The owner of the noodle stall knew his stuff. Leon smiled, savoring the last few bites of steak in the bowl. The stall owner was pleased with Leon’s obvious satisfaction and enjoynt of the al, but he was even more pleased when Leon tossed him a pair of silver coins.
It hadn’t even been five minutes, but Leon had almost inhaled the entire bowl in that ti! Charles was quietly impressed.
“You must have been hungry indeed, to eat so fast!” he said to Leon.
Leon nodded in response. “There aren’t many spices up north. Most things are eaten without anything more than a little bit of salt, and so butter if you have the coin for it, so this was… well, I’ve never tasted anything quite like it.” Leon’s face was almost split in half from his unabashed smile, a far cry away from the stoic and serious young man from just a few minutes before.
But, a few monts later, he rembered what he had co to Teira for, and the smile disappeared.
“Well, with that done, let’s make for the bank.”
Charles was a little taken aback at how quickly Leon switched back into seriousness, but he smiled and nodded.
“Right! Just this way!”
The bank was several miles away, a good distance to walk in the city. Along the way, Charles kept talking, but Leon remained quiet. He was busy looking at all the shops he was seeing around. They weren’t much to look at since they were still in the slums, but he saw blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, enchanters, and so much more that he would never have seen even in Vale Town.
But the real surprises for him were still to co.
Teira had no city walls, but there were so ‘gates’ that one needed to pass to enter the inner city. The one in the north was an imnse triumphal gate, made entirely of gleaming white marble, glittering silver, and expertly carved ivory. There were statues and sculpted reliefs that depicted a great victory by a past Thunder King, a victory that was long forgotten these days, but for this arch that spanned the entire road.
Passing through the arch, Leon frowned at sothing he noticed. “Hey, Charles.”
“What’s up?”
“There any reason I haven’t seen any guards since arriving in the city? Would’ve thought they’d be guarding that gate.”
“Oh yeah, all the guards in the city have been combing through the city in the past week or so. They don’t have enough people to search the entire city, so most of the guards in the slums were called into Teira proper to aid in the search.”
“What could be so important for them to do that?”
“We had a Paladin co through here recently, and one of his n-at-arms went missing. I heard he almost tore apart the south side looking for his guy. The Paladin had to leave a few days ago, but most of the guards that can be spared are still involved in the search.”
“Hmm.” Leon knew exactly what happened to that man-at-arms, though he’d never say. At least it looked like Roland wasn’t to bla for the attack, but he still wasn’t going to take any chances.
The main boulevard through the city was quite wide, enough to fit four large carriages side-by-side going in both directions. The street itself was far better than in the slums, with no cracks or pits. The dian in the boulevard was filled with bushes, trees, and colorful flowers, and the buildings were all made of beautiful polished enchanted stone. It was quite the contrast compared to the other side of the triumphal arch.
The boulevard was straight as an arrow, and Leon could catch a few glimpses of the palace ruins in the distance in between the carriages, wagons, and pedestrians. It was quite easy to reach the bank from here, Leon and Charles simply walked to the edge of the palace ruins, then turn south-west towards the giant tower at the western point of the diamond-shaped estate.
Along the way, Charles asked what the Northern Vales were like, but Leon didn’t say much in response, so Charles began talking about where he grew up, which Leon found a little irritating, but given how little he knew of the city, he still considered Charles too useful to abandon.
From his chattering, Leon learned that Charles’ family was from the Serpentine Isles, a tributary state to the west of the Bull Kingdom, hundreds of miles out into the Endless Ocean. They had immigrated to the Bull Kingdom looking for work and ended up running a small mine to the east of Teira. Charles had left the tiny mining town for the big city when he was eighteen, but in the months that followed, he hadn’t made much of himself despite working in several places all over the city. Now, he was still living in an inn and could barely scrape together the money to eat and have a roof over his head.
Leon frowned a bit when Charles brought up his financial situation, prompting Charles to insist that he wasn’t looking for charity or sympathy and that if his situation were so poor that he’d have to beg for handouts to stay in the city, he could always go back ho and work in the mine for a decent amount of silver.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the Heaven’s Eye Tower. It was twenty stories tall, though from Charles had heard, it only had nine floors. It appeared to be made entirely of the sa polished white stone that Leon had seen everywhere in the wealthier parts of the city and topped with a shallow do of blue tiles.
The imnse dark wood doors opened of their own accord at Leon and Charles’ approach, behind which was a lavishly decorated atrium and enormous lounge. Leon took it all in, the painted marble statues, spotless furniture, rows of elaborate support columns, an enormous crystal chandelier, and enough plush sofas and private booths to seat hundreds of people.
And then there were the people. About half of them were trendously well-dressed, sporting almost more gold, silver, and jewelry than Leon had ever thought existed in the world. A few were even dressed in flowing robes or tunics and pants that Leon recognized were made of silkgrass.
