Lando-3

You got this Arun. You got this. After boasting about his self-confidence, he stared into the eyes of the barkeep and asked, "They might be on the island," he whispered, "Also, why the hell are we whispering?"

The barkeep looked left and right and then whispered back, "I thought this was a secret mission,"

"That it is," he nodded, "But I am sure no one from this place would help Earthlings now.. Would they?"

The barkeep looked rather nervous, gesturing towards the staff door on the other side of the bar, "Why dont you come inside? And we would talk there,"

Arun felt that there was something wrong there. But he was so deep into his cover, that just went on with it. First, the barkeep vanished from his post, and he soon followed him behind.

Behind the door was a hallway, which led to the kitchen of the place. In that hallway was a door, whose entrance was waiting for him. The old man gestured for him to get inside, which he promptly followed.

The old man led to a cozy. The place was riddled with rolls of parchment, neatly kept in racks around the office. There was a mahogany desk in the middle of the room, with two chairs opposite to head chair. The most eye-catching thing in the place was a painting that was hung behind the head chair. And for some reason, the painting seemed very familiar to him.

"I might have some news," the old man, who had taken the main seat behind the desk spoke, "The news about people that might be helping the Barbarians,"

Intrigued, he sat down in front of the old man, "Any news that could help me get close to resistance would be rewarded appropriately," But a part of his focus once again went to the painting.

"Well, I have this theory… Well, not a theory, but a….." The old man started mumbling, but Arun's full focus was on the painting behind the old man.

It was not a great painting in any sense. The painting portrayed a big wave of water, one could see a snow-capped mountain way in the back of the painting. And the thing was, he was getting a feeling that the mountain in the painting was Mount Fuji. And this painting was a replica of one of the most famous paintings of the mountain. He was not sure whether this was a real thing, because the quality of the painting was not that great. And there was no way of telling if the painting was a replica. So he figured that he might as well ask the old man about the painting.

"I will look into those guys," he said, "And if your information turns out to be true… You will be rewarded,"

The old man smiled, "What kind of reward can I be expecting?"

Arun chuckled at the question, "See here is the thing… First I would have to see how useful information was. Only then a suitable reward would be decided for you. On the other hand, if your information does not bear any fruit, then you should be ready. I nor my men are going to do anything to you. But the people of the city might… Because when we would be done with that family, they would in a world a lot of pain."

The old man laughed, "Dont worry about the city folk. They won't try to do anything to me,"

Then Arun leaned and asked, "Now.. Talk to me about the island. Before coming here, I have heard things about it. And I am wondering how much of it is true?"

The old man leaned back, "That. I cannot say for sure. In my lifetime I have heard several tales about that island. They say Omeron used to live there at one point in time. Some say that Omeron was born there. Which is why the island is barren, its soil is black and no living being can survive there,"

"Is that true?" he asked while genuinely being scared.

"Nah!" the old man said outright, "Land of the island is poisoned, that much is true. Adam, the Great himself once went to the island to explore it. According to him, the land is dead. But it is not poisonous to go there. But the land is creepy as hell. Most people of the town are chicken to even go there…"

What? Chicken… This mother fucker. He cursed but didnt show any reaction at the time.

But then asked, "Chicken? What do you mean by chicken?"

The old man looked rather flustered, "Nothing. In this old age, I sometimes say random things. Doesn't mean anything,"

He also shrugged and showed the old man that he didnt care. And the old barkeep also bought his acting. 

There are a lot of things in this world that dosent make sense. And there are a lot of beings in this world that were not present back on Earth. Chicken is an animal that is not present here. But the old man knew about a slang that could not originate in this world. Combined with the old painting back there, he started suspecting that the old man was an Earthling. To confirm his suspicion, he asked..

"Who drew this painting?" he said.

"My daughter did," the man replied, "It is good right?"

"….. Sure." He said, making the old man angry a little bit.

But through the old man's reaction, he realized crucial information. Either this old man was an Earthling, or his daughter was an Earthling. So he figured, while he was here, he should investigate this guy. Maybe he might hit the jackpot.