Chapter 84. Woaah!

“Woaah!” Arthur in the second carriage exclaimed as he marveled at the sight. They had made it past the flowers, over the bridge and water was now everywhere. They looked off to their side only to see an ocean of water spanning far across the horizon with no end in sight. Sea birds hovered in the skies swooping down to catch fish, or sneak one from nearby fishermen boat further out in the middle of the ocean.

On their right, wooden ships of various shapes and sizes were going in and out of the harbor docking, loading and unloading cargo. Merchants and their crew were swarming each ship loading the cargo into horse drawn carriages ready to move them to other towns, villages, and kingdoms across the country.

On their left, an entire town further away from the water surrounded by vegetation. The town was filled with brightly colored buildings with road enough room for even the biggest horse carriages to easily walk to and from where they were going.

One beautiful enormous white ship immediately caught their eyes as they looked around.

“Woaaah! It’s such a pretty boat.” Arthur’s eyes were glued on the sail of the ship, an enormous white background with a beautiful green and blue planet directly at the center.

“I think that’s Naturelle’s ship.” Julie speculated as she pointed at the insignia. “Poe and the rest of the kids was wearing a robe that had that on it.”

“I wanna go exploring!” Arthur exclaimed in excitement.

“You all can go exploring after we settle at an Inn.” Boss overheard Arthur’s excitement and replied. “The Inn keeper is a friend of Orchid and she says there will be a good discount for us if we go there.”

“Okay! Let’s go!” Arthur pointed forward as if he was able to command the horses carrying them to go faster. However, Arthur had no such ability, the second carriage maintained its speed as it followed behind the first.

They turned left towards the brightly colored towns, on both side of the streets beautiful buildings were everywhere.

Clang clang clang

“A blacksmith!” Arthur exclaimed as he looked out the window.

The blacksmith who was refining the iron tools above the anvil noticed Arthur’s exclamation and looked over. Wiping off the sweat, he smiled and wave at the boy as the carriage continued on by.

“What’s that line for?” Arthur asked as he looked over to a line of people standing orderly in front of a white building.

“You see that blue cross sign right there?” Michael directed Arthur’s attention towards the white building with a blue cross sign hanging at the front. “That there is a hospital. You see how each building has different colors on them? It helps people easily tell what kind of place it is.”

“Really? Is that true?” Arthur asks as both Rouge and Boulderville wasn’t like this at all.

“Mhm, remember the blacksmith? He was working right outside of his place, what color was it?” Julie asked Arthur whose eyes couldn’t stop roaming around.

“Uhhh, it was brown!”

Julie nodded her head, “That’s right, brown ones are the blacksmith, white ones are the doctors, oh and over there.” She pointed at an orange building. “That there should be a restaurant.”

“Woaaah, can we go to eat there? BOSS CAN WE EAT OVER THERE!?” Arthur shouted towards the carriage in front.

“We’re eating at the Inn today; did you even bring money to eat out?” Boss asked.

Everyone in the second carriage looked at each other in confusion. “We don’t have any coins!” Arthur shouted after seeing the weird look on everyone’s faces.

Orchid curiously looked over at Boss who was sitting beside her. “They didn’t bring any coins at all? Did the Governor not give you guys anything?”

“He was in a rush to kick us out, I managed to borrow some from him before we go though.” Boss answered. He then shouted back to Arthur. “Then too bad! I guess we’re starving then!”

“Whaaat!?” Michael, Julie and Arthur couldn’t believe what they heard. “What do we do? What do we do!? WHAT DO WE DO!?~”

“Ahaha.” The two from the first carriage were laughing as they heard the trio’s response.

After a short moment later, Orchid then returned to Boss and continued to ask, “Won’t you think about it?”

Boss slowly scooted away from Orchid and replied, “No, I don’t want to teach you how to cook.”

Orchid quickly grasped Boss and pulled him back close to her. “Come on~ please?”

“Gah, why do you wanna learn how to cook from me anyways?”

“Because if I can cook as good as you, Gran will definitely marry me.”

