The whisper of the water drops woke him up.
When he looked towards the foot of the bed, he saw that the balcony had been left open; the cold gusts of wind shook the white curtains and the marble floor was soaked with the rain that made a place between the window and ended up splashing the foot of the bed.
Trying to get up, he could feel the weight of something on his body.
Looking to the right of him, he found some blond hair. There was someone lying on his torso.
He carefully lifted the sheets and peeked out to find a young woman fast asleep. Her beauty was immaculate and her skin was so clean and white that she looked like she stepped out of a temple.
Although the fact that she was completely naked was not very religious and holy of hers...
The girl had a thin abdomen, her breasts were large for someone who had an immature face, her thighs were soft and he couldn't help but put his hand between them to feel the warmth of her skin...
At that moment, she moved and pulled his leg up on top of him.
He lamented, because now he couldn't get up to close the balcony.
—Bell Cranel. Not satisfied with what you did to me last night, even in the morning you want more.
When he heard her voice that she had been pretending to sleep, he was shocked enough to hide his expression from her.
Quickly she climbed on top of him and he raised the sheets so that they would both be covered under them.
—I'd be more comfortable without the water soaking the bed.
Her expression softened.
—Is that your pathetic excuse to get rid of me?
He smiled and with his hand he caressed her cheek.
—What would I be without you?
She lunged at him and her lips met.
When the softness of those red lips of hers made contact with his, he woke up.
Bell widened his eyes with a look of hate.
He could hear the music from below, the drunken chants to the bard's tune and his lute. He could also hear the moans of the prostitutes the inn rented to his tenants. The rooms were made of wood, so the sound crossed the walls like nothing.
Bell took a seat on the edge of the bed, making it inevitable he put a hand to his abdomen and examined his body.
He had bandages covering him all over. The bandages on his hands were a dark burgundy, as were the ones on his legs and abdomen.
—The wounds must have opened up in the sleep —Bell said as he rose to his feet.
The room at the 'Crossed Swords' inn was nothing fancy. To begin with, it was located at the edge of the city of Erham, therefore, they were the cheapest and most accessible for any traveler.
It had a rickety bed for one person, a window, and a trunk of belongings under the window. The bathroom and shower were outside the inn and you had to pay to use both that service and the water or oil used for the lamps if you wanted light.
Bell walked between the screams, the music and the moans in the direction of the trunk. Opening it with his key, he found himself with his equipment.
Due to the trip he was coming from, he didn't have much on hand and it was all on Taro, his horse in the stables.
But here he had a short sword with its sheath, chain mail armor, a pair of reinforced leather boots, and 300 valis.
He put on his boots first, then his chain mail, and over that an open-necked white shirt. He covered the shirt with a filthy brown tunic that hadn't been washed in months, then put the sword back in its sheath and two rusty knives. He finally picked up the 300 valis and left the room.
—But what a lovely boy... At that age, I can tell that you have power and energy to spare... Just imagining how you would ram me from behind to open my vagina already made me wet all over...~ —said the woman in a tight red dress that licked its lips.
—Would you be willing to have a threesome, Prince Charming...? We would charge you the price of one, for both...
The following women were of different ages, the one speaking looked over 30 and the one smiling next to her looked 20 or younger. They both looked beautiful, but it wasn't something strange, since they all did it.
There were a hundred women in the long corridor on the second floor of the inn. Some naked while kissing, others having sex with their male clients and the most reserved masturbating in front of Bell who was passing by with an indifferent look.
They touched him, kissed his hands, and rested their bare breasts on his brown tunic.
Although it seemed impossible, the smell of this corridor was not unpleasant or harsh at all. In fact, the women looked extremely clean. Perhaps this was due to the tricks of the elves and the other races that were also here.
While it was true that magic was a privilege, it was a scarce resource only for humans. The other magical races like the elves surely had a spell or two to cleanse their bodies, especially if they worked on it.
But unlike any man who wouldn't hesitate to drop his pants and have sex at this very moment, Bell simply walked straight ahead without looking at the sin around him and with a blank stare under his robes.
Upon reaching the first floor after taking a set of stairs, he found the bar room.
This place was packed with people of all ages and types. It seemed like a metropolis of exotic individuals.
Here the smell was of strong alcohol, tobacco smoke, and greasy food. The size of the place was also considerable, it even had a floor fireplace in the center of the room where people gathered to heat their plates and chat while fighting the cold outside.
Overall, it was a perfect place to spend the night with a female from a diverse catalog of breeds, make friends, find a wife, and most of all, find a job.
Bell walked through the crowd. Considering the diversity of people in the place, Bell's gloomy attire and mercenary appearance was somewhat common, there were even men in the official uniforms of the city's Royal Guards, and from their rude faces and manners, it was obvious that they did not belong to them.
Bell came to a table in a dark corner, since it was so far from the central fireplace, it was cold here and therefore it was normal for it to be empty despite the amount of people packed.
The table was plain wood, as was the chair, and there were only two of them.
Seconds after taking a seat, a waitress arrived at his table.
—Good night gentleman. What can I serve you tonight?
Bell raised his eyes through his robes and examined the waitress.
