Chapter 10

It wasn't fun hauling a drunk person, some might find amusement in the drunken ravings of one who is inebriated but Othello found no such amusement as he towed Cassio along. The handsome youth was barely walking with his hand being carried over Othello shoulder and his breath smelling of wine, his other free hand was grasping the air weakly trying to grab hold of a magic jug that appeared just before his eyes that he just couldn't reach. His eyes playing tricks on him Cassio had tried to kiss Othello once or twice taking him for a beautiful woman which rather flattered Othello. "Ahsu…. ve….. bread....nine…" said Cassio incoherently, "No, no, I think you have had enough wine for today."answered Othello, "Yevo... dun….n…n.. nue… tha", "Yes, yes I do, now just walk straight would you!", "Owo... ma….. uers", "Well if you don't want me to get any LOUDER THEN WALK STRAIGHT!", "nw...nwww ehoo", "WHY?!", "Ca…. I…dun…onea", "BLAST IT ALL." shouted Othello scaring a couple of birds seating on the stone bridge that lead to Mondstadt, they fled from him as he crossed the bridge with Cassio in hand and landed on the lake blow beating their legs to swim off leaving a trail of small ripples behind.

"Wy... yu...so….main darln" said Cassio somewhat comprehensibly now, "Well if you must know I just had to deal with the drunken lot of you and then some."answered Othello then tugged hard on Cassio for emphasis, Alcoholics, Avid Alcoholics all thought Othello. Biance, Desdemona, Rodrigo, Cassio, Iago and even Emilia jumped at the chance to drink wine when it was offered, one of the people they were helping set up a stall offered them samples of the wine to be sold at the festival as thanks. Inevitably however those samples became one to many and now here he was dragging Cassio back to Mondstadt, everyone else was at least sober enough to make their own way back home except for maybe Rodrigo and Desdemona those 2 for whatever reason were drinking with wild abandon. Othello hoped Iago, Emilia and Biance could get them both back home safely then went on to being disgruntled at his friends lack of restraint when drinking, he was the oldest of them all and he rarely drank alcohol while they being younger than him seem to really want to punish their livers. It got to a point that Othello wondered if there was any truth to the saying that being born and breed in Mondstadt gives a person a liver of steel and an august audacity. The latter part he had seen for himself but truth be told however that 'august audacity' can be just plane old stupidity at times.

"Hhw...bout....a…..kass….dhan ah?"asked Cassio, "No, nah, nope, no kisses Cas, your breath reeks." answered Othello as they made it half way through the bridge. "Cume…un...a…kass…from…..meh….alwas… warks….cool….down…..angy….wamen.", "Ain't a woman friend sorry to disappoint.", "Cume….un….ju…..wan….kass….ah?", "No kisses Cas, get off it.". "Oh…cume..on…", Cassio brought his free hand from its search for the magic jug to hold Othello's cheek and turned his friends face towards him. What greeted Othello's eyes would have no doubt made any woman's heart skip a beat, Cassio's face was close to his own, it was well defined and handsome caught perfectly in the light of the setting sun that made his eyes sparkle. His lips slightly open for a kiss showing the pitch white of his upper teeth which Othello could almost swear reflected sun light, Othello acknowledge all this and also acknowledged the smell of wine oozing out of Cassio's lips that made him turn away to rescues his nose from it. To the abyss with this handsome prick he thought since he couldn't help but be jealous of him, he suspected that Emilia, Biance and Desdemona all have a crush on him which was but one of many reasons he was jealous of Cassio. 

Othello was ambushed by an evil thought that sprang from his envy which suggested he leave Cassio where he was on the bridge and let him find his own way home but he beat back this thought though it had the element of surprise. Whatever his jealousies or envies Cassio has always been his friend, his oldest friend really, he knew Cassio before he knew any of his other merry band of friends. So he kept on the path through the bridge as Cassio drunkenly said something along the lines of 'your so mean' and let his hand fall to his side. Othello lamented his friend's sobriety and that of the others as well hoping once more that they get home safely then sighed to himself thinking about the days fun before wine got involved. Desdemona had lost at TCG again which was typical but she didn't throw anything at anyone this time so it was progress, Emilia cheated Iago out of some mora by tricking him into arm wrestling her with a handicap so Iago came out of the whole affair a few mora short and with a wounded pride to boot.

