Capítulo 11: The End of the Beginning
The girl puffed out her cheeks and flushed red with annoyance.
"I'm tha' owner!" She exclaimed. "You gon' buy somethin', or are ya' just gon' stand there?" She asked from below the counter. She climbed up onto a stool, and glared at Ken from eye level.
"Actually, I'm looking to sell," he said, pulling the talons from his pocket. He then set them on the counter.
The girl pulled a bulbous hand lens from under the counter and examined a talon. She flipped it over and looked at its base. She then did the same with the other talon. She finally set it back on the counter. She replaced the hand lens and blurted "423 Kronnas for both of 'em. No more, no less."
"Make it even. 430," said Ken.
"425."
"Deal."
~~~
Ken left the shop and exited the silent alleyway. He reached a cobble street and walked east.
The sun was starting to set, and Ken had nowhere to sleep. He eventually asked around, and was told of a cheap adventurer's-only boarding house in the adventurer's district of Clarenburgh. It was run by a person closely associated with the adventurer's guild, so it was reputable. A night there cost around 180 Kronnnas. It didn't include anything but a bed, so it was dirt cheap. Ken had also bought some street food for dinner. He ate a dish that was beans wrapped in bread, similar to a burrito, and a beverage he thought must've been tea. The tea had a distinctive spice that he thought must've come from a bit of chili pepper. They ran him around 90 Kronnas.
The boarding house was old and damaged, but very clean. The owner, a half-dwarf with ginger mutton chops, was very proud of his business. Ken paid the price for a bed. The half-dwarf took Ken's leather bag, filled with money and the other bag, for safekeeping in his office. He then led Ken to his bed, which was in a large room lined with nineteen other beds. It was one of many rooms in the boarding house. This particular section of it was male only. Some of the men were sleeping. Some were mages reading grimoires or ancient scrolls by candlelight, and some were attending to their weapons and armor.
Ken noticed that most of the men who were asleep had stripped to their undergarments, so he did the same. Although he laid on a mattress of hard straw under only a thin fur, he passed out almost as soon as he closed his eyes. He had suffered through a hard day. Nobody in this world or the other had ever had a day like his. He had lived, died, and lived again all in the span of 24 hours. Even Jesus had waited three days before resurrecting.
Ken had a dream of a silver sword that cut down goblins with one stroke. He dreamt of slaying all the goblins in the world, and subsequently being made king of everything.
~~~
Ken woke up disgusted with himself. He was covered in mud, grime, and sweat from the previous day's adventure, plus the sweat he had accumulated in his sleep. He clothed himself, reluctantly, because his clothes also reeked of sweat. He didn't notice all the filth yesterday because it slowly accumulated, but waking up and seeing, smelling, and feeling it all at once pushed him over the edge.
He found the half-dwarf at the front desk and reacquired his bag.
"How do most people get clean around here?" Ken asked. "Are there showers? Bathhouses, maybe?"
The half-dwarf heartily chuckled and gave him directions to an adventurer exclusive bathhouse some few blocks up the road. Ken thanked him and set out for it. Ken had about 200 Kronnas left over from the talons and the adventurer's tag's recovery reward, and hoped using the bathhouse wasn't going to set him back too far.
It didn't. The bathhouse wasn't too well known, and the rates were low enough for Ken to afford an hour. He washed himself and was able to borrow a washboard to scrub his clothes. After he was somewhat satisfied with his cleanliness, he set off for the guild.
Following the flow of adventurers to the guild was the most relaxing part of Ken's day, even including the bath. Something about moving his feet without having to follow a mapped out route in his head was incredibly attractive to him. He eventually found himself at the sandstone building clad in marble. He walked in the leftmost door and went to the notice board.
Jobs with quotas, like hunting and foraging, dotted the board. Ken noticed a job that recommended a party of three or more, or one person who has experience with goblins. It asked of the removal of goblins from an abandoned mine northeast of Clarenburgh. No killing required. It listed a few methods of removal, such as flooding the mine, smoking the goblins out with fire, caving in the entrance, etc. Anything to get them to move.
Ken ripped the paper off the board and started to move toward the front desk.
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