“…”

“Hmm… alright I’ll teach you how to cook then.” Boss thought about it answered.

Orchid was overjoyed after finally being able to persuade Boss to teach her how to cook that she couldn’t help but hug the boy beside her tight.

Boss rolled his eyes and sighed. “If I didn’t agree she would pester me the entire time we’re together.”

“Hm? Did you say something?” Orchid looked down and asked.

“N-no, you’re hearing things.”

“Yay~” Orchid continued to squeeze Boss tightly as the carriage continued to travel deeper into the town.

The four in the second carriage continued to converse with each other about Asmar and the different colored buildings. It was mainly just Arthur asking every single question and Michael and Julie answering. Shelly was quietly asleep with Silver in her lap.

The once brightly packed towns filled with people and buildings slowly started to become scarcer as the carriage continued to travel forward. The once smooth wide road became increasingly bumpy and narrow as the carriage rocked side to side.

“Are we really going to an Inn? Didn’t we pass by at least a dozen of them? Why are we going further away from town?” Julie spoke up her thoughts and asked.

Michael and Arthur had no idea why they did not take any of the Inns back near the harbor and shrugged their shoulders.

Arthur did not mind all the greenery around him as it him of Rouge. It made him remember home.

“We’re almost there.” Orchid’s voice called out from the first carriage.

Sparse hut-like homes started to crop up as they continued to traverse the road. The trio looked out and noticed that as they continued forward more and more huts started to form as the carriage turned towards the direction of the huts.

The speed of the horses started to slow down before completely stopping. The once excited trio did not know what to say as they looked around. All around them were huts no bigger than a small house back in Rouge and Boulderville.

Shelly opened her eyes the moment they stopped and picked up her luggage and hopped out following Boss and Orchid who had already exited.

The trio followed after and stepped out from each side as they grouped up with Boss and Orchid who was standing ahead of them.

Orchid took a long breath of air as she inhaled the smell all around them and exhaled in satisfaction. “Aah~ we’re here!” Orchid walked up to a shabby looking inn with a half-broken gate and gave it a kick to open.

Boss and Shelly quietly followed behind Orchid who was practically skipping her way in. The expression between the first three and the last three people were completely opposites of one another as Orchid kicked opened the front door opened too.

“Orchy!~” An exited high pitch voice from a young girl could be heard coming from within as the group entered.

“Jella!~” Orchid ran up to the high pitched girl and tightly hugged her.

“Wh-what are we seeing?” Michael and Julie were completely flabbergasted at the sight between the two women.

“Everyone, this is Angelina, the best Inn Keeper of all of Asmar, and my best friend.”

Angelina’s rested head looked up from Orchid’s shoulder towards the kids standing further behind. She was wearing a beautiful red, black and white gown as her beautiful brown hair flowed down to her backside. When she gazed upon them with her mesmerizing cyan eyes even Michael felt a bit guilty.

Angelina smiled at them and walked over.

“Hey everyone, I’m Angelina, Orchy likes to call me Jella, but I also go by Ange, Angie, Lina, and anything else you can think of. As long as it’s something close I’ll respond to it.” Angelina smiled at the kids and warmly welcomed them in.

To their surprise the Inn was a lot more spacious than it looked from outside, the group was quickly escorted deeper in until they reached a hallway with six doors.

Angelina quickly pulled out six keys and swirled it around her fingertip. “Six rooms for six guests, if you like to sleep together, I can arrange that too.” Angelina’s eyes lingered a bit longer on Michael and Julie as she finished saying that.

Both Michael and Julie’s face were red as they looked away from each other, trying to cool themselves down.

“Woaaah I get my own room?” Arthur asks, completely oblivious to what Angelina meant.

“Of course, here’s your key.” Angelina handed the key to Arthur and tapped on door beside her.

Arthur quickly unlocked the door and gasped in amazement. “Wow!” before running in and looking around.

The others looked inside as their eyes widen in surprise. The room was beautifully designed with an enormous soft bed at center. Drapes on both sides of the windows allowed for them to adjust the lighting coming through. A nightstand beside the bed with a familiar looking bright ball underneath a dark cloth could be seen.

