Chapter 19

The three of them made their way back to the inn, Larkin letting out a long sigh as he shook his head. "I swear, I might as well put a leash on you at this point. Every damn time I take my eyes off ya, you get involved in some kinda nonsense."

Xain let out an awkward chuckle, scratching his cheek. "Look on the bright side—you didn't have to pay ninety gold, just sixty. So technically, I saved us some coin."

Larkin scoffed. "If you'd just stolen the coin like you were supposed to, we'd have more than ten gold and fifty bronze right now."

Xain opened his mouth to argue but found himself at a loss. *My goddess, why is everyone so making logical arguments today?*

Zee turned her head toward Larkin. "Why did we stop pickpocketing? We could have kept going to make up for what we spent."

"The crowd was startin' to thin out," Larkin explained. "By the time I got back to the ticket stall, the ticket lady told me they were closin' up soon."

Xain frowned. "So early? It's only nearing four o'clock. Didn't they stay open till evening the rest of the week?"

"They did," Larkin said with a shrug. "But it's the last day of the week—most people already bought tickets or signed up for the tournament. Only reason they'd keep those stalls up after that is for advertisin', but they've already got that hangin' all over the city. So they shut down early."

Xain and Zee both nodded, satisfied with their answers. Soon enough, they reached the inn they were staying at, a place with a rather humorous sign—an angry looking eagle holding two pistols.

*Seriously, I'll never get over how American that sign is,* Ercale muttered in Xain's head.

The name of the inn, Raging Eagle, explained the imagery.

As they stepped inside, a sharp whistle caught their attention.

"Hey, over here!"

Turning toward the voice, they saw Mae sitting at a table, raising a hand to them. Seated across from her was an unfamiliar man with small tusks coming out of his lower teeth.

Larkin froze. His eyes went wide, and he muttered, "What the fuck? Am I drunk?" He pressed a hand to his head, staring at Mae.

Xain had just remembered, *Oh, we forgot to tell him about Mae!* But before he could explain, Larkin shook his head, saying, "Wait a sec—no, I'm not. I haven't had a drink today yet." His eyes narrowed. "Which means... you must be Mae."

Xain blinked in surprise. "Wait, you know her?"

"Huh? No, not really," Larkin replied. "Zee told me about her while we were travelin' together."

Xain gave a nod. *That explains it.*

Mae smirked as the three of them made their way to the table. "Oh~? My little sister talked about me? What did she say?" She shot a glance at Zee, her grin widening. "All good things, I hope?"

Larkin pulled out a chair and dropped into it. "She didn't really tell me much—just that you exist."

Mae let out a mock gasp. "How rude, Zee. Is that really all?"

Zee shrugged as Larkin turned his attention to the unfamiliar man sitting across from Mae. "Uh, you gonna just sit there starin' at us, or are you gonna introduce yourself?"

The man let out a short grunt. "Drack," he said before turning his head away, clearly not interested in further conversation.

Zee and Xain took their seats, and Zee studied him for a moment before speaking. "You must be the half-orc Mae told us about."

Drack gave a slow nod but didn't say anything.

"What's wrong?" Mae asked, suddenly smacking him hard on the back. He coughed from the force as she grinned. "You embarrassed or something?"

Drack shook his head, waving a hand. "No. Just had enough talking for the day." His voice was low, worn out.

Now that he mentioned it, the trio noticed how tired his eyes looked.

"You look like you've had a long day," Xain remarked.

Drack let out a tired sigh, but it was Mae who answered. "He's been very popular with the human women around here. They've been running the poor boy ragged with their chatter." She smirked, pointing at him.

"...That's not the reason I expected," Larkin admitted, raising a brow.

Zee and Mae let out simultaneous giggles.

"That's funny!" Zee said, still giggling.

"I know, right?" Mae added, laughing along.

Xain, looking at the two of them thought to himself, *Yup, they're definitely twins.*

Mae caught him staring and turned her smirk on him. "What's with the look, boy? Just staring at Zee isn't enough to get you off?"

Zee and Xain instantly froze, both going wide-eyed as their faces turned red.

Larkin, meanwhile, burst into laughter. "Oh, I like you," he said between chuckles. "I think I'm gonna enjoy your company."

"Wha-wha-what are you saying!?" Zee stammered, still completely flustered.

Xain rapidly shook his hands. "No, no, that's not why I was staring! I was just—"

But before he could finish, something dawned on him. His face lost its flush, replaced by sudden panic.

"Oh crap—I might have to fight you in the tournament!"

Everyone turned to him as Mae blinked. "Eh?"