The rest of the people in the lounge were clad in similar-looking black formal wear that had been tailored to show off their more attractive assets, sothing which these people had in great supply. The n wore tight-fitting tunics that greatly emphasized their waspy-thin waists and broad shoulders. The won wore long gowns that covered nearly everything, save for a modest cut to show off so of their chests. Both of these black uniforms were extrely form-fitting, leaving little to the imagination despite how much skin the clothes covered. These seed to be the tower’s employees.
“Hey, so since you’ve got business here, I think I’ll just wait outside for you to be done, then I can show you the inn.” Charles was clearly uncomfortable and very out of place in such an opulent setting, and after Leon nodded in acknowledgnt, he turned around and left as fast as he could without looking foolish.
Leon understood Charles’ reaction, but he was a still little upset over since he didn’t quite know where to begin, as there didn’t seem to be any receptionist waiting to help those who walk in. He awkwardly stood by the door, scanning the entire lounge area desperately looking for soone who might be able to help him with his business.
—
To say that Elise was bored would’ve been to gravely understate her mood. She hated Teira and everything about it. Without House Rai to keep the peace and operate its ancient training grounds, Teira was nothing but a den of scheming nobles vying to succeed the old Archduke.
She’d been in the city for two years and found every noble who walked in through the Tower’s doors to be diocre at best, not one managing to catch her attention for more than a few minutes. Hells, most of the ti, the n that she t were too busy trying to get beneath her dress to care about stimulating conversation, which would only lead to their unceremonious dismissal from the Tower—she wasn’t around to cater to their pleasure—and given her status in Heaven’s Eye, she hadn’t even made any friends in the Tower, either.
But loneliness was familiar to her. Even in her mother’s palace back in the capital, she only had a handful of friends.
Still, she needed sothing to break up the monotony of her day-to-day life, sothing other than acting as a supervisor for the attendants for the Heaven’s Eye Tower in Teira. Standing in the back of the lounge directing attendants to new patrons was hardly stimulating work.
‘Maybe it’s ti I went ho…’ she thought to herself as she twirled a few strands of her red hair around one of her fingers, a little dejected at the thought.
But then, she noticed soone walk into the Tower, soone dressed in a coat of snow lion fur and clothes woven from silkgrass beneath. Soone dirty and dusty from the road, with a plain-looking sword at his waist and an aura powerful enough that she wasn’t able to identify what magical tier he was.
He was a young man, perhaps a few years younger than her, but not by much. He was tall, but not remarkably so, his face had strong and defined features, but he also had a boyish charm about him as he glanced around at the Tower, sowhat dumbstruck at his surroundings and clearly with no idea what he was doing.
“Who is that?” Elise heard a nearby male attendant wonder aloud, derision and disgust inundating his voice. She glanced over at the man—like all Heaven’s Eye attendants, he was tall, muscular, handso, and strong. Physically perfect, but Elise found his attitude to be beyond unattractive.
“Huh, he’s cute, but he looks like soone tracked him in on the bottom of their shoe,” a female attendant whispered back.
“Should we call the guards? He clearly has no place being here…” the first attendant said.
“No, I think I can have so fun with him, if you know what I an,” the second attendant replied.
“I wouldn’t recomnd it, he looks dirty enough to give you sothing if you even get within ten feet of him.”
“No need to worry about that, I’ll just tease him a bit and then when he reveals that has no business here, I’ll have him removed.”
“Be careful, he doesn’t look like he’s a stranger to violence, he might attack you if you get too close… Hang on, let get so guards on standby, just in case.”
Elise frowned. The female attendant was a mortal, a woman with no magical ability whatsoever, so she could sowhat forgive the woman’s lack of respect for soone so disheveled. The man, however, was a first-tier mage, and he should’ve realized that the young man they were talking about was much stronger than him, and not soone they should be so quickly disregarding.
The female attendant began walking forward without waiting for Elise to give her the go-ahead, which irritated Elise to no end. Besides, this young man was at least intriguing for having so much power at such a young age, and she could use the distraction that taking care of his business would provide.
“Wait,” she ordered, that one word causing the attendant to freeze in place with a nervous look on her face. “I’ll deal with him.”
Without waiting for a response from the rest of the flabbergasted attendants, Elise began walking toward the hapless young man.
—
Leon stood in front of the doors for what felt like an eternity, unsure of what he should do. There didn’t seem to be anyone around who he could ask for help, and whenever he noticed soone looking at him, their expressions were usually filled with so kind of disgust or indifference. Even if he were of a mind to ask one of them, it seed clear enough to Leon that he wasn’t going to get any help with this issue from the other patrons or their attendants.
Fortunately, after only a minute or two had passed since Charles left him at the door, Leon noticed soone walking in his direction. It was hard not to notice her, for she was turning heads of n and won alike with every sashaying step, and when he did see her, Leon’s heart just about skipped a beat.
