At the Teana inn, my lunch meal had been Teativa. It was a local delicacy of Bayam, where the chef used a giant local fruit, Teana, hollowed out its flesh, leaving only a solid shell; then stuffed it with mashed mutton and fish, followed by sea salt and several types of spices; and repeatedly roasted it over the fire. The meat was fresh, fragrant, and perfectly blended with the sweet and slightly sour flavour of the fruit.
It was a delicacy that must have taken a lot of experimenting and time to figure out a balance between flavours.
Right now, I was sitting by the window, at the dining table in my suite, and eating what the service staff had brought me for dinner.
The present delicacy I was enjoying was the Grilled Stickleback. It was a dish of grilled fish enveloped in straw like spices that were local to the Rorsted Archipelago. Or, as it is also famously called, the Spice Archipelago.
Finishing my meal, I went on to dessert. It was the Sweet Iced Tea of the Southern Loen, along with Mr Fool's favourite Desi Pie.
Ingesting bite by bite and sip by sip of the good quality and delicious food, I couldn't help but praise Klein's taste. He truly was a citizen of the Foodaholic Empire, a man who knew what good food truly tasted like.
"Praise the Fool!"
I couldn't help but chant in amusement. Once I finished my meal, I ordered the service staff to bring me a bottle of Sonia Blood wine, which was a popularity among the populace across the Sonia Sea, and even on a lot of the mainland.
Leaning against the bed rest of my bed, I casually sipped at the wine glass in my hand, as I looked out at the night sky covered in clouds, hiding any signs of the crimson moon. Only the occasional lightening and thunder brightened up the sky at all.
Is that how it always looks like in the Silver City?
I couldn't help but wonder about a part of the world that was hidden away from the rest.
Today was a happening day. Although Lorenzo had done a few killings here and there on missions or fighting pirates at the sea, and I did have his memories, the idea of killing a person had felt harrowing to me. But after I was done, it now felt like just another job done. What needed to be done, had to be done.
As for how I felt about it, at least the world will be a slightly better place without those scum, and today's encounter would hopefully also prevent those two's friends from becoming pirates like them.
After ruminating, and drinking several glasses of the sweet and smooth wine, that had a hint of blood's taste, I put the bottle and the glass aside on the table.
Then, I, who had killed two men in a matter of several seconds today, fell asleep for the better half of the night.
...
It was the fourteen tolls of the Bayam's Storm Church's bell that woke me up at 2 in the afternoon. I felt wonderful, waking up after such a night of great sleep.
Stretching my body, and I got up from the bed and washed up, brushing my teeth, and having a bath. Then, I changed into another set of clothing that was closer to what the natives wore, this time wearing a white linen shirt covered by a light grey, thick jacket. At the bottom, I wore light brown linen pantaloons, and at the top, a light grey hat that matched the colour of my jacket.
These clothes were relatively new, and they looked somewhat new, hence giving the impression that I was a Loen tourist who was trying to experience local fashion. I wouldn't say I was not, that was partly true.
Last night, I had checked with the system, and figured out that I had gained a total of 135 Assassin points, and with my previous 15, my total was now at 150.
Besides that, I now felt more in tune with my abilities, with the shadows, with the power to morph my body, with my senses, and with the potion itself. Indeed, I had received good response from yesterday's mission, digesting a significant portion of the potion.
According to the system, it being present with me, and watching my every move improves the rate of my potion digestion.
According to it, it had a special connection with a certain source of power, that gave it a certain amount of authority and power over the concept of assassination and apparently the sequences further up in the pathway. I predicted that if I were to complete my mission in the next week, it would, at most, take me one week and a half to completely digest the Assassin potion.
So, all in all, now I had a better understanding of my advantages in this world. The system could not only help accelerate my digestion, it also awarded me for the act of acting and digesting itself, which sounded like double benefits in a way.
Considering that I did not have a Sefirah, I was quite content with what I had received. I only wondered what price would be exacted from me for this sort of bestowment.
I really hoped this wouldn't result in the kind of plot where, someday, the System's creator's will would wake up in me the moment I became a King of Angels. Of course, that was not possible for now in the first place, since the location of Sequence 1 characteristics of the Red Priest pathway was completely unknown. At least to me, and I did not remember any such details from the novel itself. At least from the first book. The only thing I remembered was that Amon gave Medici a crown towards the end of the story, but I wasn't sure about what it exactly was.
My guess was that it was either the uniqueness of the Red Priest pathway, or possibly a Sequence 1 characteristic. It made more sense for it to be the latter since Medici needed one to get stronger, while the chances for it to be the former were lower because the evil spirit wouldn't be able to accommodate a uniqueness anyway, if they were not at Sequence 1. In that regard, it made more sense for Amon to safeguard the uniqueness with himself, until Medici was strong enough.
Considering the fact that it was a red crown, it might as well have just been the Blood Emperor Alista Tudor's crown that accumulated the characteristic after he went mad.
I, who had not read the second book, had no idea what was revealed in it, so I could only make small guesses.
Shaking my head, and clearing my thoughts, I decided to head out to the Amyris leaf bar today. This was a place that was famous for a certain beyonder gathering that regularly took place. I had read its announcement in today's Sonia Morning Post.
If I remembered correctly, it was in one of these gatherings where Klein had accepted a mission to find Helene, the muse of Captain Tracy who had would run away in a few days.
She was still on Black Death, before I left, but I guessed by the time I go back to the ship, I wouldn't find her there.
The gathering was convened by the secret owner of the Amyris leaf bar, Strongman Ozil, who once had a pirating career on the sea. As far as I remembered, from the novel and Lorenzo's memories, he was a contact of Mithor King, the Third Mate of Black Death.
Ready to go, I left my suitcase in the room, taking away most of my valuables, which were mainly just my weapons and my wallet. Heading out of the inn, I called a public carriage, and directed the driver to go towards the Amyris leaf bar.