Epic Of The Demonic Sage

'It could have been a good time to meet this Baron Hugh, but meeting him at this particular time would leave unwanted traces that I was here.' Lucius thought to himself as they rode into the city. 'Not to mention with my current attire, it's quite unlikely for him to even recognize me.'

Those were some of the thoughts of Lucius as they passed through the roads of the city. There was currently quite a bit of traffic, even more than Inanis city.

"It truly is aptly named as Etara's Cross." Lucius wryly said as he caught up to the mercenary leader. "Where will you be taking us, Gellor?"

"Um, there are a lot of various inns in this city, Lo—Lucius. Some are quite expensive but incredible to sleep in if you've been looking for an amazing place to rest and recover from the fatigue." Gellor said.

"Ah, yes, I actually remember a good one from when Sir Cambrian and I were talking previously." Finch said, inserting herself into the conversation. "It's something that he once recommended to me in case we travel here to Etara's Cross."

"Oh, oh are we going to stay at somewhere actually nice tonight?" Albus called out. "I'm excited to sleep in a soft bed for once. I can't sleep with the horses, always making noises at night."

"You're the one who's been making the noise. Snoring and moving in your sleep." Barty sighed as he shook his head.

"And those inns always have special type of meals, right? There's this one with someone who has a gift that's related to cooking, I think." Ariana added.

All of them glanced at Lord Asher and Kiana, waiting for his or her response.

Even though Gellor and his mercenary group were surprised that Lord Asher were accompanying them and masquerading as a fellow mercenary, they couldn't help but still feel like they needed to accommodate him and his needs.

What if Lord Asher had grown weary of the travel for the past four days?

What if he didn't like the food that they were eating while on the road?

What if the way they acted around Lord Asher made him reconsider his promise of evolving their gifts?

Those things, and especially how they acted yesterday, made them want to fix things with Lord Asher and show that they were professionals who knew how to welcome and take care of a noble.

"Hmmm… it's not necessarily a bad idea." Kiana admitted. She was as concerned with the others on Asher's well being, probably even more than them. "Mercenaries can sometimes stay in more expensive inns when they make decent money from their missions."

It didn't need to be said that the Inanis family, or rather Lucius paid them well and he did in fact, or to be specific, Kiana brought more than enough money to allow them to rest in a great place if they wanted to.

However, Lucius merely shook his head. He understood what their intentions were, but he disagreed with them.

"Just because we've come into a windfall of certain money doesn't mean that we should spend it all on an inn, Gellor." Lucius said, portraying the role of a new mercenary well. "In fact, I'd rather see where you guys often stay in when you guys visit this place."

"Oh, of course. That place isn't actually so bad and the innkeeper already knows us well there." Gellor said and lead the way to the inn's direction.

Lucius and the rest of the team followed his advance and soon enough, they came across an inn that seemed specially catered to mercenaries.

There was a stable beside the inn for their horses and it didn't take too long for them to get settled into their rooms, each one receiving a private one of their own.

Once they went out of their rooms, Lucius and Kiana found themselves getting noticed by someone.

"Hey, new faces." A young mercenary greeted them with a wave as he also left his room at the same time as them. "Which group are you guys from? Haven't seen you guys before."

"We're with Gellor and his team." Lucius replied.

"Oh, they've been here a couple of times, you guys must be new recruits." The mercenary said.

"Not really, we just work with them from time to time." Kiana replied.

"Fascinating. They must be on some important mission if they're adding people for it." The mercenary chuckled. "I wonder if they'll willing to add one to the team."

Lucius mostly kept his expression neutral, but the mercenary couldn't help but feel intimidated slightly.

"But I'll get out of your hair now. It's nice to meet you guys. Send my regards to Gellor!" the mercenary waved and then went down the stairs.

"Did you think…?" Kiana glanced at Asher nervously.

"We blended in fine." Lucius reassured her before coming down and meeting up with Gellor and his group.

"Lo—Lucius, there's this nice place to get some food. We could eat at this inn, but it's a little full." Gellor explained.

"That sounds good to me. We should go now." Lucius agreed.

Even though they did stay in another town during the first night away from Inanis city, Lucius was actually quite interested to know how the gossip was like in a place like Etara's Cross.

'I'm sure that what we can hear from here is probably much better than what I heard from the last place. All sorts of people come here after all, a melting pot of travelers from various locations… we might be able to hear something interesting or useful.' Lucius thought.

While Lucius already had his plans and goals before him and knew the direction he would take with them, he was also open to hearing other things that might be able to aid him in his future endeavors.

'There could be anything out there, and to ignore that possibility is foolish.'

Lucius, Kiana and the team of Gellor left the inn and then went to the city for a meal. It didn't take too long for Lucius to listen in and find something interesting.