Chapter 293: The Scent of Lurking Schemers.

“Oooooooooohyoooo! What do we do with a stranded serpent? What do we do with a stranded serpent? What do we do with a stranded serpent? With the leviathan around now~! ♫”

Bistro Aurora.

The rebranding of our previous street eatery into a proper establishment where people could eat and drink as much as they wanted transformed the eatery into a normal tavern. With our Quest counter to the side, it also served as a place for adventurers to hang out, mostly so we could gather information in the area.

Currently, we did not have the subspace open in multiple areas, only here in Gleisvale, since we were still not sure how to manage our guests. Sure, it would be good if we could gather customers from Griffonpeak and Gleisvale at the same time, but who knew how much of a security problem that would be?

This would become not just a place to eat, drink, and relax, but a hub for information trading between factions. It would be so easy, and it could be done all while under our noses. Hestia could manage it as the master of the subspace, but that would be ridiculous. She had better things to do.

Leaving the Room open to allow anyone to enter the bistro would be okay for places we were certainly allied with and had fixed control over, like Griffonpeak, Cedaraille, Firwood, and maybe Ullistar, but that was about it. Ideally, we would have our customers self-regulate themselves, but that was a pipedream for now. We couldn’t force them and it would ruin the mood if we tried to.

Nevertheless, Tamae’s goal was clear. This was for her to test out her more experimental recipes and serve different sorts of people in a casual setting, unlike the fine dining restaurant between nobles and rich merchants. The latter couldn’t operate every day for now, but this place for sure could.

“Oh hoy, pray to the gods! Oh hoy, pray to the gods! Oh hoy, pray to the gods! That it won’t just sink us~! ♫”

In the middle of the bistro, human, beastman, and levianewt sailors were dancing around, joyfully sharing mead together as they sang sea shanties. The Caedhulen levianewts and Estralian sailors certainly had songs the other didn’t know about, but once they found something both knew, both parties would go wild.

The adventurers and our normal, everyday worker patrons also joined in, of course. The monotony of the day was reason enough to simply join when fun was around. Our bistro could be rowdy and loud, but that wasn’t something we disliked. In fact, our two waitresses loved the mood!

“Hey, don’t throw the damn chairs around! Lady Hestia made them in her own time just for the bistro!” Haati, our katzune waitress scolded two sailors, pushing them back on their chairs like children. She knew how to handle tavern guests. “Eat up, boys! The next servings are coming up!”

“Yyyyeaaaaaaaaah! THANKS, HAATI!” Haati has pretty much become the mascot of the bistro at this point.

“Refills! Mugs out!” On the other hand, our human waitress, Lorena, was keeping the front side going as she meticulously worked through the orders. She wasn’t as energetic in her customer’s service compared to Haati, but people liked her since she got their orders out fast. “Your landbat steak has to wait for a moment. Sandwiches are out, here you go! And, sliced sausages here. Guess what’s in them today, everybody~”

For two normal waitresses, this would have probably been pretty rough, but I heard they went to get some levels with the Magical Biscuits just so they could have the levels and to buy the necessary skills they needed for this. They probably were still swamped in work, but at least the kitchen manned by Tamae and Priscilla was working without a problem.

“Excuse me!” Outside of tavern work, there was also our Quest counter, where a person dressed as a butler was standing next to it.

“In a moment!” Lorena called out before serving the remaining people. She cleaned her hands at a basin using the water catalyst there, and then greeted the guest. “Company Aurora is here at your service. Is there something you wish to commission or are you looking into the progress of one of your Quests?”

“The former, Miss. My patron wishes to continue his business with you, and, as such, requires these materials if you are so willing to acquire them on our behalf.” The man handed Lorena a list of monster materials, or so I presumed, which she began to read out loud to him to confirm.

I heard Haati and Lorena had a crash course with Svena to learn how to read and write. This was probably the reason why Lorena and Haati could both serve as receptionists. However, considering the future, we either needed more employees or a dedicated person at the counter. Our two waitresses were already too busy for an additional job. For now, however, the counter didn’t receive many commissions. It wasn’t active every day, but I heard from Nishio that they had a lot of Quests to do. Quite a lot of leveling on their side. I really should consider helping them out for my own growth.

“Mhmm!”

But, back to reality. The reason why I was in the bistro right now.

“Ahhhh, the tide’s blessings to you, Saori. Ahhhh, this curry… is magnificent.” Adhi Bayudra, a levianewt captain from Caedhul, thanked me, flapping his dorsal fins in gratitude. “I must be honest, I was skeptical. I have never, ever tasted a good curry made without fish or ocean products in the western part of Altrust before. Only the eastern Evidian curry was good enough to sate my stomach, and I have been a sailor for nearly 70 years now.”

