CHAPTER 16 -Cafe-
The entrance gates of the town were near enough to call it a minute long. As Chuzeoth and Eugene talked about how Onyx helped the town when it was in a crisis, I paid close attention to the details they described. The more I heard the clearer the memory became, it was as if I had to slowly unlock a memory by listening to stories. I didn’t mind at all listening to Onyx’s stories, in fact it gave me more of a perspective of how he was before I met him.
As we passed the gates, the townspeople's voices became louder and louder. Looking outside I noticed that the market had been close to the entrance to make it easier for people from other places to buy. Even though it was night time the merchants were selling different types of stuff, Necklaces, bracelets, rings, weapons, and equipment. I should probably go there later, I told myself, spectating the buildings along with the people. Eugene and Pearl gazed at the outside of the carriage too, but their attention was cut short by Chuzeoth. “We are here,” he spoke as if telling us the reason why we were here.
Stepping out the carriage, I saw the name of the inn we were going to stay at. "The Eager Goose Inn.” Really? ‘The Eager Goose Inn?’ Who in the world would call an Inn that? Was what I said in my mind thinking that one a dumb person would do that.
The old dragon was the first one to walk in first then followed by Eugene and Pearl, and me. The inside of the Inn was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a noble class Inn, aside from that it was a tavern too. I faced forward only to be greeted by a young girl probably in her teens to be a receptionist. The aura that surrounded her was strong enough to be close to an Espion,
But something was off about the mana surrounding her, It felt like it wasn’t dragon mana but something else. After seconds of thinking, I decided to drop it since it would not make any sense for someone who isn’t a dragon to be here in a peaceful town.
Each of us got a room to ourselves but we all had an agreement that if we needed to have meetings we would use my room. Our rooms were two doors apart, letting us not be too suspicious about our stay.
For our first meeting, all of us were in my room ready to discuss the next move. “We are going to stay in the town for a week. In that time let us accumulate the most information we can about Inox.” I spoke, injecting the most authoritative tone I could. Everyone took my words seriously but I could tell that Chuzeoth had taken it to heart, like a loyal dog to its master. Pearl had noticed this too, “Chuzeoth, you should at least act normal and not stiff like most times when you are given an order.” She said, “Otherwise you would blow our cover.” Added The oldest Sibling.
I felt bad for Chuzeoth. It felt like watching the person lecturing a puppy who just went to the restroom in the living room, but it was for his own good, more like our own good. Before they could continue to lecture the old dragon, I decided to speak. “Alright that is enough of lecturing Chuzeoth, let’s head out and collect some information.”
Moments before leaving the Inn, the four of us decided to go in pairs instead of going alone. The old dragon and the oldest sibling, and the middle sibling with me. “Where shall we go first?” She asked, giving me the curiosity look as if knowing where I wanted to go but wanting to hear it from my mouth. I hesitated to respond, I knew she would laugh at me because of my choice. Steeling myself before speaking, putting up a serious face, not showing any signs of embarrassment.
“We should first go to the entrance where the merchants are stationed.” In the corner of my eye, I could see how Pearl’s expression had changed from curiosity to disappointment in a couple of seconds.
Looking through the merchant stalls seeing if there is something that could be eye catching, something noteworthy. Hours had passed since then, walking through the stalls aimlessly. When I came to sense it had already been morning, the exhaustion had begun to take hold. ‘Coffee would be good right now,’ I thought, looking at the stalls down the street hoping to find a food stall or better yet a restaurant.
“Brother, brother!” Said Pearl in an excited voice, pointing into one of the stalls that had accessories for people. “They're selling cute things over there, let's go see,” for Pearl, a strict princess that is rumored to be cold hearted, acting like a little girl seeing a doll. “Pearl, I don’t think it would be a good idea to go and mess around when Chuzeoth and Eugene are working their hardest.”
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“Come on brother, we deserve it, we have been working all night trying our best too. We should have some fun once in a while too.” Pearl chimed in, after thinking for a few seconds I agreed. “Alright, we can go but fast,” the princess nodded continuously and hip hopped her way to the stall. How long has it been since she acted like that? I scoffed at the through and walked towards her.
