Chapter 317 The City Of Esran (1/2)

The s were even worse than he could have iined

That the streets were filled to the point of bursting was no surprise The large tent cah to tell Arran that the city itself would be overfloith people

But what he hadn't expected were the chaos and filth

The streets were covered in waste, and the air was filled with a nauseating stench so thick it nearlyin revulsion

And the waste wasn't even the worst of it He had barely walked a hundred paces when he saw a body on the side of the road, robbed of its clothes and abandoned, several large knife wounds visible on the dead ht Not because of the body itself, but because the masses that crowded the filthy streets paid it no attention whatsoever Instead, they stepped around it with practiced ease, treating the body no different than they would any other piece of waste

Yet amid the muck, there was commerce as well Barely a few dozen paces beyond the dead body, Arran passed a s that he had the cheapest food in the city

And no wonder If the pervasive stench of the city hadn't already been enough to sour Arran's appetite, then a quick look at the hawker's wares would have achieved the sa Because what the man sold was clearly rat meat

Arran could not help but be astonished by the state of the city Filthy, overcrowded, and lacking even the slightest semblance of order, it was a hellhole that no sane person would want to reer than necessary

And yet, there were thousands of people in the city, most of whom looked to be travelers of the sort Arran had already seen in multitudes on the road to Esran

He could not help but feel some wonder at this If they wanted to travel to the Hunters' lands, why remain in this sad excuse for a city?

The border was barely a week's travel away With their destination that close, there was no reason to spend ht in Esran — not when the city offered neither comfort nor safety

That could onlyonward And with that the case, Arranhis destination as well

But there was nothing he could do without inforet that would be an inn

The first three inns he entered, he left immediately Like the rest of the city, they were filthy and overcrowded, filled with rough-looking travelers And while Arran did not lance that none of these inns would have private rooms available

As he rew slightly less crowded and decidedly less filthy Even the stench that had filled the city's outskirts was less pungent here, if still not entirely absent

When Arran came across another inn that looked at least halfway acceptable, he quickly went inside, and found the common room mostly clean and empty — a rarity in Esran, he understood by now

He approached the innkeeper, then asked, ”Do you have rooratiating smile on his face ”And at very reasonable prices, too Just two gold for the week”

Arran looked at the old was more than most commoners earned in a year of work

But Arran was no coold meant little to hiht

”I'll take a rooold if you answer so for a reply, he produced three gold coins, then handed them to the innkeeper

The innkeeper accepted the fortune with a sht split in two, and after giving the coins a brief inspection, he turned his eyes back to Arran ”I will be happy to answer any questions you have, of course”