Chapter 2-2

A day late, a dollar short... okay, more like two days. Sorry, 5 readers, life has been hectic. I'll make it up to you. Here's the part.

Their quest began, as mosts quests do, at a tavern. The tavern in question, the Adjective Noun ( a more upscale version of the one downtown), was one of those antiquated places that still referred to itself as a “tavern”, and appealed largely to the adventurer crowd. The room was brightly lit. Murals of ancient heroes covered the walls, and the waitresses all wore traditional dresses for maximum ogling. It was the last place Leonas and Anjanette would normally drink at, but it was a good source of information about these things.

The stench hit them immediately. Smoke, frying grease, and the odour of dozens of would-be-knights on the road came together to make a concoction that could make the foulest of beasts turn around and decide to get something else for dinner. It almost did the same for Anjanette.

“Anj, is there a way to hold your nose while being minimally sociable?” asked Leonas.

“I wouldn’t worry about social graces with this sort,” said Anjanette. She gestured at a nearby oaken table, where a group of overweight and thickly-bearded youths were arguing about who “poned” the most in their recent encounter with some bandits.

With a heave of resignation, Leonas settled into a barstool. The bartender was a mammoth man who Leonas would have bet any amount of money was a former adventurer himself. “Welcome to our fine establishment. I haven’t seen you around before, good sir. Would you perchance a drink.”

“Perchance a drink... ‘sir’, that doesn’t make any sense,” said Leonas.

The barkeep looked guilty, like a twelve-year-old boy whose mom had just caught him trying on her underwear. Leonas cracked a forgiving smile. “I’ll have some rum, please.”

The bartender now looked like his mother had just taken him aside and explained to him that experimentation was perfectly natural. Leonas got his rum in quick order.

He took a deep sip. “So, anything much happening around these parts?”

“Well, there’s a gang of bandits around these parts that the duke just put a bounty on... go by The Lethal Seven. Good money if that’s your sort of thing. And there are rumours of a treasure in old Clovis’s Tomb going around.”

“Uh huh,” said Leonas. “I’m looking for a book... or multiple books... really old, indecipherable ancient writing, that sort of thing?”

“Plenty of books like that around. Now, maybe if you let me see it...”

Leonas cut him off with a smirk. “It’s in a safe place. You aren’t getting near it.”

“You won’t get anywhere if you’re that paranoid, boy,” said the innkeeper.

Leonas rolled his eyes and downed another sip.

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