20demayo Chapter 239: Search [1]
Chapter 239: Search [1]
I glance around the tavern while resting my arms on the table.Waiting isn’t really my specialty. Especially when there are so many unanswered questions floating around in my head.
The biggest one right now being about this Alfie guy. We don’t know much about him compared to Eliza and even then, is he reliable?
Or are we just wasting another day chasing after someone who won’t tell us anything useful?
The conversations around us continue as if we never entered the tavern in the first place.
One group cheers loudly after someone wins what appears to be some sort of card game while another argues over who landed the final blow against a monster.
For a second there... It almost doesn’t feel like we’re in the demon realm.
It just feels like another tavern full of adventurers trying to enjoy themselves after a long day.
"Hard to believe people can laugh like this," I mutter.
Aria looks towards me.
"What do you mean?" She questions.
"They act as if nothing else is going on within their world," I answer.
Aria glances around the room herself.
"Maybe because nothing is wrong," Aria says calmly.
Her answer catches me off guard.
"They aren’t currently grieving like us and monsters don’t seem to be plaguing the lands here," Velia chimes in.
...
She’s right.
They aren’t currently dealing with something as heavy as we are... And I can’t argue about the monster fact either. We haven’t seen a single one since arriving.
Nobody here knows anything about what happened or about us.
A server walks over to our table carrying a small notebook.
"What can I get for everyone?" She asks politely.
Velia looks towards Eliza.
"What do you recommend?" Velia asks.
"The meat stew here is pretty good but I haven’t had it in years," Eliza answers.
"I’ll take that then," Aria says almost immediately.
"I’ll have the same," Velia adds.
The server looks towards me.
"What about you?" The server asks.
"I guess the same," I answer a little hesitantly.
"And your friends?" She questions.
She looks towards Lilly and Eliza.
"I think we’ll both get the same thing as well," Eliza says.
Lilly doesn’t answer at all.
The server gives a small nod before writing everything down.
"I’ll be back shortly," She responds.
She disappears into the crowd only a few seconds later.
I let out a quiet sigh.
"I didn’t realize we’d actually end up eating here," I say softly.
"We’ll probably be here until tonight," Velia replies.
Yeah there is no point in leaving here anytime soon since we need to meet this damn guy that Eliza knows. He is our best shot at potentially figuring out a path forward.
And even if we did leave here to go explore the kingdom a bit, Alfie might return in the meantime unexpectedly.
It happens more often than not.
Drip.
A drop of water falls from the mug sitting on the table and sort of takes my attention away from my thoughts for a moment.
I absentmindedly trace circles across the wood with one finger while listening to the surrounding conversations.
"Did you hear about the western roads?" A man asks.
"Bandits again?" Another man questions.
"No. Something wiped them out," He answers.
Another conversation reaches my ears from the table behind us.
"They’re saying King Albus is really dead," A woman speaks with concern in her voice.
"I don’t believe it," A man with a deeper voice replies.
"I heard it came from one of the soldiers who escaped. It is quite a serious ordeal," She insists.
The news of King Albus’s death is still spreading like wildfire... Not that it is surprising. Rumors would eventually pop up one way or another, especially with how known he was.
I glance towards Velia.
She heard it too but neither of us says anything.
The room grows louder again as those conversations fade into dozens of others.
Some discuss work while others complain about money. And some are simply trying to drink away whatever problems followed them through the front doors.
Maybe that is what taverns are really for... escaping reality for a little while.
"I forgot how noisy this place gets," Eliza says with a faint smile.
"You’ve been here a lot?" I ask.
"A few times. Mostly because Alfie kept dragging me here after finishing work," Eliza answers.
Aria leans forward.
"So he really was your friend?" She questions.
Eliza nods.
"He was," Eliza says.
"Were?" Aria questions instantly.
I’m not even surprised in the slightest that Aria caught that as quick as she did since I noticed as well. It is hard to miss that.
Eliza lowers her head.
"I don’t know if we’re still friends after everything," Eliza says with a bit of a somber tone.
"What happened?" I ask.
She remains quiet for a few moments.
"It is a long story that I don’t really want to get into right now," Eliza answers.
She gently folds her hands together but nobody says anything after that.
I don’t think any of us really want to push it since Eliza is already being helpful in the very least.
But eventually Velia breaks the silence.
"If he was truly your friend... He’ll at least hear us out," Velia says with her usual tone.
"I hope so," Eliza whispers.
A few minutes later the server returns carrying several bowls balanced across her arms.
The smell alone causes my stomach to growl.
I honestly hadn’t realized how hungry I was.
"Careful. The bowls are hot," She warns.
She places each one in front of us before setting down a small basket of bread.
"There you are. Enjoy," She says.
She smiles before heading towards another table.
Aria immediately tears off a piece of bread.
"I don’t even remember the last proper meal we had," Aria speaks up
"Probably before the church," I answer.
She nods while dipping the bread into the stew.
"I definitely missed warm food," Velia chimes in.
I pick up the spoon before taking a small bite myself, it tastes surprisingly good.
Much better than I expected from some random tavern.
Lilly quietly begins eating as well without saying a single word.
It definitely makes me happy that she is eating something since I haven’t really gotten to observe her. So I couldn’t guarantee that she was actually eating anything at all.
I’m sure the others made sure of it but that isn’t the point.
I have also realized that the atmosphere around is isn’t looking as grim anymore which is nice.
It isn’t because we don’t miss Rokuro or anything but because this is kind of peaceful for once. We aren’t fighting, hiding, or dealing with some sort of problem.
We’re just sitting together over a warm meal.
I almost forgot what something as simple as this felt like. Mostly because we are always traveling or fighting some enemies that Rokuro found.
Not that he didn’t give any peace to us... We did have a lot of that at times too.
The front doors suddenly creak open once again.
Several adventurers enter laughing amongst themselves before making their way towards the counter.
I barely pay them any attention at first... Until I notice Eliza suddenly stop eating.
Her head slowly turns toward the entrance.
"That’s strange," she murmurs.
Velia notices immediately.
"What is it?" Velia asks quietly.
Eliza’s expression becomes more serious.
"I think... I recognize someone’s presence," Eliza answers.
The spoon slips from my hand and lands back inside the bowl.
"Alfie?" I question while keeping my voice down.
Eliza doesn’t answer right away, instead she continues staring toward the entrance.
That alone is enough to tell us all to check for the description she originally gave us about him.
Immediately we all begin to look towards the entrance for any sign of this man known as Alfie. Sadly, after a minute of staring at the entrance we don’t see a single person that matches his description.
Creakkkk!
"Sorry guys, I got a little distracted outside for a moment there. Hahahaha!" A man shouts as he enters the tavern, laughing afterwards.
Bingo. That guy has to be the exact one that Eliza is talking about because he matches the criteria completely. Except... I think he has a beard now which I don’t remember Eliza mentioning.
So this is the guy that we have to find a way to approach without making it weird or suspicious.
Right. That sounds easier said than done.
"How would we even approach him?" I ask while looking back towards the others.
"We have one advantage already," Aria responds.
"What’s that?" I question with a bit of curiosity.
"We’re a group of women inside of a tavern with no ment at our side. He’ll talk with us pretty easily," Aria answers with confidence.
I didn’t really think about it like that but she’s right. We can use that to our advantage to get up close and personal with him.
It might be best to have Eliza sit this one out till we bring him back to the table though.