《Dragon Cross》Chapter 19: A fun evening
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Raelag had also used this Contract Magic on a lizard like the Lizard riders had. However, the lizards talent and bloodline weren’t good enough for it to break through the shackles of Heavens Rules and it died long before Raelag. It didn’t matter that the lizard was a Contracted Beast, to Raelag, he was like a brother that had been through thick and thin with him.
When the Contract imprinted itself into each of their Souls, Jack could feel the little Poro’s emotions. He could feel that the little Poro was feeling very lonely and the only reason he agreed to Jack’s Contract was because he felt the same loneliness from Jack. No home, no one to call family and no one to rely on. Jack looked at the little Poro and extended his hand into the cage.
The Little Poro looked at the hand for a moment before jumping on the hand. He was literally as big as Jack’s palm. Jack raised him to his eye level and said, “From now on, your name will be Nalser. Okay?” As he asked the little Poro for his opinion, the little Poro seemed to think for a second before it nodded it’s head.
Jack then let out a little laugh as he put Nalser on his shoulder and thanked the shopkeeper for his hospitality. The shopkeeper looked at Jack with an astonished face. He had never even heard of the method Jack used, not to mention seeing it. Usually, even if the Spiritual Beast was contracted, it would need a lot of training to obey, however, the little Poro and Jack initiated the Contract only a few minutes ago and already interacted like they had been together for decades.
Just as the shopkeeper was wondering on Jack’s method, an assistant tugged his sleeve. The shopkeeper looked at the assistant and asked what was wrong. The assistant had a flushed face as she said, “This just came in, it seems like we will be getting a new City Lord.” As she said that, she handed a jade slip to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was astonished as he quickly grabbed the jade slip that had a portrait of the new City Lord.
As the shopkeeper sent his Qi into the jade, a picture appeared in his mind. His face turned completely shocked when he looked at the picture. He quickly pulled another assistant to his side and handed the jade slip to him. That assistant was the one that had tried to feed the little Poro before.
When he saw the portrait, his face also was painted in shock as the shopkeeper told him who the person on the jade slip was. After the assistant also confirmed that Jack was the person on the portrait, the shopkeeper felt his knees go weak. He thought to himself, “I am screwed. If I had know that he was the new City Lord I would have gifted him the little fur ball.”
However, Jack didn’t know what the other was thinking as he kept following the directions given to him by the guard at the Manor Gate. He strolled through the streets and a lot of gazes came onto him but even more came onto the little Poro on his shoulder. One child that seemed to be about the age of five or six even came up to him and asked whether she could pat the Nalser.
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Jack looked at Nalser and took him onto his palm just in case. The little girl seemed to be very happy about being able to pat the Nalser as she ran back to her mother and father’s side. As she happily narrated everything to them, she pointed towards the Jack and Nalser. The parents of the child smiled and bowed their heads slightly in courtesy and Jack returned the little bow with one of his own.
After that, he moved along and soon reached the little inn that the guard talked about. It didn’t look anything grand but more like a small two storied shop. The Inn’s name was “Sleeping Cat” and it was actually quite famous amongst the lower ranked inn’s. They served good food, had a clean house and comfortable accommodations. Jack entered the inn and was immediately greeted by a merry atmosphere.
On the ground floor was also the dining room and pub. He approached the counter and a scrawny old lady smiled at him and asked, “Yes, how can I help you?” Jack immediately asked, “How much for a single room?” The old lady still l smiled as she said, “One night in a single room is 3 Copper Coins. If you include dinner and breakfast, it would be 7 Copper Coins.”
Jack’s Energy entered the Spacial Ring that held his worldly possessions and fished out 7 Copper Coins and said, “I’d like one room with dinner and breakfast please.” As Jack put the money on the counter, the old lady took out a room key and put it on the counter before collecting the payment and said, “Your room number is 17. If you head up the stairs and turn left, your room will be the first at your right hand.”
Jack took the key and nodded his head. Just as he was about to go and check out his room, his stomach growled. The old lady let out a laugh as he said, “You can go sit down, I’ll have someone bring you dinner, or do you wish to eat in your room?” Jack embarrassedly answered, “Here is fine. Also, can you bring some salad for this little guy, I can pay more for it.” The old lady looked at Nalser on Jack’s shoulder.
She let out a little laugh as she saw that Nalser’s head was like a windmill, spinning around to take in the new surroundings. The dismissed Jack’s proposal to pay and said, “I can give the little guy a salad on the house. Consider it as my thanks, it had been a long time since I last saw a Poro.” As she said so, a nostalgic glint flashed in her eyes.
