunelle, and Devon were the only ones there.
“Father and the others are still not here yet?” Anton asked his sister.
“Obviously. Can you see them anywhere? Ooh, maybe they’re under the table!”
“What has gotten into you?”
Anna ignored him and entered the room where she and Lunelle were staying.
“She was sulking since you didn’t let her join you and Fenix in your adventure in the city. She has a crush on Fenix.” Lunelle said.
Anna loudly opened the door to her room and shouted.
“I don’t have a crush on Fenix!” She then slammed the door closed which made Anton, Lunelle, and Devon laugh.
While waiting for his father, Anton brought the lute out from his inventory and started practicing his scales for a few minutes then started playing some songs. He sang a song from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame because the performers in the city square reminded him of the gypsies in the movie. Anna, who went back outside from her room listened together with Lunelle and Devon.
Anton gave a masterful rendition of the song “The Bells of Notre Dame” sung by the clown-like gypsy Clopin. Anna, Lunelle, and Devon were amazed at how high and powerful his voice was, especially at the end of the song. What they didn’t know was he practiced it extensively to please his mother since it was his mother’s favorite song in the Disney film.
The three clapped after Anton finished the song and then he started singing “Out There” which was sung by Quasimodo in the movie. After he sang the beginning phrase, Anders and the others entered the room, but Anders gestured to Anton to complete the song, so he did.
When Anton reached the part of the song that he needed to belt, he saw Colin, their new carriage driver, Genod, Kudar, and Budolf, their new bodyguards, gaping at him which almost made him stop singing and laugh.
Everyone clapped vigorously once Anton was done singing and he could even hear Lucas and Nemina saying “bravo” and he thought “So they have that tradition in this world as well.”
“Brother your voice is truly magnificent, and I was right. We listened and watched the singers in the square earlier and no one can compare to you!” Anna praised.
Lunelle and Devon nodded, which meant that they agreed with Anna’s sentiments.
“Son, your voice is truly magnificent. If you’re not a wizard and desired to be a bard, I would spend the rest of my life fulfilling it.” Anders said proudly.
The statement from his father, which was a high praise indeed almost caused him to become teary-eyed. He tried to cover it by standing and bowing deeply to everyone which caused them to clap again.
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After that interlude, Devon went downstairs to order food for them all.
“Did you earn a lot of gold coins, father?” Anton asked while he stored his lute in his inventory.
“Yes, we did. We managed to sell a third of our stock and will continue selling tomorrow. We plan to continue until all our stock is gone then we’ll purchase the things that we will need to form a merchant caravan and buy products that we can sell to the next city. Of course, the majority of items that we’re still going to sell will be weapons and armor and things that you’ll repair since those are the real coin makers.” Anders said while smiling.
“Will we be able to complete that plan in a week?” Anton asked his father.
“We should be able. Since we’re getting known and that our products are the very best, merchants are now clamoring to purchase our items so it is more than likely we will be able to sell everything by tomorrow. The day after we plan to purchase all the things that would be needed to form a merchant caravan and hire people for it,” Anders said, and the smile never left his face.
Devon returned and informed them that the inn’s attendants would be up in half an hour to bring their food.
“Why so long?” Anna asked and Devon just shrugged.
“Our name is getting well known because of the items that we sold and more than likely the inn’s got a hold of the information so to prevent us from leaving and possibly going to a better inn, they would try their best to serve us their best,” Nemina said.
Since there was nothing to do but chat while waiting for their food, Anton took the lute from his inventory again and started singing “God Help the Outcast” from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame followed by “Someday” which was the ending theme song.
After finishing the two songs, everyone clapped again.
“I would pay to listen to your son if he’s a minstrel,” Budolf said to Anders.
After that, their food arrived, and everyone enjoyed the superb repast that the inn prepared for them. Based on how the food was, Nemina was right in her supposition that the inn was preparing its best for them to keep them as customers.
While they were eating Anton told Anders about going to Fenix’s family compound and asking if there was a beginner wizard that they knew who he could hire as a tutor for Anna and himself.
“Unfortunately, the wizard they knew was out of the city, but Fenix’s father recommended for me to go to the adventurer’s guild to check if there’s someone there who we can hire. The funny thing was Fenix’s father tried to attack me when Fenix told him that I hired his son. Apparently, me looking so young caused him deep suspicions since I could be an old wizard with nefarious intentions,” Anton said then he laughed.
Anders didn’t laugh but looked concerned instead.
“What happened when he attacked you?” Anders asked.
“Fenix stopped and explained and that ended the confrontation. Fenix’s father should be a great warrior. He and his clan who suddenly entered moved so fast!”
“You were not afraid that they would be able to hurt you?” Lunelle asked.
Anton smiled, stood up, and chose a sword from one of the weapons piles then asked Devon to slash his arm. He was surprised that the guard didn’t hesitate and slashed his arm. Instead of receiving a wound, everyone heard a clanging sound and was amazed that Anton was unharmed by the sword. Even Devon was surprised, and he realized that the young guard probably thought that he would be wounded but would immediately heal due to his healing spells.
Anton’s defense was now high due to his armor set in the game which was also reflected in real life. After the demonstration, he sat back at the table to continue eating dinner.
“Is that a spell?” Kudar asked.
Since his mouth was full, Anton just nodded.
“Can you cast it to others?” Genod asked and Anton just shook his head.
“Well, if you’re with Sir Anton you don’t need to worry about getting wounded. His healing spells are truly powerful. When Father and I fought the monsters who were attacking a merchant caravan we noticed that when we received a wound it healed immediately so we let loose and attacked the monsters like were berserkers! It was glorious and even our armors were immediately repaired by Sir Anton after the battle.”
The new people were amazed at Devon’s boast about how powerful Anton was.