She was a young brown with a blue ribbon that tied a ponytail in her hair. Her red-lipped smile revealed gleaming white teeth and her clean, oil-free skin indicated that she took delicate care of her appearance and physical care. Like the other waitresses in the entire tavern, the young lady wore a white apron with a gusset over it to avoid getting herself dirty. Her eyes were a radiant dark brown as she patiently waited to hear the customer's order.
—How much for your cheapest beer? —Bell asked in a flat voice.
The waitress took a moment to review her pad. After flipping through a few pages, she proudly raised her head and said with a smile:
—Our cheapest alcohol is in a glass bottle, sir. It costs a total of 7 valis, but if you order two bottles we could give you a discount of 11 valis.
—I'll pay the 11.
—Okay, I'll be right back!
Happy to have completed a sale in which she got rid of a couple of the least requested and most unpopular alcohol in the entire tavern, the young woman almost skipped away.
While Bell was waiting for the waitress, suddenly the only empty chair at his table was taken by an unexpected guest.
At first glance, she was a wild woman.
She was wearing rusty metal armor, the edges of it were covered by some creature's skin and parts of it like her abdomen, thighs, neck and arms were exposed.
The woman had blonde hair but for some reason there were gray parts. Her facial structure was oval and her features made her look like a woman belonging to the nobility. However, all of her attire and her gestures made her look extremely sensual.
It didn't take Bell a second to understand that from the look in the woman's eyes, it was obvious that she had experience in battles and that the 'armor' she was wearing now, plus her slow and provocative movements, were nothing more than a set of performances to sexually captivate Bell and achieve whatever her goal was with him.
To begin with, she had missed the point of considering Bell a hormonal-minded and impulsive young man. But it was normal for her to believe that this was going to work, after all, Bell had come down from the second floor, where all the action was and most of the men in this tavern were flirting with some woman.
—But what could a young man like you be doing in a place like this? —Asked the woman supporting her face in her hands that formed a v.
—I can cut out your tongue or you can get straight to the point.
The hostility in his tone of voice under his robe was evident. Bell didn't want or try to sound aggressive or threatening, that was just the way he talked about it.
But naturally, his verbal threat would be understood by even an old man if it came from the lips of a child.
Hearing Bell's answer, it seemed that the woman who until moments ago was a seduction viper had completely changed into a witch who despised humans.
—Didn't they teach you some education from the pigsty where you come from, you dirty, rude common?
Receiving the answer that Bell wasn't looking for, Bell took out a dagger and stuck it on the table.
—Last chance.
The woman's face distorted in disgust, but she seemed to want to maintain the image she had formed in the tavern...
—My name is Sabie Aldyet, I am the leader of the Black Spear adventure group. We found some ruins in the River Wyrm, but we've heard from good sources that it's the ruins of a castle. It will be full of traps, and I heard that an assassin-class adventurer was in town. I will give you 20% of all the valis we find, I am also willing to trade an item, no matter the value or magnitude, you see it, you choose it.
Finishing her cheeky invitation, Sabie leaned back in the wooden chair and crossed her arms.
Bell had also heard about the ruins on the other side of the Wyrm, but even he understood that going there was wasting resources that could fund closer and possibly more fruitful dungeons.
However, all this changed when someone else spent his own resources.
If Sabie was willing to share her potions, food, repairs, and horse or carriage fees, Bell would have no reason not to agree.
In his 16 years of life, Bell had already dealt with multiple arrogant and selfish bosses, Sabie Aldyet in comparison to them was nothing more than a brat of the nobility with attitudes of grandeur.
—I do not want money. Items only —Bell said after a few minutes. Sabie's expression distorted even more.
—Because...? Do you have another dungeon you can't enter because you don't have enough Level? If so, you could go to the adventurer's guild in this city and hire a pair. Or without going any further, buy war slaves. I heard they already sell them here with their enchanted necklaces —Sabie smiled as she closed her eyes—. Ahhh, they are so progressive in the lands under the rule of the Blue Empire.
Bell didn't bother to hear her and said:
—My needs are not your problems. I want the weight of 20% in items. I have come to this city for other reasons, my services are bought for much more than what you offer me, Aldyet.
—What? You're saying i'm being petty? But if all you're going to do is map the corridors of the fucking castle and disable the dusty traps. Are you kidding?
—Your proposal is nothing more than a stone in the road, one that I could take care of myself, but that after all you have placed in front of me.
Sabie's jaw set as she clenched her teeth in irritation. She felt insulted by Bell's apparent insinuation that she was weak.
—Sir, your bottle of beer!
At that moment, the waitress appeared, placing the tray with the two bottles of cheap alcohol in the tense atmosphere of the table.
The young lady hadn't noticed the atmosphere, so her bright smile looked very out of place compared to Sabie's gaze and Bell's cold indifference.
—I'll give you 10%; If you accept, today before the sun goes down, meet us on the outskirts of the city.
As Sabie rose to her feet, she dropped two coins engraved with a man wearing a crown.
2 real valis.
A royal vali was the equivalent of 10 common valis... This money was used in the courts of the nobility.
This meant three things: Sabie had worked for nobles. She had stolen it from nobles. Or she herself was a noble.
Either way, all three options were dangerous and troublesome.
But it also meant that she had the sources to back up her words...
—You can keep the change.
—Thank you very much, sir!
The young lady bowed respectfully and enthusiastically. She was probably thinking about how to tell everyone about this event.
As the bottle of alcohol burned at his throat, Bell had decided.