I woke up and saw Dante. We talked and I convinced him to join the guard of Phoenix Drop. He had stuck by my side and even though he was straight out of training he was a good guard.
Before I knew it I was riding into Pikoro Village, only accompanied by a communication amulet. The sun went down as I arrived to find O'khasis guards. They quickly brought me to the nearby inn and I was checked into a room. I couldn't quite sleep as I thought of the story of Xavier that Laurence had told me, knowing that it was just a puzzle piece I didn't remember. After getting some sleep though I woke up to the amulet flashing.
"Y/n! Thank goodness you're okay! I was trying to contact you for so long but our communication link was shit off... Did something happen?" Garroth asked.
We discussed the guards and a plan to be working around. After our conversation I headed downstairs to the inn keep to see if I could find anything out about Lord Burt.
"Hello there young lady. I want to give you a refund, here," he said, trying to give me back my diamonds.
"Why?" I asked.
"Ugh, the guards of O'khasis are forcing people to stay at my inn. I don't want people to come to my place for that.. I want people to come because they have no where else to stay and on their own time, not a forced time. I just can't imagine your stay was a pleasant one seeing as you were forced to do it. Plus, how do I know that you don't need this money for food? Heck, I'm not that kind of guy," he explained.
"That's very kind of you sir.." I said with a smile.
"Heh, well.. It's what a good person does, eh? I hope for what it was worth that your stay was comfortable."
"It very much was," I said.
"Glad to hear. Anyway, a few things you should know before you step outside. One, tensions are high in our villages. Our Lord has gone to Brightport to discuss a matter of peace with the Lord there and hasn't been back for quite a few days.. Meaning that the guards of O'khasis have been free to do as they please," he explained.
"The Lord has been gone you say?" I questioned.
"Yes. Normally the head guard of Pikoro Village would have some say in what happens, but since there are so many O'khasis guards here they have pretty much threatened our people and guards into submission.. Things are grim it seems."
"Your head guard is here..?" I questioned.
"Mmhm, he is. One of the Jury of Nine escorted out Lord to Brightport for negotiations so.. Common practice says that a head guard submits their position to a member of the Jury of Nine or something like that... I don't know, I don't understand all that guard non-sense. It's a stupid practice if you ask me."
"No kidding.."
"Heh, in any case, next thing you should know is there are these dang werewolves that roam the outskirts of town. But seeing as you are a traveler I'm sure you might have seen or encountered one o' them," he explained.
"Yeah, heh..." I sighed.
"I see. Well, glad you made it out of that encounter in one piece then. By the way, those clothes you have on are so warm for this climate! You should really have something that compliments your beauty. Here! Take these garments. My lovely wife made them so you know they're beautiful, hehe!" He said, giving me a bag.
"Thank you! Um... Have you seen a man in red clothes with a brown hair with a beard?" I asked.
"Hm, I've seen lots of those but... With red clothes. Sounds like Lord Clothes to me, no one around here really wears red unless they're important or trying to get attention, I'm sure I would have noted someone like that but... If I hear any news I'll be sure to let you know. Take care," he said with ha smile.
I went upstairs to go get changed into the clothes he gave me.
I went downstairs and twirled, loving the dress.
"Hey now! Don't you look pretty! You should go show my wife! She's in the kitchen!" The inn keep said with a smile.
I giggled before walking into the kitchen to find his wife.
"Oh! Now look at you! Don't you look lovely in that dress there? My, my.. I'm happy to have made that dress seeing as it went to a beautiful young lady like yourself! Hehe!" She giggled.