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preoccupiedpens · 5 years

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Dream Hunters Chapter 9: Good Ales

SEA SERPENTS COULD BE SOLD for thousands of lanias. Most of the scale from Raijin’s catch was burnt, so the price could be lower, but restaurants and taverns could buy the meat since many traveler wishes to eat something exotic when coming to Port Royale.

One particular tavern that sells exotic food and special ales is the Maelstrom Tavern.

“Port Royale is quite famous for ales, and exotic foods.” Said Raijin. “And the best can be found at Maelstrom Tavern.”

Raijin is leading the trio to a hidden tavern, and the path is almost suspicious that the trio wanted the run away.

“This place seems to be pretty dark and secluded.” Said Riku.

“Well, the cost of rent near the harbor and main roads are expensive, so many businesses and houses are built here.” replied Raijin. “The place may look dark and scary, be trust me, there are good stuff around here. Aaaand here we are.”

They reached the tavern and somehow, it looked cozier than they imagined. It is well-lit and has clean surrounding.

As they entered, they saw a bunch of people, drinking and singing and dancing and drunk. The Maelstrom Tavern was said to be built even before Port Royale was acknowledged as an autonomous region. It used to be famous for travelers, but is now almost like a secret club, for members only.

“Hey! It’s Raijin!” shouted a drunk man on top of a piano.

“Raijin!!” shouted all the people.

But they all stopped when they noticed the elves. They started whispering and almost became sober. One man tried to approach the elves with his shotgun, but an old man stopped him.

“Why the music stopped?” said the old man.

The people got nervous and started to awkwardly sing and play music again. The guy with the shotgun went back to his seat and drink his ale. He almost dropped his mug because of his shaking hand.

“Raijin! I see you have some guests.”

“Hey Boris. These are Daisuke, Riku, and Jack. They’re travelers.”

The trio greeted Boris and Boris greeted them back.

“I am Boris, owner of Maelstrom Tavern.”

“Woah. You’re a dwarf!” Daisuke exclaimed.

“Hohohoho! Well I am indeed.” Boris replied.

“It’s our first time to actually see one in flesh.”

“Is that right? Well why don’t you lads and lass go upstairs and make yourselves comfortable. It’s a bit rowdy down here. I’ll join you momentarily.”

As they went upstairs, the customers were trying look at them. But they could only look for a short time in fear that Boris would scold them.

“Hey, how come you’re so well-known here?” asked Riku.

“I live here. After I got orphaned, Boris took care of me. He’s friends with my parents. Or so he says. I was still young when my parents left. So I have really no good memories with them.”

“Then why not work here instead than being a fisherman?” asked Jack who was already drinking his ale.

Raijin did not answered the question and just drink his ale bottoms up. Daisuke also finished his mug then asked a question to Raijin.

“You must really love that boat, don’t you? She must have some sentimental value of some sort.”

Raijin flinched. “How’d you know?”

“Well, it’s old and creaky. Even us elves would change a boat altogether when it is beyond repair.”

“Boris told me that it’s my father’s memento to me. I find comfort in using that old creaky boat than to buy a new one. Besides, I got no money to buy a new one.”

“How about the money you’ll get from the serpent?” asked Riku who was also enjoying a mug of ale.

“Some of it goes here. I give some to Boris for the utilities. Some of it, I use to pay the loan sharks my parents used to owe.”

“Loan sharks?” asked Jack.

“The Great White Sharks. They lend money to people at high interest, almost impossible to pay. Anyway. Just three more years and I’ll be able to fully pay them up. Interest and all.”

“Why does not United Alliance deal with them? They’re like the most powerful faction in the entire world.”

“U.A.’s got more serious matter to deal with.”

The four shared more stories and laughter as they get to know each other.

At another secluded alley, there is another tavern called Hammerhead Tavern. It serves not only as a tavern but also the headquarters of the Great White Sharks,

“Brother Hammer. How much we’ve got today?” asked Sera.

“Not much. But it doesn’t really matter.” Said Hammer. Hammer is slimmer compared to his younger brother Sera who is very muscular.

Sera got confused. “Umm…what do you mean, brother?”

Hammer stood up. “I was talking to our older brother earlier with the transponder---“

“Really?! What he say?”

“---and he said he’ll be here tomorrow.” Hammer walked towards Sera. “Brother, we’re done with the loan shark business. It’s finally time to take over this place.”