Jack walked in to the pub/diner area and looked around. He scratched the back of his head when he saw that all the tables were occupied. There were a few vacant seats but all the tables seemed to have groups that knew each other and were having a merry time talking to each other. He didn’t want to intrude either, so as he was scanning the room, his eyes stopped on a table in the farthest corner.
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It had only a young girl around the age of 13-14 sitting with an elderly man. The table was meant to accommodate five or six people but at the table, there was only the two of them. Jack walked up to the table and asked, “Mind if I eat dinner here? All the other spots are occupied.” The Elderly man scanned Jack with his Qi Sense and frowned. J
ack’s face however turned cold as well as he felt the Qi Sense scanning over him. Jack’s perception was far, far above his peers due to the unique path he traded. His cultivation was literally increasing his synchronisation with Energy. He was extremely sensitive to all sorts of Energy, so when the old man scanned him with his Qi Sense, Jack immediately detected it. Jack then added in a frosty tone, “If you do not wish for me to sit here, say so. Don’t think that just because you are an Empyrean Emperor, you can scan Juniors like me just because you want to.” The old man’s face showed shock as his actions were said out loud.
Although Jack’s voice wasn’t loud but quite quiet, the nearby tables all shut up and cast a frosty glance over to the old man. Scanning someone’s body and cultivation base so arrogantly was quite a taboo in Cities. Only people with tremendous backing or strength could act like that. The old man put on an apologetic smile and immediately said, “I did not wish to offend you. It is just a habit of mine to immediately scan any person that approaches. If you have no problem, you can sit and eat here.” Jack smiled lightly and said, “I will take you up on that offer then.”
After saying so, he nonchalantly sat down at the seat farthest from the two. The reason he sat down there was because he did not wish to disturb pair from their own things. Everyone else also carried on with their business after they saw that the little “misunderstanding” had been cleared up and Jack also didn’t wish to pursue the matter. Jack put Nalser on the table and scratched the back of his head while he waited for food.
It didn’t take long and soon the food arrived. He was given a few potatoes, sauce and a piece of meat. On the side there was a jug of wine and some bread. Nalser got a little plate full of all sorts of lettuce, cabbage leafs and practically everything edible that was green. The two started eating and every once in a while someone cast a glance in their direction.
It seemed like everyone was still a bit on the edge from the old man’s previous disrespectful behaviour. The pair also continued their meals and chatted in a hushed voice. Every now and then they also stole a glance from Jack and Nalser. Jack however didn’t mind the gazes but still kept his guard up just in case. He was ready to summon Shadya and Veyer on a moment’s notice as well.
After the meal was finished, Jack thanked the old lady for the good meal and in all honesty, it was quite delicious. The old lady smiled and patted Nalser as well who gave a giant lick on the old ladies hand. The surrounding people that saw this also let out a little laugh as they also started including Jack in their conversations.
Jack had never socialized like this, so this was quite a new experience. In the beginning, he was quite on the edge but after a few cups of wine, he also started loosening up and started talking about the very weird things he had encountered on his travels through the Cosmos.
It didn’t matter if the person was old or young, they all listened intensively to Jack. Most of the people in the pub had never left a thousand kilometer radius of the City, not to mention this World. Also, Jack included even the small details so the people could basically picture every situation in their heads quite clearly. Even the pair of elderly man and the young woman from before had been entranced by Jack’s stories.
This was the beauty of pubs, most of the people that were there were of similar pasts and personalities. They could usually get along very good very fast and as the night grew deeper, the circle grew bigger. It wasn’t odd for people to be complete strangers in the morning but good friends by the next one.
As everyone shared their stories, Jack was quietly sipping wine with Nalser. They were also intently listening to the story, when suddenly the inn door flew open with a bang. Everyone’s gazes immediately gathered at the door where a plump middle aged man rushed in. His face was completely flushed red and he even seemed to be panting a bit.
As his eyes scanned the room, his eyes stopped on Jack and relief flushed over his face. Everyone saw the plump man’s gaze land on Jack and after it didn’t move, they all even started inching closer to Jack to help out if the situation required it. They had completely and utterly accepted Jack into their little group and when Jack saw the plump man, he also looked surprised.
The man said, “Damn you Jack. I have been running all over Virbeth looking for you.” Jack however answered surprised, “Shu, you finished your beating and sermon on the people inside the Manor?” This plump man was exactly the Merchant Hall Ancestor, Shu.
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