Pearl kept grabbing and putting down the jewelry, it appeared like she liked one but when she would pick it up it wouldn’t suit her taste, leading her to put it back down.
“Is there anything you like, young lady?” said an old merchant lady. She was half my height, a wrinkled face along with her black and white hair, her eyes were squinted like she was trying to read small letters.
“Do you have something more,” Pearl motioned her hands in a circle before continuing, “easy and convenient to use?” She finished moving her eyes through each and single piece. “Like a ring or a pendant?” added the princess, The old lady gave it a second to think, “I precisely have five bracelets. Would you like to get the five?” Pearl gave my cape a tug, I glanced over to her, showing me that she didn’t have enough for the bracelets. This could be a souvenir for Luna and Julie when I go back.
Letting out a soft sigh, as I reached for my wallet. “Yes I will take all five. H-How much would that be?” I asked hesitating, not trying to hear the answer. “That would be five gold coins.” I felt my heart break upon hearing that. A wry smile was on my face as I handed her the five gold coins. As the black and white haired handed me the bracelets she said, “These bracelets are not normal bracelets, they come from lands far away, where the Angels reside. Giving the other people who wear it, the status of whether they are alive or dead of the person who has it on.”
This should come in handy if the war comes into place and we are all distributed around the continents and dimensions. All five have a unique design and color, red, white, green, black, and purple. Pearl reached in and grabbed the white bracelet, “A white one? It should match my hair.” She then spinned around waving her white hair before speaking, “How does it look brother?” A bright smile lit up making me smile too, “It looks good on you.”
Making our way to the Inn we came across a ‘cafe.’ In the middle of the town, the small building had a writing that said “cafe.” The white-haired Pearl had read the sign too, but was surprised by what that meant.
I was skeptical at first. Many questions came but no answer to them. Pearl kept chirping about the cafe, she wanted to know what it was. Using dragon magic she strengthened her body only to pull me into the place, ‘How strong is she?’ I babbled in my mind as the ‘fragile’ princess pulled me.
Walking inside this cafe, I noticed a lot of similarities between this one and the one in my old world. There were some missing things like, the advanced technology, the light bulb, and probably more but the scene had caught me off guard to remember what they were.
A wooden stand was in the entrance of the cafe along with a waitress. “Welcome dear guest. Will it be only you two?” said the waitress, “Yes, only us two.” The princess answered.
From the looks of it, there seemed to be some type of notebook in the wooden stand. With a lot of noble names too, “What are your names?” Asked the waitress turning page to page looking for a blank or space for our names to be written on. Before Pearl could speak, I cut her off. “Onyx Millguard and Pearl Millguard.”
I could feel the hot and surprised gaze that Pearl was giving me but I was too focused on the waitress’s reaction to the names. Her hand flinched as she realized what she just heard, turning her eyes towards us. “C-Can you repeat your names?” Asked the waitress again but this time with a hint of doubt and pressure.
“Onyx Millguard and Pearl Millguard,” I said once again but in a much colder tone. The waitress’s expression changed, she kept apologizing about her ignorance towards us. I told her that it was fine and I was just here because ‘my sister’ wanted to try this ‘cafe’ and of course without much commotion or waiting, she told us to follow her and that she already had a table ready for us. After walking through a couple of tables, we had already reached our destination. The big, large, white elegant table, accompanied by whitish and gold chairs.
I studied that side of the wall that was next to our table. Framed hanging pictures of the founder that said, “Founder of the Cafe. Kyle Goodman.”
That is such an uncommon name, at least in this world, I thought, “That picture was taken three years ago before he suddenly disappeared.” Said a voice on my left, turning my head caught off guard that the maid jolted. “Sorry, I was surprised,” I apologized, feeling bad for the maid. The maid shook her head, “No, It’s my fault for startling you.”
Feeling as if this was an awkward silence, Pearl decided to break it by asking a question. “Why did he disappear um…”
“Olivia, Olivia Hansley.” Answered the blue-haired maid, “There was a sudden dungeon outbreak and mister Kyle was one of the few adventurers that were S-rank. Many adventurers were here for the dungeon since there was a high probability of getting a crystal shard that was rumored to bring back the dead.”