Laernea shrugged and passively listened to Madam Dawny's lecture. Smoke nodded his head and agreed with what their benefactor said.
"That's why I'm going to gather as much information as I can, before signing up on anything. Sierra has been telling me that my decisions are always rash. That reminds me. It's been some time since I got in contact with Sierra. Excuse me for a bit, while I make a quick call."
The young DarkElf stood up and walked a few steps away to get some privacy. As he was about to contact Sierra, he got an unexpected call from her instead.
+Incoming Call: Sierra
Accept the call? [YES/NO]
|
Smoke immediately answered her.
"Hey! I've been wondering when you'd call. I was so busy after winning the tournament that I completely forgot to check in with you. I'm so sorry. Anyway, have you found the exit?"
Smoke wanted to impress her. He thought that she should know how hard it was to win the Swordsman to Knight Tournament.
"Oh... Well, we still haven't found the exit. Although we've finished investigating all the villages. Don't worry, we'll find it sooner or later."
He thought that it had been some time since they started their search. He surmised that it was the cause for Sierra's voice to be melancholic. He thought he could cheer her up by changing the topic.
"Ahh, that's okay. Don't worry about it. I know you'll eventually find it."
"Listen... I have to tell you something important. While we were waiting for the Bran..."
Smoke was determined to change the topic. He wouldn't let Sierra finish her sentence.
"Right. Well, let me tell you, once you've won that championship and equipped this glorious armor the crowd just wouldn't let go of you. I've had dozens of friend requests that I decided to disable the friend request notification. Oh, and that reminds me. Do you remember Macher? The Cavalry Knight who helped me enter the city?"
"Yeah, I think so. What about him?"
"He offered to be my sponsor in the Mounted Race event. It costs 80,000 zecs to join, and if I agree, I get to join for free. What do you think? Should I accept his offer? He only asks that when I win the grand prize I give him ten million zecs from the winnings. I think it's a fair deal."
He thought that she would cheer up if she was involved in the decision on the Mounted Race event. He believed that if she thought about something else, she would relax and forget her anxiety from her failed search attempts.
"It sounds like you've already made your decision. Why do you need to hear what I think?"
"I knew you'd agree with me. Alright, call me when you get any new developments on your search. I'll also do the.. Hello? Sierra? You still there? Hmm. She hung up on me."
Smoke smiled. He thought that their talk had inspired her on a new way to find the missing labyrinth exit.
He was pleased with himself as he rejoined the dining table.
"So what were we talking about again?"
Laernea repeated their discussion from the time Smoke had left the table.
"Madam Dawny said that we should try visiting a pub called Noir Emporium."
The retired old woman waited for Smoke to be seated before she proceeded.
"If you give 30,000 zecs to a long curly haired bartender named Gin, you'll be able to get plenty of informative rumors from him."
"30,000 zecs? That's a little too steep for me. Is there another way I could get information without paying that much?"
Madam Dawny stared at Smoke for a few seconds.
"Well, there is one more way. You could speak with the owner of the bar directly, but he doesn't speak with just anybody. If you really want to talk to him then you would need to have a belt with a special black stone on it. Darius has one. Maybe you have one as well?"
It was Smoke's turn to stare at his benefactor. He thought that if she saw the belt it also meant that she knew about the secret society of beggars.
"I don't mean to sound offensive, but how well do you know Darius?"
"Pretty well, I guess. Before the coal mine incidents in Nanahuatl, old man Darius and I used to travel all over Chayotl Kingdom(Western Kingdom). This was back when I was younger. I would drop by Nanahuatl and invite him to join me on one of my quests, especially the harder ones. Thirty years passed and my movements were no longer as sharp, but old man Darius stayed exactly the same. If I had known that he wouldn't age I would've called him immortal Darius rather than the old man."
Madam Dawny chuckled as she remembered her younger days.
After he heard the old lady's story, Smoke believed that she was a good friend of Darius.
"I'm sorry for doubting you. It's just that Darius never talked about his past adventures. All he talks about is Kumbaba, but did he tell you what his job is?"
"Yes he did. He told me he was a Beggar, and he even showed me his belt with nine shiny black stones embedded on it. He also told me that only members of his organization can possess that belt. Well, do you have that kind of belt or not?"
"I do."
"Good. Then just ask Gin, the bartender, and tell him you want to talk to his boss. I don't know his name but Darius did a similar thing before and I think it might work with you."
"Thank you very much. I'll look into that pub and start my investigation on this Mounted Race from there."
Smoke looked to the direction of Nanahuatl. He saw Igniz outside the house. His symbiote enjoyed the bright sun and the cloudless sky, while the hell boar Ental energetically ran around the dark ember sprite. Ental tried her best to get Igniz's attention.
"Hmm. I wonder if Gandiva has already arrived in Nanahuatl. I need to put the next batch of double bladed mantis swords up in auction."
* * * * * *
There were many variations of the Knight job to choose from. Some of the variations were: the popular Cavalry Knight, the speedy Stealth Knight, and a sub variation called Elemental Knight.
Smoke chose to disguise his cover identity Ilad as a Flame Knight. He had Igniz hide comfortably on top of his head. He used his symbiote's energy to coat his shoulders and helmet in dark purple flames.
