Chapter 85: Thoughts of the Matter (2)
Making their way out of the hotel, Shinto could hear the slight angry bickersing from the person beside him, Ethaniel.
"Tch... to be wakened up so damn abruptly..."
"Aha... it can''t be helped," Shinto sighed. "The earlier we discuss things the better. Beside''s did you really want to stay in that hotel any longer than you have to?"
"...ugh. I have to admit that the beds arefy... haven''t had that nice of sleep in a long time despite that chaos yesterday..." As Ethaniel continued talking, he quickly shut his mouth. "Ahem. Anyways, where the hell are they?"
"...the two should be somewhere around here," Shinto searched around the vicinity as he heard a sudden loud shout over by the distance.
"Hey! Shinto! Ethaniel! Over here!" Turning his eyes over to the direction of the voice, he saw that Frey was waving over towards the two of them.
"Well, it looks like we found them," Shinto said as he headed over towards Frey and Raina, from behind, Ethaniel soon followed after.
...
"Hey! What took you two so long?" Frey pouted. "I''m so hungry...!"
"...what? Is that all you care about right now?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Why couldn''t you just go to the damn restaurant and eat there while you were waiting for us?!"
"Well, Master told me we''re not eating there... so I didn''t go!" she rambled.
"You two..." Shinto sighed. "There''s a better ce to eat, you know that right?"
"Oh? Where?" Raina questioned.
"Over by that alleyway over there," Shinto pointed towards the east area of the town''s centre. "We''ll be having breakfast at the tavern."
"Oh yeah! That''s why you asked where Greld was!" Finally realizing the option, Frey nodded her head excitedly. "Then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go there already!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Ethaniel clicked his tongue. "Are we going to discuss things there as well?"
"Yep, but for now... the priority would be just to get ourselves refreshed and ready to go for the day," Shinto replied as the group quickly made their way towards the alleyway.
...
Within the tavern, a small animal silently slept on the tables of the tavern.
"...zzz," his eyes soundly closed whilst his tail slowly wagged around.
"...this guy... how long is he going to sleep for?" Greld pondered to himself as he sat from behind his counter. "A ck fox suddenly appearing and sleeping in my tavern... is this a bad omen?" he shivered at the thought.
"Ahem... nevermind. The better question would be... will theye?" Greld''s eyes turned towards the doors of his tavern as he anticipatedly waited for the group toe. "Knowing the whole situation yesterday... I should probably give exin things to them, huh? Sigh..."
"Mmm..." A sudden soft voice was heard from the table as it quickly caught the attention of Greld. "...huh? Where am I?"
"...this animal can talk?!" rmed by the sudden speaking animal, Greld hurriedly stood up as he cautiously observed the fox.
"...huh?" Confused by the sudden sight of an rmed human, the fox tilted his head. "...what''s going on?" Using his paws to rub his eyes, he swiftly observed the area. "Is master not back yet?"
"...is this really a bad omen that''s going to be brought down upon me?" he cried in agony. "...just what other unfortunate stuff wille to me?"
Suddenly, the door to the tavern opened as the group arrived.
"E-Eh? What happened here?" Frey blinked at the sight as she saw that Greld was on high alert whilst an unknown animal sat on the table.
"What the...?" Shinto raised his brow in question as he quickly noticed the ck fox standing in confusion in the situation. "Kon?"
Hearing Shinto''s voice, the ck fox turned towards Shinto as he quickly brightened up. "Ah~! Master! You''re finally here!"
"Kon...? You mean the one who was on the party list yesterday?" Frey tilted her head.
"...you know this guy?" Greld asked.
"Eh?! I''m not a pet! I am the sha-" The moment Kon was about to speak up, Shinto quickly headed towards the fox as he covered his mouth. "Mmm...!"
"Ahem. Yes, I know him," Shinto nodded his head. "There is something I''d like to say to you all about this situation... however, we can discuss that after breakfast."
Upon hearing Shinto''s confirmation, Greld let out a sigh of relieve. "...phew. I almost felt my life suck out of me when I saw that fox talk..." he said. "Especially with all the stories I''ve heard of animals that seem to have the same presence as this guy..." Quickly shaking his head of the thought, he quickly turned towards the group. "Ahem, anyway... what do you all want to order?"
"Your best dishes for breakfast please," Shinto said.
"Right on it!" Greld happily said as he entered the kitchen.
"Uh, Shinto...? This ce... why is it so... run down?" Raina asked.
"...the short answer would be, Lavida''s intervention," he sighed. "Anyways, let''s have a seat and wait for the dishes to arrive."
"I''m sceptical," Ethaniel crossed his arms. "We''re going to eat here over everything else?"
"Hey! Ethan! I''ll guarantee you, once you take a bite from his food, you''ll love it!" Frey gave a thumbs up to him.
"...well whatever," he shrugged as he made his way towards an empty seat.
...
As the group, all sat at a table, a fragrant aroma protruded throughout the area, as it quickly caught the attention of everyone in the room.
"...this is?" Ethaniel raised his brow whilst smelling the aromatic scent.
"Oh yay foods here!" Frey cheered.
From the door''s of the kitchen, Greld swiftly held onto many tes that had food ranging from many sorts of breakfast dishes.
"...wait, that''s quite a lot..." Shinto said helplessly as he saw the amount of food being sat down on the table.
"Please dig in! I made more to apologize for yesterday''s incident... and uh, I''ve got something I want to say regarding all this too..." Greld said.
"Right... then, with this.. shall we discuss yesterday''s matter then?" Shinto said in a serious tone. "I think I may know why Lavida was so persistent in getting us... and, in regards to Greld, I need some confirmation from him as well."
"Go on, speak up. I''m all ears," Ethaniel said whilst cing food into his mouth.
"This all stems... to a rtion of ''Altric''."