Chapter 11: Lavaerûn: The Lawless Town Part 1

After a total of almost a month of our long journey, we've finally reached our destination.

Unfortunately, Rafaela and I don't have any information about this lawless town. I hope we're not going to have any trouble here. 

I gazed upon the massive settlement in front of us. We're still a few kilometers away, but I can already see the life inside the town.

"At last, we're finally here, Rafaela." I looked at Misha and found her smiling at me. "It's already nighttime, so we must find a place to spend the night. I'm excited to see what awaits us inside that town."

Upon entering the town, what welcomed us was a shady place full of eyes looking at us with suspicions.

They're not humans; some of them have animal ears and tails, and for some, their bodies are completely animal-like, but they're walking using their two feet, which I guess was what we called back home as beastkins or beastfolks.

There were also some who, just like Rafaela who, had horns on their heads, which I believe were demons.

When I heard the word lawless town, I expected it to be a chaotic place full of criminals running around and would attack you the moment you entered.

Maybe I set my bar too low.

I felt Rafaela immediately hold my hand as we walked due to the sharp gazes we were receiving.

However, at least none of them were acting hostile towards us. It is completely normal to be suspicious when new faces arrive, so long as they don't come out of nowhere to attack us, we're good.

At least, that's what I thought.

After walking for a few minutes, at the same time as the night arrived, we reached the marketplace I think.

However, unlike normal marketplaces, they sell goods like food and necessities.

What we've seen was slaves inside the metal cage being displayed in front of some shops.

The man in front of the shop with wolf ears approached me with a wide smile on her face. "Mister, I have newly delivered Elven slaves in my shop. Do you want to take a look? Maybe one of them may interest you."

Elven slave?

I shook my head and walked past him.

As we continued, I finally understood why this place was called a lawless town. It's not that apparent on first look, but you will finally see it once you're already inside.

Slaves were being displayed, but not just random slaves; most of them were elves and some female humans, as if this place despised humans and only saw them as products.

What I mean by-products, some of them were being offered as prostitutes in some shops.

An orc blocked my way and greeted me with a smile on his face. "Good evening, Sir. Do you want a woman to spend your night with? We have newly employed humans here. Just pick one for two gold coins."

This is the third one! Do I look like someone who likes this kind of thing?

I stared at the women beside him; and they were looking down while shivering, and their hands were chained.

Some parts of their bodies had bruises and wounds, and they were very thin as an indication of how rough their diet was.

The orc said they're newly employed.

They don't look like they are employed to me.

"They're well trained and flexible, so expect them to do whatever you want without a problem," he said with a big smile as if he's just selling fish.

I shook my head. "Forgive me, but I'm not interested." 

"Big bro Troy, it hurts."

I didn't realize that I tightened my grip on Rafaela's hand too hard.

I stared at her and smiled as we walked.

 "My bad. Let's find a good inn, and I'm getting really tired."

Man! Nighttime is scary in this place!

I released a huge sigh of relief the moment we finally got inside one of the inns.

"Welcome. How can I help you?"

I heard the voice of an old man at the counter and walked towards him, but what surprised me was when I saw what he was.

A human.

He pushed his glasses while smiling at me.

"Is there a problem, young man?"

I immediately shook my head. "No, I'm just surprised to see a human in here. I thought people around here hate humans. Based on what I saw outside."

He gently chuckled. "You are new around here, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Once you entered this town on your own accord, you are now a citizen of Lavaerûn, and rest assured that no one will attack you for being a human unless you've done something you shouldn't. Nobody, including the knights of Korra, can enter here."

"I see."

"Now, what can I do for you, young man?"

"I'll take a room with two bedrooms. How much for a night?"

"Five silver coins per night with a shared bathroom and ten silver coins for two bedrooms with a private bathroom."

I grabbed some coins from my shoulder bag and put them on the counter.

"This is my payment."

He nodded. "I see." He stood up, picked up one of the keys hanging behind him, and gave it to me. "Second Floor, third room from the staircase."

"Thanks."

The old man nodded. "Welcome to Lavaerûn, young man."

I walked towards the stone staircase, and Rafaela followed me; we bumped into someone on our way.

I quickly walked back. "My bad."

The tan-skinned wolf girl with black hair just smiled at me. "No worries." She's carrying a white blanket with her.

"Let's go, Raf," I said as I continued.

"Pops, I'm done cleaning the room." I heard the wolf girl's voice talking to the old man on the counter.

I opened the door of our room and turned on the light. There were two white beds a meter away from each other. Between them was a wooden brown drawer with a white lampshade standing in front of the glass window.

The moment I closed the door, the entire room turned completely silent. The sound of the noisy marketplace couldn't be heard anymore.

I immediately removed my robe and laid my body down on the soft bed.

Soft bed! At last! I almost forgot what it feels like to lie on a bed!

This is what heaven feels like!