“Well, then you probably never met Tamae-san before, Mister Adhi.” Daichi placed another spoon full of curry rice into his mouth, causing Adhi to gulp despite having eaten seven plates full of it, including some naan bread on the side. “Give her a recipe and she will quickly master it in one to two tries. Afterwards, she will give the dish her own spin on it, adding and experimenting with it; she believes that there’s more to cooking than just filling up your stomach.”

Daichi and Tamae weren’t close. They were classmates and could speak with each other, but at best, you could call them good acquaintances even after traveling with each other for two years. This was just Daichi promoting her to try to win over Adhi.

“Ahhh, I see, so this is why this curry tasted so differently from conventional curry you can find elsewhere in Caedhul. It even still has the required spiciness and savoriness it needs to be good. Hmm, impressive. Astounding.” He nodded before slamming the table to rise up, calling out with his right arm stretched out. “Another portion, please!”

After he sat down again with a wide, greedy grin, he looked at Grimnir, Tasianna, and me. He gave us a nod for some reason. Did he see through why we were here?

“Ahh, I believe I am taking up too much of your time. As is tradition, I must give my thanks to you for serving my men and me such a wonderful dish after we spent days without any. Please, your faces leak your intentions,” he pointed out our ulterior motive. “Do not worry, if it is transporting cargo, then you came to the right levianewt! I, Adhi Bayudra, am a transport captain extraordinaire! Unless death claims me, by God Melicertha, I shall deliver any package to the destination unharmed! Ayhahahahaha!”

Boisterous, huh?

Considering he was inviting us to speak out, Grimnir did as such. “We’re looking into the person you’re selling the yeast to, Captain.”

“Mhmm. Can’t do.” The energy he had in his movement and voice disappeared and he sat down with a restrained smile. “By my honor, I cannot divulge information from my clients. No transport information, apologies. You would understand, Miss Elf? I can see your amulet to our Depth Goddess.”

The rest of our group looked at Tasianna, and she nodded. “Goddess Plesia is the Goddess of Honor and as well as Order. If his honor doesn’t permit him to speak, then we won’t be able to force him. Similar to dragonewts, levianewts can be quite stubborn.”

Sure enough, it also applied to dragons. Hestia and Melloxtressa could be quite pig-headed. Like mother, like daughter.

As Adhi nodded to Tasianna’s pleasing words, it seemed he let his guard down as he didn’t expect Tasianna to still mount a counter.

“However, Mister Adhi, as Master Grimnir has already mentioned, we already know what your cargo was. You don’t need to skim over it, we know you’ve been transporting Saelarian yeast to an Estralian from the O’Bloom household. It isn’t illegal, but as allies, we Saelari frown at what you did.”

Tasianna herself couldn’t care less nor was Muraina bothered by it much, but those from the isolationist faction of Saelariel probably would be angered at how a levienewt was trading their precious yeast with humans. Tasianna was putting herself in their position.

Clearly unnerved at what Tasianna said, Adhi lowered his neck and came closer, almost speaking in a whisper. “It’s not like I’m trying to cover it up, but that trade should have been a secret. My contact should have paid everybody off for this thing to come in clean. You should not know about this.”

“Smuggling?” I raised an eyebrow at him, flustering him as he took my question as an assertion.

“No! No!” He waved his hand in front of him to deny everything. “I am not a smuggler! I am an honor-bound, lawful sailor! I bring cargo to people and do my job! I never take orders from unofficial sources!”

“But you did in this case, levianewt,” Grimnir argued back. “How can any of this be ‘official’ when you’re trying to be secretive? A tazong’s nose can smell the scent of a liar.”

I don’t need the ability to listen to hearts to know that’s a fat lie, Grimnir.

“Huh? You can? That’s something I’ve never heard from the dwarves I’ve met.” And, apparently, Adhi agreed. “Argh, regardless, by my faith to the depth Goddess, I can’t just reveal information like that, my friends. Regardless of my situation, I take myself as an honorable sailor.”

“Your situation?” I remembered something his men said at the argument back at the docks. “I heard your men and you mention about being stuck in the city for a while. Why can’t you leave?”

“Ark! Tidessss’swallow me, it’s all cuz of my damn mouth! But, how can one judge me when having fun is important for one’s life? And now, look at me, stuck inland without my ship! Just cuz I am supposed to transport another package, not including the money they haven’t paid me yet!” Adhi complained, probably thinking this information wasn’t too sensitive. “Estralia, the country of businessmen, and yet, what does the merchant I am waiting for do? Leave me high and dry for nearly three weeks now!”

