“Alright, that’s that then, I suppose. Now…”
Pondering his following immediate course of action, Virus looked back at the four, “We need a place to stay at before anything else… do any of you have a place we could temporarily occupy?”
To that, feeling somewhat embarrassed, Luca and Luna were the first ones to answer, “We were sold so…”
As it was Augustus’ turn to respond, all eyes were focused on him.
“Ah, I’m a homeless person… but I know this great spot we could stay at while enjoying nature at the same time.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…” Virus didn’t even need to consider that suggestion as he turned toward Archibald at once. Most of his hopes were directed at Archibald since the beginning.
“Ah… I… I live in the slums right outside the city. It’s a warm single-room cottage, I guess we can go there?” Archibald answered.
Feeling totally numb at this point, Virus merely gazed at the sky above and decided, “Forget about it, we’ll stay at an inn for now.”
“That’s a great idea!” Archibald and Luca agreed enthusiastically.
Afterward, the company of five walked through the streets of the city while searching for any nice quality inn that might pop up along their path.
While they continued ambling in a random direction, the quiet Augustus suddenly opened his mouth, “Boss, if it’s not rude of me to inquire… can I ask why you agreed to accept us? Are you taking pity in our circumstances perhaps?”
The second he threw that question, the countenances of Luca, Luna, and Archibald also turned completely serious. Apparently, they were also curious about why Virus was receiving them.
“Huh? Take you in out of pity? Me?” That inquiry, however, dumbfounded Virus briefly before he burst into a peal of uncontrollable laughter, “Hahahaha…”
Sometime later, wiping the corners of his eyes, he answered amusedly, “That was one of the funniest jokes I’ve heard in a while, haha.”
“Ah, if not pity, then why, boss?” It was Archibald this time.
“Hmm, well, that’s because I need some people to run errands for me and follow my commands.” Touching the base of his neck, Virus’ reply was immediate.
Clapping his palms together, Archibald felt enlightened. “Ah, so you basically need someone to do the chores?”
“Yeah, pretty much, I’m going to need extra hands for my subsequent plans since I hate to do the boring stuff myself, and since you guys just happened to wish to follow me, I said why not.” Wearing a gentle smile, Virus patiently expounded.
He had to be honest about these matters so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings in the future. “So, don’t mistakenly believe I’m welcoming you guys out of the sympathy of my heart. I solely plan on using and taking advantage of you four.”
“Ah… I-I see.” Listening to Virus’ elaboration, instead of becoming sad, the four became oddly jovial and happy. They would appreciate this kind of reason much more than being looked at with pity.
“I understand, boss! I’ll work hard so you don’t ever regret taking me in!” Luca was the first one to bark in motivation.
“Haha,” Patting his head, Virus felt satisfied, “you better keep that promise.”
Then it was followed by the determined vows of the other three who were adamant about keeping Virus happy with their services.
“Hmm, although there were a few inns along the way, I wasn’t really satisfied with any of them.” The moment Virus muttered that, as if he was long prepared for it, Archibald interfered, “Boss, I know a decent inn, it’s just that it’s in the Deity-Half of Outer Ricando, so we need to pass to the other side of the river.”
“Is that so? Lead the way.”
Afterward, led by Archibald, the small party went toward one of the bridges that connected the two halves of the city.
Just as they stepped to the other side, however, Virus paused without any warnings.
After nearly bumping into him, the other four felt lost at this sudden stop until they realized where Virus was staring at.
“That’s this city’s branch of the Blacksmith Alliance, boss.” Archibald clarified.
Indeed, currently, Virus was staring at the huge building that’s been purely made out of metal alone. There was no timber or even stone used for the construction of the great building in front of him, all that was utilized were various types of metal alone.
Subsequently, examining its entrance, just as Archibald had announced, Virus located a big signboard stating the ‘Blacksmith Alliance, Ricando Branch’.
“What’s the Blacksmith Alliance exactly?” Since this was the first time Virus had come across such a term, Virus queried casually.
“Ah, you don’t know, boss?” Stunned, Archibald didn’t know how to brief the target.
Instead, it was Augustus who stepped forward to explain in a detailed manner, “The blacksmith alliance is a kind of organization that controls all the Blacksmiths over the lands. They are rooted almost everywhere in the world. The organization was initially formed in ancient times when the best blacksmiths came together and agreed upon creating a place for all blacksmiths. Ever since then, new generations of top blacksmiths have always controlled the alliance.”
“Anyway, in order to become an official Blacksmith accepted by all, one needs to pass the tests of this organization and receive their certificate of rank and identity.” In a single sitting, Augustus opened up the matter.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, there is also a Pillsmith Alliance which is very similar to the Blacksmith Alliance.”
“Pillsmith? Are you talking about alchemy?”
“Yes, Alchemy masters, chemists, or pillsmiths, they’re all the same. But they are most famously known as pillsmiths in most regions.”
“I see, it was the unique construction design that intrigued me really. Anyway, let’s get going then.” Picking up his pace again, Virus was on the move.
Soon, they were standing in front of a poor-looking inn titled Decent Inn. Squinting at Archibald, Virus proclaimed, “This is the decent inn you were talking about? A wrecked inn called Decent Inn?”