Rodrigo strangely seemed a bit out of it but that didn't stop him from going off the deep end like he usually does and tackling a boar when it got loose from it pen at spring vale, he seemed to relish penning it down as it tried to get away, Othello and Cassio tried to help him with the boar but Rodrigo waved them off wanting to do it himself. Which he did, soon returning the boar to its owner. The real highlight of the day to everyone except Othello was Biance who found a man that needed help setting up his stall, one thing lead to another and then they all got drunk. It didn't help that Biance kept insisting on more samples, what was more surprising and to the point was the stall owners willingness to waste such product when the festival was so near. Othello looked at his friend who had returned to his search for the magic jug and wondered how his friends will act during the actual festival if this was how they acted now, Knowing them they will probably make today look like the pinnacle of responsible drinking thought Othello.

Weather that would be a fun spectacle to see or an unmitigated disaster Othello didn't know but curious as ever he would wait to see which it would be. And with that out of the way his mind cleared and he focused on getting Cassio home then himself, finally reaching the great winding gates of Mondstadt the sentries greeted him first with silence as they dutifully stood at their posts on either side of the entrance to the city. Then one of the sentries moved to his front and was about to ask for his and Cassio's identification when Othello produced both his and Cassio's gliding licenses to him. The sentry nodded in appreciation and took the licenses from Othello's hand inspected them then handed them back to him and waved him along with Cassio, just as he meant to enter the city however the sentry said to him "The kid seems a bit too young to be drinking." referring to the clearly drunk Cassio. Othello responded "Well his over 15 sir.", "So he is, honestly we should really raise the drinking age to at least 18 or 19." said the sentry with finality and that would have been the end of the interaction had Othello resisted the urge to say "I was actually thinking along the same lines while I was carrying my friend here.".

The sentry looked at him more thoroughly now, "Really? How old are you?", Did he not look at my licenses ? wondered Othello before answering "20, sir", "You look as sober as a judge. And him?", "His 17 sir", "I take it you don't drink very often.", "Rarely sir and only if it tastes good.", "Ah a man after my own heart, you see I am not the only one." that last part was aimed at the sentry's colleague. "Yay, yay, you have made your case." said the other sentry before turning to Othello "You carrying that friend of yours home?" he asked, "Yes sir."answered Othello. The other sentry then just nodded and turned to his companion and Othello saw something pass between them as the first sentry he had talked to scoffed and looked away. 

Figuring that the sentries go way back Othello said "Having troubles in the marriage?", they both laughed at that and Othello smiled, Cassio for his part tried to cover his ears having been steered by the noise but funnily enough he covered his one ear with his free hand while the arm round Othello's shoulder tried to move through his neck to cover Cassio's other ear which didn't work out so well. "You could say that." answered the first sentry "This one here expects me to walk him home every time he gets drunk.", "Wouldn't kill you would it." muttered the second sentry in response, "I am not your keeper Erwin.", "Never said you were but it is a given that friends should help each other when one or more are heavy with drink.".

"I help enough making sure you don't spend too much on wine and I don't even drink that much so me going with you to the pub is a favor in of itself.", "And yet you can't help me back home after doing all that?", "Yeah.", "Why?". "I believe I can answer that." interjected Othello, the sentries both turned to him and he continued "I am guessing that your friend here also has other people he interacts with in  the pub. So it would be a bit tedious for him to talk to them and keep an eye on your spending if what I heard him say was correct, added to that walking you home after all that would seem to him at least as asking to much. As for me and my friend here I can only say that he doesn't get drunk all the much."

The first sentry nodded vigorously at Othello's assessment and said "Yes, yes, that is it exactly. He understands me well, as one would expect from a fellow non alcoholic, I salute you friend, you and I are comrades in this city of wine crazed lunatics." and so saying the sentry gave him the knight's salute by bring an armed fist to his chest and swinging it back down like a sword to his side, the other sentry did the same "That is for being being a good drinking companion though admittedly you don't drink." he said. Othello nodded an acknowledgement to both and walked into the city, the conversation was brief and need not have happened at all but Othello almost instinctively expanded on it as he felt being even a little familiar with some guards might come in handy. Little things like these often played a non too important role in peoples lives so cultivating them was useful and easy, at least for Othello it was. Passing into the gray walled city with Cassio in toe, Othello saw the preparations for the festivities were well under way here as well, decoration hanged between houses as more were being put up by people on ladders. Light green carpets were stretched through either side of the stairs that was in front of the entrance to the city all the way to the top of it where there was a fountain, a wishing fountain to be more precise and Othello would be lying if he said he hadn't tossed a couple of mora into it in exchange for a wish. 

