Chapter 31: Discoveries in Dale: A Charming Welcome and Unexpected Twists

" hey, hey, wake up. We're here. Why are you shaking. "

I opened my eyes to find Healy standing above me. "are you okay? Wake up. "

I rose from the ground. " there you go. You were dreaming.... Was it a nightmare? " 

I replied" yeah, kind of. "

" Well, not even the storm could wake you. I was worried. "

" Where am I ? "

" It's Captain's cabin. We took you here when you got sick."

" Thank you. So.... Are we there? "

" Yeah, everybody has already Left to dale. Captain said you have five minutes to get out. She was very pissed with your ' moanings'.

Do you think it's hard to Navigate the ship? "

" Sorry, I'm not in the mood to hijack the ship. "

Haley Start laughing" when will you learn to get when I'm joking and when I'm serious. "

" We should spend more time together if you want me to do that. "

" Are you offering me a date? "

" I do not dare to stand between you and local library. But maybe after you learn all about dale."

She blushed and replied" maybe, who knows... "

" Ahhhh, you're killing me. "

" Then I'd better get out of a crime scene. And you'd better get going too. Captain said she'd feed you to the sharks If you don't leave. "

" Do you think there Are sharks in the lake? "

" Would you be surprised? Anyway, bye"

Haley stood up and departed.. Maybe she's right. Look at her go. Well, I should probably go too. I'll think about crazy old witch inside of my mind later. Don't want it to ruin my weekend. 

I disembark from the ship, greeted by pleasant weather. Confident it will be a wonderful weekend, 

Elijah approaches me. " Hey James there you are. Did you sleep well?" 

" do you know yet? "

" Sure, the Captain's been grumbling and complaining about you the whole way. I'm surprised that Haley could Talk her into it all. 

Anyway, are you okay? "

" I just got seasick. I'm fine now. "

" I'm just going into town to give you a mini tour? "

" Sure, it'll be awesome " 

" Great, then follow me. I know as much about this town as I do about my hometown. "

Sounds promising . We walked into the city " what a beauty. "

" Yeah, it's a nice piece of architecture, isn't it? "

" I love it, I wish I had a camera with me "

" What's wrong with a phone ?"

I answered" a phone camera can't capture that kind of beauty."

" Maybe you can find yourself a new camera in the chompski shop "

" What's that? "

" It's a local store. It's mostly just stuff. But they bring in everything on request."

" I got it, I don't think I have enough money for a new camera, but it's worth a look. "

" Speaking of places to look. See that sign to the right. "

I turned to gaze. " spa? "

" Other than that one time in Thailand, it was the best massage I've ever had. "

" I'm not much of a massage guy, to be honest " 

" Oh Trust me, bro. This one's worth a try. Come on, I'll show you a nice hotel. It's really close. "

" Thanks for showing me around, Elijah. You're a good headman" 

Elijah smiled" ah-ha-ha, you really think so. "

We strolled until we reached a building. " here we are. "

" Where to? "

" Were you looking at my ass instead of looking around? ( That's a weird thing to say ) The daily lee apartments. This is the hotel I was talking about. 

It's pretty cozy. And you can ask about student discounts"

" Sound great. Thank you"

" That was the end of our micro-excursion. I'm going this way. "

" Thank you so much again. "

" No problem, I'll show you the rest of the city some other time. "

" All right. "

As I turned to enter the hotel, Elijah halted me in my tracks. " james, wait. I almost forgot the most important thing. "

He directed my attention to an archway . " do you see the archway? "

" Yeah,"

" There's the hottest nightclub in town around the corner. Lady luck. The guard's a dick. But if you can get in.... I highly suggest you check out sadira's, it's..... Unforgettable . "

" Whoa... Cool. Thanks for the tip. Bro" 

" You're welcome. "

I stepped into the hotel, a quaint local establishment. A girl at the reception, engrossed in reading, caught my eye; she radiated a charming presence.

" Hi" I wonder if they have students discount. And it looks like it's going to be pretty cozy to sleep here. 

" Hello, welcome to the daily ly apartments. My name is mina. How I May address you? "

" Nice to meet you, my name is James "

" James, are you looking for a room for the night? " 

" You're not a magician by any chance, are you? "

She replied" no. Why?"

" It's just that you read my mind so skilfully. "

‌She smiles " hee hee.( What a cutie) Most of our rooms are being renovated right now. The mage party after the elemntalist conference got out of hand. " 

" I'm sorry to hear that"

" It happens. The perk of doing business in dale. So right now we only have simple one-bed rooms available. "

" I See, so how much it's usually for the room? "

" 200$ a night " 

How much???, damn " I see thank you " 

Before leaving she spoke " is there anything else I can help you with? "

" You were reading so passionately that it made me want to read it myself. What's the book called?"

She blushed and start mumbling" oh.. h.... h... It's nothing. " Why are you blushing so much? I can still see the title of the book out of the corner of my eye. Delta of Venus? Isn't that the name of a collection of pron novels? You're not as innocent as you look. Mina.... 

" That's a shame. I was just looking for some bedtime reading to help me sleep better. "

"..... Sorry, nothing interesting comes to mind "

I realized I forgot to inquire about the student discount. Nonetheless, I decided to approach the girl at the reception and ask her about it now.

" I was wondering if you have a discount for academy students?"

" Oh, so you're a student? You wouldn't know, I thought you were an adventurer. "

Hmmm. Why would I be? " The two don't interfere with each other. "

" Of course it does not. In fact, we do have a multi-year agreement with nortale. Beds in shared room are free for freshman. When they are available. "

" Oh that's good to hear. "

" Is there anything else I can help you with?"

" Probably not. Thank you mina. "

" Anytime " 

With a place to rest secured, it's time to explore this city.