Dawn arrived with birds singing and church bells ringing outside. The sounds of footsteps, laughter, and chatter rose from the tavern below, waking the two travelers. The floor creaked as they sat up.
"Good morning," Lucian said, smirking as he yawned, small tears forming in his eyes.
"Good morning..." Roderic grumbled back, struggling to move as his body felt nailed to the bed, his eyelids heavy.
Lucian put on his clothes before moving to the tavern's wooden planked communal bathroom, where he saw many men strutting around using herbs and charcoal, rubbing it throughout their teeth with linen cloths, some even chewing on twigs.
Through the doors he could hear groaning of men shitting and pissing, which Lucian ignored, trying his best not to think of the disgusting visual.
He had brought his willow tree twig, biting and rubbing it around his mouth, before finally rubbing a white linen cloth around his teeth, finishing with decently cleaned teeth.
He then finished off in the toilet doing his duties before returning to see Roderic still rotting in bed just as before.
Lucian sighed before kicking him off the bed. "Wake up, you've been sleeping for too long. It's time to start the day, you sluggard," Lucian scowled as he looked at Roderic lying on the ground, barely being able to push himself up.
"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Roderic snapped as he jumped up with a burst of energy formed from his anger, grabbing Lucian by the legs before pulling, making Lucian hit the ground with a loud bang.
"Heh," Roderic said as he looked at the knocked down Lucian. "That's what you deserve for disturbing my slumber!"
Lucian looked up, his eyes revealing deep fire, which Roderic quickly picked up as he instinctively felt his legs step backwards.
"Stop messing around," Lucian spat as he rose up. "Get ready, we have shopping to do!" Lucian added, walking over to the nearest seat, taking his sword along the way as he sat down and polished his blade, attempting his best to keep up with the maintenance of his sword.
Roderic looked lazily over at Lucian as he tsked, before clothing himself fully, ending it off by throwing his fur coat over his body with its weird pattern.
He sprayed some ice through his mouth, allowing it to grab all the dirt and debris in his teeth before sucking the ice out, opening the window and throwing it out onto the streets, hitting an old man who quickly started screaming in anger at the bastard.
Roderic smiled at him as he waved before closing the window. "You know, making enemies isn't all too great of an idea," Lucian scoffed before shifting his focus back on his blade.
Roderic smirked before saying, "Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I'm done, we can go now. Also, just saying, maybe we can go drink a little later? You know, to relax the mind and stuff?" Roderic proposed, even though he was basically incapable of getting drunk.
"Sure, I don't mind easing my mind while we're here. After all, I'm joining along for the adventure more than anything, and you know, drinking is a must when visiting cities," Lucian agreed, stopping his polishing, his mood slightly improving.
"Well then, let's get going. Let's see what this city has to offer!" Lucian said, rising quickly from his chair and moving towards the door, Roderic following along.
Through the corridor of the second floor, they saw merchants, drunkards, and many interesting people. One seemed to be almost naked, walking over to the communal bathroom with no concern for what other people would think.
Lucian and Roderic exchanged a glance, then quickly averted their gaze and hurried toward the stairs.
As they went down, Lucian started wondering what the tavern keep would offer them as breakfast. Perhaps ale, some soft bread, and frumenty?
As they walked through the hall of the staircase, they saw many people eating their breakfast. Some had barley cakes and some had different types of porridge.
Walking over to the tavern keep, he looked at the two. "Well, good morning! How was you two's rest? Did you guys sleep well? Anyways, about breakfast, we're offering either barley cakes or porridge on top of getting ale, so what would you two like?" the tavern keep said in quick succession without letting the two reply.
"Well, the sleep here was very nice. I liked it. Also, I would like barley cakes," Roderic responded, before looking over at the kitchen, his stomach already rumbling.
"I also enjoyed the sleep here, and if possible, I would like to have porridge. Thanks," Lucian said, noticing Roderic's impatient expression.
"Also, I've been wondering, what is your name with us staying here for a bit?" Lucian asked.
"My name is Kester Weaver, but you can just call me Kest for short," Kester said, looking down onto his papers. "And you two's names are Lucian and Roderic, right?"
"Yes, you are right. My name's Lucian and his name is Roderic. Nice to finally know your name, Kest," Lucian replied, trying his best to be formal.
Both moved to a nearby table furthest away from the drunkards of the tavern.
"So what should we first look for?" Lucian asked, interested in Roderic's perspective on their market trip.
"Well, food first, of course. Heh, then we can go over to supplies like clothing, soap, and something to actually sleep on. I've been tired of sleeping on the ground..." Roderic said, counting the sequence of the shopping trip on his fingers.
"Fair, but like, come on. Sleeping on the ground ain't all that bad. It builds discipline," Lucian said, replying similarly to how he would to Felix.
Suddenly Kester came over, giving both their meals and wooden tankards of ale. Both thanked Kester before enjoying their meal. Afterwards, they rose up, moving out through the door in the same way, dodging drunkards the way they did when coming in.
Looking around and in between the folk walking back and forth, they saw different street vendors selling all sorts of stuff like meats, fruits, baked goods, herbs and spices. Some even sold clothing and different textiles, or even pottery and different types of metalwork like knives, swords, and such.
But Lucian knew how expensive metalwork and spices could be, so with their tight budget, he didn't really feel like spending on those things except for maybe sharpening the blade of his sword.
They walked over to the fruit vendor, buying a few apples and pears to save for later as dessert, coming to around forty rin. They were saving the actual proper food shopping for when they were actually leaving.
Going over to the clothing vendor next, they bought a couple of new wool tunics for cold nights (more specifically for Lucian), a few hoses, and some cloaks. They also bought a few blankets for warmth through the nights and support from the ground, as per Roderic's request.
"Nice. We've gotten the clothing and a bit some fruit for later, the total ending up at four-hundred and fifty rin, not too bad. Now next we need some soap," Lucian said, following what Roderic planned.
Suddenly, while they were looking around for a vendor who sells soap, they saw a boy running away from a metalwork vendor with a few knives and swords, tears streaming from his dirty, haggard face, seeming to be of poor standing.
Roderic ignored it, allowing him to pass, but with Lucian's high moral compass, he didn't allow such crimes to be committed, so Lucian sprinted quickly after the boy. Roderic sighed before following suit as well.
Quickly flying past Lucian and the vendor, Roderic grabbed the young boy upward with his left hand. The boy accidentally dropped two of the knives he was holding, in shock and afraid of what was to come.
"Hey boy, what are you doing stealing from that vendor?" Roderic questioned, not caring all too much.
Lucian and the vendor came to them around the same time, the vendor seeming to be quite pissed off, almost walking up to the boy to punch him.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it!" the young haggard boy said, his condition not being all too well. Pale skin showing blood vessels underneath, his oily light-brown hair, his dark circles accentuating his pale-brown eyes, his clothes barely maintained and riddled with holes.
Lucian walked up and grabbed the swords and knives, pulling them away from the crying boy, seeming to not care all too much about it further than getting the pissed vendor away.
"Here, sir," Lucian said, giving the swords and knives over to the metalwork vendor.
"Thank you so much for the help, you two, but I still want to give this brat a good talking to before I leave, perhaps even give him over to the guards!" the vendor said, seeming to be in a horrible mood, which was made worse for the boy by how the vendor was built—his body almost seeming like a brick, with strong muscles and sharp eyebrows.
"Don't worry, we will deal with the boy for now. We will give him the punishment that he deserves. Trust me," Lucian said, attempting to calm the vendor down, trying to seem like an authority of sorts.
"Well, okay... but after, please give him over to the guards! Such vermin shouldn't be walking the streets!" the vendor fumed, as the boy could only attempt to wipe his tears, trying his best to avoid eye contact with the vendor.
