บท 70: Elder Eudo
It took Emile some time to sort himself out in Rising Tide. Luckily everyone spoke and read the same language, because of that Emile was able to find the Whale Inn that Jack mentioned earlier.
It was primarily a bar, but there were rooms available on the second and third floor. Like the gates, the building was unimpressive. The same cream stone was used to construct a giant rectangle and that seemed to be the layout for the majority of the buildings in Rising Tide.
Stepping into Whale Inn, Emile was immediately hit with the smell of grease and smoke. So much smoke, in fact, that a film of gray was pasted over the room.
'Can I get lung cancer?'
'Does cancer exist here?'
Most of the tables were full in addition to a group of men gambling in the back corner of the room. Emile recognized the back of Jack's head and approached him at the bar.
'Should I act differently?'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah, that makes sense'
'I'm not Emile—I'm Spright, underground assassin'
Spright confidently strode to the empty seat next to Jack. In one fluid motion, he pulled the bar bench out and sat down.
"Offer the drink still stand?" Spright asked. "Wait—"
'I should jump off a bridge holy—'
"I mean, the drink… you said come get a—" Nervousness hit Emile like a truck. He mixed up his words and slurred his speech.
Meanwhile, Jack looked up from the drink in his hand and threw a confused glance at Emile.
"Hey." Emile forced himself to squeeze out, he felt utterly defeated and embarrassed.
"Spright! My buddy!" Jack tossed his arm over Emile's shoulder and leaned heavily into his body. The potent stench of alcohol blew from Jack's lips as he fumbled his greeting.
"How can I help you, my good friend? Ahh—the drink, of course! Excuse me Doll, mind fetching me another." Jack pointed to his mug of ale.
"I'd like to hear the story behind the nose ring." Emile said while grabbing his mug from the bartender.
"Oh this ol' thing?" Jack pointed to his nose, "There's not much to tell. I went after one of his girls and he challenged me to a duel—the girl's freedom against my servitude and as you can see I lost miserably."
"He must be pretty strong." Emile commented.
"Psh—" Jack winced, "he's as weak as a bag of bones. It's his Gift that's the issue."
"Oh?" Emile's interest was piqued, "What's his Gift?"
"I'm not really sure, it's hard to explain…" Jack rested his head on the bar counter while he thought, "it's like you get a really strong desire to listen to him."
"Like mind control?" Emile asked.
"No, no, it's not like that. You can resist, but it gets harder over time."
"Does he do anything? Does he have to touch you or something first?"
"Yeah! He has to jab you with a little needle."
'A needle? Like a syringe?'
'Breath of Essence should counteract the poison or venom that's causing the obedience, but will it purify it before I lose?'
'I guess it's a good matchup for me, I should be grateful'
"So what's your Elders name?" Emile wanted to get as much information as he could today since the banquet was only three days away.
"Hmm?" Jack's eyes snapped open and he lifted his head off the counter, "Oh—Elder Eudo? He's actually right back there," he pointed to the gambling table in the back.
Emile looked over Jack's shoulder at the table he nodded towards. He had glanced at it earlier, but didn't look at the people.
There were five men sitting at the table. Two were fat with an attendant standing near them, they must be Rising Tide natives.
The other three men were dressed in the loosely tossed together aesthetic of the Black Gates: leather clothing pieced together with rope. Of those three, one of them was blatantly Elder Eudo.
Even though he had the title Elder, he was nowhere near old in age. A slim build, long wavy brown hair that's been tied up into a bun, and on each side sat a barely clothed girl with a nose ring.
The girls sat on their knees, unmoving next to Eudo. Collars tightened around their necks and a long chain leash was attached to each girl.
Emile wasn't surprised to see the enslaved girls, he knew slavery existed in this world. Even him and Blood, all of the Graves actually were slaves to the Collectors Gift, she just didn't need to use it.
Although Emile wasn't surprised by Elder Eudo, he was disgusted. At the least, seeing him treat human lives like livestock made it easier to accept killing him later.
Suddenly, one of the girls stood up and walked around the table. She walked with her hands covering herself since she was wearing so little clothes.
Then, she kneeled beside one of the fat men at the table and new cards were handed out.
"Why did she just walk over to that other guy?" Emile asked Jack.
Jack, barely conscious at this point, stumbled around to look at the table.
"Elder Eudo lost her in a bet. That sucks, I liked her."
Emile tossed a few copper coins onto the counter and stepped off the bench. He said farewell to Jack and exited the Whale Inn.
'At least I won't feel bad killing this guy'
As he walked through the streets of Rising Tide Emile built a plan in his head for how to move forward. Now that he knows the identity of an Elder, where they're staying, and their Gift, Emile only needed to prepare a few other things before the challenge.
First, he needs to buy a change of clothes. With the white shirt and black pants Emile stands out no matter where he goes. He doesn't have the heavy and warm attire of the Rising Tide people nor the leather clothes of the Black Gates.
Next, he needs to find a separate inn to stay at, preferably one that's out of the way and doesn't have many Black Gates members. Although considering half their population just moved in, that might be difficult.
Then, tomorrow he wants to gather any information he can on the other two Elders and if one of them seems like an easier opponent Emile will challenge them instead.
After that he should be allowed into the banquet and the meeting, a mission success.
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