บท 45: Spider Nest
The Outer City.
George had heard stories about this place times and times again. Although he was curious about this place, and the magical beings that lived in here, namely ghouls and werewolves, George never bothered to come in this place.
Although magical beings were fairly rare, werewolves and ghouls were actually the most common races to find in human society. Ghouls were the product of necromancy, while werewolves lived among humans, hidden during the day and surfacing during full moons. However, most werewolves would never harm humans, and hide, since they would be hunted down by knights if their true identity was to be revealed.
The situation in Melvinger Outer City was quite different.
The birth of [White Wolf], a peak rank 2 werewolf, in Melvinger City, made it difficult for any knight to hunt werewolves openly. The current crisis threatened Melvinger City as a whole, so it was only natural for the Alpha of the Outer City to come forward, and negotiate a way out of this war against orcs. An alliance between humans and werewolves seemed to be the only solution to win against the terrifying green-skinned orcs.
"Please...We only ask for a loaf of bread...", a beggar child said while kneeling in the corner of a street. Obviously, the child was ill, with no hair left on his head despite being no older than ten. One could see that his clothes had not been washed for several months already, if not more. His colar bone was very visible, and his arms seemed incredibly frail, most probably due to malnutrition.
An old woman rushed towards the child and slapped him very hard, and smashed his head onto the floor while controlling her strength. She immediately knelt: "My lord, I ask for forgiveness. The child is too young, and does not know about nobles. Please do not kill him..."
George was a bit shaken. He knew the situation was dire before the war, but he never expected it to go so far as to create starvation in the Outer City. When he arrived in the city, the slums were filthy, but the people had enough to eat.
Frowning, George moved forward and extented a dozen copper coins to the old woman: "This should be enough to feed your family for quite some time"
The old woman bowed, eyes filled with gratitude. Obviously, she could see the crest on George, Lady Hubert and James' clothes. George was a famous man. He was the hope of Melvinger City, and his extraordinary medicinal skills had spread throughout the city, even if the Outer City would never be able to access the Inner City Area.
Lady Hubert looked at the surroundings, and started to frown: "My lord, we are being followed"
James nodded: "I noticed a few eyes on us as well...This place is definitely not safe. Many noble houses have suffered quite a bit in the past, with unresponsible heirs travelling to the Outer City Area, ending up being ransomed by some gang"
George smiled: "I expected this much. Anyway, we have arrived"
Indeed, the group had reached a small building made of wood. The walls had holes in it, and although there was a dreadful smell of filth coming out of it, there seemed to be activity in it. Green and purple spiders could be seen on the roof, and there was white spider web pretty much everywhere besides the front door.
[Spider Nest]
It was a famous tavern for those who belonged to the Underworld, an organization that pretty much controlled the black market of Melvinger City. George had purchased the Golden Lion Villa from this organization, and since then, investigated the Outer City Area. Naturally, he had come across interesting pieces of information, including a place where he would be able to inquire on everything he wanted to know.
The Spider Nest only had one policy: Anything has a price.
As soon as George entered, people started to frown. Although James was an old man, his gaze was very severe and energetic. His sight gave the illusion of him being an expert. Lady Hubert might be a woman, but her armour and rapier gave away her realm of strength. She was a knight, and a pretty strong one based on her equipment, which was top-quality.
As for George, one could feel pressure from his spiritual force subconsciously. Of course, people in this place also knew his true identity of Medicine King and Grand Knight. Even if there were a couple of fairly strong mercenaries in this tavern, no one would be dumb enough to offend them, much less try to steal from them.
George looked at the barman and smiled:
[Beep! Scan complete]
[Name - (?) | Status - Corrupted | Rank 1 Acolyte
Attributes :
Strength - 1.0 | Dexterity - 1.0 | Vitality - 0.6 | Spiritual Force - 3.8
Spells - ø]
The man was a rank 1 acolyte, and although he had yet to learn how to cast a spell, earning this much spiritual force meant that he was being taught by some rank 2 acolyte. And if that was the case, then the man was much more knowledgeable about the events that took place in the Outer City.
Better still, his small spider tatoo on his neck made George believe that he had some sort of affiliation and rank within a criminal organization of the Underworld.
Smiling, George put a pouch of silver coins on the table and asked: "I would like to know about wolves"
It was late in the evening, but the Barman instantly nodded while pouring liquor in a glass.
[Beep! Scan complete]
[Spider Nest Cocktail - Alcohol percentage: 42%]
[Spider Nest Cocktail - Alcohol percentage: 42%]
[Spider Nest Cocktail - Alcohol percentage: 42%]
As expected, he didn't put any poison inside.
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