Arwin led Esmerelda out of her rickety store and into the sunlight for what very well may have been the first time in years. Given how old the woman was, a small part of him was worried that she’d just keel over the moment there was a light breeze.
He’d nearly offered to help her walk before she’d whipped out a large, gnarled walking stick and set off on her own. She was just about as spry as a middle-aged chicken. Going with anything younger would have just been lying.
The two of them headed through Milten’s alleys and down the streets in the direction of the Devil’s Den. It struck Arwin that their actual street didn’t have a name. That was making it a little bit difficult to think of it as a whole.
“I can’t just call it the haunted street,” Arwin mused to himself under his breath. “That wouldn’t make sense. It’s not haunted, and we aren’t going for a ghost theme.”
“What’s this about ghosts?” Esmerelda asked.
Arwin coughed into a fist. He’d evidently spoken a little louder than he’d thought. “Just talking to myself. Our guild is set up on a street that everyone is convinced is haunted. It isn’t, mind you. There’s nothing to be worried about. We need a real name for it. That shouldn’t be a problem soon, though.”
Esmerelda raised an eyebrow. They turned a corner and Arwin came to a stop as he spotted a familiar man leaning against a run-down cobblestone wall in front of them. Wispy white hair ran down the man’s face, running over his ragged clothes.
The man lifted a tankard in his hand and took a drink from it before drunkenly pushing away from the wall and into their path.
“It’s been a while,” Arwin said, inclining his head in greeting. He had still yet to make his mind up about the man. On one hand, the drunkard was antagonistic — but on the other, there was no doubt he’d been through some stuff in his life.
Their conversations had made it clear the man was hurting. From what Arwin wasn’t sure, but he hadn’t really done anything reprehensible so it would have been unfair to be rude.
“Smith,” the drunkard said, but he wasn’t looking at Arwin. His eyes were fixed on Esmerelda. “You keep odder company every day. Do you plan to invite half the town to our street again?”
“They didn’t bother you, did they?” Arwin asked with a wince. He wasn’t so sure he agreed with the drunkard’s way of phrasing street ownership, but the man had probably lived there before he had.
“It was loud. I did not enjoy it… but they did not bother me.”
“Ah. That’s good, then. This is Esmerelda,” Arwin said, nodding to the old lady. “She’s coming to meet some of my friends. Please don’t do anything rude.”
Esmerelda’s eyes twinkled beneath her wrinkled skin as the drunkard studied her. She smiled and bowed her head slightly. “Fascinating. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“You are old,” the drunkard said. He wiped his mouth with the back of a hand, then let out a belch and shrugged, wandering off down an alley without another word. Arwin watched him leave, then shook his head.
“Sorry about that. He means well.”
“Does he?” Esmerelda asked, raising an eyebrow. “It is… impressive. He seems to respect you.”
“Oh, he’s not so bad.” Arwin waved a hand dismissively. “People just need to speak to him a bit more. I’m not justifying any rude actions he makes, but I think I understand him at least a little bit. He can actually be pretty good conversation.”
He set back off and Esmerelda followed after him. She sent a few glances over her shoulder as they continued, but the drunkard didn’t show back up again.
It wasn’t long before they reached the Devil’s Den. The door was already open, so Arwin beckoned Esmerelda inside. Reya and Olive sat at the counter together with Rodrick, eating lunch. Clinks and crackles came from within the kitchen, marking Lillia hard at work, and an Imp clad in a frilly dress was busy tugging a half-finished plate of food from Rodrick’s hands so it could bring it back to the kitchen.
“Welcome back,” Reya said as Arwin stepped inside.
“Hands off, you little shit,” Rodrick said, tugging on his plate while trying not to accidentally launch its contents everywhere. “I’m not done yet!”
The imp hissed at him. Esmerelda froze in the doorframe, staring at them with an inscrutable expression on her weathered features. Arwin cleared his throat and they all glanced over again, pausing as they spotted his guest.
“Oh. You brought someone,” Olive said. She flicked the imp in its forehead and it yelped, spotting Esmerelda and hurriedly dropping into parade rest.
The old woman’s eyes bulged. “What is this?”
“I’m sorry. I should have told you more before we got here,” Arwin said, rubbing the back of his helmed neck. “This is the Devil’s Den. We’re a monster-themed tavern. I could have sworn I mentioned that, but it must have slipped my mind.”
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“Are you trying to give the poor old lady a heart attack?” Rodrick asked, glaring at Arwin. He hopped down from his chair and inclined his head. “Apologies for my friend, miss. He means well, but his mind only has one track.”
Esmerelda shook her head and gathered herself. She tapped her staff on the floor. “Of course, of course. It is nothing to apologize about. I just hadn’t expected it to be so… up front. Are you an adventurer, dear?”
“Sure am.” Rodrick flashed her a grin. “Are you here looking to hire?”
“Oh no. Nothing of the sort. But I may be able to aid you,” Esmerelda said. A kindly smile split her lips. “I am a merchant of unique goods. Could I interest you in something? Armor, perhaps? Greater than anything you’ve ever seen. Something that could improve your strength by leaps—”
“Oh, no. I’m good,” Rodrick said with a shake of his head. “Got everything I need already.”
Esmerelda blinked. Then she looked to Reya and Olive.
“I’m good,” Olive said. “Don’t need anything.”
“Same,” Reya said with a shrug.
“Are you certain? For friends of Ifrit, I may have a special offer,” Esmerelda asked in a conspiratorial tone, reaching into the breast pocket of her robes and pulling a necklace free. Arwin’s eyes widened slightly as the back of his neck tingled and the Mesh swirled forth.
