"Enjoying the trip so far?" I maneuvered my way through the full tavern and took a seat next to Athas. Looking at the other two soldiers sitting with him, I introduced myself. "Name's Aleister by the way."

"So I've heard," the muscular tanned man said. "I'm Ean."

The other man downed the contents of his mug and slammed it down. "You can call me Hodgan! How lucky is that you get to just sit in the back?"

"I was expecting the need to at least pretend I was a member of the garrison, but apparently I put too much thought into it." I waved at a server.

"It's been tiring, but enjoyable. I'm just happy we have encountered nothing crazy," Athas said with a chuckle.

"No way! It's been a total drag so far!" Hodgan said in dissent. "At the very least, some goblins or bandits should have attacked us."

"Finally, some with an agreeable opinion," I said as the server arrived. "I'll have whatever my new best friend Hodgan just had."

Captain Tharkun was taking care of tonight's expenses. We could order whatever drinks were on the menu in whatever quantity we desired. There were no potions for food, though. Just whatever he and the pub's owner decided upon.

"Then fill us both up with another pint of this Golden Goat!" He raised the mug in the air. The waiter took the mug and left.

"You could have just had mine," Ean said. "Tastes like fucking piss."

"I don't think it's that bad." Athas took another sip of his drink. "Maybe a bit too sweet, but it's kind of comforting."

"Warm milk is for the elderly and the sick, not to get drunk off of." Ean shoved his mug over to me.

I took a sip. The goat's milk was rich and creamy, but also a bit sour due to the fermentation process. Honey was used to sweeten up the drink, more than the warm goat's milk already provided, and to give it that golden color. Overall, the flavor combination wasn't actually too unusual as milk and honey were quite a common home remedy, and the fermented taste brought an interesting twist to it that was unexpected.

"Not bad," I said, putting the mug down.

"After such a long sip, all you had to say was not bad?" Athas asked.

"I know that none of you want me to dissect every single detail about the drink, you especially, so yes, I'm just going with not bad as my final verdict."

"Not good is more like it," Ean said as he stood up. "I'm just going to go order some more Kedell Mead. Hopefully, the food will be more enticing."

"It's not on the free menu," Hodgan added.

Ean groaned and sat back down. "What kind of horseshit is this?"

"The overall quantity on barrels of Kedell Mead has gone down due to the current climate of Kedellgrimm. Such events have caused trade complications," Arie said as she walked up to the table.

"Lieutenant!" Hodgan and Ean straightened their posture. Athas followed their actions with a second delay. "What brings you here?"

She curled her fingers. "Aleister, follow me."

"Great, what trouble did you get yourself into now?" Athas asked with a disappointed shake of his head.

"I don't recall doing literally anything but reading and sleeping." I stood up, confused. I hadn't even gotten the chance to practice any of my spells. This went unsaid, of course.

"Have you done something wrong that I should know about?" Arie asked.

This only left me even more confused. "No?"

"Why is that a question?"

"It wasn't."

"Your voice did the—" She stopped herself. "Nevermind. I don't have time for this."

"Can I know what this is for, at the very least?"

"Cyrne and Branne, the two idiots, have enormous mouths."

Now I could guess what I was being called over for. I patted my pockets. "Ah, damn. I left my cards back in the cart."

"Go get them," Arie said, clicking her tongue. "I'll be right here. Don't take too long."

I did my best to wade through the crowd as I left.

As I returned, now out of breath, both the noise level and crowd level seemed to have both increased tenfold. It was actually quite irritating hearing millions of conversations, the sudden appearance of a bard, and the chewing of food all combined and layered on top of each other. On top of that, I only just narrowly dodged a glass of wine, drenching my robe as I managed my way back.

"Took you long enough," Arie said. She turned around and walked towards the back.

I didn't get a chance to respond as I followed closely behind. We climbed up the spiral staircase onto the second floor. From there, we walked past the full tables next to the balcony and to the very back. Two guards stood on each side of a door. Arie pulled out a badge and handed it over to them. After a few seconds of inspection, the guard handed it back and pushed the door open. I gave the two of them a quick nod.

The room was rather small, with a bed pushed against the right side of the wall. Towards the middle left was a square table. Sitting around it were Cyrne, Captain Tharkun, and three other people. I also expected Branne to be there, but he wasn't. They all stopped talking as I walked in.

"We can discuss this later," the woman in the middle said. Although the room was well lit, her sharp viridian eyes still seemed to glow. Her auburn hair parted in the middle and was perfectly straight until the curls at the end. On first glance, she seemed familiar, but also—not really. Honestly, it might have just been her eyes.

