Chapter 18: Arriving at the Stables
Content Warning. This chapter contains content and descriptions that readers will find gross and disgusting. Please proceed with caution.
As Howard continues to walk the streets of the city of Parados, he realizes his nose has not detected any distinctive odors in the streets. Sure, there was the occasional smell of baked goods that came out of establishments, and fresh flowers planted on the windows of the buildings. However, his nose never got a whiff of anything disgusting during his short time being here.
Everything from the paved streets he walked on, the great buildings that surrounded him, and the pedestrians that passed by had no distinctive smell that would invoke disgust. Howard starts to wonder why.
"Hey, this area is close to the palace. Maybe only the rich arseholes live here?"
If the people here are rich enough to be able to afford these beautiful buildings with glass windows and tiled roofs, surely, they have the pockets deep enough to fund some kind of public cleaning service dedicated to cleaning their streets?
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Although he did not spot any public janitors cleaning the area, he assumed they worked in hours the residents would find most convenient for them. This might mean them working in the dark, when everyone is asleep. That way, they won't have to look at the dirty peasants doing the dirty work while reaping all the benefits of a clean city.
"If this is the case, the further I go, the smellier everything should get!" he proclaimed in his head.
As they continued to walk down the clean streets of the district, Howard started to wonder where on Earth they placed the horse stables at. The group has been walking for a long time, and yet he had not even spotted a single stallion yet.
"Do you mind if I ask a question?" Howard whispers into their ears.
"What is it?"
"How much longer till we get there?" Howard asks, trying to keep his voice low while being loud enough for the mage to hear.
"It will take a few more minutes. The nearest stable is about 2 miles away from the palace, outside this district. We should be approaching it soon," the mage answered. Howard wanted to ask why there are no horse stables in the area, but his brain already had come up with an answer.
Assuming he was in a wealthy area where the residents prioritize clean streets, they might have introduced and enforced bans on any animal from wandering the streets, and potentially defecating and causing a mess.
Of course, there might be a few exceptions to this rule. The horses could be limited to traveling on certain streets of the city designated for them. This would allow carriages and caravans to move through the district, helping to supply the shops in the area, while keeping most of the streets clean.
There could also be exceptions for other important individuals, such as royalty, on-duty knights, and government officials, who could use the horse to quickly move around the settlement a lot faster. Having them able to move around the streets would make it easier to police the area.
As for the residents themselves, due to the design and structure of the area they live in, they might not even need a horse. All their essentials are stocked up in stores they can reach within walking distance. The benefits and cost of having a horse would be too much.
From what he knows, this was not a district filled with nobles and elite knights. This was an area filled with wealthy commoners of a kingdom with very different social structures. The knights are most likely living in different districts of the city, while the nobles get a smaller place or manner in a different city or urban settlement.
The group eventually reach another wall, marking the end of the wealthy district. Just above the open gate to the next district, was a large black sign with the words "You are now leaving the District of Danenza to enter the District of Florid" written in white.
Upon crossing this gate, Howard immediately picks up the smell of baked goods and horse stool, mixed with the scent of dried fish and flowers, all while being surrounded by people wearing darker, loose fitting clothes with simple designs.
As he continued following the mages to the horse stables, he moved his eyeballs to look around the place, to try and see what the city was like, and to distract himself from the awful smells emitting from just about everywhere.
Gone were the tiled roofs and the hard stone walls with their coats of bright paint. Instead being replaced with structures made entirely out of wood. Although they still kept their glass windows and painted walls, the area was visibly dirtier and poorer compared to the district Howard had visited.
"Would you look at that! I was right all along!" he thought to himself. Although the district looked more similar to what Howard had initially expected the city to look like, it was still nowhere near close to the old, primitive cities of his old time.
They eventually make it the stables, a group of large wooden buildings sealed off by a stone wall. Inside, the smell of stool began intensifying to the point at which Kant's body was not used to.
"Guess the prince really hasn't been outside his house too much, huh?" Howard commented, his words echoing only in his mind. His stomach started to growl in pain, the foods inside rushing up his gut, begging to come out. He could not help but lean down and hold his stomach.
"Are you alright my friend? Does your stomach not handle the smell anymore?" one of the healer mages asks, as if they knew this was going to happen.
"I honestly don't, no," Howard truthfully replied.
"Well then, just go to the restroom and do what you have to do. We will be waiting for you at the stable."
They proceeded to turn Kant around and point at the restrooms. They had made sure the other guy, the one that was occupying Kant's bed, acted in a similar manner when they first came to the stables. Just before he was let go, one of them whispered something into his ear, a piece of instructions he was supposed to carry out to follow through with the next phase.
