Chapter 335: The Salty Pig (1/2)

*CLINK!*

The clinging of the bell rang inside the busy and filled tavern. As the door opened up, it revealed a group of four cloaked and hooded people standing at its doorstep.

Only a few bored glances were sent towards them, as the others were busy enjoying their food, drinks, company, or any combination of those. Men of all sizes and shapes were enjoying their little getaway from the wear and tear of everyday life. Loud boisterous guffaws resonated within the walls; a mix of adventurers and the local townsfolk were clearly having a great time.

The small and even large tables were filled to the brim, with even a thick crowd standing in front of the counter waiting to be served.

Ignoring the commotion, Aiden's group walked away from the door and stepped inside whilst he himself scanned the crowd looking for one specific figure amidst the sea of heads. Sadly, he couldn't see the person he was searching for, causing him to release a small sigh, and turn towards the clearly busy innkeeper's direction.

”Let's go, guys, we need some extra rooms. Hopefully, there is some, otherwise, I'm not sure what we would do.”

”Ehrm… Aiden, not to burst your bubble, but are you sure that right now is the best time to bother the poor guy with this?” Scarlet asked, voicing her concerns after seeing the stout man that was swamped in a sea of orders. Although he had some help, his wife being the cook and his son and even his daughter being called in to assist, it was still way too crowded for them to be bothering them with such questions. At least, in her opinion.

However, not just Aiden, but even his brother, Drake didn't seem to share her sentiment.

”Why wouldn't it be a good time sis? Do you want to sleep on the street tonight? Although you should be probably safe as no one should have seen your face, it's not the safest place to be out, after curfew. Especially for a woman.” Drake spoke, already pulling her towards the counter, not giving her any space to resist.

Behind them, Aiden and his servant, Galina who was now also wearing a similar-looking, but slightly smaller sized silver-mask that she was gifted by the Masked Mistress was silently following along. Aiden wasn't really paying attention to them, his eyes were darting from left to the right and from the right to the left, trying to find his friend, that although he only missed for a couple of days, in reality, it felt like ages to him.

Although there were quite a few similar-looking heads popping up amidst the jungle of mugs, he had to accept the fact, that his friend and first and currently only official teammate, Cole wasn't here.

'Eh, I guess he is either at the Guild, talking to Mary, or out on a mission…' He thought, finally giving up on the idea of another reunion, and returned his attention to the task at hand.

Squeezing their way in, eventually, they managed to get to the counter, and was now waiting for their turn to be asked. Their eyes wandered around, looking at this afternoon's colorful collection with a neutral gaze.

”Aiden, is this place always packed so full?” Leaning closer to Aiden's ears, Drake yelled out, which resulted in a faint whisper by the time it reached him. The noise was pretty disturbing, but, looking at the brighter side, at the very least, it was a completely safe environment.

Being this challenging to communicate with each other, if they were officials, and wanted to converse governmental secrets, there would be no way a spy would be able to pick up anything.

Anyway, hearing the question, Aiden looked at his friend from behind the mask and smiled. He simply shook his head, not bothering to shout over the crowd, and instead decided to mostly rely upon non-verbal forms of communication.

The seconds turned into minutes which rapidly began to pile over, reaching a quarter and even half of an hour before they finally saw the old innkeeper turning to look at them.

”What'cha'llneed?” He jabbered, blurting out the words in a swift, jumbled fashion together with a tired sigh.

Seeing how both Drake and even Scarlet had absolutely no clue what the old man just asked, Aiden lightly shook his head and leaned closer.

”We need 3 empty rooms. I have my own, it should be number 14, under the name 'Aiden'.”

Now it was the old man's turn to look like an idiot. He managed to catch only a few words, which he mostly managed to put together, but decided to ask, or in this case shout for confirmation.

”YOU NEED A ROOM?!”

Although it wasn't correct, Aiden decided to not bother with it, as it would just be a long back and forth before either one of them would just give up. He nodded, agreeing with the man.