Chapter 24: Arriving at Bellburn City
Hunter hid behind the bush and watched the archer patrolling the wall. The archer's gaze swept across the slums. He remained still for a moment before finally turning his back. Zuri heaved a sigh of relief. She quickly led them toward the wall. They moved faster before the archer could come around. As they moved forward, Hunter noticed a pile of stinking garbage close to the wall. Zuri led them straight to the pile of garbage. Kolvar almost threw up. He quickly closed his mouth and nose with his hand.
"Stinking to high heaven, isn't it?" Zuri chuckled.
She put her hand beneath the pile of garbage. Seeing this, Kolvar's face turned green. To their surprise, Zuri moved the entire pile of garbage. Apparently, the garbage pile was on top of a wooden floor. She moved it aside to reveal a narrow path underneath the wall.
"Are you expecting a red carpet?" Zuri rolled her eyes. Hunter was the first one to jump down. Afterward, Thrud and Kolvar followed him behind. At last, Zuri jumped down. She whistled as the wooden floor slowly closed up. Soon, everything turned dark. Hunter couldn't even see his own hands in front of him. Fortunately, Zuri had a lantern tied around her waist.
The lantern light dimly the path before them. Zuri moved forward to take the lead. Kolvar and Thrud walked behind Hunter, carrying the sacks with devil's buttons. Hunter stayed silent for a while. He was making a mind map of this path. For some reason, the air inside the underground passage smelled like blood.
"What's stopping anyone from ratting you out after using this way?" Hunter asked Zuri.
"Ratting out to who? The garrison? They will arrest you for using the passage and throw you in the dungeons first," said Zuri.
"Besides, you will soon know why this path still exists," Zuri smirked.
Many rats greeted Hunter and his group on their way. The path was narrow and straight. It almost made Hunter wonder why they needed Zuri to come with them. She could have simply pointed at the entrance and instructed them to walk the path. They continued walking the dark path for another five minutes. Finally, Hunter saw the sunlight peeking through at the end of the path. Kolvar let out a relieved smile.
The closer they got to the light, the louder the footsteps and crowd chit-chatting sounded. Zuri did not slow down. Soon, Hunter saw a wooden floor above him, similar to the one they had seen earlier. This wooden board had holes through which the sunlight peeked through. Zuri knocked on the wooden floor a few times. A while later, the wooden floor creaked open.
Shockingly, Hunter saw a red-haired soldier standing atop them with a grin. Kolvar and Thrud felt a child running down their spines.
"Put your arms up," the soldier raised his voice. Thrud and Kolvar dropped the sacks almost immediately. The soldier stared at them with a piercing gaze. Suddenly, he broke into laughter. Zuri and the soldier laughed at Kolvar and Thrud while Hunter remained calm as usual. He waited patiently for the two of them to stop laughing.
"You should have seen their faces," the soldier pointed at Kolvar and Thrud, laughing his ass off. When he stopped laughing, he gestured at them to climb up. The soldier closed the wooden floor behind Hunter. After climbing up, Hunter stood in what seemed like an alleyway.
"Do I need to ask what's inside those sacks?" the soldier pointed at the sacks in their hands.
"Here's the rest of your payment," Hunter took out a coin pouch and handed it over to Zuri before the soldier could ask more questions. As Hunter expected, when the soldier heard the clattering of coins inside the pouch, he forgot about the sacks.
"From here on, you're on your own," after counting the astral coins, Zuri said.
"If I were you, I wouldn't breathe a word about this passageway," the soldier said to Hunter with a smile. His eyes turned predatory, warning Hunter of the danger if he dared to speak about the passageway to someone else.
"What passageway?" asked Hunter as the soldier grinned.
"Good,"
"If you want to get in and out of the city, you have to get your papers. But that's not my problem," said Zuri.
"At Least tell me where I can get these papers?"
"Cheapest and easiest would be at the adventurer guild," The red-haired soldier said. Hunter had more questions, but Zuri and the soldier walked away from them.
"I know where the adventurer guild is,"
"Before we go there, I need to go somewhere else," Hunter took out the parchment he hid inside his shirt. Hunter opened the scroll to see a sport marked with 'X' in Bellburn city. Before Xander died, he brought a building and stocked it with everything Jayden needed to brew fresh batches of devil's breath. Since Hunter held the key to this place, it made him the temporary owner of the place until he could get ownership papers from the duke. The key to the building served as the bearer bond, only this wasn't permanent.
"Lucky us, this place is just a couple of buildings away from the adventurer guild," Kolvar looked at the map over Hunter's shoulder and said.
"Can we reach there avoiding the soldiers?" asked Hunter.
