85 Dinner

There was a beautifully-crafted steel pole sitting before him. Arthur frowned as he laid his eyes on it.

'Haven't I already sacrificed this to the goddess? Why is it still here?' This was the staff that Arthur looted from the zombie general. According to his previous experience, Aiode had taken the Piped Piper's Pipe when he sacrificed it, so why did she leave the staff behind this time?

Arthur got the answer after he examined the item closer. The bell that was supposed to be attached to the top of the staff had gone missing. Magically enough, there was no cut mark that showed that the bell was forcibly taken away from the staff. It appeared as if the staff was produced that way from the beginning, without the attachment of the bell.

"I have no idea the goddess will be so particular about the sacrifice." Arthur commented. He held the staff in his hand and studied it closely. The pole was heavy and from handling it, Arthur knew it was a solid and not hollow stick.

This could be considered as an additional gain for the young man. By all means, even without the bell, the staff was a quality one. Unfortunately, Arthur had no idea how to utilize it. He was not familiar with martial arts.

There were basically only two options for the young man, either he brought the staff to the local blacksmith to be sold or carried it with him.

Arthur thought about it and decided to carry it back to the adventurer's guild with him. He might not have use for it now but that might change in the future. The staff might prove useful in the future, who knows…

Therefore, Arthur exited the clearing and made his way to the adventurer's guild. It was Lady Morgan who greeted him at the lobby. Arthur handed in the report of his quest and got the corresponding monetary reward in return.

Lady Morgan asked whether he would like to take up another quest and Arthur said no, explaining that he needed to get some rest first before he started another adventure. He described briefly what happened on the quest at the coal mine and Lady Morgan nodded understandingly.

Arthur parted from Lady Morgan and headed towards the room that he rented at the adventurer's guild hostel. He slipped the staff under his bed. There was nowhere else inside the small room that could accommodate something that long. Then, the young man lied down on his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

The exhaustive adventure in the underground crypt and the many battles he had with the undead must have fatigued him greatly.

…

Arthur was woken up by the ruckus that was coming in from the corridor outside his bedroom. He tossed and turned in bed until he felt like the drowsiness had left him. Unable to return to sleep, the young man sat up in bed. He cleaned himself and walked out of the room.

He ran into a group of adventurers and he saw a few familiar faces among them. The people in the group saw him as well as they moved to drag him into their fold. Arthur, who had just woken up from sleep, was hauled away from the adventurer's guild without even knowing what was happening.

"But, I have not even had dinner yet. Where are we going…"

"Oh, Arthur, just come with us. You can have your fill at this place. You wouldn't want to miss out on the fun!"

Eventually, he ended up at the local pub. The group of adventurers was on another one of their celebratory jaunts. There wasn't really an important occasion but it was rare for most of them to be gathered at one place due to their different responsibility and schedule so they had to make the most of it. An event like that involved plenty of drinking, eating and merry-making.

Technically, his friends did not lie to him. Arthur did manage to find something to eat at the pub but with his friends surrounding him and asking him about his unique type of magic and latest adventure, Arthur barely had time to eat.

Due to his fight with Sean, Arthur became somewhat of a celebrity among the group of adventurers from his batch. Normally Arthur would not have minded joining in the fun but that day, his stomach was grumbling too much. He had not had a bite in him since he visited the coal mine.

It was hard to have fun on an empty stomach. He fended off his friends and as they ventured off to seek their own fun, Arthur caught the opening and slunk off to a secluded corner of the pub with the plate of his dinner. He took the chair at the end of the bar.

While Arthur was about to take another bite of his dinner, he heard the approach of another person coming up from behind him. Arthur turned back, wanting to request that he had some peace and quiet to ingest his food but he was surprised when he saw who the person was.

The man looked swathe and handsome as he walked towards Arthur. There was white bandage poking out from underneath the shirt that he wore. It was Frankie. He was looking at Arthur.

Honestly, Arthur did not know what to think of the man's approach. Due to their history, things could go many different ways. He had bested Frankie in front of his peers once but also helped him win back the fight against Sean. Then again, for the latter, the man might not appreciate others fighting the fight for him.

Before Arthur could make up his mind, Frankie looked away from Arthur and turned to tell the bartender, "Barkeep, two mugs of ale please."

"Coming right up!"

Frankie took the seat next to Arthur as his order was served. Arthur still did not know how to process the whole incident. Frankie had not breathed a word to him but he did take the seat next to him.

Frankie held one of the mugs in his left hand while used his right to slide the other mug across the bar towards Arthur. Then, he said, "Thank you."