He might have been happy to go to sleep, but his dreams were anything but. Over and over, the dead man’s face accused him. He woke up fitfully several times until he finally got out of bed. The violent man haunted his thoughts. The pleading justifications rung through his mind until he felt dizzy. He stood up and reached for his bag. It wasn’t there. He stood straight up, fully awake and more than a little concerned. Searching through the small room revealed a complete absence of everything but his small coin purse and his magic ring. He panicked for another few moments before he remembered he left his backpack with Simon. Mel let out a breath. It was all okay.

Except for the fact that he had killed a man. That wasn’t okay yet. Mel honestly wasn’t sure if it ever would be. Or if he even wanted it to be okay. It made him feel sick to even think about. He contemplated writing home about it, but he didn’t have his bound notebook with him even if he wanted to. So that left him with a clear plan for the day. Find breakfast, or more likely lunch, head to meet up with Simon, then watch a master Weaver. On the surface it seemed do-able, but finding Simon would probably take most of the day. The thought of wandering the city turned his stomach a little. His joy of seeing the sights had definitely been tempered by last night.

The memory of how quickly everything had become twisted stuck with him. He shivered about it while shuffling down into the common area of the inn. A kindly looking man gave him a wave from the counter as soon as he stepped down. Mel walked over and sat down on a comfortable stool. “Good morning, how much would breakfast be?” He asked, hopeful that he hadn’t slept most of the day away.

The Bartender or maybe Innkeeper laughed for a moment before turning around and grabbing some things out of the kitchen behind him. “Breakfast comes with a room, but it’s way past that. I’ll make you some lunch, some vegetable stew sound alright? I’ve got some chicken too, if soup isn’t your fancy.”

“Stew is fine, thank you. Do you have any honeydrop brew?” Mel asked pulling out a copper to pay for the drink. He highly doubted the man wouldn’t have the drink, given that it was quite popular almost everywhere in Regalia.

The Innkeeper, Josh, gave him his soup and the fruit juice blend and chatted for a bit before heading back to the other customers. He seemed like a decent guy. Had some good advice about traveling around the city after dark too. “Just keep a candle or something on you all the time. I get way too many people sent here because a Guard found them screaming in an alleyway. I keep bringing up the fact that being in the dark can literally get people killed at the public meetings, but it’s always one excuse or another.”

Mel finished up his stew, the various vegetables in it being long plucked out before he started slurping up the liquid. His honeydrop had been fully drunk within seconds of getting it. The bitter and tangy drink was his favorite. It was supposed to have a small bit of honey added to it to help balance out the bitterness, but Mel always left it out. Shortly after, he left the Painted Respite inn and headed out in search of his backpack. And Simon.

That was significantly easier said than done though. It simply couldn’t be helped. What was he supposed to do? Not immediately get distracted by a dozen different Street Painters? That was asking too much. He did get some progress though. He was only a street away from the clinic, and then he could ask Ralt where Simon had gone. He turned right, leaving behind a road full of Sculptores who were very ready to throw blows over who got the latest shipment of clay. Mel could understand the high emotions though. Clay was pretty expensive, even in a city that was filled with Artists of various specializations.

Mel entered the clinic just in time to see Delphi, still in a strange full body suit heading into the back, and Ralt who seemed to have just arrived at the counter. “Hey Ralt!”

“What’s up Traveler, looking for your friend?” Ralt asked casually, while mixing an assortment of ingredients that Mel couldn’t make heads or tails of.

“I mean, if you knew, then why not just say? But yeah, mind telling me where he is?”

“We sent him over to Rind Brook, it’s a fairly nice inn.” Ralt said before pausing his mixing of what had slowly changed from a viscous sludge into an almost watery blue potion. He grabbed a small piece of paper and quickly wrote down the directions to the inn. “You enjoy the rest of your time in Langston! Eat some sweets, look at some art!” He said chuckling.

Mel thanked him before following the small map. It was surprisingly easy to find his way to the inn. He had never really been the best when it came to directions. His feet weren’t sore from walking around all day either. Hmm. Having a Hardy Constitution would explain the lack of fatigue and soreness, and he assumed his sense of navigation would improve with his class. That was stupidly cool. He could find his way to all sorts of cool places.

Maybe he could even buy some sort of water-breathing ring and explore the oceans too. The Leth would probably murder him if he came anywhere near them though. Mel shivered, recalling the stories he had heard in Iron Bay. Definitely staying away from them, and goblins. Both were vile murdering jerks. That train of thought ruined his mood until he finally found the Rind Brook inn. It was superficially similar to a fortress, with tall stone walls and towers, but that aesthetic was ruined by the massive signs all over the building advertising their food and ‘stage fights’.

He walked in and immediately recoiled. It reeked! “What is that stench, and why has no one thrown it out?” Mel coughed.

“Eh? What stench?” A confused Waiter asked. “Oh! Wait, I know what you're talking about. It’s the spice candles, they can be a bit rough for first timers. Don’t worry, you won’t even be able to smell in a few minutes.” That was immediately concerning.

“Is it like some kind of drug?” He asked, stepping back.

The Waiter flinched and hurried to explain “No no no, you won’t be able to smell because it fades after a few minutes. The spice candles only serve to enhance the flavors of food and drink in the inn. They aren’t even made with actual spices, just some herbs that are grown locally.”

Mel nodded. “That sounds weird. But I need to find my friend Simon. I think he should be here, he was seriously wounded the last time I talked to him. I want to check up on him and get my bag from his wagon.” He informed the nervous man.

The Waiter checked a small list before telling him the room number. Mel headed up the stairs and quickly found the room Simon was in. He knocked a few times, before getting a simple “Come in!”

Mel opened the door to find Simon working at a desk covered in paper. He didn’t seem to be in any pain whatsoever from his wounds. He walked over to the busy man and waited until he looked up. He had on a set of expensive clothes and a pair of reading glasses. It took a few minutes before he glanced up but when he did he immediately shouted. “Mel! I thought you were a maid or something! Why didn’t you say anything?”

After laughing at him for a few moments Mel spoke up.”I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice. You seemed really busy. Plus as time went on it got funnier and funnier!” he said before laughing some more. They had some catching up to do.