sinovels Chapter 272: Hospitality
Chapter 272: Hospitality
The common room was deathly silent as the overwhelming presence blanketed everything and everyone in its suffocating embrace. Violet, truly incensed by that rude humans words was very tempted to kill him, it was only due to Luna swiftly grabbing her wrist and shaking her head that Violet stayed her hand.
Still, even though she would not kill the man didn’t mean that she couldn’t showcase exactly how displease she was by the man’s words. A predatory smirk spread across her face as the cadence of her presence shifted subtly.
No longer did the other patrons feel overly oppressed, they still felt the power behind the presence but were no longer negatively effected by it, well other than the primal fear that refused to go away now they knew that a true predictor was holding a metaphorical sword against their necks.
The bar keep however, he was granted no such reprieve from the pressure. Violet began to walk forward with slow steady steps, she sent a cold but mischievous emotion through the bond to reassure Luna as she approached the pale man bent over the bar with fear etched onto his wrinkled face.
Arriving before the bar Violet grabbed a nearby stool and sat down on it, the barkeep was directly in front of her trembling under her presence as she coldly assessed him.
"So human, what was it you were saying about not allowing me and my companion here to stay in this establishment?"
In response to that the man tried to speak, he opened his mouth but only a wheeze escaped his lips as she turned up the pressure the moment he went to speak.
"Hmm yes I understand, how silly of you to joke around like that." She tapped her sharp nails against the counter top leaving small indents into the worn wood.
"But I know just how to go about earning my forgiveness for you blunder." Then she smiled wide, her fangs showing through and she turned around to face the crowd that was staring at her with fear in their eyes.
"Who amongst you think you would be a better owner of this establishment than this sorry old man?" Her question seemed to completely confuse all present, none of them truly able to grasp the sudden tonal change of her question.
Yet when she briefly increased the pressure on all of them someone finally spoke up. A stocky woman looking to be in her late 20’s to early 30’s rose a shaky hand, she spoke up in a hesitant tone and she briefly glanced at the frozen barkeep with mild disgust.
"M-me, I iv been trying to save up to buy this place for years." Her words made Violet smile wide in delight and the presence that was still hanging over everyone else in the room entirely disappeared from her shoulders causing her to sag slightly in relief.
"And how much do you need to buy this place?" Violet innocently asked with a smile tugging at her lips.
The woman paused for a moment, glancing at another man in the assembled crowd who gave her a tiny nod. "50 gold, I-i would need 50 gold my lady." She said.
"Perfect then!" She turned back to the old man still sprawled on the bar counter. "Well you no longer own this inn, this lovely lady does." As she said that she raised her hand and 50 shining golden coins poured out of thin air to gather on the table, the man’s eyes practically popped out of his head at the wealth she so casually produced from nothing.
Then Violet’s tone grew harsh in an instant, all levity gone and replaced by a primal ruthlessness that sent shivers down everyone’s spines instinctivly. "Now take the money and leave, and hope that I don’t see you again when I’m in a less forgiving mood."
And like that the overwhelming presence entirely vanished from the room.
Violet turned around to the woman and new owner of the inn with a smile on her face. "So can you get me some food and a room for the night?"
Silence held the room in suspense for several prolonged moments as everyone present tried to process the strange series of events that had just transpired before their eyes.
First the crotchety old bastard had insulted the two women that just saved the town from destruction, then done it right to their face. Said woman had then entirely surprised every single person present with laughable ease before somehow buying the establishment and gifting it to Yasmin who had been trying to buy the inn for years now.
The silence was broken by a snorting laugh that escaped from Luna who had been silently watching events unfold, she had tried to withhold her laughter but the looks of absolute shock and befuddlement on everyone faces was just too much for her.
That short laughter broke the spell that was apparently holding the crowd at abayance and a cacophony of laughter shouting and hubub rang out all at once.
From people laughing at the old man’s look of indignant rage mixed with utter fear at the beautiful beastkin woman, to others retelling what happened to the bandits that she had slain, to others clapping the stunned woman who was apparently the new owner of the inn on the shoulder in congratulations.
Amidst all of this Violet locked gaze with Luna through the crowd and flashed a bright mischievous smile that was swiftly matched with Luna’s own.
**
It took some time for things to mostly settle down, the woman, Yasmin spend some time wrangling everything that she needed for ownership out of the old man under the watchful gaze of Violet and a raucous crowd before he was unceremoniously shown the door of now her inn.
Then in celebration of the old man leaving, whom it turned out was disliked by practically everyone in the town, Violet dropped another handful of gold coins down and proclaimed free food and drink for everyone.
This led to the previously hesitant opinion of the crowd to finally turn favourable towards the strange of overwhelmingly powerful young woman.
Yasmin spent quite some time professing her thanks which was mostly waved off by Violet given that she had literal mountains of gold within her ring, plus she did enjoy the defeated face of that old man quite a bit!
From there it seemed like the entire town soon arrived in the inn for the celebration. Casks of ale were brought up from the cellar, other residents brought along their own stockpile of booze and a true party was breaking out. Both in celebration of the defeat of the bandits and for the new owner of the inn.
During this time Violet and Luna simply sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere, they enjoyed some food and even tried some of the ale, yet neither of the companions found the drink to their liking. Still the food was pleasant enough.
They were approached by several people who either expressed their thanks or wanted to hear tales of their adventures. The girls happily shared some of their stories, being careful not to mention how they were actual beasts or where exactly they came from.
During this time Patrick came over to them with a bewildered look on his face. "I... umm I don’t quite know what to say. I suppose I should thank you for not killing the old man, even thought I probably wouldn’t have claimed you for it given what he said." He shook his head in disbelief at the whole situation.
"But you did previously mention that you would like to know more about the kingdom right? I’d be happy to share what I know with you as thanks for how you handled that situation."
The two companions shared a look and smiled at the man. "Sure we would appreciate that. First where is the nearest city to here? And will we receive trouble for just being beastfolk?"
Patrick let out a weary sigh at that but did answer. "The nearest city is about a week long ride south west from here, just need to follow the road and you will eventually find it. There are a couple of towns and villages you will pass on the way."
"As for discrimination... I hate to say it but probabally yes. Beastkin are not exactly treated well in the kingdom, but you are both powerful so nothing bad should happen to you... just." He let out a long sigh before continuing.
"It’s just that most beastfolk you will come across are slaves, it’s rare to find a free beastkin." His words troubled the two girls yet they tried to keep that from showing on their faces.
They had naturally heard something similar from Susan as she described her time within the kingdom, yet they had not given it too much thought up till now. Yet it was only now that they were within the kingdom and had already encountered such bigotry against them solely for their race that they truly took heed of her words.
It would seem that their journey through the kingdom might now be as peaceful as they had previously hoped.
But then a fire ignited in Violet as she thought things through. Wasn’t her goal to bring down this corrupt kingdom? So what better way to do so than seek out those with power that perpetuated this discrimination and... remove them from their power?