A Humble Servant

As Raphael was bombarded with curse after curse, he continued smiling at the flailing old man. He looked completely undisturbed by the aggressive reaction Hoss was having.

He casually sat down on one of the stools, smacked the steaks onto the bar, and said, "Well, it seems like a low price for meat from an Uncommon Beast, don't you think?"

Hoss suddenly quieted down, freezing in spot as his look went back and forth between Raphael and the steaks.

"What kind of uncommon beast?" he asked, having calmed down.

"It was an aged wild boar that was almost as high as you and me are! Were I not a Traveler, I would have surely died to it," Raphael lied through his teeth, going as far as taking out the tusk and holding it in front of Hoss' eyes. "

"Hmm, a Traveler you say...," Hoss grunted out, his hand stroking his chin, as he examined the tusk. His face had contained a bit of shock as he had heard that Raphael was a Traveler. While most NPCs would not react to terms like adventurer, guild and so on, they clearly knew that a Traveler was an entity from outside of their world. All Travelers were players, but in the eyes of the inhabitants of Origo, they were the gods' children. This was because players could revive infinitely, making them seem immortal, and the speed with which their strength grew was multiple times faster than normal. An NPC would have to hone itself slowly, over the course of two or three years, before it could reach level 20. Players, on the other hand, could do so within a couple of weeks, if they knew what they were doing.

As if reaching a decision, Hoss turned serious as he said, "Tell you what, Traveler. I reckon it'll be the mayor that will owe me a favor when you go and see her, so how about this - I'll write a short letter which should be enough to get you through the door and I'll even throw in a week's stay in one of my rooms, breakfast included."

Raphael's jaw almost unhinged itself on its way towards the floor.

'There's no way this meat is worth that much!' he thought, but decided to go along. Passing up free lodging and meals was something he would never do, whether in real life or in Origo.

Hoss felt something tug at him, and before he knew it, he was almost lying on top of the bar as he found his hand being vigorously shaken by the young man.

"You've got yourself a deal, Mr. Hoss!" Raphael said, as he let go of the old man, fearing he had bruised him in his outburst of familiarity, but this sort of weird behavior was expected from Travelers. Besides, written contracts were rare in small villages, so a handshake would be enough to seal any deal and anyone who violated a deal they had shook one would become a social outcast.

Hoss massaged his hand for a bit, before going to the back for a minute. He came back with a quill, a small bottle of ink and a piece of paper. After a few painful minutes of watching the old man write out letters that looked more like worms than symbols, Raphael received the signed and sealed letter, to which he nodded with gratefulness to the old man. The innkeeper gave him general directions to the mayor's residence, before he shooed him away. The inn closed shortly after, a wild laughter coming and going from the kitchen.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

In front of the Mayor's residence, a two-story house made almost entirely out of stone, Raphael had stopped to arrange his thoughts. He had one task on his mind right now, and that was getting the most out of the meeting with the mayor.

'I've got the letter of introduction from Hoss, for whatever it's worth. He was a bit cryptic, so there might be something more to this meeting…,' Raphael's thought wandered as he tried to recall how Hoss had acted during their conversation.

Shaking his head a few times to dispel the useless train of thought, Raphael used the knocker on the house's wooden door, lightly banging it. The knocker was shaped in the form of an eagle, but it was roughly made and had started to rust.

The front door opened, a man at least a head taller than Raphael behind it, looking down on the Thief like a proverbial Titan. The man was wearing fine clothes made from a dark and satin-like material.

"May I help you?" the man asked.

Holding out the curled up and sealed piece of paper, Raphael answered, "Good day, I am Mr. Lefevre and I would like to have a meeting with the mayor. This letter from Mr. Hoss of the Dwarf's Stubble Inn should clear things up."

The tall man accepted the letter, but did not open it. Holding it with one hand, he motioned Raphael inside with the other, standing a bit to the side to make way.

"Please sit here, I shall be back with an answer shortly."

Raphael did as he was told, sitting down in one of an oak chair. He flinched, as the chair was all wood, with not so much as a cushion to sit on.

'Even in a fantasy world, we still manage to add a realistic bureaucracy.' Raphael noted to himself.

The man had led him through a small vestibule-like space, before entering a 'waiting room' of sorts. The room was empty, with only a few chairs surrounding a small table. There were two windows from the vestibule's side and three doors - the one they came through, and two others on the opposite side. The tall man, who had not introduced himself, had gone through the right-side door, closing it quickly behind himself. Raphael had not had time to even take a peek.

The door in question creaked open, as the man came back and said, "The Mayor will see you now, Mr. Lefevre. Please follow me."

Raphael nodded and silently followed. Soon, he was in another room, watching the mayor of Blue River Village as she was hastily writing down something in a leather-bound notebook. After a few minutes of not being paid attention to, Raphael had finally had enough and faked a cough.

Peering up from behind the desk filled with stray papers and books, the young woman sized him up.

"Just a second, Mr. Traveler." she said as she once again ignored him and continued scribbling.

Raphael was slightly irked by the comically-realistic situation, but he kept his expression serene and as neutral as possible. Only once had he made the mistake of angering a bureaucrat and he had dearly regretted it afterwards. Raygo Blacktooth had been banned from entering a Kingdom, using any of its three trading routes and even from visiting the famed Hanging Elephants Bridge.

As if by command, the young lady put away her quill and stood up, coming towards Raphael. With a glance, he could guess that she was probably in her mid or late twenties. She had chestnut hair and brown eyes and her height was about 1 meter and 70 centimeters, which was taller than most of the people he had seen in Blue River.

"Acting Mayor Sigil Dawn, a humble servant of Her Majesty, Queen Sayre," she said, as she stopped in front of him. "Mr. Hoss had very interesting things to say about you. It seems we might have a small problem."