Mysterious Fragment
Mysterious Fragment
The charming voice from the hooded girl didn't clear the gloom from the innkeeper's face at all, but instead had her expression turn even more stinky. "If you don't like the price or can't afford it, don't waste my time—!"
A burst of loud, boisterous laughter from a ruffian-looking man at the table interrupted their conversation before she could speak. "Old lady, don't try to gouge the little beauty here, we all know you hate them, but it's only ten silvers a day for your best room, ain't it? And that one is already taken, too."
Evelyn frowned under her hood when she felt the man's malicious gaze travel up and down her body, as if trying to gauge her worth.
"Ten gold coins a day? Is she renting out the Emperor's bedroom? Ahaha…"
"Hey, little beauty! Don't haggle with the old husk, come with daddy, my place has a spare bed for you! Of course, your friend is welcome too!"
Seeing the drunkards point and jeer at Cecilia, Evelyn could only hold the girl's wrist tighter to prevent her from blowing their cover right away. She could pretty much tell that although these people weren't faking being drunk, their words and actions were clearly well-practiced, and even looked staged.
Of course, once a few other patrons at the inn echoed the boisterous man's words, the old lady's face turned even uglier as she pointed a finger at the cloaked girl indignantly. "Ten silvers a night, do you want it or not?!"
Evelyn could tell that Cecilia was right on the verge of flipping out, so she quickly reached into her robe, extracted the required amount from her inventory, and took out exactly twenty silver coins in her palm. "We will take it for two days, then."
The old lady snatched the coins from her hand as if afraid she will regret it before dashing off to fetch the key, which she threw over with a hideous grin. "Don't forget to inform me in advance if you wish to extend your stay. The price of the room may not be the same at that time, after all."
Evelyn didn't bother responding to the old woman as she caught the key before heading back out of the inn along with Cecilia.
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The moment she stepped out of the inn's door, the boisterous man who had helped her before nodded to his companion to chase after the two girls before heading over to the old innkeeper with a grin. "Yo, old lady, looks like we hit the jackpot this time! Shit, who knew these little ladies were so rich. Even without the commission of handing them over, just the loot from their bodies will be a nice bonus, right?"
Of course, had the old lady stuck to not letting them have the room, it would have been easier to arrange their 'disappearance' from whatever street corner they took refuge in, but it also came with its risks.
Although usually the residents of the town were quite wary, the ash blonde little girl had been a little too pretty, which increased the likelihood of them being able to take shelter in someone else's home. Had that happened, it would make things even harder.
In contrast, although it wasn't a good idea to have guests disappearing from their inn all the time, every once in a while shouldn't hurt as long as no one found out.
The innkeeper sneered as she looked around to make sure that all the people around were her own before waving him off in annoyance. "Don't forget what you can and cannot reveal in front of others, Clint. And this is just a normal transaction, your commission will be the same."
The boisterous man rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Don't try to fool me. Tell me, did the stone shine real bright? I don't believe your face would look like that otherwise!"
The old lady's lips twitched a few times before she begrudgingly nodded. This man was a little too cunning, but that was exactly why she had to work with him anyway. "Like the sun at noon, almost blinded my damn eyes, barely managed to keep it from being discovered."
Clint slapped his thigh in excitement. "Yes! We really hit the jackpot, then! The man said the brighter it shines, the more he'll pay, right?"
The old lady grimaced. "Yes. We just need to make sure the person is not too old. Regardless of boy or girl, as long as they're not old enough to have children, and the stone shines brighter than a firefly, we can cash in."
Clint nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it must be disciples with light affinity… But you know… all the ones we picked seemed to be the ones with the best appearance among the ones we encountered, isn't that strange?"
The old lady's hand shook briefly before she went back behind the counter. "Don't care about irrelevant details. Just make money."
Clint clearly didn't take her words to heart as he grinned. "What do you think those perverts do?"
The old innkeeper refused to respond to his question as she sneered derisively.
Clint coughed. "Old lady, this time we're bound to get two for the price of one, so you won't mind if I take the cloaked girl for myself, right?"
The old lady sneered. "What do you want to do?"
The boisterous man pretended to adjust his crotch, grinning at the old lady's disgusted look. "Relax, I'm not after your dusty old cunt."
Of course, although he was usually vulgar, the man's actions were only to mislead the old woman. As they were both equally treacherous people that knew each other well, how could they possibly reveal their own plans?
He had a feeling that the ones picked by the stone probably had special physiques, and the perverts were probably doing something like plundering them to enhance their own, though their methods were unknown.
But what no one knew was that he, Clint, was no normal man. He had recently obtained a part of a broken array disk that shockingly still functioned, and not only that, it also allowed him to plunder talent from others!
Although he couldn't imagine what kind of function the original array disk served if just a part of it was so heaven-defying, Clint knew that he had what it took to use just this small part to soar directly to the skies in one step!
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