After walking for almost an hour, surrounded by fields and farmers, Astaroth and Violette reached the city proper. They were still on the outer portion, but they could already feel the hustle and bustle.
Astaroth was from a city himself, so this hubbub was not unfamiliar to him, and was even quite soothing. Violette was also from a city, but she was quite sheltered, and never left the property grounds.
To her, seeing so many people walking around from place to place was a novelty experience. Astaroth had already received the message that his friends were waiting for him at the café.
But he didn’t want to ruin this for the girl, so replied that they might be a little late. Phoenix had told him to take his time, that they would be waiting.
So, instead of pressing his step, Astaroth slowed down. He let Violette imbibe all the atmosphere that came with bigger cities, as her head snapped from side to side.
She trailed people with her eyes, observed merchants haggling with their customers, and listened to the hawkers trying to garner attention for their shops. Every experience was novel to her.
They eventually reached the gates to enter the walled portion of the city. And just as they were about to cross them and enter, they were intercepted.
“Halt. Please state your business in Sunpeak.” A guard asked him, as he stood in front of Astaroth, baring his way.
Astaroth frowned lightly, since no one else seemed to get stopped at the entry. He looked around and the guards were looking at him and Violette suspiciously.
This caused the traffic walking around them to walk away and circle them widely.
‘Why are they so worried about us?’ he wondered.
Then he guessed it was about their race. No other Ash Elf was entering the town from what he could see.
And with the Ash Elf kingdom being on the war foot, he guessed the other races were wary of them. He couldn’t fault the guard for doing his job, though.
He answered the question, stating he was visiting friends. The guard asked for the name of his friends under the pretext of verifying his words.
Astaroth clicked his tongue, but complied, giving him the names of Phoenix, Gulnur Deepshield, Athena Woodland and I’die Ad’tempus. The guard frowned at the names, but pointed his chin to another guard that promptly left.
Astaroth even told him where they would be, in case they needed more detail, and the guard nodded his head once. They held him and Violette there for a while, as the other guard was looking for his friends.
Astaroth even received a message from Phoenix asking if everything was okay. She told him a guard came looking for her, trying to confirm if they knew each other.
Astaroth replied that he was being held at the gate, saying it was most likely an issue with his race. Phoenix didn’t pry further, and said she had confirmed it and the guard was on his way back.
He thanked her and closed his message box. He didn’t wait long before the guard came back, whispering in the other one’s ear.
After nodding twice, the guard turned back to face Astaroth.
“You are free to pass. But don’t go doing anything suspicious. The guards around the city will have their eyes on you,” the guard stated, before moving away from his path.
“Thank you. I will be on my best behaviour,” Astaroth replied, flashing his most hypocritical smile.
The guard didn’t miss the sarcasm, but said nothing more, only eyeing him meanly. Once Astaroth had left, he sent a message to his superiors, informing them of the situation.
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She secretly hoped they weren’t bad people, even though she had a feeling Astaroth wouldn’t associate with that type of player. Her nervousness didn’t escape Astaroth’s eyes.
He put his hand on her shoulder.
“Everything will be fine. They are nice people, I promise,” he stated, smiling warmly at her.
This assuaged her fears a bit, stopping her hands from twirling. Soon after, they reached the center of the city and turned to the left. They were heading into a street that was filled with shops with beautiful terraces.
It was easy to see that this was the food market and restaurant district. The smells that permeated the air were filled with unique aromas from the different foods being served.
Astaroth and Violette had to focus to control their saliva from leaking out their mouths. The aromas were divine and mouth-watering.
After walking for a short while, they reached a corner where a sign was hung up high. The sign had a cat wrapped around a steaming coffee on it.
Astaroth almost laughed at the sign. The name on it read, ‘The Sleeping Tabby Café’ and he thought for a second this might be a cat café.
He wasn’t far off the mark, for when he entered the establishment, the receptionist, and almost all the other employees, were cat beast-men.
Violette almost squealed in joy. She had always wanted a cat, but this was even better.
She looked at the receptionist with sparkling eyes, and the lady smiled back, with her eyes closed.
Astaroth laughed internally.
‘They went all-in on the concept. I like it,’ he thought, smiling.
“Welcome to the sleeping tabby café. How may we serve you today?” The woman asked them.
“Hello. I have some friends that are already here. They should have a private room rented under the name Phoenix,” Astaroth replied.
“Ahh yes. Miss Phoenix is a regular here. Please follow me to the private room,” The receptionist said, beckoning them to follow her.
She brought them up a flight of stairs, into a hallway with many closed doors, and some open ones. After making their way almost to the end of the corridor, the woman knocked on a door.
“Your last guests are here, miss Phoenix,” she said through the door.
Astaroth heard Phoenix’s voice through the door.
“Please let them in, Carla.”
The woman opened the door, then bowed at Astaroth and Violette, patting the latter’s head with her clawed hand, before leaving.
“Come in, you monster! Long time no see!” Phoenix said, smiling at Astaroth.