Rose Pendant: Rare Quality
[Bloodsucker]: This item drinks the blood of its wearer, providing them a small boost in energy when it is activated.
“Huh.” Olive sounded about as impressed as a teacher being shown a toddler’s drawing for the fourth time that day. “That’s nice.”
“Pretty,” Reya agreed. She was somehow even less impressed than Olive. After everything Arwin had made, the pendant was just… somewhat lackluster. It was magic, of course, but having to drink blood just to give a tiny boost of energy didn’t really feel like anything worth going crazy for.
Still, that’s pretty impressive. She’s walking around with actual magical items. Esmerelda really is a collector. That said…
“You should be careful,” Arwin advised. “If you go around offering magical stuff like that, someone might take advantage of you. It may not look like much, and it’s very sweet of you to offer it to people who need it, but not everyone in Milten is kind. You should make sure to sell that from a shop, ideally with someone acting as a guard.”
“Not… look like much?” Esmerelda asked, looking at her pendant and then over to the others. Her voice trembled slightly. “What about magical items? Feather of a phoenix, anyone?”
“We’re fine.” Arwin put a comforting hand on Esmerelda’s shoulder. “You don’t have to prove yourself. I believe that you’ve got sources, so you don’t have to try to sway me. You just have to prove that you can work with our merchant.”
He guided her over to the counter and Esmerelda sat down in one of the stools. Her eyes had a long, distant look in them. Rodrick and Reya exchanged a glance.
“You okay, miss?” Rodrick asked.
“I — I’m fine,” Esmerelda said, shaking her head. “Do you truly have no interest in my items?”
“Ifrit said it right,” Rodrick replied. “We’ve got all we need. I’m sure you’ll get along great with our merchant, though. His name is Madiv. Good guy. Really passionate about the job. He’ll definitely be interested in what you have to offer.”
Esmerelda blew out a relieved breath. “Ah, yes. I’m certain. I look forward to it, then. Is he near?”
“Probably somewhere in the area,” Reya said, scratching her chin. “He was hanging upside down outside yesterday. Some weird ab workout, I think. I’ll go try to find him.”
She hopped down from her chair and headed out of the inn before Esmerelda could manage another word. Olive watched her leave, then tilted her head to the side.
“That sounds interesting, actually. I’ve been slacking on some of my workouts. Maybe Madiv has the right idea. I’m going to go copy him.” Olive followed after Reya.
Esmerelda watched the two girls leave, then sucked on the insides of her cheeks. “Are these all members of your guild, Ifrit?”
“Yes. We’re a bit odd, but we do our best. You’ll get used to it if you’re around for long enough.” Arwin gave her a proud nod. He heard the movement in the kitchen stop, joined by footsteps as Lillia headed in their direction. “Oh, speaking of which—”
Lillia stepped out into the common room, wiping her hands off on her dirty apron. Her eyes drifted right over Esmerelda, only taking her in for a second before she spotted Arwin and she strode over with a smile.
“You’re back early! Did Rodrick tell you yet?”
“Tell me what?” Arwin asked, glancing back to Rodrick.
The warrior grinned at him in response. “Nope. I held off. We all did. He was so busy introducing us to this nice lady that I don’t think he even noticed.”
Arwin blinked. “Noticed what? Stop dangling it over me already!”
“Jake came by this morning. He gave us the deed to the street.”
A wave of relief slammed into Arwin. He’d known everything had lined up, but nothing had been finalized — not until now. They were officially safe. The street was theirs. He let out a laugh and grabbed Lillia, spinning her around. “That explains where the wily bugger was this morning. I went to his office, but he wasn’t there. This is great!”
“You should have seen Lillia,” Rodrick said as Arwin set her down. “She was bouncing around like a kid on more than a few illicit substances.”
Lillia’s cheeks colored. “You didn’t have to share that part.”
“Now he’s just forever going to have to wonder. It’s funnier this way,” Rodrick said with a shrug. He paused, then cleared his throat. “But… uh, maybe we should finish introductions.”
Esmerelda was staring at all of them with complete and utter bafflement. Her mouth hung askew and Arwin was pretty sure the only thought passing through her head was a solitary question mark.
Lillia’s blush grew even stronger. “Shit. Sorry. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lillia, the owner of the Devil’s den.”
“You are a demon,” Esmerelda said.
“It’s convincing, right?” Lillia asked, turning in a circle and giving Esmerelda a smile. “I put a lot of work into it. This tavern is my life project.”
Esmerelda raised a hand. Then she lowered it. Her finger twitched as if she wanted to raise it once more. She managed to stop herself. Before she could manage to muster any words, the door flew open to reveal Madiv.
Esmerelda spun toward him, clutching her staff to her chest.
“I have been called. Please let me in,” the vampire said.
“You can come in,” Arwin said wearily. “Sorry again, Esmerelda. This is Madiv, the merchant we mentioned.”
Esmerelda stared at him, her lips working fruitlessly. “V—”
“I serve the Tavern Queen and her consort,” Madiv proclaimed.
I see he’s found a new thing that he can refer to Lillia as without technically breaking her rules. Eh. I suppose it could be worse.
“Consort?” Esmerelda managed, her eyes somehow going even wider.
“That would be me. Lillia and I are in a relationship. Madiv just speaks a little odd.”
“You’ve taken a fully mortal form? Not a possession?” Esmerelda asked, her voice weak.
It was Arwin’s turn to be confused. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure I follow. I’m definitely all here. Did you mix up the stuff with the haunted street with the inn? There aren’t any ghosts here. We’re doing a demon theme. Are you okay? You look a little pale—”
Esmerelda’s head hit the counter with a thump as she passed out.