Luckily for him Othello didn't need to go through all this to get to Cassio home since his house was near the city gate, so he moved to the right through the usual shopping area that would have been filled with people at any other time. But since the day was winding down to a close there were few people present and those that were present were merchants packing up their products to call it a day. Othello walked through them and soon came upon Cassio's home, a modest 2 story house much like his own except for the difference that his house was 1 story high and much wider while Cassio's house was lean and tall. Othello knocked on the door and waited a moment as he heard foot steps coming closer, due to the sound of the foot steps being light and quick Othello guessed that it was Cassio's cousin Alessia that was about to answer the door. This proofed to be correct when the door finally opened to show a young girl in a flowing blue dress standing in the door way with just her white socks.

She shared Cassio's ocean blue eyes and some of his facial feature but differed from him in the case of her nose and chin which were much wider then his, the biggest difference however was her hair which was a combination of red and black appearing in streaks like the fur of some rare Sumerian tiger. Alessia recognized Othello immediately and was about to greet him when she looked at Cassio whose arm was slung over his shoulders, she sighed "How much did he drink?" she asked with a voice that seemed a bit too deep for her age. "Not that much if I am being honest, I would say the wine itself was a bit too strong for him.", "Wouldn't be the first time either, honestly he really doesn't know when to stop. Thanks for bringing him home anyway and sorry for the trouble." said Alessia as she took Cassio's other arm and hauled him inside the house with Othello.

Laying Cassio on a couch in the living room Alessia asked if Othello wanted anything to drink, he declined the offer and told her he only came to see Cassio safely home then asked her a question of his own. "Where are mom and dad?"he asked, having known Cassio and his family for so long Othello referred to his parents the same way he would refer to his own which had become a habit of his. "Out and about shopping." answered Alessia, "Your mom went with them?", "She went out but not with them, her shift at the cats tail starts at night so she went out when she saw the sun was setting.", "How long ago did she leave?". "About 30 minutes ago, you sure you don't want a drink?", "Positive" said Othello turning to look at Cassio getting comfortable on the couch and groaning something about how small the 'bed' was.

Alessia gave up on the suggestion and accompanied Othello back to the door where she asked "I heard from Cas that you are on vacation, is that true?", "Yeah, got a couple of months off and I have no idea how to spend them." he answered her. "Hahah, ain't that all of us?", "I guess it is, I am probably going to sleep my way through it and find out it was all over in a blink of an eye then come to regret doing nothing fun during that time, that is until the next time I get a vacation where I will promise myself to do something memorable just before repeating the cycle again.". Alessia couldn't help but laugh at the honesty, her voice which was quite deep for one so young made her laugh sound like a mother who had just seen her child do something innocently stupid. Othello smiled at her enjoying the contrast between her voice and figure "I also hear from Cas that you are about to start working as a clerk for the adventures guild" he said, Alessia's laugh slowly but surely died away enough for her to responded and she did so resolutely and with conviction "Yeah, I got a good post that pays well, hopefully with time my salary along with my mom's will allow us to scrounge enough mora together to buy a new house."

Othello knowing how touchy the subject of houses was to Alessia nearly chose the cautious approach of simply nodding along but thought better of it seeing how it would look like pity and Alessia hated being pitied. She and her mother had been living with Cassio and his family ever since Cassio's dad took them in after his brother died during the Stormterror disaster when Alessia family home collapsed.  So instead Othello chose to say "Good to hear but clerk work isn't as easy as it sounds believe me I would know, you sure you can handle it?", "Definitely," said Alessia stalwartly "Even if it proves difficult I will adapt, mom worked multiple jobs before already and adapted to each so I can too.". Othello smiled and tapped her on the shoulder "I wish you luck then and since you are so committed to this I have a feeling this might be the last time I see your hands clean, free of ink and paper cuts ." so saying Othello walked out of the house into the streets waving goodbye to Alessia behind him. She could have easily been added to Othello's list of crushes but being his closest friend's cousin made her off limits, as for the ones on his list, those numerous tormentors of his heart he had rarely braved his cautious nature long enough to speak to them as more than a friend or acquaintance. Though he could speak to them well enough in different settings the topic of maybe being romantically involved with any of them terrified him and Othello being who he was usually didn't talk of it since his heart was one of the few things he wouldn't risk.

Shaking such thought from his mind Othello focused on getting home, the sun was nearly completely gone now, ducking down into the horizon while its light still shone like a peeping tom. The shadows cast by the tall wooden buildings of the city cloaked parts of it into premature night, the orange light of the setting evening sun gave the wooden buildings an almost redish brown color as Othello walked past them. Navigating through the throng of people like before he had to duck and side step to not mess up the preparatory work people were doing for the festival. The wind was as gentle and cool as it had been that morning much to Othello's delight as he took in a breath of fresh air free of dust and any other kind of practicals that usually hutch a ride on the winds. Othello like most or maybe all Mondstadt's citizens took these winds as a sign of the Lord Barbatos's blessing.