“You can put your clothes in the drawer and shelves over here and this door leads you to the bathroom.” Angelina opened the door on the furthest side of the bed and led them in. It was another spacious room with a bathtub, sink, mirror and a toilet.

“Every room is like this one and the beds are easily big enough to fit two, if you want to sleep together you can let me know or just hand me one of the keys back.” Angelina stated again and quickly handed a key to everyone.

“I’ll be in the front if anyone needs me, feel free to roam and enjoy yourself, we also have a small pool in the back if you want to go swimming. If you’re hungry I can bring food to your room, or you can dine in the dining hall at the front.” Angelina smiled again and continued. “Now, if you’ll excuse me it seems like another guest has arrived.”

The five kids waved Angelina goodbye as Orchid also followed Angelina to the front. Michael and Julie held the key in their hand still embarrassed about the situation and took the two rooms next to each other. Shelly took the one next to Arthur and Boss took the one across from Orchid.

“Welcome to Asmar’s finest Inn!” Orchid exclaimed the moment two silhouettes walked in. However, before she could continue the dark blue hair and eyes of one of the two silhouettes immediately made her eyes widen in surprise. “It's them!’

“Welcome~” Angelina politely greeted the two men who was standing at the front desk. “My name is Angelina; would you like one room or two?” Angelina asked.

“Hello~! We’ll take one—”

Jacob tried to answer, but before he could finish Dylan pushed him away and lifted up two fingers. “Mm…”

“Two rooms? Alright, right this way.” Angelina calmly escorted the two men towards the room closest to Arthur. “These two rooms are yours.” Angelina calmly handed the keys to the men and winked at Orchid who was awkwardly quiet.

“There’s a pool in the back and if you want meal delivered to your room just let me know in the front or you can carry it yourself from the dining hall.” Angelina calmly restated what she had said to the kids.

She continued to say, “Two rooms will be 50 silver coins each day, I’ll also accept 1,000 coppers or a gold coin too.”

Both Jacob and Dylan stopped their hands from reaching the doorknob the moment they heard the price.

Jacob smiled at Angelina in the sweetest way possible and spoke up. “Miss, we don’t have that much money.”

“Oh…then I’m sorry but if you can’t afford a room, you should look elsewhere.” Angelina calmly replied.

“Miss—”

“You may call me Angelina.”

“Angelina, we don’t want to stay anywhere else, can you please let us have a room? We’ll even just take one, no we’ll take your cheapest, one.? Do you have an outhouse? We’ll sleep in those too!” Jacob replied.

Angelina raised an eyebrow whereas Orchid was flabbergasted at what she just heard. “An Exotic that was willing to sleep in an outhouse?” Orchid couldn’t believe it at all.

“Sir, do you know what an outhouse is?” Angelina asked.

“Of course! An outhouse is a house outsi—”

Jacob’s mouth was instantly covered by Dylan before he could finish. Dylan pulled out a paper with letters already written on it and handed it over to Angelina.

Angelina looked at the paper and started reading the contents inside. She continued to look up and down between the two individuals and down at the paper as if she wanted to see if the contents on the paper is true.

Orchid peeked over Angelina’s shoulder and also read the contents of the paper. She was as much surprised as Angelina when reading it. In fact, she was even more surprised by the time she finished.

Angelina folded the paper and tucked it between her breast. She looked up at Jacob and Dylan who were anxiously waiting for her answer, she sighed and calmly replied “Although, this paper is convincing enough. You two do not have any coins, right?”

“That’s right but we—"

Dylan instantly covered Jacob’s mouth again and nodded his head.

“Hmm…” Angelina thought for a bit and continued. “Okay, as you can see, I’m the owner and the only person running this Inn currently. I’ll let you two pay off your rooms each day if you work for me. Will that be alright?”

Dylan nodded his head before Jacob could remove his hand in protest.

“Then, it’s a deal. I will let you two put things in your room. 10 minutes is enough time for you to be in the front, ready to work, right?” Angelina asked.

