Chapter 284: An Old Acquaintance- Or Not

Once outside, I met a girl. She wasn't the girl behind the counter- that maid's sister. Rather, she was one of the girls who first came to grab my arm. She didn't grab me this time but just stared. She was actually in decent clothes- not that revealing. 

I steered to my right and headed for the stairs but the girl just stayed there. Her expression, typical.

Alisa did have powers to take care of things but- what if.

I stopped just at the stairs and came back. "Excuse me miss, is something wrong? Why-"

"Don't mind me. I'm standing guard.. I won't let anyone hurt her." Her tone was relaxed but she was serious. 

She didn't seem to be lying but just because people seemed innocent didn't mean they were. 

"Okay-"

But I didn't try to stir trouble. For the moment I decided to trust these people. My guard was still up though. 

I just headed down.

***

It was past midnight and yet, there were so many people here. 

Most of the customers were men, though some women were here too, having fun chatting with other women.

The men in particular were touching the workers here and there. Some women were also doing that. 

Some were being led to rooms, while others were being kicked out of the inn. I didn't know why but this whole thing seemed a bit off. Though I had to admit, it was kind of entertaining, seeing all this ruckus even at this hour. 

Actually, a guy in the corner was playing a flute too. The melody was good but it kind of didn't quite sit well with the atmosphere. 

"This is normal by the way." The girl behind the counter said. She was actually a lot younger than her sister. I guess maybe, mid-twenties? She was wearing rather heavy makeup, so she did look nice. 

Her sister in contrast was over forty. Probably. 

I was just in front of the counter, sitting tight. There weren't as many people in here when we first came in, but still, there were plenty. Which meant, lots of noise, lots of free entertainment, and a bit of distraction.

"Yeah." I stared around. Though the atmosphere was a bit whacky, the staff were having fun, so I guess it was okay. 

After all, who was I to judge how people made their living? Everyone had their own shit to worry about. And how they earned or spent their money, was totally up to them. 

"Is she, is Maye dead?"

I looked at her- the owner and she was saddened to a degree. 

But I just maintained a smile. "She's currently leading the soldiers through the forest. This allowed us to escape without too many distractions," I had no idea if that was true or not but it didn't stop me from saying it though. "I think she should be safe though, now that we are here."

"Can we really trust you with her?" And now she moved on to the princess?

I guess these sisters were really serious about protecting that lady.

I snickered. "If you couldn't, she probably would have ended up with the Baron or the son of the Duke we met along the way." 

The women giggled. "I'll take your word for-" And then suddenly a chair broke down as a drunkard stumbled on his feet. He was trying to reach the butt of a nearby girl but failed miserably. "Throw him out!" The owner's voice took a sharp turn and from a sweet lady, she turned into a Viking of sorts! Wow.

The man was booted- I mean shown out and the owner smiled again. "So, what's the relationship between the two of you?"

"I'm just a guy doing his job, nothing more than that." I tried to chuckle, it sure wasn't working. 

"GHAHAHA!" A laugh came from my right, the opposite side of the counter. "You should just slice 'em bastards up." He laughed a bit more. "Throwing 'em out is such a pain. They'll just come back tomorrow."

"You say, that but you'll come arresting me tomorrow, won't you?" The owner pondered with a smile. 

The guy laughed again. 

The voice was nostalgic and the slicing part too. 

I looked and there he was, a wolf!

"Gack!?"

For a second I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. My face instantly formed a smile. 

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But when the man looked at me, I realized, they weren't the same. After all, this guy had a patch of black hair on his neck and the rest were white.

Besides, Gack was dead. 

The guy looked at me for a moment and then laughed again as he downed his glass. "You know my bro?" He laughed some more. "Mam, give us some drinks!"

Mam, huh? 

I snickered. "I don't drink, so a glass of milk or water."

She smiled and went to fetch me a drink. 

"Don't drink huh?" The guy came closer and sat next to me. "So, what's the little rascal up to? Still talking about slicing throats?"  Now that he came close, I could tell, this guy was older than Gack. He even had scars here and there and a large one over his eyes. Both were still functional though. 

I chuckled. How was I going to say it?

Should I have even said it? Would lying be alright?

This guy, almost looked the same, and his look was innocent. He was expectant of a news. I had to say it. Would lying really, be alright? 

I sighed, no it wouldn't. 

"He's dead. He died while believing what he thought was right. And yeah, he always talked about slicing throats." I had a weak smile and I knew saying the blunt truth like this was going to cause some pain, but- I couldn't bring myself to butter things up or lie. 

The guy stopped laughing and even smiling. Our drinks were here. "I see," He grabbed his, drank it at one go. "Well, thanks for telling me. Were ya friends?"

"Well, we were comrades on the same ship. A pirate ship."

"Pirate you say. Tell me more!" His face lit up a little. But I could tell, it was forced. 

I still talked about the good old days though. This was the least I could do. 

After all, I considered him a friend. 

***

I didn't go into too many details but once I started reminiscing about the past, I couldn't stop. 

Those were fun days. I hated the food onboard the ship and I hated life at first. Especially the first two days. Talk about seasickness! The talk about seasickness also reminded me about that black stuff the geezer fed me. It did taste good and it also cured my condition, but after hearing what he said about where it came from, yeah, not so much. 

Ahem, the rest of the few days were fun. I gained a new companion- my lovely bunny, we traveled to various islands, fought loads of things, and in the end ate shitty food. Life was full of bliss. And the pirates always partied and life really was fun with them and the geezer. 

But that thing happened with the island and that was the end. 

By the time I finished, most of the customers had either left for their rooms or were now on the floor: some of the staff and the owner were listening rather eagerly, sitting close to me. 

This establishment apparently didn't kick out the customers if they passed out on the floor. They'd charge the same amount of money necessary for a single room though. I had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

The guy, after finishing four giant mugs of ale sighed and laughed a bit. "Sounds like him. Glad he got to live his dream. He always did say he'd be a pirate." He laughed hard, he was drunk and he was sad. 

"What were you to him?" Maybe at this point, the question was a bit stupid but I asked anyway. 

He snickered. "We were sworn brothers, both grew up in the slums. I work as a guard during the day. I guess I should be going. Can't keep the missy waiting too long, eh?" And this guy was married too. 

I didn't have anything else to say. And I had a missy to get back to too. Albeit, for different reasons.

And I actually forgot that I was only supposed to be out for thirty minutes, not two hours!

So I stood up.

"If ya have any problems with the guards, say you're a brother of ZACK!" He pointed at himself and smirked. "And I might come this way tomorrow with my wife. She was a childhood friend of that rascal's!" He laughed some more.

I chuckled. "Thanks. Daarc, by the way."

And with that, I headed up. He snickered a bit at my name but didn't complain. I didn't either. 

I didn't know why, but I felt sad and a bit lighter at the same time. 

'Sigh, in the end, have I really gotten any better than back then?'

I didn't know but I had another job now. I had to apologize to the girls inside, for being late. But once I reached the room, I was kind of shocked. The girl outside was gone and I had a bad feeling: typical.

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