Retracing his steps back to the city gate Othello soon made it there and went up the stone stairs careful not the get too much dirt on the light green carpet all the way up to the fountain. Turing this way and that through familiar streets Othello soon made it home, looking to either side of him to see if anyone was watching he was reassured by the fact the few people present around his neighborhood were too busy with their own affairs to pay him any mind. But regardless of their apparent disinterest he moved quickly to flip a certain leaf in the company of overgrown plants growing around the house entrance which held a key on its back side tied to it on a thin rope. 

Causally he opened the door after inserting the key then closed the door behind him, "Mom I am back." he said aloud, "ah Elo thank heavens, I was worried when didn't come over for lunch." answered his mother from the living room. "Sorry about that, got a bit carried away with friends." he said as he headed to the living room, "Haha, did you have fun?" said another voice from the living room. Ah dad is home early thought Othello "Yeah, got to get Cassio home at the end of it all though." answered Othello as he got in the living room. His father was seated on a table right across from his mom, it was the same table he had eaten his breakfast on, wearing a purple top and trousers of gray both of obvious Fontaine make his father looked to be in an excited and happy mood. " Well I have got something that will end your day on a high note." said his father, "You and I are going to Inazuma!". There was a moments hesitation in Othello as if the words of his father didn't quite register to him "HmmmmMMMM?" was all he could say as his eyes grew wide, "GODS THAT FACE!, haha, I have been seeing all kinds of faces like that today. My buddies at work had the same reaction, your mother here too, hahaha, I love it I just love it." laughed his father  slapping the table. Confusion ran rampant through Othello's mind,  Inazuma?, Why would they be going to Inazuma?, How were they going to go to Inazuma? What are they going to do when they get there?

He asked his father as much trying to get a feel for what was happening, giggling his father said "Have a seat elo and I will tell you all about it.", " I will get lunch ready in the meantime which is practically also going to be dinner." said his mother getting up from the table. "Rin, wait, I….. I can explain things to elo first then come along to help you in the kitchen.", Narin looked at her husband with indignation "Aban I admit I have gotten rusty but I sure as blazing winds haven't gotten incompetent." she said. " You sure?", "Yes I am sure! I cooked a fine meal for Othello just this morning.", Othello nodded to confirm his mother's claim. "And besides I am the one who taught how to cook remember?", "No you didn't I, I knew how to cook long before I meet you.", "Aban what you were doing wasn't cooking it was.... it was... I don't even know what to call it.".

Aban held up his hands and dropped the subject as Narin went to the kitchen, he turned his head to his son "Anyways let me explain all that happened today. You see a while back I was buying a lot of wine from the dawn winery on the cheap I am sure you remember that with how much Rin was enjoying them.", Othello did indeed remember his mom taking out some of the wine his dad bought or rather stoke pilled to drink, much to his annoyance, luckily she wasn't a chronic alcoholic like most people in the city so it wasn't too much of a problem. "Yeah? What does that have to do with us going to Inazuma?" he asked, "Well you see a couple months ago Inazuma had something called the Irodori festival where they invited people from across Tevyat in a sort of large cultural exchange event after the Sakoku degree was lifted. All sorts of people came and did what people usually do in these sort of festivals what is important to us was that the heads of the Tenryou commission really and I mean REALLY enjoyed Mondstadt wine.". It all came together in Othello's mind just then and the realization on his face pleased his father Aban.

"You are going to sell them the wine you got from master Diluc, the prices for them were discounted so I am guessing you are going to have the people of Inazuma buy them from you at either the normal price or a  higher price." said Othello, Aban shook his head with a smile "That is a good idea and a sign that you learned well from me but in this case it wouldn't work. The customs officials at the port of Rituo are quite thorough, lots of cheeky merchants got arrested when they tried doing that probably because the heads of the tenryou commission have contacts and business partners abroad. What I have planned my dear Elo is a trade.". Othello raised an eye brow at that "Trade? What are you going to trade wine for?" he asked being puzzled, "Bones my boy, bones." Aban answered "But not just any bones, the bones they will be trading us are the bones of a god.". Othello at this point was completely at a loss so narrowing his eye at his father he begun to suspect that his dad was teasing him with pieces of info on purpose to see his reaction which was quite a theme in his family.

