The Ancients World

I make my way towards the door of the room, and that's when I hear shuffling coming from the bed. Sally sits up with sleep still in her eyes. "I'm going downstairs for some food. They should be serving breakfast any time now. I'll see you down there." I walk out the door as Sally proceeds to stand up and stumble to her pile of clothes. I make my way downstairs, and the inn is much more empty than it usually is. Most inns are busy from dawn to dusk, and when it isn't, it's a bad sign. The only people in here are some heavily geared people, most likely from the adventurers guild. I walk up to the counter and sit down. I can already smell delicious food being cooked. My stomach growls as the seasoning and scent enter my nose.

As I enjoy the scent, Sally quickly comes down the stairs wearing her hood and joins me at the counter. "You could have waited, you know... It's the polite thing to do..." She still sounds very tired and groggy. I chuckle and remember all the times I was in a similar state. Before I can start talking, a lady comes out of the kitchen and walks right towards us. She holds a notepad waiting for us to give our orders. I look to Sally to order first, ladies after all. "I'll have whatever smells so good." The lady smiles and jots down an order. She then looks at me, waiting for my order. I say to give me whatever Sally is having, and she heads into the back to talk to the cooks. "So talking to the elderly is what's on the docket today, huh..." I nod my head as I continue to smell the delicious food being cooked.

I swivel my seat and point my body out towards the mostly empty room. I take a better look at the few guys in here. None of them even have a drink in front of them, and it doesn't seem like they have ordered anything. My suspicion grows the more I think about it. Why would an inn be empty like this? So close to breakfast too, it just doesn't make any sense. I see that some of their eyes shift on and off from us every few seconds. I see now. They are going to cause trouble for us specifically. I can only guess why. We probably drew the wrong kind of attention when we were asking around yesterday. "Have your guard up, Sally. We have company..." I whisper to her as I turn my back to them and face the area where all the booze is.

Sally tilts her head at me, wondering in explanation. "The guys out there, they are here to cause trouble for us. Please don't make any moves unless they do first. I don't want to paint the walls of this place red like last time." She nods her head as I whisper to her. After another minute or so, two plates of food are carried out of the kitchen and laid down in front of us. It's mashed potatoes, sirloin steak, with a side of bacon and eggs. She gives us the silverware and heads back into the kitchen with a smile. I pick up my plate, swivel around in my seat again, and begin eating my food as I watch the men. "So who hired you guys to target us? I'd love to meet the person." I watch all their bodies stiffen, and their postures go from relaxed to ready to fight.

I continue to eat the delicious food and patiently wait for an answer. "I must have caused something with my questions yesterday. If it's enough for some well-qualified person to hire mercs, I think I was knocking on the right doors." They all share looks between each other and slowly stand up. I'm barely through my mashed potatoes too. "I'd rather not stain my delicious food with your guy's blood. So I'll let you walk away and make sure to tell whoever hired you that if they want me dead. They'll have to do it themselves." They look at each other and slowly back out the door to the inn and onto the outside road. These guys are on the smarter side of the mercs you find from time to time. Whoever orders this obviously has money, a noble or well of merchant perhaps. Maybe even a criminal.

I turn back around and place my plate on the counter. I continue eating the hot food, and I look at Sally as I do. Her head is covered, and only her mouth is visible. "Thanks for not dicing them into little pieces... I'd rather not puke up this delicious food." I roll my eyes at Sally's sarcasm. I'm glad I didn't have to kill them either. Sometimes you come across people smart enough to know they aren't strong enough even to hurt you. "Do you think we'll find our crew today? Cause I'm already sick of searching." I am too. I'd rather be getting the rewards for these quests I have than searching around town for a crew that probably doesn't exist. I sigh as the only response, and Sally understands what my sigh entails. "Great." Yeah, I agree.

After some time, we finish our food, and nothing is left on the plates. I pull out 3 gold coins and lay them down. Yes, it's overpaying. I don't care, though. It's not like I'm going to run out of money. We both stand up and make our way towards the exit of the inn. "We'll start at the places that old people would likely be. Parks, community centers, if we can't find something by then, we'll check the church. Thinking of that, I'll need to get myself a hood too. Let's handle that first." They likely know what I look like since they now have my name. Hiding my face will help with some things. However, it isn't a permanent solution. Things like this never are. I'll have to deal with politics and governments sooner rather than later.

I have to do it for my plan to work here in Bellvia. It'll be weird having royalty treat me in such ways. Not all of them will, but I'm not going to punish them for it. "I saw a really nice shop yesterday that we passed. They might have hoods." Sounds perfect. I nod my head for her to lead the way, and she does. Out of all the required things for this heist, finding a crew is the biggest pain in my ass. I can't be connected to the heist of the treasure room, so that's why I need a crew to handle that part. Once they start the operation, I'll walk into the palace and throne room, reveal myself, and demand the things I need to complete my two quests involving the dryads. I wouldn't doubt that I'll need to head back to where this whole quest began once I have the information. 

Once I'm done with these quests, I'll be above level 100. That means I'll be heading to the country of Avalon. That never existed in my old future, so that's going to be a cool place to see. Another creation that has resulted from my actions. I should also stop by Zenith on my way there, say hi to Amelia and Jackson. Zenith won't have an alarm system notifying them I'm near since they are in the coalition, and the coalition refused to have any of that installed. The same goes for Bellvia. I wonder what'll happen when I do visit a place with said alarm system. "That's the store up there!" My thoughts are interrupted as Sally points to the store in excitement. She quickly walks ahead of me and enters the store. It seems she wanted to visit this place.

I make it to the door, and she is already talking to the cashier about things in the store. She still has her hood on, and the cashier is a little nervous because of it. "Calm down, Sally, you're scaring the poor woman." I walk up beside her, and Sally looks at me in confusion. I tilt my head at the cashier, and she sees the look on her face. She apologizes multiple times and becomes very bashful. I decide to take over. "Would you happen to have any hoods matching my current style? I'd rather not have some unmatching hood with my leather gear." Speaking of gear, It'll be time to upgrade it soon. The Hardened Tree Sap armor that I've been wearing has been amazing, but I'll need something to compliment my stats. I have a feeling a huge war is around the corner. 

The cashier nods with a calmer expression now and heading into the back to probably look at inventory for my request. My Hardened Tree Sap armor has been pasted over with the look-over leather armor, you could do that before all of us players got stuck here, and that function disappeared. "Is it alright if I can get something..." I hear Sally ask me a question in a very small voice. I take a look around the store from our position and see all the beautiful dresses. Now it makes total sense why she wanted to come here. I nod my head, yes, and she takes off to look at clothes with a smile on her face. She probably has never owned a dress before, and if she wants to have her first one right now, who am I to say no.