Adhi bashed his hand on the table, rocking it at his show of strength. He snarled out loud, letting out his frustration at being stranded for this long. Whatever was stopping him seemed to be important.

“Why don’t you complain about it? A three weeks wait for your compensation is enough of a reason for even soldiers to abandon a cause. Merchants and especially sellswords are even less patient about it.” Ellaine pointed out, but Adhi could only shake his head in despair.

“The person I’m, reluctantly, working for is forcing me to stay here. I already have my compensation. The money is even going for today’s celebration, but everything else is supposed to be delivered to my client. I can’t leave cuz of that.”

“Which country does your client belong to?” I asked.

“No information on my client. I am giving you this much information because of this favor, but that is about it. I have my pride, Miss wolfkin. Please, respect it.”

“I understand that, but we might be able to help you if you can help us, Mister Adhi.” I produced my ID from underneath the table and showed it to Adhi. “We’re from the hunter company Aurora. Only a C rank for now, but our company leader wields a certain amount of influence. We can help you with your problem here in Gleisvale, but for the one back home, we need to know who it is.”

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“… This is a rather expensive ID card, I must say. I’ve never seen one such as this outside of—”

“Royalty or the high nobles,” Grimnir ended his sentence, surprising Adhi. “One of the newer models, I must say. Not fake, in other words, and that you can believe since we dwarves are the ones responsible for making these IDs and selling them to other countries.”

“Our liege is Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor,” Tasianna stated flatly. “We do not know what your problem is, Mister Adhi, but we are willing to help you out if you can help us out with our predicament.”

“P-Princess?! Hold on, that is not one of the names of a member of the Kargrxian royalty! You lie!” He stood up, outraged at what we said.

Apparently, even levianewts knew about the royal family? Or perhaps this person was above-average when it came to politics and global news.

“We aren’t. Please, calm down.” I stood up and went over to the door and entered Melloxtressa’s cave. Regardless of how he knew this, persuading him was now more important than asking him a redundant question.

I expected that the mother-daughter duo would be inside here, but I suddenly heard some noise coming from behind a giant crystal wall. That wasn’t here the last time I checked. However, coming closer to it, I noted how transparent it was, letting me see another cave adjacent to it, and this one was far larger than the one I was in.

Wait... is that?

Unlike the crystal cave-like decor of Melloxtressa’s cave, the one next to it was black, purple, and brown. Upon inspection, the black-purple ground looked quite similar to Hestia’s corrosive obsidian, even to the point of how glossy it was.

[“Saori?”] I suddenly heard Hestia’s voice entering my head, where I asked where she was. [“Oh, you need something? Sure, hold on. Watch the ground.”]

And in the next second, a large portion of the ground started to glow yellow before a giant crimson-red arm pierced through it and stomped the ground with its sickle-like claws. I was taken aback, moving backwards as I stared at this weird scene.

But, my fears quickly subsided when Hestia’s dragon head sprouted from the ground. Armored in her [Panzer], she shook the remnants of molten corrosive obsidian from her head and pulled the rest of her body out, looking almost as if she had just gone for a swim.

Hold on, what?

[“Whew, this is awesome.”] Hestia expressed with elation while shaking the rest of the “lava” off, like a wet dog. [“Mother. Shay. Beth. You guys can come out now.”]

In Hestia’s left hand, she was holding a large ball made from her scales. Probably a result of her scale manipulation training. But, when it opened up, it revealed Melloxtressa and the twins were inside of it. All three were clapping to Hestia’s success.

[“Were you guys hurt? You told me it was a bit too warm?”]

[“Yes, Princess.”] Shay nodded. [“I believe you need to put more mana around the scales to fortify your [Draconic Barrier]. However, your theory was correct; in conjunction with your scales, it can protect you from extreme heat.”]

[“Yes, you must fine-tune it a bit more. The perfect ratio of mana is needed for your future project.”] Beth clapped her hands and wagged her tail in excitement, before placing her hand on her chin. [“However, your movements… it took us a while to get through it all, despite your [Volcanic Blaze].”]

[“Urgh! Come on, I never swam in this body before! Besides, not only do I have to swim with a dragon body, but I also have to control [Volcanic Blaze] so I can swim underground! It’s hard, alright!”]

“Well, that is obvious, my whelping. Dragons aren’t meant to swim,” Melloxtressa defended her daughter. “Hmm, we might have to ask a drake or leviathan to teach you how to do it. Or, we can meet up with one of your stepmothers. Forminaztrass, the fourth empress, is a double-headed lichdragon. She had to learn how to swim while fighting off a leviathan, despite having a skeletal body.”