Sighing Othello inquired "And why exactly would the Inazumans agree to trade wine for the bones of a god? Also who is this god even anyway?", "The god himself I hear was a large serpent the Electro Archon killed during the Archon war and ever since it died its corpse rested on one of Inazuma's many islands which the Tenryou commission have been mining for centuries maybe even millennia I am not exactly sure about the time frame though, but that doesn't matter what matters is that it is very routine for them, it is so routine for them in fact that they are shocked when outsiders are shocked by the fact their weapons are made out of the bones of a dead god.", "They make their weapons from a god's bones?!" said Othello in alarm being outraged by this sacrilege even though he wasn't particularly religious.

Aban waved his hand at his son in a gesture that told him to calm down, "Yes they make weapons out of the god's bones as well as other stuff but mostly weapons. Which is exactly why I have made a deal with a certain noble house named Imunlaukr who are quite the weapon enthusiasts.". "Wait did you just say the Imunlaukr?", "Yes, really liked their clan head when he invited me over to discuss my trade permit, a very libr---", "Hold on, hold on just stop for a moment." intergeted Othello both his hands in the air. "Ok now, I thought I heard you say Imunlaukr, did I hear the name correctly?", now it was Aban's turn to raise a brow "Yes, what of it?" he asked.

"Hehe, haha, oh hahaah." laughed Othello a little at the coincidence and rubbed his chin, "I have a friend that works for the family, she came here with her dad to attend the clan." he said, "Really?" asked Aban his eyes sparkling with the possibilities for profit, knowing him all to well Othello cut off his fathers train of thought "Dad whatever you are going to ask of me to do it is not happening because firstly she is a dear friend,  secondly because even if I did try something she would reject it out right and it might cost me her company forever.", "Alright, alright I won't insist then. But do consider getting some bits of info.", " I will consider it." responded Othello already knowing full well he wasn't going to do anything of the sort. "Anyways lets get back on topic, I have already figured out for myself how you got the trading permit since you mentioned the heads of the Tenryou commission loved Mondstadt wine  what I don't get is the head of the Imunlaukr clan inviting you to a personal audience. I mean why would he feel the need to seat down with you face to face? He could have just sent a trusted servant to make the deal for him."

"Well as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, the lord baron of house Imunlaukr is a very liberal man, at least as liberal as an aristocrat can be anyway and deals with such things like his family reputation for weaponry very personally. So when he asked to speak with me for the grounds on a deal I got the impression that he was a man of his word who wasn't as stuck up and narcissistic as most aristocrats. Armed with this knowledge I made a risky play, I requested that upon completion of delivery that he inducte our family into the nobility." explained Aban. Othello turned this all over in his head, the strings his father had to pull and connect to make this all happen were truly impressive and he couldn't help but admire the effort. He thought to ask about the cornerstone of this whole operation which was Master Diluc's wine, what exactly had his father done to get the Ragnvinder wine so cheaply he wondered but after thinking more on it he realized that he was probably not going to get an answer even if he asked. He figured that the deal his father had with Diluc Ragnvinder was of the same nature as the one he has with the blue eye patched Knight and therefore would either defect if asked or not answer at all.

And so instead Othello asked "And how did he take to the request?", Aban rubbed the back of his head before answering "To be honest he was a bit skeptical at first since the other houses would have a say in the matter and pointed out to me that the other house will most probably not agree to it. But I was able to convince him that all I needed was his support to make our families induction a reality.", "And do we really only need his support?", "Yes, no worries on that front, my chief worry was the lord barons refusal not anything else, the rest of the houses won't be in any position to deny us.". Hearing the confidence in his father's voice Othello chose to take him at his word and shock finally hit him full blast afterward, if all this worked his life and that of his families would change forever. He rested his elbows on the table and brought his hands together in front of his face reconsidering his perception of his own future.

This was all very sudden and so Aban knew to leave his son to his thoughts as he himself got up to light the lanterns around the house since night was falling steadily. When he got back to the living room Aban found his son still in deep contemplation which wasn't surprising so instead of taking his original seat across from his son Aban opted to help his wife in the kitchen. Nasrin gave him the look one would give to an intruder once he got there and he held up his hands in truce, Rin scoffed before gesturing with her head to some vegetables she wanted chopped. Throughout their preparations for dinner Aban kept an eye on Othello as the young man shifted in his seat every so often like he was  grappling with some invisible thing. When dinner was finally served Aban noticed Rin had given their son a particular large plate with lots of delectable meals. Since he hadn't eaten lunch Rin figured her son was starving, the guess seemed plausibly enough when seeing how Othello fell on his food like a beast but this food was more food for thought if anything else.