The Portrait

After Claire left the inn, only Zed and Alex were remaining on the ground floor. Everyone went to finish their tasks. Alex turned his back around. He was leaving for the first floor. Zed looked back and called for Alex before he leaves. "Wait! Sir Alex!"

Alex paused. He turned around and said, "What? Do you need something?"

"Umm..." Zed hesitated at first. He thought Alex would not listen to his request. But it was something important to him… He looked straight into his eyes; with his eyes full of expectation and said, "C-Could you please lend me a dagger and a cloak? I'll return it to you at night. I promise!"

"Sure! Why not!" Alex gave a swift reply. "Wait a minute, let me bring them down for you."

He went to the first floor to bring the cloak and the dagger…

— —

He came down and handed over the cloak and dagger to Zed. "Here, take this. I don't need them back, they are yours from today onwards."

Zed had a bright smile on his face. He caressed them. Even though they were not made of some high-quality material but they looked precious to him. The cloak had embroidered boundaries. The dagger was of shining black color; it looked simple yet elegant.

He bowed down to Sir Alex and said, "I'll pay for them when I get back!"

Zed didn't know the actual cost of those things. After all, he has never bought anything in this life. He only lived in a village far-far away from this world...

Alex stared blankly at his face. He was shocked after seeing that how Zed doesn't want to owe someone. "HAHAHAHA... You don't have to pay for them! They have little value. And even if you pay me back, I won't accept it."

Zed was a little hesitant, but he decided not to pay Alex back, as he did not know the actual cost of the dagger and cloak...

He wore the cloak; it was touching the ground. He rolled the sleeves up to his wrist and hid the dagger inside the cloak. He then lifted the hood to cover his head...

Alex scanned him from top to bottom and said with a serious expression, "Hmm… Maybe I should've asked Davy for a cloak."

This sudden comment startled Zed. But his surprise quickly turned into anger, which he barely suppressed; just enough so that Alex wouldn't notice. He had to put up with it and show a good face as of right now. He gave an awkward smile and said, "HAHA… I'm okay with this. I grow up faster than you think."

Zed quickly turned around and took quick big steps to the main door of the inn. Alex watched him leaving the inn, but before stepping out of the door, he paused and quickly turned back and asked, "By the way; Sir, please mind telling me the name of the inn."

"The Wandering Winds Inn!" he replied.

"Thanks, then I'm taking my leave." He waved his hand and rushed out of the door.

He was not sure of the location of the inn. He only had a rough idea of the position of the inn from the market.

Zed avoided silent streets. His goal was to return before it gets dark. He followed the rough map to the market drawn by Elan. The market was close to Wandering Winds; it took only 15 minutes for him to set foot on the market grounds…

He wandered around the busy streets, trying to locate the inn. They recently opened the inn for poor commoners and travelers, and that's why it didn't have a name…

On his way to the inn, he saw some of Madam Rose's people searching for him. They were running around with a wanted poster like a Sheriff looking for criminals would. And it's the opposite of what was happening…

He covered his face with the hood and passed quietly from there. He heard those men; they were inquiring about him….

"Hey! Have you seen him??!!" they shoved the poster on the shopkeeper's face. They acted like thugs and rouges.

"N-No." he stuttered. The shopkeeper's hands were sweating, he was petrified.

*PTOOEY*

A thug with a good build was leading them. He spat on his shop and commenced towards the next shop with the lackeys… They were trying their very best to collect every piece of information possible; on Zed.

Those posters were flying everywhere. Those portraits caused a hullabaloo in the market. People were curious about this mysterious boy.

Zed picked up that piece of paper from the ground. It was a peculiar sketch. Everything was black and white except the eyes. They were shining like an emerald. It seemed like a real emerald was embedded inside the sketch. Although it was nothing compared to the real thing, it was enough to pique the citizens' curiosity.

Zed sneaked away from the market…

— —

*Huff* *Huff*

He ran and ran… He was out of breath... He didn't realize that he has come outside the market grounds. The strength of the crowd was decreasing as he took each step away from the market… He was speed walking...

He took the street to his right. He turned his head sideways while walking; to look for the inn…

He suddenly realized that he has left his targeted site behind. He paused and reversed backward slowly. His face showed sudden startlement… "Ah-! It is here!"

He couldn't believe that he finally found the inn. The scorching sun wore him off. He was drenched in sweat. He bent his knees and put both of the hands-on the knees to relax them. He wiped off the sweat flowing down from his head with his hands...

*Huff…* He took a deep breath and went directly to his room on the first floor.

He dropped the hood down over his head. While he was packing his stuff, he noticed that it was a silent day; he was missing something…

"Gasp!.." After a few seconds; he realized that he has completely forgotten him. He hastily took out Mr. Joker from his pant's pocket and scanned him…

Joker was still in a deep sleep. He grabbed him in his hands and shook him, and shouted at "HEY! WAKE UP!!". He was waiting for his response but he didn't waver...

"Hey,... wake up…" He was worried about him. His mood dropped… He caressed Joker and glanced at him with his sorrowful eyes….

Time was running out, there was no time to spare. Asgard was no longer safe for him.

He thought; he should give some time to Joker to wake up because he overused his abilities at the Auction House. He placed him inside his pocket and resumed his work. He placed the box inside the bag and went to the ground floor. He paid the receptionist 3 silver coins and checked out of the inn…

Even though it took him three hours to find the inn, it was not far away from Wandering Winds…

He followed the path back without getting noticed. The market streets were still full of his portraits. His sketches covered the entire view of the market… He became the hot topic among the people.

He went through the bustling streets of the market and took some silent streets…. He avoided running into any stranger on the way.

— —

Zed finally reached his destination. He entered the ground floor of the inn… "Sigh…!" He took a sigh of relief and directly went upstairs. He was relieved. He didn't get to use the dagger on anyone…

He met Davy in the corridor… He was walking in the corridor while looking at the floor. It looked like he was pondering about something… Davy seemed worried.

"Are you okay, Sir Davy?" A man in black asked him.

"Hm..." Davy was confused. He scanned him from top to bottom, and their eyes met. "Ah! It's you!" he got startled.

Zed tilted his head right and said, "Are you worried about something, Sir?"

"Ah-! No. Let me show you the way to your room." He changed the topic. "And drop the formalities with me. Just call me Davy!… Come down after unpacking your things."

It was a big room with 5 beds. Zed went inside the room and removed his cloak. He sat on the bed and thought that something was off with Davy…

The atmosphere didn't seem right. Zed knew that people of the mercenary group were hiding something from him…