His newly won armor may look tattered because of his low Beggar Adaptability level, but the effects of the dark purple flames gave Smoke an intimidating appearance.
The DarkElf, equipped in a flaming Knight armor, took the teleportation circle headed for the central district. When he arrived, he expected the crowd to swarm him.
However, no one came near him at all. They just looked at him from afar. He could hear them whisper his name.
Smoke couldn't understand their sudden change. It was just yesterday that everyone couldn't get enough of him.
He felt sad that nobody fawned over him, but he realized that this was what he truly wanted, peace and quiet. At a quick pace, he followed the directions Madam Dawny gave him.
The pub was not easy to locate. Smoke had to ask multiple vendors before he reached the pub. Each vendor that he spoke to was shocked to have a conversation with him.
After an hour, his search for the well hidden pub was finally over. Smoke stood outside of Noir Emporium. From the outside it looked like a small place.
Smoke entered the pub and was amazed at what he saw. Despite its modest exterior, the interior was larger than what he expected.
The pub was filled with small round tables, each one of them had four chairs. The Flame Knight armored Smoke estimated that the whole place could probably seat a thousand customers at the same time.
He was told to look for a long curly haired bartender, but there was only a bald man behind the bar at the moment. He walked up to the bar and ordered a drink.
"Well, look at that. If it isn't the famous stiff necked, sir Ilad. What's your poison?"
Smoke was curious why the bartender called him stiff necked.
"I'd like an otromundo on the rocks."
The bartender was a muscular bald man. He went to the other end of the bar, and poured a gold fermented beer on a big glass mug. When he was done, he slid it on top of the bar, and the mug stopped to where Smoke sat.
The bald man walked over to his new customer.
"That'll be 250 zecs."
"That mug sliding was impressive, but isn't that a bit too expensive for an otromundo? I could buy a whole meal for 250 zecs."
"Then why don't you leave and go to that cheap restaurant. Let me tell you that a meal worth 250 zecs isn't a meal worth paying."
Smoke opened his transaction window and paid the amount. He hoped that with his 'Beggary' ability he could lower the price, but this did not work on the bald bartender. The DarkElf opened up his tri-horned Gora helmet and drank his otromundo.
After he finished the glass in one gulp, Smoke asked the bartender.
"I was wondering if you could tell me where Gin is? Do you know when his shift starts?"
The bald bartender gave Smoke a quizzical look.
"I'm Gin. What do you want with me?"
"Oh, I thought you had long curly hair."
"Yeah, that was before, but the boss told me to shave it all off. He said that he was sick of hearing the customers complain about having strands of my hair in their drinks."
Gin signaled Smoke to get closer as he said in a whispered voice.
"Between you and me. I still put some of my hair in the drinks of the customers. HAHAHAHA."
Smoke reflexively took a look at his mug and examined it for hair strands. He found none on the glass, but he did just finish the whole drink in one gulp.
He pushed the thought out from his mind and asked about Gin's boss instead.
"Listen, I'd like to talk to your boss. Tell him that I have some important business to discuss with him."
"I'm sure you do. But the boss isn't a very social person. If you're done drinking here then you can leave."
"Not even if you tell him that I have a belt with a special stone on it?"
"You really have one of those belts?"
"I really do. Can you take me to see your boss now?"
"Alright, let me just get my replacement to cover the bar. Tonic! Oi, Tonic, get up you lazy bum. I want you to look after the bar. Someone's here to see the boss."
When Tonic heard Gin's last words he quickly went over to man the bar.
"Right this way, sir Ilad. Please forgive my rudeness from before. I wasn't aware that you were an acquaintance of the boss."
Smoke grinned as he saw the pleasant change in Gin's demeanor.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it."
"Oh, and I'd really appreciate if you wouldn't tell him about me putting my hair in the customers' drinks."
"Well, I wouldn't want to lie to him. So, if he doesn't ask I won't tell him."
"That's good enough for me."
The two of them walked over to the back room which had seven doors. Gin opened one door, both of them entered to see another room that looked exactly like the first room they entered.
They kept on repeating the same process over and over again. Smoke felt dizzy as he tried to keep up with which door was which.
After they entered the twelfth door, the next room only had one door in it. The door was ornately decorated unlike the previous doors.
"We're here. Please wait for a moment, while I inform my boss."
Smoke removed his helmet and Igniz energetically flew around the room. His symbiote was happy to be outside of the helmet.
"Sorry for putting you in there, Igniz, but we have to keep up appearances that I'm not Smoke."
Igniz gave a nod and understood why he had to stay hidden in Coatl.
"Alright, time to get back inside. We'll have to check whether this boss is legit."
Smoke hid Igniz back inside his helmet as the ornate door opened Gin came out.
"You may now enter."
Gin held the door open as Smoke crossed the threshold. The room was filled with drawing cabinets, bookshelves, and a single table with two chairs in front of it.
A middle-aged imposing man dressed in a black suit sat behind the table. He stood up and extended his right hand which exposed his golden ring on his index finger. Smoke walked calmly towards him and performed the secret Beggar handshake.
When they completed the secret hand seal, both of their bodies were covered in an amber light. The boss smiled and removed the traditional belt on his suit, revealing a Beggar belt with four black stones embedded on it.
