It was nine o'clock in the evening, and the church bells could be heard ringing in the distance.
As the last rays of sunlight were swallowed by the mountains, a crimson glow slowly rose in the eastern sky, staining the land red. It was a full blood-red moon, known in this world as the Crone Moon.
This world had three moons: the Silver Crescent Moon, the Deep Blue Dark Moon, and the Scarlet Blood Moon.
In the occult, the Crone Moon symbolized madness, anger, jealousy, fear, and death. No ritual should be performed while the Crone Moon stood at its zenith, unless you wanted a mad and chaotic end.
Lude stepped onto the cobblestone road, which still held the day's warmth, and entered Blackwater Town.
As Lude walked, rows of timber-frame houses rose along either side of the street. Smoke curled into the sky from the red-brick chimneys, and behind many low windows hung thick linen curtains, with the yellow glow of oil lamps shining through the gaps.
The smell of baked bread mingled with the aroma of stew drifting through the streets. It was dinnertime.
Lude couldn't help rubbing his stomach. After three days of fasting, he was ravenous and felt like he could eat a whole cow.
Just as he was thinking that, a black cow carrying a man on its back passed him by. The docile beast even lifted an eyelid to look at Lude.
"Hey, neighbor!" Lude called. "Is there anywhere around here to get a meal?"
The man on the cow's back gave Lude a puzzled look, then pointed toward the church. In heavily accented Gothic, he said:
"Head toward the center of town. There's a place called the Yellow Bird Tavern. Lots of out-of-towners like to eat there."
Though he was baffled by what kind of ridiculous name "Yellow Bird Tavern" was, Lude still headed for the town center.
As he walked along the not-so-wide street, the streetlamps that the Night Watchman had lit one by one glowed ahead of him. The sounds of barefoot children playing reached his ears, and the smells of ordinary families' dinners lingered in his nostrils. The peaceful atmosphere brought a long-missed calm to Lude's heart.
Before long, Lude arrived at a timber-frame house filled with smoke and roaring voices.
The tavern door stood open. Even from far away, he could hear the clamorous din inside: gamblers shouting excitedly and drunks roaring out their frustrations. As he drew closer, Lude caught a foul mixture of smells, too complicated for an ordinary person to identify.
That was the worst part. Lude's sense of smell was simply too sharp, and he could make out...
The sharp sting of cheap tobacco, the piss-like stench of sour beer, the human reek of clothes drenched in sweat, along with smelly feet and spoiled cumin. All the odors mingled and fermented in the warm air, reaching their most intense state.
And right above the tavern's front entrance, the gilded sign bore a name that left Lude speechless—
Golden Eagle Tavern!
Neighbor, your Gothic's pretty good. A golden eagle was damn well a yellow bird, wasn't it?
After hesitating for a moment outside the "Yellow Bird Tavern," Lude decided to go in. At least it had a bed where he could sleep.
But just as he stepped inside, a petite figure suddenly darted out of the dark alley beside the tavern and slammed straight into him.
With a loud "Duang~!", the girl sprawled on the ground right in front of the tavern.
The girl lay there, groaning as she rubbed her head. A huge bump had risen on her smooth forehead.
That was what happened when you ran headfirst into an alchemical body that could withstand bullets—like crashing into a solid rubber tire.
The poor girl's head must be ringing...
Lude estimated that the girl was about one meter forty tall. She looked small and thin, though not malnourished.
She had all the features of a Dust-Born: slyness in her light-purple eyes and honey-colored hair tied into a little perky ponytail at the back of her head.
That little ponytail was especially eye-catching. It looked just like the leaves on top of a pineapple...
The girl wore a light-brown coarse cotton dress that had been washed until it had faded white. White lace, sewn on with rough stitches, trimmed the edges. A strip of matching cloth was carelessly tied around her waist, tracing the faint outline of a body just beginning to mature.
A pale-blue ribbon was tied around her slender neck in a bow at the back.
The girl wore no shoes. She had wrapped dark-brown linen around her feet and ankles, tying it like gaiters and then winding it over her feet like footless stockings. Ten small toes, caked with dust, showed at the ends, along with a pair of narrow, reddened heels.
Looking at the thin-limbed girl, Lude glanced at her right hand, which she was deliberately hiding behind her back. He held out a hand and smiled. "Are you all right?"
But the girl didn't take his hand. Instead, she pulled a weird face at him. With a clumsy roll, she scrambled to her feet, lowered herself, and darted beneath Lude's arm. After only a few quick turns, she disappeared among the people and the shadows cast by the buildings.
Interesting. Lude chuckled to himself. He didn't chase after her, but walked into the tavern.
Beneath the low ceiling, rough wooden tables and chairs crowded together without any order, and most of the tables were full. Lumberjacks in canvas trousers, dark-faced coachmen, and soldiers with their coats hanging open—all had flushed faces and booming voices as they spat words at one another.
Lude lit a cigarette, using the tobacco smoke to cover the stench in his nostrils.
"Pour me a whiskey. Make it a strong one." Lude frowned deeply and drew in a lungful of smoke, then slowly exhaled through his nose. "And bring me something filling. Then get me a room, one for a single person."
"Uh..." The tavern's bartender and owner reached beneath the bar and pulled out a filthy glass.
But he had barely poured a splash when the glass suddenly appeared in Lude's hand. Lude rubbed his fingers together, sending out a few sparks that lit the liquor. Then he ran his flame-coated finger around the rim, and the glass shone like new.
"There." Lude set the clean glass gently on the bar. "Pour."
"Yes, sir."
The bartender hurried to open a fresh bottle and poured Lude a tempting amber drink.
After years of working as a bartender in the frontier lands, he had become skilled at judging people and knew exactly whom he couldn't afford to offend. Just from the trick Lude had performed, he realized the man before him was probably a truly distinguished figure.
Not a nobleman or an official, but someone more dangerous—someone who could decide whether they lived or died with a single thought.
"Sir, that'll be 320 Pfennig. It's just..." The bartender faltered, hesitating before continuing. "It's just that all the rooms are full tonight. Would you mind waiting here for a little while? I'll have someone clear a room for you."
"Go ahead." Lude immediately took out his wallet and pulled out a small roll of purple banknotes.
As he took out his wallet, Lude's fingers casually slipped into the pocket beside it. Just as he'd suspected, the collision earlier had cost him the small item he kept in the side of his wallet.
Now that was interesting.
Lude had realized from the start that the girl was a pickpocket, but he'd assumed she was after his wallet.
He hadn't expected her to ignore his wallet entirely and take that thing instead.
So why was the girl interested in it? And how had she known he had something like that inside his coat?
"Interesting..." Lude looked up at the bartender. "Don't worry about the room for now. Tell me about that girl."
"Of course, sir," the bartender replied respectfully.
Before you continue