Those eyes instantly gave away the fact she belonged to House Roqueveron. One of the four noble houses alongside the Belmonts. Unfortunately, because I was a kid, political allies and enemies were not thoughts that ever crossed my mind when I made friends.

"You're the one called Aleister, correct? Vice Captain Cyrne and your master, Branne, have both enlightened me about your particular skill set," she said, fixing her wrap dress. "Oh, pardon me. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Estra Ciradiell Madin Roqueveron. However, you can just call me Estra."

Master Branne, hm? It seemed that Captain Tharkun over there really did not want me attached to his garrison at all.

I bent down on one knee and crossed my left arm. "It is my absolute honor to meet you, Lady Roqueveron."

"Ah, I did just say you could call me by my first name, but Lady Roqueveron is pleasant to my ears," she said, resting her chin on her hands. "These are my dear friends Alphonse Hugo Vallee, and Cassandra Alina LeBeau."

Alphonse smiled at me as he adjusted his gloves. He wore a white, maybe too white, suit. His hair was kept up in a bun, with light strands falling past the edges of his forehead and over his glasses. Those must have costed a small fortune to craft.

Cassandra waved at me. She wore an equally expensive looking silk dress decorated in floral patterns. Her hair was a much lighter brown and curled throughout.

"Sir Vallee, Madame LeBeau, it is an honor to meet the both of you as well."

"There is no need," Alphonse said, raising his hand. "There's nothing I have done to receive your honor."

"That's not true," Captain Tharkun said. "Without your generosity, we wouldn't have been able to afford such a lavish meal for my garrison."

"Please, it's the least we could do," he said. "After all, our journey so far has gone without a hitch. Not showing our appreciation would be rude."

Estra cleared her throat. "Vice Captain Cyrne tells me that you do tarot card readings as well as palm reading. Is that correct?"

"It is true."

"Then, before we begin, is this room ok? Do I need to light some different multicolored candles? I think we have some joss sticks as well if need be."

"It seems like you came quite prepared," I said.

"I have a friend who practiced this sort of mysticism as well, so I just bought all of these last second from some shops in town." She took out a bag and placed it on the table. "Take your time. I'm afraid the meal being prepared for supper won't be finished for another hour or so."

Using the materials given to me, I extinguished the old candles and set the new ones up in a scattered pattern. Before lighting them up, I sprinkled different powders on the wicks to change the color of the flame. I took a seat down at the table opposite of her.

She tried to hide it, but there was a wide grin blatantly visible on her face. Alphonse didn't appear to be too interested, unlike Cassandra. Although sitting, she was basically jumping in place.

I took in a deep breath. "Also, for my tarot readings—"

"Ah, that's right." Estra took out a velvet pouch. "Cyrne, did mention that you charged five gold per card."

"Normally, I would, but..." I avoided shooting a look at Cyrne and shook my hands. "This is a rather unique circumstance, so—"

"No worries, it's not much gold."

I didn't want to turn down such an offer, but it wouldn't look great if I didn't try to fold a little "Look—"

"Seriously, don't worry."

"Very well, if you insist." I rested my hands on the table. "The full seven card reading is discounted, to thirty gold."

She counted out thirty gold coins and handed them over. "Pay for yourself."

"Ah," Cassandra tilted her head but still took out her coin pouch. "I figured as much."

After performing my readings, I stayed in the room for an additional hour, explaining the readings even further and making up bullshit about the stars aligning and what not. It was only then that a guard opened the door to inform us about how our dinner was ready. I tried my best to separate from the group, but they insisted on me accompanying them. I gave up and followed them out to a table on the balcony.

Estra, Alphonse, Cassandra, and Captain Tharkun separated from us for a few moments to discuss some business, leaving me alone with Cyrne and Arie.

Cyrne coughed.

"Really, I charge five gold now?" I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"My cut is fifty percent."

"Ten gold, take it or leave it."

"You drive a hard bargain, but it wasn't my idea."

I looked at Arie.

"And what happened to this no-exception rule?" She asked.

"I created the rules, so I can break them."

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have even had this opportunity," Cyrne pointed out.

"Ten gold each, take it or leave it."

"Taken," Arie said, raising her hand out.

Cyrne shrugged. "I'm not one to refuse such a generous offer either."

"So now it's generous, huh?" I questioned as I counted ten coins for each of them.

This left me with forty coins, which still meant I made out like a bandit. No, not even bandits made out this good for the most part.