[Beowulf.]

The Ghost called out.

[Beowulf, wake up.]

No response.

It swung its tail and hit Azlan square it the face.

But before it could hit him in his face, he raised his hand and grabbed it.

“I heard you the first time”, he said groggily. “What is it?”

[It is already evening.]

He must have been quite tired if he had lost track of time, usually he wasn’t a deep sleeper.

“What have you been doing until now”, he sat up and asked the snow leopard.

[Observing the streets from the window.]

“I see...” he wasn’t sure what to say. “I am heading out, do you want to continue your... observation, or do you want to come with me?” he was a bit afraid to leave it alone. More specifically, he was worried for the safety of people residing in the inn.

[I shall come with you, where are you headed?]

“Well, I was thinking of going to greet Rufous, but I can’t go anywhere looking like this”, he said as he got up from the bed.

[So?]

“I am going to a tailor for some clothes, and then to the bathhouse”, he grabbed a few coins from his pouch.

[Why not take the whole pouch?]

It asked with curiosity.

“In the bathhouse, you have to put your belongings away. Most of the times someone will take your valuables, if you’re carrying any”, Beowulf counted the coins.

[But they belong to you, why would they take it?]

It seemed the Ghost didn’t understand the concept of stealing.

He opened the door and gestured to the leopard to exit, after it did, he followed suit and locked it from the outside.

[Is meeting the Chief of this town really that necessary?]

It questioned as they moved towards the staircase.

“He’ll visit me sooner or later now that he knows I’m here, it’s just easier to get it over with as efficiently as possible”, he descended down a step. There was still pain in his leg, it hadn’t completely healed yet, taking some vile essence would accelerate the process, but as it stood he was currently out of them.

As he reached the ground floor, they spotted a woman standing near the reception desk, chatting with the receptionist. She had light brown collarbone-length mildly wavy hair, dark gray eyes, and was wearing earrings with cyan colored stones in them. But what caught their eyes was a saber sword hanging from her hips. It appeared that she was renting a room.

Azlan didn’t understand it very well himself, but he kept a distance as he exited the inn due to his instincts. His senses warned him that the woman was strong. She seemed to be the only one in this stronghold who could kill Beowulf in his injured state if she wanted to.

“That woman is dangerous”, he thought to himself as he entered the streets.

[I concur. We should keep our distance.]

He had unconsciously directed his thoughts towards the being. Azlan slowly exhaled as he realized that he had gotten quite used to talking with it.

They strolled through the streets of Entradel while looking for an affordable tailor shop, now that the night had fallen, the festival seemed to be finally starting. The scent of ale and grilled meat was in the air, the townsfolk were out in the streets cheerfully enjoying the evening, the young men and women were dancing with each other, occasionally swapping dance partners and some were busy playing the instruments. They were singing some sort of song about the spring season, which was odd since mountaliya didn’t have much of a spring, but it was an old tradition among Nortalians. And no one questions tradition.

The lyrics of the song could be summarized as follows:

“In the beginning of the bright season, to be joyous again and to annoy the envious ones, the Aprilla queen wants to show that she is indeed quite amorous. The envious ones should go away, and let the joyous ones dance together. She has had it announced as far as the sea, and there is no young maiden or man who shan’t come to take part in this joyous dance. An envious king has arrived as well, to disturb the dance, for he is in the turmoil that someone else might take the Aprilla queen first. But his toiling is in vain, as she doesn’t care for an old man, she wants a jolly young one, who would know how to please a savory lady. Whoever sees the queen dance and move her fair body lovingly, can conclude that the joyous queen truly has no match in this world”.

[Why must they create such rhythmic yet irritating sounds?]

The being didn’t appear to like the singing and the instruments playing.

“It's to welcome the new season”, he answered, slightly amused.

[And how does their singing affects the upcoming season?]

Great question.

Perhaps due to the festival, or the fact that Entradel was an expensive town to being with, they had trouble finding a cheap shop. Every tailor they visited showed them expensive raiment, singing praise of imported silk from the sovereign province of Delenwell. Likely a lie, but people love to believe lies when exotic items are on the line.

They eventually found a place he could afford, he bought a simple white full-sleeved shirt and black trousers. It still cost him fifteen silver coins, he had about twenty five coins left. However, he wasn’t worried, he still had that item after all.

Finally, after an hour of roaming about, they arrived at the bathhouse.

“I am heading inside, you can wait outside if you want”, Beowulf told him.

[No. I am heading inside as well.]

“Why?” Beowulf was a little appalled. “Even if you’re dirty, no one can see you except me either ways”.

[We are proud beings, we like to remain clean. Uncleanliness is an affront to my kind. We spend hours grooming ourselves.]

He didn’t even bother arguing, if it wanted to clean itself, then why he should be against it? It wasn’t as if he owed the place and was afraid the being would ruin it. For all he cared, it could do as it pleased as long as it didn’t directly affect Beowulf.

“Alright... you can come in. but remain quiet and avoid contact with any humans”, he gave out instructions as they entered the bathhouse.

[I assure you.]