We queue to enter the city, as I don’t want to show any identification we have to go through a very simple question process just to confirm that we are not criminals, so we pay each one a silver coin which can be considered a very expensive cost high just to enter a city, but that’s just the cost for those who don’t have any kind of identification.
Sapphire who was too big to get into the carriage stayed outside following closely and entered with everyone, the city gate guards didn’t care about her race, but there was a gate guard who tried to call her for a meeting. ｂｏ𝚟𝚕.
After we pass through the Sapphire gate who was previously nervous about the reaction of the people calmed down, I look at the city streets and realize that the difference between people was huge, Demons, as well as Beastmen, have many variants in their own race, plus on this continent, I’m seeing a lot more Demi races than I’ve seen during my time on the Morror Continent.
Sapphire wasn’t even the only Lamia on the streets, but she was definitely the biggest, one person that caught my eye was a blue-skinned man with glowing Runes lit by various parts of his body.
When I asked about them to Nix who was in my shadow, she says it must be a Runic that evolved, it seems that in her evolution the Runes are no longer hidden.
There were also Werewolves tending a food stall, and there were Ogres, Orcs, and Minotaurs doing heavy construction work or carrying big boxes, the strangest thing I saw was a 2 meter tall Minotaur woman lowering a Dwarf that was almost my height, it was a slightly disconcerting scene due to the huge difference in size between them.
There are more races in this city than in my Shadow City, plus one thing I noticed was that there were no Humans as far as I could see at least.
I stop the carriage in a dark alley where I don’t feel any other presence and put it in my storage item, then we head through the alleys until we come out onto another street.
I walk into a busy clothing store and ask where the most popular restaurant among adventurers is, she points me in the direction without hesitation.
One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re going to ask someone for directions in a place you don’t know, the best way is to go into a decently busy store and ask an employee, that’s because the information must be better than someone completely unknown on the street.
I go in the direction that was indicated to me entering a busy street, soon I see a store with a sign of a shield with a horned rabbit drawn in the middle, this is the restaurant that was indicated to me.
As soon as I enter I see many people with combat clothes or parts of armor all clearly used, these are clearly Adventurers, in addition, I also see people with new looking and high value clothes, they may be Traders or Nobles.
It looked like this was a good restaurant, one thing I learned in this world was that there wasn’t much difference between a Bar and a restaurant, the only difference was that one had more variety of food and the other had more variety of alcoholic drinks.
It was already mid-afternoon, but the place was full, there was also a lot of noise of conversation and laughter, with the number of waitresses being five I can assume that it is always busy like this, it will probably continue like this until late at night.
This was exactly the kind of place we were looking for, I go to an empty table and sit down with the others in my group, the place had a lot of space between each table and the floor was made of stone, it looks like this was designed for accommodate large breeds like the Lamias, now that I think about it, the person I spoke to at the clothing store worked alongside an Arachne who was tending to someone else at the time.
We ordered food and drinks while we talked about some random things, but me, Samira, and Beatriz were paying attention to the conversations around, Nix was also hiding inside the shadows prowling all over the place to try to hear something about the place.
“I heard that the old King was attacked.” (Adventurer A)
“What I heard was that he got sick a week ago.” (Adventurer B)
“Do you think they would increase the number of soldiers in the whole city because of an illness?” (Adventurer A)
“The old King is a Vampire, they don’t even get sick.” (Adventurer C)
“What you say also makes no sense, how would the ancient King be attacked inside the castle? He is the most powerful warrior this Kingdom has ever had.” (Adventurer B)
“What kind of monster would it take to injure the former King without causing a big commotion?” (Adventurer B)
“I don’t know, it could have been an assassin who took the old King by surprise, maybe.” (Adventurer A)
“See, you also know there’s something strange about this story.” (Adventurer B)
“There really is something strange, but we can all see that the number of soldiers patrolling the city has increased, Also when I was going to deliver the thief I captured for the mission to the guard post I heard them talking, it seems that the castle is on high alert at days with soldiers and the Royal Knights protecting the place.” (Adventurer C)
“I said, the old King was attacked, that just proves I’m right you idiots.” (Adventurer B)
“I still don’t believe any of this, if this was caused by an attack inside the castle it would mean the Assassin managed to escape, I don’t think it’s possible.” (Adventurer A)
Listening to the discussion of some Adventurers nearby gave me some information, something about the former King being a Vampire and having been attacked, he might be the Vampire we’re looking for.
I nod my head creating telepathic magic with the people at my table telling me what I’ve found, then Samira tells me what she’s heard from the Noble children drinking on the other side of the restaurant.
Samira said that they overheard her parents talking about the number of Doctors, Alchemists, and Priests that have been in and out of the castle for days, even though they were ordered to find capable people to send to the castle, but were not told anything about what was going on happening.
The more I listen the more certain I am that our target could be this former King or someone in his family.