The Dock District was several times busier in the early morning than at night. Laborers hauling cargo packed the narrow streets. Several men squeezed out of an alley carrying a thick log, its trailing hemp ropes dragging across the ground and splashing mud, drawing curses from passersby.
Countless bare feet sank into the muck, churning muddy water rank with rotting vegetables and fish scales over and over beneath them. The stench roiled and fermented in the air before the sun had fully risen.
Vendors along the road had already begun hawking their wares, their cries rising one after another. A man sat against a wall at a street corner, clearly not yet sober from the night before. Clutching a half-empty bottle, he began gulping down more liquor and making a drunken scene by the roadside.
But the narrow streets did not slow Renato. His plate armor and longsword cleared a path for him without any effort, the crowd parting before the tall swordsman.
Clearly, no one wanted a physical confrontation with a fully armed warrior in full plate.
Renato walked at an unhurried pace, his boots making faint sucking sounds as they crossed the muddy road. He looked straight ahead, occasionally glancing at the buildings on either side and committing the landmarks to memory.
He had arranged with Pye yesterday to discuss matters at the tavern this morning, and he was not in the habit of being late.
Although quests that awarded 1,500 experience points were generally low-risk by the Guide's usual standards, his reflections on the balcony last night had convinced him to recapture the mindset of his first adventure. He would approach every future quest cautiously and give it his all, regardless of its difficulty.
Renato had seen more than enough cautionary tales of arrogance leading to destruction.