chapter 5

Aurora prepared some fire resistance potion, and she readied her dagger to defend herself.

Claudius, we should retreat to the castle. Like that, we can think of a plan to defeat it. She then gave Claudius a few potions and took a few steps back. But Claudius didn't take them and just walked toward the beast and said ''kneel''. The magic creature could feel an incredible force pushing it down. Without much delay, the strong monster was on his four knees and could not move anymore. Aurora, baffled by what she just saw, had her jaw completely open. She was confused with this strange power that Claudius used that she didn't see. Claudius discreetly spitted a bit of blood on the ground murmuring that he needed to reactivate the old artifacts.

'Aurora, please show the way.'

Aurora quickly pulled herself together and showed the way.

She asked on the way why he didn't kill the beast. Claudius answered why to destroy such an excellent guarding dog. This time nothing dangerous happened on the way to the village. It was like the monsters were too scared to come in our way. Claudius and Aurora arrived at the town a few hours later. It was already night, and they could see the light of a few houses on the horizon.

Aurora, it's night, is there an inn?

Yes, the Golden fish, the only inn in there. It cost a few copper coins for a night.

They went inside the golden fish. It was quite full because it was also the tavern of the village. When they enter, the place immediately calms down, and they start looking at the two newcomers.

You could faintly hear what the villagers were saying to each other.

"How is this possible? This girl is not dead! Said a group of farmers. A woman said to her friend: "'She is not dead, but she did come back with a hottie. ''There was a tall woman behind the bar with a few scars on her face and arms. She was not young anymore, but she was still eluding an aura of strength. You could see that she lived an exciting life before. She had brown hair and eyes and a warm smile on her face. The owner of the inn said something to Aurora before she could say something.

'You are alive, girl, what fantastic good news, here a pint on the house for you. You deserve it for coming back alive! And you too, boy, I presume that you help her. Do you need anything else, kid?

The young-looking man flinched when the woman called him a kid because he was actually old enough to be her grandfather! But Claudius didn't say anything because he indeed looks like a kid. With a forced smile, he asked for the price of two rooms.

''Two rooms, eh, it will be 16 coppers. But I thought that you already had a room, kid.''

Aurora didn't think that Claudius would ask for two rooms, so she didn't answer the question.

''Sorry, but there is a good reason why she needs a new room.''

''If you paid for your room, I don't have any questions''.

But Claudius forgot that he didn't have money from this era.

Did you say copper Coins? Would you accept this? When he said that, Claudius took a big bag of ancient gold coins out of nowhere.

The inn owner stared at Claudius with a curious look.

''You are more mysterious than you look, boy. You just pull Celestial Riyal coins like water, and those are gold coins above all the things!.

''Is this a problem? Do you not accept it here? Seeing that the woman took her time to answer, Claudius decided to sit down and ask Aurora fundamental questions about the region and the world.

''Pretty boy is a shame, but I can't accept the coins. To give you the change, I would need to sell my inn and pay.''Then she suddenly starts to laugh extremely hard. The rest of the tavern looked at the trio with curious eyes.

''You can keep the rest if you give me a few coins and the best room that you have.''

Golden fish owner, Nita, shocked by what she just heard, didn't know what to do. She knew how much a Riyal gold coin is worth.

''Wel, if you are serious, sir, then it will be my pleasure.''

The drastic change in the owner attitude amused Aurora.

Claudius gave the gold coins and asked the direction of his sleeping room, and a clerk showed them the way. He told Aurora to come along; otherwise, it would attract more attention.

In his room, Claudius directly meditated about the new event that happened today. Before lying down, he spitted a bit of blood before going to sleep, thinking that he would need more life force in the future.

Aurora saw the soft bed of the VIP Room and directly jumped on it. She had a big smile, thinking about her revenge on the trio that we were undoubtedly sleeping soundly downstairs without knowing that their end was near. She quickly fell asleep with revenge on her mind.

The next morning, she woke up because of a strange noise in the room. Aurora quickly pulled her dagger and jumped at the intruder just to stop in front of him. Claudius was sitting on a chair in the room with a cup of tea.

How the hell did you enter my room! She was shocked by the lack of intimacy that Claudius gave her.

I stopped a hellhound with my voice, and you find it surprising that I can enter your room without a key.

''Okay, it does make sense, but privacy should still be a thing even in your time.''

''Yes, of course, where are my manners? Next time, I will knock on the door, and wait until you wake up after 20 minutes…''

''Wait, you were standing in front of the door for 20 min.''

''It looks like you are a heavy sleeper, miss Aurora. But there is no time, my subordinates are asleep at the castle, and they urgently need life force to wake up.''

''Okay'' coughing awkwardly, she continues.

"What is your plan?''

Quite simple, we wait until they go outside, or we force them to go out, then we kidnap them. The trio should be weak if I believe your story.''

It seems possible that they do have life-saving treasures, actually. It is better never to underestimate your enemies. You could feel the hatred in the last sentence. Because of that, the conversation stopped for a moment before Claudius broke the silence.

Where do you think we can find Alea and the rest?

''They are lazy, so I guess they will be in their room until noon.''

''I have a plan. I will capture a magical beast and release it in the vicinity of the inn. It should be enough to make them go outside to look at the mayhem.''

Surprised by the aggressive plan of Claudius, she directly thought of a new method to capture them.

''Claudius, I think that it is a bad idea that you will really sacrifice the lives of the villagers to catch those guys.''

'Why should I care about those weak humans!''

But are you not human yourself?

Me, a human? Don't make me laugh; I am a Celestial.

If you have another idea, be my guest, miss Aurora. Surprise with this revelation. She learned something new about Claudius. He does look human: an incredibly handsome man, but. She was letting her thoughts go wild. She explains her plan to him.

''I go to Elea's room and tell her that I found the treasure. I will need some gold coins to prove it. She will probably ask why I didn't take more with me. I can find an excuse for it. I will still need you to clear the way to the castle because if they see a monster on the way, they will directly go back to the inn and ask me to take everything back alone.''

Hmm, I suppose that I can do that, miss Aurora. Here take this pouch. If you want to be safe, you will need to follow the trees with an x carved on them. After this short discussion, he directly exited the room without saying anything else. The Young girl was sitting on her bed and said with a heavy sigh.

''I hope everything will go as planned.''