Chapter 335: The Salty Pig

*CLINK!*

The clinging of the bell rang inside the busy and filled tavern. As the door opened up, it revealed a group of four cloaked and hooded people standing at its doorstep.

Only a few bored glances were sent towards them, as the others were busy enjoying their food, drinks, company, or any combination of those. Men of all sizes and shapes were enjoying their little getaway from the wear and tear of everyday life. Loud boisterous guffaws resonated within the walls; a mix of adventurers and the local townsfolk were clearly having a great time.

The small and even large tables were filled to the brim, with even a thick crowd standing in front of the counter waiting to be served. 

Ignoring the commotion, Aiden's group walked away from the door and stepped inside whilst he himself scanned the crowd looking for one specific figure amidst the sea of heads. Sadly, he couldn't see the person he was searching for, causing him to release a small sigh, and turn towards the clearly busy innkeeper's direction.

"Let's go, guys, we need some extra rooms. Hopefully, there is some, otherwise, I'm not sure what we would do."

"Ehrm… Aiden, not to burst your bubble, but are you sure that right now is the best time to bother the poor guy with this?" Scarlet asked, voicing her concerns after seeing the stout man that was swamped in a sea of orders. Although he had some help, his wife being the cook and his son and even his daughter being called in to assist, it was still way too crowded for them to be bothering them with such questions. At least, in her opinion.

However, not just Aiden, but even his brother, Drake didn't seem to share her sentiment.

"Why wouldn't it be a good time sis? Do you want to sleep on the street tonight? Although you should be probably safe as no one should have seen your face, it's not the safest place to be out, after curfew. Especially for a woman." Drake spoke, already pulling her towards the counter, not giving her any space to resist.

Behind them, Aiden and his servant, Galina who was now also wearing a similar-looking, but slightly smaller sized silver-mask that she was gifted by the Masked Mistress was silently following along. Aiden wasn't really paying attention to them, his eyes were darting from left to the right and from the right to the left, trying to find his friend, that although he only missed for a couple of days, in reality, it felt like ages to him.

Although there were quite a few similar-looking heads popping up amidst the jungle of mugs, he had to accept the fact, that his friend and first and currently only official teammate, Cole wasn't here. 

'Eh, I guess he is either at the Guild, talking to Mary, or out on a mission…' He thought, finally giving up on the idea of another reunion, and returned his attention to the task at hand. 

Squeezing their way in, eventually, they managed to get to the counter, and was now waiting for their turn to be asked. Their eyes wandered around, looking at this afternoon's colorful collection with a neutral gaze.

"Aiden, is this place always packed so full?" Leaning closer to Aiden's ears, Drake yelled out, which resulted in a faint whisper by the time it reached him. The noise was pretty disturbing, but, looking at the brighter side, at the very least, it was a completely safe environment. 

Being this challenging to communicate with each other, if they were officials, and wanted to converse governmental secrets, there would be no way a spy would be able to pick up anything.

Anyway, hearing the question, Aiden looked at his friend from behind the mask and smiled. He simply shook his head, not bothering to shout over the crowd, and instead decided to mostly rely upon non-verbal forms of communication.

The seconds turned into minutes which rapidly began to pile over, reaching a quarter and even half of an hour before they finally saw the old innkeeper turning to look at them. 

"What'cha'llneed?" He jabbered, blurting out the words in a swift, jumbled fashion together with a tired sigh.

Seeing how both Drake and even Scarlet had absolutely no clue what the old man just asked, Aiden lightly shook his head and leaned closer.

"We need 3 empty rooms. I have my own, it should be number 14, under the name 'Aiden'."

Now it was the old man's turn to look like an idiot. He managed to catch only a few words, which he mostly managed to put together, but decided to ask, or in this case shout for confirmation.

"YOU NEED A ROOM?!"

Although it wasn't correct, Aiden decided to not bother with it, as it would just be a long back and forth before either one of them would just give up. He nodded, agreeing with the man. 

A frown appeared on the old innkeeper's face as he understood their request. Albeit they couldn't be certain of the reason behind the strange gesture, it wasn't that difficult to make an educated guess. 

The old man turned around and hastily left through the back door, entering the kitchen. A couple of minutes went by before he returned with a key placing it in front of Aiden's group on the table.

"ROOM 15!" He shouted, so at least a faint whisper would reach their ears.

Although the siblings had some questions about why they were only given a single room, before they could, Aiden had already taken the key and turned to them.

"Pay for it. Don't bother complaining, there is no point." With that, he threw the key to them and turned around to leave. 

With Galina following closely behind, he left the ground floor and walked upstairs, enjoying the gradually calming atmosphere. He wasn't a big fan of such events, he enjoyed the peace and quiet even though they were quite a rare occurrence. 

A minute later, the sibling duo came after them. As soon as they spotted Aiden resting against the wooden rails, they walked next to him. Before his brother could ask, Scarlet already fired up her question.

"What the hell Aiden?! Why did we only get a single room? How should we rest like this?! We needed at least 2, but more likely 3 different rooms!" She exclaimed, pointing at the silent Galina's figure.

Instead of answering, Aiden ignored the girl and turned towards Drake.

"You two probably have a lot to discuss tonight, take that room. Galina and I will rest in mine. We will meet downstairs during breakfast tomorrow. Good night!"

Having that said, Aiden turned around and left with Galina, without batting an eye at the fuming red-haired princess.

"This boy! AAARGH!" She exclaimed with frustration. To be ignored like this was not something any woman could easily accept. Still, before she would have had the chance to rush after him and give him a piece of her mind, her brother placed his palm over the top of her head, abruptly startling and surprising her.

"You weren't ignored. You just asked something stupid." Drake explained calmly.

"Huh? Why? We do need separate ro-" Incited, Scarlet almost flew into another tangent, but before she could do so, Drake continued. He stretched out his right arm, pointing towards the sea of heads downstairs.

"Have you already forgotten? The place is full. We had to wait half an hour just to get the chance to be asked. Even then, we could barely understand and hear what the old man asked. It was better to get a room for the night, and if we want, ask for another tomorrow morning when there would be less commotion." He explained, smiling gently at his sis.

Having been explained what should have been obvious to her, caused her frustration to transform into embarrassment. Her face turning pink, she averted her gaze and turned to look for their room instead.

She did not want to continue discussing the topic, as while Drake was explaining she also realized her mistake. Although she wasn't completely comfortable with it, after years of being a slave, she didn't really have too much against the idea. 

Now, she just wanted to lay down, and forget about everything that happened today. She just made a mess of herself on multiple occasions.

As she scurried away, looking around the hall in search of their new, temporary home, Drake only smiled at her sight for a while longer before deciding to tag along.

—

Meanwhile, as the door closed behind them, Aiden and Galina could finally heave a sigh and relax. They unclasped their masks and removed the baggy hoods from their heads.

"[Goblin] Young Master, apologies for asking, but can you teach me how to speak the human's language? I feel like I'm a burden to the Young Master. I wish to be of help not be a hindrance."

Aiden smiled at the request, as he himself had already thought about it. Still, currently, he had a much more pressing matter, he needed to finally get on with the System Updates!