The contact

The group arrives near a village where the meeting with their contact will take place.

"This is the closest village to the borders of Doulon's kingdom, our contact should be found here." Asteri talks to the two women.

"It's a really small village, I don't even remember the name." Betty responds by touching her chin with her index finger.

"Its name should be Ethis, it is certainly not a very well known village ... it has nothing special except for the fact that it is the closest in the neighboring kingdom." Allatu replies.

"Not very interesting but it's not our goal to get to know this place anyway. Let's go inside and go to the inn where our contact is." Asteri wasn't interested in Ethis, so he wanted to hurry up and get to know the person to meet.

So the trio entered the village, they weren't worried about getting a lot of attention from the locals for two reasons; the first is that at this time it is evening, the time is more or less shortly after dinner so there was not much movement and the second they were hooded and looked threatening so no sane person would want their problems especially in a small and so defenseless village.

After a few steps they reach the entrance of the inn, above there was a sign with the words 'Il Corvo'.

"Yes, this is definitely the tavern, come on girls." Asteri recognized the name written on the letter, crossing the eyes of the two girls to invite them to enter. The two women nodded with a nod.

After opening the front door they found a typical tavern environment. Waiters who serve at the tables, men who seem to return from work, some city guards in moments of pause and some adventurer who has stopped from their missions to rest. But despite all these people, the place was not full, but not empty either. When the group entered the front door and closed behind it, it attracted the attention of some of these people, but not for long as they were used to seeing people dressed like this and with this aura of mystery around them, and they soon returned to their amusement.

"Asteri how should we recognize our contact?" Whispers Allatu to the boy who is looking around at this moment, as if to scrutinize every single person in this inn.

"We don't have to do anything, he'll recognize us." he replies, heading to a table quite isolated from the rest of the inn.

"A little risky. He can recognize us while we can't, if he wants to frame us we will be vulnerable while he is safe." reflects Betty following in Asteri's footsteps along with Allatu.

"I am aware of it, but this was the condition set by our" collaborators ", we had no other choice". Asteri sits in a chair at the table. The two women did the same.

"So we should just wait here." Asteri says this when he sees a waitress approaching their table.

"Good evening dear guests, have you decided what to order or do you want to think about it better?" I wanted to take orders from the group.

"Thanks, but we're still deciding at the moment." Asteri responds by pursing her lips. Which the maid saw, as it was also the only thing she could see under her hood, plus two attractive purple spheres just above her those seductive lips of hers.

"Sure, then I'll go ahead." the waitress's cheeks faded a little red as she walked away from their table.

"I feel observed, I don't like the feeling." Betty expresses her frustration.

"I feel it too, and I really think I know who he is ..." Asteri has the same feeling as Betty, even though he suspects who he is.

"Do you think it's him? He is evaluating us to see if we are the right people?" Allatù asks.

"Of course, it is legitimate to be cautious in these cases." Asteri replies.

After a few minutes a figure, also hooded, slowly approaches the group. Asteri from the build of the figure could deduce that it was a male. The figure arrived in front of the group.

"What a mysterious group, it seems we are hiding." says the figure, it is from her voice that Asteri was sure he was a boy.

"The ox says horned to the donkey, and these days you never know." the boy replies, while the two women are silent and do nothing but observe the figure.

"How to blame you boy, apart from the dark times, the neighboring continent is also a rather ... dangerous place." the figure takes a nearby chair and carries it to the group table.

"I have heard of it but I have not had the pleasure, or should I say the sorrow, of visiting this place." Asteri continues to converse with the figure, ignoring the figure's bad ways of intruding on his table without permission.

"Ahaha yes, I really think you can say that. But once you would have been very elated to visit the kingdom of Doulon. But without continuing this futile chatter ... I really think you are the people I have been waiting for, or was I wrong?" the figure is meant to confirm his deductions.

"..." Asteri does not answer and simply takes a letter from his pocket and hands it to the figure. The latter took it and after opening it he read its contents. After he finished reading he pulled an object out of his pocket, this object is a simple monocle or so it seems. The figure wears it, again without taking off the hood. And after a while he took off his monocle.

"Apparently it's you, great we can start right now then." the figure put the letter in his pocket. Asteri had seen what he was doing with the monocle, as if he were reading for the second time.

"Well, I was already prepared for the worst." Asteri smiled from under the hood.

"Then having confirmed that you are Miss Brige's agent, I can give you directions to enter the continent without problems, or at least with few problems." The figure wanted to start giving them the information they owed him.

"Wait! Brige? Who is she?" Asteri did not know a person with this name.

"Brige is Miss Belstegia's surname, the family surname. She didn't tell you?" the figure was baffled by this fact.

"No ... I think you were irrelevant." Asteri responds to the figure, thinking at the same time 'she is therefore part of a noble family and is a very powerful sorceress, the guild leader has many cards to play'.