"There will be a man with silver hair and brown eyes waiting for you. His name is Huns, and he should be the only man there. After you change clothes, Hans will tell you what you need to do next,"
"Now, do you understand what we just said, or do you need us to explain again?" Howard, unable to speak up and respond using his voice, opts to nod his head up and down. The mages, confused as to what Howard was trying to say, threw in one more question.
"Are you sure about that, your highness? Are you sure you understand completely?" Howard, albeit a little frustrated, nodded once again. Now sure that the prince understands what he is supposed to do, they go to get to the restroom, and hopefully not puke along the way.
Howard dashes over and rushes inside. There, he finds a dimly lit room with multiple stalls. Inside each stall was a bucket placed inside of a hole in the ground, some of them filled with a mixture of piss and shit.
Howard picked a stall and let all his food out of his mouth. All his royal delicacies, the food he used to energize himself throughout the day, all gets thrown out into the empty bucket below him as vomit.
"Hey, are you alright buddy?" He hears a man speak behind him. It appears in his rush, he had not noticed Hans standing near one of the dim corners of the restroom.
"Yes, I am fine," Howard replied, his face still hidden in the dark.
"Well, if you are done, then make sure to leave as quickly as you can. I got to eh… clean this place," he replied. Howard stood straight and turned around. In front of him was a man about 3 inches shorter, with silver hair and brown eyes.
"Oh…" Hans spoke, realizing who he was speaking to.
"Are you perhaps the eh…" he mutters, but was unable to complete his sentence. Just looking at his face made it clear that Howard was looking at Hans. He fitted the description the healers provided him, and appeared to know who he was.
"Well, I think you know what you need to do, Mr. Hans," Howard said, putting on his best Kant Maybale impression.
"Please take off your clothes first, and hand them over to me. I shall dress up in your attire before handing you my clothes for you to wear," he told him. Given that he was being paid a hefty amount for this job, Hans immediately agreed.
He walked over to a stall, took off his clothes, and handed each piece to Kant. Howard took this opportunity to examine each garment piece, to look for anyplace he can slip KAFF's empty potion bottle.
He eventually found one, Han's brown pants! There was a nice pocket Howard could slip the potion to without it sticking out like a sore thumb. Now that the bottle is safe with him, Howard immediately starts changing into his 'new' set of clothes.
The man had found him switching out his fancy tailored healer garments with intricate patterns etched into its light fabric, to a simple and loose-fitting attire. His new drip consisted mainly of a white hemp shirt made of heavy fabric, brown pants with multiple pockets, a pair of leather gloves and boots, and a brown leather vest.
"Hmm… for something the poor are supposed to wear, it ain't so bad!" Howard commented in his head. He turns his attention to Hans, who was still hiding his body inside one of the stalls.
"Do you need any assistance to put on the robes?" he asked, offering to help Hans. Howard knew he did not want to waste any precious time here. He needs to act quickly before somebody else walks in and catches them in the act.
"No worries, your highness! I got this" Hans replied. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually put on his clothes and made it outside. The two men stood eye to eye, Han's height lifted thanks to the assistance of the insoles hidden in his shoes.
"Does I look alright, your highness?" he asked.
"We look almost identical," Howard replied with a smile.
"Alright, now that we have put on our attire, what do we do now? The healers told me to ask you about the next step of the plan," Howard told him.
"Oh right, of course! Well your highness, it is very simple. What I need you to do is to walk out through that door, and wait till a blonde man about this size…" Huns used his hands to visualize the height of the man. It was about 5 feet and 8 inches in height, give or take.
"His name is Frisk Goldberg, and he knows the way throughout the city. If you want, you can ask him to take you to a tavern to eat, considering that you eh…" Hans looks away at Kant to face the stall he vomited in.
"...spilt all your food over before it could be properly ingested," Hans commented.
"I understand. Could you perhaps give me a more descriptive image of this friend of yours, Frisk Goldberg? What colored eyes does he have? How would I know he is not an imposter?" Howard questions, not wanting to go along with some other motherfucker intent on killing him.
"He is a blonde man with green eyes. He should be wearing this white shirt with a black vest and a brown coat on top of it," Hans stated.
"If you really want to confirm if he is the man, just ask him what happened last week at Jenny's house. His face will go all red if you do," Hans answered.
"Hmm… Alright then. Thank you for the information. Now, before you go, I wanted to hand you this…" Howard picked up a glass veil from his other pocket and handed it over to Hans. It was the bottle they bought in that potion shop they visited earlier.
"Keep that in your pocket. I suspect you will need it."
"I eh… Thank you, your highness."
"You are welcome. Now go, the healers are waiting for you at the stables," Howard replied. With that, the two went their own ways. Howard walked outside and hung around near the restroom, while Hans ran over to rejoin the mages.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone