Chapter 9: Not Much Of A Welcome
The queue at the gate moved slower than Julius expected. Some people had already gone through before they joined but it was still long.
The guards were thorough. Each person stopped and answered questions. A dark elf woman stood apart from the guards, her eyes moving over each traveler. When her gaze reached Julius, she held it a bit longer than the others.
He matched her gaze. She moved on.
His attention went back to the queue, taking note of characters he found interesting.
A group of six beastkin sharing wolf features, ears, furry arms, legs and tail moved together.
A woman wearing armour made of bones, scales covering parts of her skin and a tail. A greatsword rested behind her, wrapped carefully to make room for her leathery wings.
Two dark elves, a couple who seemed to have made peace with waiting a long time ago.
A lizard woman with a cart pulled by a creature Julius did not have a name for yet.
And near the front of the queue. A male beastkin sharing features similar to Yumiko, a collar around his neck, standing behind a dark elf who held the chain.
Julius glanced at Yumiko to assess her expression, but she was facing somewhere else, her hands clenched at her sides.
He did not say anything.
Their turn came.
The guard looked at Daren first, recognition crossing his face almost immediately.
"Athaerius." A nod. "Back again."
"Yes. Contract," Daren said. "Fire Bear. Verified kill."
"The Guild will want the core." The guard made a note. His eyes moved across the group. Joan, Neznala, Kieran, Yumiko, each receiving a brief assessment until the guard reached Julius.
He stopped.
"He’s with you?"
"Yes," Daren said.
"He looks..." The guard frowned.
"I know, half." Daren said. "Outer settlement. He’s with me."
Hearing Daren recite the lie left a taste Julius didn’t enjoy.
The guard looked at Julius for another moment before allowing them entry.
Daren stopped just inside the gate.
"Thank you for your company."
"You’re welcome." Julius replied.
"The Guild is located in the middle. You can ask for directions." He looked at Julius. "I recommend you register. Even Iron rank opens doors in this city."
Julius nodded. Daren studied him a moment longer then extended a hand.
Julius took it.
"Safe travels," Daren said. "Whatever your background is."
Julius ignored the last statement and offered one last thank you.
Daren turned and led his group straight ahead. Neznala nodded on the way past. Kieran said nothing. Joan was last.
She stopped in front of Yumiko. A moment passed between them. Then Joan leaned slightly closer, deliberately, and took one unhurried breath in Julius’s direction.
Her expression settled into something it had been working toward since the stream.
"He smells better up close," she said to Yumiko.
She walked away without waiting for a response.
Yumiko watched her go.
Julius looked between them. "What was that about?"
"Nothing," Yumiko said. She turned toward the city. "Where are we going?"
The Outer Ring hit him all at once.
Julius let it sink in before making any decisions.
The streets were wide enough for two carts and packed enough that they moved single file anyway. The architecture was old at its foundation — the road layout and the bone structure of the buildings carried the logic of whoever built this city originally.
Newer construction had been layered on top without fully understanding what was underneath. Some buildings looked slightly different than others, suggesting differences in taste.
The people were something else.
Every race he had encountered and several he had not. A dwarf woman haggling at a stall with the focused energy of someone who considered bargaining a competitive sport.
A group of what Julius assumed were adventurers comprised of two dwarves and three beastkin moved through the crowd in a loose formation. One of them held a manacore.
Two dark elves who assessed Julius briefly as he passed and moved on.
The smells were a specific combination of food, animals, smoke, and the density of too many people in a space built for slightly fewer.
And the collars. A fox woman. A wolf man. Two more of them in the space of one street. He did not let his expression change. Yumiko did not look directly at any of them. She did not need to.
Yumiko moved ahead without explaining where she was going. He followed because she had not been wrong about a direction yet.
The craftsman district announced itself through sound before signage. Metal on metal. Wood being worked.
The smell of sawdust and hot iron and something cooking. Yumiko turned down a side street and slowed.
The sign was small enough that he almost missed it.
MUDMILK INN. Painted in bold letters. Below it the head of a creature that Julius recognized as a goblin that had no business looking that menacing.
Yumiko was the first one in. Julius followed.
The common room was dim and clean and completely empty of customers. Functional furniture. A bar along one wall. Bottles of things he could not identify. A single lamp doing adequate work.
No one visible.
Then a voice came from somewhere behind the bar. Low and deep. The tone of someone who didn’t need to look menacing to be threatening.
"Who dares enter my inn."