Dylan quickly pushed Jacob into his room and closed it. He looked at Angelina and nodded his head before hurrying into his own room beside Jacob’s.

“Okay, that’s great!” Angelina exclaimed outside and quickly pulled Orchid away.

Orchid was completely amazed at Angelina who was smiling happily as she pulled the paper back out and reading the contents again.

“Angelina, do you think this is okay?” Orchid asked.

“Hm…of course! I made sure it was okay before I attempted it.” Angelina smiled at Orchid. She continued to say. “I can’t believe Jacob and Dylan Galafray will be my workers. Ahaha”

“But, they’re here for Arthur, aren’t you worried at all?” Orchid asked.

“Bodyguard.” Angelina corrected.

“Huh?”

Body. Guard.” Angelina pointed at the content of the paper. “They’re here to protect him, not for him, as long as they’re allowed to stay nearby then everything is fine, right?” Angelina looked over at Orchid and smiled.

“Jella—”

“It’s okay, trust me, my eyes are never wrong.” Angelina calmly replied. She then furrowed her brow. “By the way…who is the white haired girl with the kitten in her arm?”

“She’s Shelly, Arthur’s best friend” Orchid answered. “Why’d you ask?”

“I can’t see her.” Angelina replied. “I can’t read her at all.”

“She’s Arthur’s childhood friend, I’m sure she’s okay.” Orchid reasoned.

“Hmm…” Angelina thought for a moment before the door to the front entrance opened up again.

“Welcome! I’m Angelina owner if this Inn, will you be staying here?” Angelina looked at the bald blue robed figure standing before her.

“Miss!” Jacob and Dylan ran up to Angelina and greeted.

“Angelina” Angelina corrected.

“Angelina, what work do we have to do for you today?” Jacob asked. He continued to say “I can do anything, except politics, they bore me, I’m especially good at fighting and I’m even better at fighting. If you don’t believe me you can ask Dylan here, we’re best suited for anything, but especially fighting, isn’t that right Dylan?”

Dylan nodded his head and replied, “Mm…”

Angelina looked at her two workers and then back at the person who was waiting for a room. “Here’s a key, would you like to show him to his room?”

Angelina turned to the bald blue robed individual and stated calmly, “Sir, if you’d like you can follow them to your room.”

The bald individual looked over to Jacob and Dylan who was fighting over the key in their hands and shook his head.

“That’s alright, I’ll go elsewhere.” The bald figured slowly departed out of the Inn.

Cling!

“…”

“Uh oh it broke… Dylan did it!” Jacob shoved the broken key into Dylan’s hands who immediately raised his hands and shook his head pleading innocence. He then shoved the key back to Jacob and stood by Angelina.

Angelina sighed and opened out her palm.

Jacob slowly walked over and dropped the broken key into it.

“It wasn’t me, Dylan was the one who bent it, I tried to fix it by straightening it back, but it didn’t look right, so I tried to pull it to make it straighter and then it broke. But Dylan was the one who broke it first, Dylan was the one who bent it, it was Dylan, not me I’m—“

“First task, fix my gate.” Angelina calmly interrupted Jacob and pointed at the half-broken gate door.

Both Jacob and Dylan immediately ran out and started adjusting the gates with their bare hands.

Sigh

Angelina facepalmed herself as she saw what they were doing to the gate “Orchy…I’m already starting to regret my decision…maybe it’s not that I couldn’t read Shelly, maybe those two broke my eyes.”

Orchid’s eyes were twitching as she was looking at the two who were fighting over on how to fix the gate. “Are they perhaps…idiots?”

“I think so…” Angelina sighed again and walked back to the counter, pulling out a toolbox. “Orchy… you can go back and unpack your stuff… I think I might need to fix the gate myself before they break it even more.”

“Okay…” Orchid replied and slowly walked away. Turning around a few times only to see the rage in Angelina build up as she walked closer to the two men.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING, I SAID FIX IT.”

CLANG! The sound of a toolbox being tossed against the two men before crashing onto the ground can be heard from a distance.

“FIX IT OR YOU’LL WORK FOR ME FOREVER!!!”