“But the Great White Sharks has been our life since we were kids. Are we really going to exchange the life we have now for something even more dangerous?”

“The higher the risk, the higher the price. Both ways. So what if we put our lives on the line if we have the chance to get more? This is the age of treasure hunters, brother. Might as well become one.”

“Didn’t our brother lost years ago? What’s he even up to all this time?”

“Oh you know his thing. When he lose some pets, he goes out to grab some more. So tomorrow, be prepared. The Great White Sharks will join forces with the Fishbone Hunters!”

It was past midnight. Most customers are already gone or asleep inside the tavern. Raijin and Daisuke are still talking. Riku was already asleep even before getting drunk and Jack passed out after two mugs of ales.

“You know, you guys are not the first elves in this town. A few days ago, a group of so-called ‘Seekers’ came.”

“Really? What are they doing here?”

“Said they were looking for an Iron Lizard or something.”

“I don’t know why they would be looking for a lizard made of iron though.

“Anyway, you guys still haven’t told why y’all traveling. You lot realize that humans doesn’t like elves, right?”

“That’s no brainer. But we have no choice. We have to go outside our island to find our treasures. Stolen by hunters.”

“What kind of treasures?”

“Well, we used to have sacred weapons and jewelries. But the three of us are looking for a specific treasure. A statue.”

“A statue? Why would hunters steal a statue?”

“I was told that it was not the statue itself that the hunters want, but the treasure that the statue will lead them to.”

“And that treasure, y’all looking for it too?”

“Not really. Only the statue.”

At that point, Boris appeared and heard the latter part of their conversation.

“Ahh. At last I finally get to rest. Raijin. Daisuke. I see you guys are still up.”

“What’s up, Boris?” asked Raijin.

“Mr. Boris. Are we too loud?” asked Daisuke.

“Hahahaha! Not at all. But I did overheard your conversation. Not that I am eavesdropping. So you guys are talking about statues?”

“Umm, yes. An elven statue to be exact.” Said Daisuke.

Boris sat down with them, holding a larger mug of ale. “Hmmm. I remember my time as a hunter. There was a talk about the most beautiful statue that they have ever seen. Not that the statue was carved perfectly, but because of the person the statue portrays.”

Daisuke’s attention was taken by the words of Boris. His face had the look of surprise and confusion.

“The person in the statue, does she look like this?”

Daisuke took his runestone and activated it to become a book. Raijin was startled, but Boris just drink his ale. Daisuke then showed Boris a picture of a young elf, the picture of Maria.

“Hmmm. It does look like her. But I could be wrong.”

“You do not happen to know where it could be, do you.”

Boris took a sip from his mug again. “Twelve years ago, when I was at Emergent Kingdom selling ales, there was an auction. My eyesight is already blurry so I couldn’t be sure, but a statue is one of the item being auctioned.”

“Maybe your eyesight got blurry because you’re drunk. Hahahahaha!” Raijin teased.

Daisuke’s eyes got bigger. He couldn’t believe that he already have a lead on where the statue is.

“Look kid, I do not want to give you false hope. But if you are looking for a statue of an elf, you’re best bet is to go to Sicilia, a country east of Emergent Kingdom, which is a little bit south of Arcanas Kingdom, which is a neighboring kingdom of Colosseum Empire, which is south of here.” Boris chugged down his mug of ale.

“Is that where the buyer of the statue lives?”

“Yes. But the one who bought it is the most dangerous person in the world.”

Raijin then remembered the stories about the country of Sicilia and the ongoing war between two most powerful and influential family in the world, not even the government of Sicilia could do anything about it.

“Boris, are you saying that the buyer is Don Luca Lumbard? The son of late Don Lucio Lumbard?”

“I’m afraid so. He is the only man capable of bringing an army to another country without any problem.” Boris tried to drink from his mug, but it was already empty. “There was a rumor saying that he went to his sister’s wedding in another country with almost 400 ‘personal guards’; all suited up and wielding high-powered caliber of firearms.”

Daisuke is not sure how dangerous or powerful this Don Luca Lumbard is, but if going to Sicilia will lead him to the statue of Maria, then he has no choice but to go there.

“Then I guess it is settled.” Said Daisuke.

“Settled? What’s settled?” asked Raijin.

“We are going to Sicilia.”

#DreamHunters #Chapter9 #StatueOfMariaSaga #PortRoyaleArc

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