“Boss… it’s not that bad inside, let’s go in for now.” As if he was in a rush to escape, Archibald charged inside.
Sighing, Virus rubbed the temple of his forehead while resolving to check the interior of the inn first. He wasn’t in a mood to berate the old guy anyway.
However, the instant he set foot into it, he was flabbergasted.
“Hahaha, old buddy! How have you been doing recently?” Currently, Archibald was harshly slapping the backside of a hunched old man while greeting him.
“Oh, oldie Archie, what a great day! Why are you here, my friend?” Genuinely jovial about his arrival, the other elder cheered.
“Huh? Why else? Of course, because I brought you some customers! I’m a customer myself as well.” Spotting Virus at this point, Archibald began waving and introducing him.
“Boss! Here! This is the innkeeper and he’s a good mate of mine, I guarantee he will give us the best services possible!”
The more he heard Archibald talk, the more tics were showing up on Virus’ forehead, he was getting on the verge of his limits as he was about to swat this old guy dead.
It was at this time when a rather young woman, walked out of somewhere as she greeted Archibald, “Old man Archie? You’re here to visit?”
“Nah, Pira, I’m a customer,” Archibald claimed proudly.
Surprised to actually hear that, Pira exclaimed, “Huh? Did you become rich by any chance?!”
“Ah! Uncle Archie, you’re here!” At this point, a young boy also made an appearance as he jovially talked to Archibald.
“Anyway, guys, enough with the greetings, see this great man here? He’s my boss from now on, he wanted to stay at an inn and I recommended yours since I trust you will take care of us the best!” Thrusting his jaw forward, Archibold displayed a gentle smile.
Meanwhile, while the three were done catching a glimpse of his profile, Pira’s sight remained locked on Virus’ devilishly handsome face. Still, it was a short pause before she disguised it swiftly.
“Hahaha, welcome, welcome, dear customer! No worries, since oldie Archie put the word out, we’ll provide you with the best treatment you could possibly imagine!” Bowing respectfully, the hunched old man signaled Virus to walk beside the counter.
“We usually take twenty gold coins a night for each person, however, since you’re the boss of a friend, ten gold coins a night would suffice.” The hunched elder declared.
The so-called gold coins were in fact the currency smaller than Qi Ingots.
Every first-grade Qi Ingot was equal to one hundred gold coins.
In fact, outside Ricando, in the areas mainly occupied by mortals, the common people’s main currency was in the form of copper, silver, and gold, as they mostly never came into contact with Qi Ingots unless they were very rich.
However, in the areas controlled, inhabited, or governed by cultivators, currencies below Qi Ingots usually lost their value as the relevant region would mostly function with Qi Ingots instead of lower forms of futile currency.
Casually placing ten Qi Ingots over the counter, Virus mouthed, “No need for discounts or anything, money’s not an issue with me, just offer us the very best services possible.”
While rubbing his hands, the sight of ten Qi Ingots made the old man’s eyes radiate joy. “Yes, yes, yes! You won’t be dissatisfied!”
Gathering the Qi Ingots, the hunched senior citizen deliberated, ‘This old bastard Archie brought me a rich customer this time, I’ve gotta treat him to something nice sometime.’
“Please follow my son, he’ll guide you to your rooms.”
…
While on their way to each of their rooms, pretending to be incensed by Archibald’s earlier stunt, Virus glared at him, “You want to die? You bring me to your friend’s inn when I tell you to bring me somewhere nice?”
“B-boss,” Terrified of invoking Virus’ wrath after having just witnessed him nearly kill the tan woman, Archibald elaborated, “it’s because I truly believe he’ll tend to us better than a complete stranger, please believe me. He, his wife, and this son of theirs will give you the best experience of your entire life! The three of them are the best!”
“His wife?” Noticing their age difference, Virus had previously assumed her to be the hunched old man’s daughter and not actually her wife.
“Yeah. Her name is Pira. She’s quite a beauty, right?”
“Huh? That young woman is the mother? But your friend is so haggard he may die any seconds now, and you’re telling me he married such a young woman?” Even though Virus wasn’t one to judge since he didn’t care enough to judge, the stark divergence of age interested him shortly.
As if he couldn’t be more eager to gossip on the subject, getting closer to Virus’ ear and pointing at the little kid that was guiding them, he uttered, “Ah, yes, and this boy you see is really theirs and not from a past wife or anything like that. My friend has great vigor, right?”
When each of them was shown into their rooms and settled down, Virus ordered a cup of tea to be brewed and served to him together with his lunch. He wanted to taste the tea and the food of the inn.
While waiting for his food, many contemplations occupied Virus’ mind.
‘Hmm, what should I do now?’
Now that Virus was in Ricando, one might expect him to actively start digging up information on the Poison Deity clan in order to estimate their overall power, weaknesses, and the details regarding what had happened to the Silver Sky Sect and the whereabouts of its survivors.
However, that wasn’t Virus’ precise plan since it didn’t require a genius to know that an active investigation would only result in consequences that would endanger his life at the shortest duration of time possible.. Obviously, that course of action was bound to put him under the Poison Deity clan’s negative radar, which was something he wanted to avoid at all costs for now, at least not in that way and not until he was strong enough.