"I know some routes. Follow me," Kolvar walked forward, leading Hunter and Thrud. Hunter closely followed Kolvar behind through the alleyways. Occasionally, Hunter peeked at the streets to get a sense of the people in this world. Although he inherited PArker's memories, he wanted to see them with his own eyes. The ladies mostly seemed to wear feather hats, gloves and robes. They mostly resembled the clothes from the Victorian era to Hunter. The men, on the other hand, wore medieval-style clothes. Some even wore completely black gothic dresses and dark lipsticks. Hunter still couldn't believe he was actually walking through the streets of a fantasy world. To Hunter's surprise, Kolvar was extremely good at sneaking through alleyways and avoiding people.
"Boss, where are we going?" Thrud asked Hunter in a husky voice.
"A boss needs a business establishment, doesn't he?" Hunter questioned Thrud instead of answering him. Eventually, the three stepped outside the dark alleyway to a cobblestoned shopping area. One could find anything in Bellburn city for a price. It was one of the safest and busiest cities in the kingdom. Hence, the demand for space here was steep, and rent cost loads of astral coins.
"Welcome to Burling street," said Kolvar with a bright smile. This was the first time Kolvar walked the street as a free elf. This street led straight to the town square, where Hunter noticed a giant statue of a man releasing a pigeon. A palace stripped straight out of fairy tales was in the background. The sight mesmerized Hunter.
"What is that?" asked Hunter, pointing at the castle.
"The duke's manor," said Kolvar.
Hunter was stunned. A mere duke's manor overshadowed Hunter's castle in every aspect. He could only imagine what the castles of kings and queens in this world would look like. The castle lit a bright flame in Hunter's heart. He wanted to be rich enough to buy this castle from the duke with a single payment. He might be a nobody now, but with the system's help, he would soon become the wealthiest criminal boss in the history of this world. It took Hunter a few moments to take his eyes away from the castle. He looked around the burling street. The place was crawling with noble women and men. Either side of the street contains various shops such as flower shops, jewelleries, clothing stores, and bakeries.
"This way," Kolvar led Hunter through the crowd forward. The people were too focused on gossip and the stores to notice three strangers carrying sacks. Kolvar used the crowd to their advantage. As Hunter followed Kolvar, he saw the first tallest building in the world. The building was completely made of stone that resembled marble. The building was as tall as a five-story building on earth. The words 'Adventurers Guild' was etched in beautiful calligraphy on the wall above the door. Two fully armored knights flanked the door.
"Come on,"
Hunter took his gaze away from the Adventurer Guild to Kolvar. Hunter was glad and worried his soon-to-be business establishment was located in the city's heart. The advantage was obviously more people and more business. But the downside was the duke's manor and soldiers. It wasn't very safe to establish a criminal empire and brew a new variant of devil's breath right under the city guards.
Despite the pros and cons, Hunter had no choice. He needed to take this risk. As far as Hunter was concerned, there was no gain without taking risks. He formed a brief startup plan in his mind.
"What the fuck?" Kolvar was taken aback by surprise. The trio reached the marked spot on the map. But this place was nothing like they'd been expecting.
From the outside, it looked uncomfortable, disturbing, and dull. Hard wooden planks and thick, hardwood logs make up most of the building's outer structure. It was difficult to see through the closed windows, but the coldness from within could be felt outside.
"The bored hamster," Thrud read the board hanging above the metal door.
"They got that right," Hunter sighed.
As they entered the tavern through the old metal door, they were welcomed by a layer of smoke hanging below the ceiling and a coldness. The bartender was an old man with a shriveled body. He was talking to a customer and made no effort to acknowledge their presence.
It was as somber inside as it was on the outside. Wooden beams support the upper floor and the candles attached to them. The walls were decorated, if one could call it that, with old paintings covered in dust. The tavern itself was almost completely abandoned. The few people inside appeared to be quite ominous and suspicious in Hunter's eyes, but whoever they were, they gave him an uncomfortable feeling of creepiness.
"Are you sure this is the spot?" Hunter asked Kolvar once again.
"Yeah,"
Hunter took out the key from his pocket and approached the old man. To Hunter's surprise, when the old man noticed the key in his hand, he stopped talking to the customer and turned his focus on Hunter.
"I was informed you would come," said the old man in a gruff voice.
"Were you informed to give me a tour of the place?" asked Hunter. He went with the flow instead of acting like he had no clue.
"Nope. Just to show you the entrance," said the old man.
Before leaving his counter, the old man picked up a bell and rang it.
"We are closing up, people. Thank you for your understanding. Now please leave in an orderly manner,"
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