These people tried to disguise themselves as mercenaries, but it was easy to notice. People often disguised themselves as something else, but was easy to notice the flaws as they clearly had not experienced the true form. Pi had met various people throughout his lifetime at the inn, so he was able to notice it right away.
“Feed it well. Brush it too.”
A man jumped off his horse and blurted out his instructions before he tossed a coin to a boy.
“T-thank you, sir! I will take good care of him!”
It was a gold coin. All the surrounding kids opened their eyes in shock. It was more than enough to share with everyone.
“Welcome, we will take the horses from here.”
All the boys moved quickly to take horses and all the men walked into the inn. They all looked tired.
“Prepare warm water.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We need hot soup.”
“Understood, sir.”
“I want Duran meat and beer…”
The men took their seats at the tables around the hall and began ordering. They then glanced around and looked at the beautiful women working inside, eating the food that was served.
“More beer!”
“More bread!”
These were all well-built young men with large appetites. They kept eating and eating, though their speed slowed down after a bit.
“Ugh, we need more liquor!”
“Victor, go down to the cellar and bring a keg.”
“Sem! Get the dried jerky!”
“Horden, we need more bread!”
All the employees became busy. It had been a while since they received a large number of guests and the owner, Joyden, looked really happy because of it. As happy as he was, the waitresses were also having a good time. The men who were now filled were eyeing the waitresses serving in the hall.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“Helen.”
“How much?”
“One gold coin.”
“Wow, that’s expensive.”
“I am expensive.”
Helen scoffed and glanced at her white bosom through her revealing clothing. The man smiled.
“Hah, okay. Take me to the room.”
Some of the men also engaged in similar bargains with the waitresses.
“Is this okay?”
Gordon grew concerned as he worried that they were not being too careful asked Henderson, “It’s okay. This place is far away and there’s no message from the men we left behind. We were worried about the Ainos Intelligence coming after us, but I don’t think we will need to worry. Besides, we have too many people. We’ll draw attention if we keep moving with this number.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. We will divide ourselves into small groups so we won’t raise suspicion.”
“Then?”
“We’ll disguise ourselves as merchants or mercenaries and move out on different paths.”
“I see! That’s brilliant!” Henderson laughed and eyed the two men at the corner who were quietly enjoying their meal.
‘Who are they?’
They didn’t seem to be suspicious, but they were well-built and strong-looking. The younger of the men looked really big even though he was sitting down. He then turned to look at their hands.
‘They are swordsmen.”
It was obvious that these men were experienced with swords. Their hands were full of such markings.
“What’s going on? Anything bothering you?” Gordon asked, but Henderson shook his head.
“No, I think I’m just tired. I’ll go rest for today. We will have to move quickly starting tomorrow.”
“Oh, I see. Good night, then.”
Gordon stood up and moved up the stairs to his room. The waitress that he picked earlier also followed. Then, Henderson called to his man.
“Yes, sir.”
“Max, go check on those two men at the corner. Check and see when they came here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Max glanced at the corner and moved out. Men began drinking and enjoying their time as they noticed Henderson moving up the stairs to his room. Max then moved about and began working on his order. He called a waitress, pulled her onto his lap, and began caressing her.
“Hey, you look fabulous.”
“Heh, thanks. But aren’t you touching me too much?”
“Why? I’m just enjoying my time.”
Max flirted with the woman and she didn’t seem to dislike his touch.
“So, who are those people in the corner?”
“Oh, they are monster hunters. They came here around three days ago.”
“Monster hunters?”
“Yeah, I heard they even hunted Coulders. You know, the Krakuls?”
“Coulder?”
Max looked surprised. He glanced to the men at the corner. A Coulder was a type of Krakul that was about eight to twelve feet tall with sturdy skin and very sharp teeth. It was so fast that no one could outrun it, even on a horse. These monsters hunted in packs and it was very dangerous.
‘I saw them once… that’s amazing.’
He remembered seeing Coulders in the past. But he lost interest soon enough. The reason why Henderson asked him to investigate the men was because they were scared of the Ainos and Khalodians tracking them down. But these men came here three days ago.
‘Three days… then we don’t have to worry about them. No one can outrun us that fast.’
He lost interest and turned to the waitress who was still on top of him.
“Oh, n-no. We shouldn’t continue here…”
“Shall we go up?”
“Y-yes. Let’s go..”
Max stood up and walked upstairs with the waitress.