A lichdragon? How does a skeleton procreate?!

Disregarding whatever family business was going on here, I asked Hestia what she was doing and why there was another cave next to Melloxtressa’s.

Her answer?

“Every dragon and boss needs a boss room, right? I’m reconstructing the one I made in that cave in the Belzac forest.”

As expected of Hestia. A Hestia answer that should have been obvious to me.

But, seriously, the main reason why she made this place was for another reason, she admitted. She then turned around and heaved out a massive purple flame breath, swamping the area in the back in her flames. I was confused at what she was trying to show me, until the flames suddenly began to solidify.

Whilst Hestia sat on the floor, the flames moved by themselves, turning to slime as they formed an obsidian stage with most of the equipment needed for it. Although it was still barren without any decoration, making it monotonous, just like that, Hestia made a concert platform for herself.

[“[Volcanic Blaze] isn’t an empty vessel magic, sadly. It is, however, [Lavakinesis] and a pseudo [Terrakinesis] all in one skill. But, it also helps with something else that I’m planning on doing.”]

“Like that swimming part?” I asked her and she shrugged her dragon shoulders.

[“Yeah, I guess. But, I have an even better idea once my sun core regenerates. And I am training that part with mother.”] I could see Hestia’s mischievous smile in my head. My intuition told me she would either burn down another forest or become a rice cooker. One of those two.

After she transformed back into her dragonewt form, I explained the situation about Adhi and what occurred in the manhole from before. She accepted my proposal, so I brought her to the bistro. There, with one [Draconic Aura] and her [Royal Presence], she had Adhi and all his levianewt sailors kneeling down.

They pronounced, “We are unworthy of the majesty of a true dragonkin!” and caused Hestia to dash back into her cave. We had forgot dragonewts and levianewts could be zealots when it came to true dragonkins. It didn’t help that Yorshka and Priscilla didn’t act like the ones we should have expected.

“I cannot tell you much, but I shall do what I can. To help a true dragonkin, I, Adhi Bayudra, must have been blessed by Kargryxmor today!”

Adhi then went on to explain what he could without breaking his professional pride. In essence, the contract he was forced to reluctantly sign due to his loud mouth was only eligible if both clients could work with him. In other words, if one of them were to be removed either through force or imprisonment, he would be free.

Due to this, he had to stay in Gleisvale until his other client — the O’Bloom member — told him he could leave. As they kept him waiting, he became impatient after the first week ended and decided to stalk one of their members.

“The transactions happened at the train station, so we never learned who exactly our client was. Only that they belonged to the ‘O’Bloom household.’ After that, we were to wait around the dock for our next package, but it never came.”

When he saw one of the bodyguards on the day of the delivery, he decided to follow him against the judgement of his crew. He saw them enter the alleyway behind the Groundbait Kleesha and open a manhole before throwing in bombs. They entered it afterward and he heard fighting and screaming down there.

Once they came out, they also brought with them bags full of items from their raid. Afterward, they boarded on a boat and sailed forth. Since Adhi was a levianewt, he was a spectacular swimmer and could even breathe underwater with his gills. Tracking them was easy when he didn’t even have to swim as fast as he was able to.

After a while, the boat stopped right under the mountainous arch overhanging the river Gleislane. He wanted to get closer, but his instincts told him he should stay away from the place. Something was around there which could kill him, so he decided it was smarter to just stay away.

“From what I heard, it’s probably the hideout for one of the syndicates around here. The Riverside whatever gang. All I know about this city is that order is not a thing. Thank goodness the docks follow the Goddess’s will, but the rest of Estralia is certainly not a good place for a levianewt.”

Sounds like the O’Blooms have hired a crime gang to do their dirty work, but I guess that is normal for this city. This explains how that Resurrection hideout was destroyed. Everything's coming together.

After thanking Adhi for his help, we left him behind at the bistro and the five of us went outside the city, where I ordered my garms to appear. Ilsaphone’s tip about getting their pelt back was still lingering in my head, but I had no idea if I would be able to find the remaining two.

On their backs, we rode out, down the river before eventually reaching the location Adhi mentioned. And, true to his word, the hideout was there, and by goodness it looked almost like a fort with the stone walls. There were even defenders stationed there at this very moment.

After I sent out Varya to scout ahead, seeing as she was smaller than my garms, I had Ellaine ask Klea’Hatma something important.

[“Can you feel any demonic powers around, Klea?”]

The demon remained silent. According to Ellaine she was concentrating, trying to assess the location while inside that small ring. After a few moments, her answer came and it instantly put everybody on guard.

[“Yes, and not only one strong one, but multiple smaller demonic presences. What a party.”]

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