She was, in a word, gorgeous, but that word alone wasn’t nearly strong enough to properly convey her beauty. If Leon had to guess, he’d say she was a few years older than him, but not by much. Her hair was as red as fire and seed to emit as much light for how lustrous it was. Most of it had been pulled back into a loose ponytail, leaving just enough untied to fra her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were like glittering eralds, her full lips were turned up in a shallow, but confident smile. She wasn’t particularly tall, but she held herself with such dignity and nobility that she seed twice as tall as anyone else in the room.
She had a perfect hourglass figure that was shown off by a similar tight black dress that the other attendants wore, its fabric hugging her alluring curves in ways that made it seem designed to enfla lustful desire, yet also carried an air of dignity that Leon found sowhat intimidating. What was more, she radiated not only confidence and sex appeal, but also a robust second-tier aura that made it clear she was different from the rest of the attendants, who were all either first-tier or mortal.
“Hello, Good Sir, welco to Heaven’s Eye,” the woman said as she approached Leon, not a hint of disrespect to be found in her charming, almost singsong voice. She then ca a little bit closer, almost to the point of making Leon feel uncomfortable, and gave him one of the most sultry, seductive smiles he’d ever seen, and said, “My na is Elise, and I’ll be your attendant. What business brings you here today?”
As she waited for Leon’s response, she leaned forward just enough to emphasize her trendous bust and the deep cut of her dress’ neckline.
It took a mont for Leon to find his tongue under this stimulation, but fortunately, it seed Elise was more than patient.
“… I… uh, I’m looking… to check in on… whatever is attached to this card…” he murmured, quickly averting his gaze from where Elise seed to be trying to draw his attention, while simultaneously reaching into the inner pockets of his coat and drawing out his gold card.
When Elise didn’t speak for a mont and didn’t take his card, Leon glanced back at her, only to see a look of abject shock and surprise written on her face. But only a mont later—quickly enough that Leon doubted he saw that expression—it was gone, replaced with one that was both consummately professional and terribly friendly at the sa ti.
“And what is your na, Good Sir?” Elise breathed as she took his card and closely examined it. Before Leon could reply, she hid the card in the palm of her hand and she gave him such a searching, intrigued look that Leon felt like he’d made a terrible mistake.
He figured that telling her his na would only compound that mistake, but he didn’t know what else to say.
‘I need whatever is in those vaults, not matter what, and they’re not going to let in if I say a false na…’
So, in the end, Leon ntally shrugged. He’d already unthinkingly told Charles his na earlier, and he trusted in the flawless reputation of the Heaven’s Eye rchant Guild not to let sothing like that leak.
“My na is Leon.”
Elise smiled, then took a couple of steps forward and took Leon’s arm, her soft touch sending shockwaves through Leon’s body.
“Please co with , Leon,” she sensually whispered, pulling on his arm until he followed her toward the elevator.
“I… can walk just fine,” Leon protested, trying to pull his arm from her grasp, but Elise only held on a little tighter.
“Please, Leon, I an no harm,” Elise playfully said, though she didn’t release his arm, instead continuing to steer him to the back of the lounge.
Leon was about to protest, but a quick scan of the lounge indicated that his treatnt was in no way special. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part, the attendants were acting very familiar with their patrons, leaning in, indulging in light touching, or being touched in turn. One pair Leon noticed was a sowhat older noblewoman—or so she appeared—who even let her hand fall down to stroke the inner thigh of her male attendant, which he seed more than happy to let continue.
“This is… a strange place…” he couldn’t help but murmur.
Beside him, Elise giggled, both at his statent and his stiff discomfort.
“We get that a lot,” she said. “This is a place for those who can afford our most expensive services, whether that’s blacksmithing, enchanting, or blood magic. We do our best to cater to our patrons’ needs, and our attendants have been trained extensively in socializing with those of the upper echelons of society.”
Leon frowned. He wasn’t entirely opposed to the ‘socialization’ that seed to be happening here, but it wasn’t sothing he was eager to indulge in. Even Elise’s light grasp on his arm was almost too much.
Finally, though, Elise steered Leon through one of several large sets of double doors in the back of the lounge, which were then revealed to be the doors to magical lifts.
“We’re going to the seventh floor, where we’ll have a more private place to talk,” she said, flashing him another of her radiant and more than a little suggestive smiles.
Leon could only take a deep breath and quietly nod. If he were honest, he didn’t entirely hate Elise’s presence or her touch, but he was still put off by how familiar she was. That they were now going sowhere private left his emotional state a profoundly confusing ss of relief, uncomfortable, anxious, and excited.
All of these conflicting feelings were more than Leon could deal with, preventing him from responding to Elise, who laughed again, squeezed his arm, and then touched a few of the runes on a large and complex runic circle hovering as a light projection over the middle of the lift, causing the lift to spring to life and begin rising.
Looking at Elise through the corner of his eye, Leon quietly took another deep breath and asked himself, ‘What in all the hells have I gotten myself into?’
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