Lucian watched as the vendor walked away, then walked back to Roderic and the boy. Roderic was still holding the boy up in the air so he couldn't try to escape.
"Why did you do it?" Lucian asked, as the boy in a way seemed more like a victim than anything else.
"I-I can't tell you! They will ki-kill me if I do!" the boy screamed, his voice trembling with fright.
"Well, then if you tell me, we will protect you, okay?" Lucian said, trying to reassure the boy.
Roderic quickly picked up on what Lucian was doing and interrupted in the middle of their conversation. "Hey, we are not doing anything of the sort here. I ain't fighting some silly gang right now!" Roderic protested. In his mind, he was still stuck on the bandit situation outside the city, not wanting to escalate it by introducing further elements and wasting time which could later be spent on getting to the Shifting Sanctum.
"Well, sorry Roderic, I'm a knight after all. I'm interested in resolving people's issues. Also, why are you in such a hurry to get back? Is there something you're not telling me?" Lucian quickly quipped back, leading Roderic to stammer before realizing he had nothing to say.
"Hey boy, please tell me," Lucian asked again, ignoring Roderic, who in the midst of trying to find an answer, dropped the boy.
"Well... everybody here knows who they are. So maybe it w-wouldn't hurt to tell..." the boy mumbled, trying to find the courage to speak on what he shouldn't speak of.
"They u-use poor peasants from the slums as a way of stealing from the rich. They don't like rich nobles, hence why they gave themselves the name The B-Bluebloods... If you ask anyone here, they would know about them... the guy I stole from just moments ago most likely knows this..." the boy said, shaking, hoping that maybe these strangers would help him if he spilled the details.
A few drops of sweat grew and fell from Lucian's face. He remembered reports from this city once, about a criminal brotherhood which had been going on for decades.
The reason they started was because the baron at the time increased the taxes on each resident from around fifteen percent to around twenty-five percent, causing many residents to retaliate by starting a riot which later grew into a brotherhood dedicated to eradicating the nobles and leading them to ruin. They started off not too powerful before some outside help came out of nowhere, introducing a member many believed to be a monster, causing a massive growth of the brotherhood which became the reason for the entire need of two different administration quarters, introducing many citizens to become guards with a giant focus on getting outside help from different knights.
Lucian could only think of why he'd forgotten about such a massive detail, before realizing the boy was waiting for a reply. He only managed to pull up a nervous smile. "Don't worry kid, we'll help you..." Lucian said, managing to mask the fear to a degree. All he could think was at least they had Roderic, with his morphosis "magic."
Roderic looked at Lucian, only managing to sigh, appearing to be slightly pissed.
"You know, your goody two-shoes morals are going to be the end of you one day. I'm telling you from personal experience," Roderic sneered.
Lucian was not too surprised by Roderic's remark, as he did feel he was out of line bothering Roderic with his own selfishness. All Lucian could say was, "You might be right, but living without caring for the ones in need is just wrong. I can throw away my morals along the lines of stealing or killing as long as it's in the name of reason, but never helping just isn't me, so sorry Roderic, but I must help him. It's what I must do. You don't need to come along, but for my selfish self, it would be a great help if you don't mind…"
Roderic looked at him in slight shock, appearing to not fully realize Lucian's resolve. "Fine, I'll help, as you are in fact just a knight and nothing more. Your strength is nothing, talent means nothing in the ways of an entire criminal group—you're nothing. So again, I'll say fine, I'll help you, but don't expect any more help if such a massive turn-off event happens a second time out of nowhere, which I must remind you has nothing to do with us," Roderic exasperated, looking towards the vendor who just moments ago tried to beat the boy.
Turning towards the boy, "Anyhow, what's your name, boy? Having no way of identifying you would get annoying quick," Roderic asked, his mood seeming to be stabilizing.
Lucian looked towards Roderic, smiling, wondering if this mage had some morals in him after all.
"My name is Fraden, at least that's what the other boys call me," Fraden replied back, only managing to wonder what his name would be if he ever were to meet his parents.