WHIT

35 - INVITATION

At around seven in the morning.

Edgar and Fabby were in deep sleep, but Fabby kept rolling to her left and right and kneed him a few times, forcing him to eventually wake up. He wasn’t disturbed by it because it was a pretty common thing. Most times, it was her kicking that woke him up, though not always at the right time.

But luckily, today it seemed like the time was right. When he opened the wooden windows, warm light came in at an angle.

He sat at one end of the body and basked in the sunlight, but then his eyes closed, and his upper body kept moving back and forth. Eventually, he fell forward and ended up banging his head to the floor. “Ah!” he put his hand on his head and rubbed the bruised spot. All his drowsiness had vanished in an instant. “Tch, I didn’t think I would fall asleep just after waking up.” His lips pressed together. “Is it because of the training that I’m sleeping for long these days, or is it because I’m taking things easy?” he clenched his fists. “I can’t be like this. I shouldn’t be like this. It may be fine here, but in the woods, even a moment’s carelessness can get us killed. I definitely can’t let laziness win even a wink from me.”

He picked up the sword and practiced with it for forty minutes, refining his thrusts and slashes in that not-so spacious room. Only after sweating a lot, he felt somewhat better.

He came back to the bed and sat down. Fabby was snoring mildly. He wanted to wake her up and tell her to also practice with the sword, but he liked the quietness that was in the room right now, so he let her sleep.

Edgar’s eyes then caught the sight of the bronze plate on the table. He put the clothes and the money aside and picked up the plate. He hadn’t given it a try after entering Orseya.

“Just what are you?” he couldn’t help but think about the lady who had saved his life. “Did she create you?” Though he wished to know her identity, there was no clue to trace it. It was the same for those two in black cloaks, the ones who had slapped him into the valley which nearly killed him.

He remembered the words he had to mug back in the valley: Trust, and you’ll live. Beg, and you’ll burgeon. Redress, and you’ll reign.

After he had told those words to his sister, she surprisingly didn’t say anything. Not a word. If even she couldn’t decipher it, how could Edgar, who was much younger and clumsier, hope to solve the mystery behind these words?

Still, he always tried new things, hoping it’d react again, but there was no such response yet. It made him feel as if he was tactless like Dobo always used to say.

He had been trying to be more like Dobo and Fabby and be more tactful, but something held him back.

Knock. Knock.

Edgar came over and opened the door. A tall bald guy was looking down with a piercing gaze, but a tight smile tugged his lips. His stare and his smile didn’t go well together.

Edgar immediately recognized the person. He was the henchman of the Zha Clan and served Raha Zha. He was the same person who was mercilessly beating the slaves the other day.

“What?” Edgar’s tone wasn’t friendly.

The bald man put a card forward. “You and your sister are invited to the Red Night.”

“Red Night?” he took the card and gave a long look. It was made of red animal skin with golden letters painted on it. The prime attraction was the glass drawing. And under it were written these words: Zha Clan welcomes Mr. Edgar and Ms. Fabby to the Red Night.

“There is going to be a feast, so feel free to come, freeloaders,” saying that the bald man walked away.

“F-Freeloaders?”  Edgar’s brown creased together. “What was that for?”

However, the bald man didn’t even care to answer and just left.

Edgar felt the urge to tear the invitation card into pieces, but then he couldn’t do it, and he slapped himself for it.

He put the card in his pocket and walked back to the desk, where there was a can with water inside. But it was almost empty. Edgar drank what was left, but his tongue still felt dry. “I can’t believe they are taking one bronze for a five liter can. This is basically looting.” The last time he remembered, 25 liter cans could be bought for one bronze coin. But a few years later, everything in this town was being sold at a whooping-high price. Was it because this was Fira empire, or was there some other reason?

In all the days they stayed at the inn, they didn’t think they’d spend about one bronze coin per day for drinking water, but there was no escaping it.

Edgar walked out of the room with the empty can. He climbed down the stairs and reached the ground floor that was packed with so many customers. “Wow, it’s thriving today. Lots of new faces.”

He didn’t pay much attention to them and was going to the eastern corner, where a chubby brown-haired kid, the owner’s son, was selling water cans. Suddenly, a rooster ran between his legs, startling the heck out of him. As if that wasn’t enough, a dog then mimicked the same and went between his legs, almost giving him a heartache. And he fell forward, causing some people to laugh heartily.

By the time he got back to his feet, the dog and the rooster were coming back in his direction; however, it was the rooster that was chasing the dog this time. As the dog came closer, he smashed the dog with the can.

The entire hall fell silent instantly, and nobody laughed anymore.