15 Chapter 14

Next day

Auron and Marlena woke up early. They ate their breakfast and stroll around the western district. They browse some wares and managed to buy a few things. They didn't buy any seeds yet since they can get them in Tyrosh where they would seperate heading in their own journey. Auron will stay in Essos to explore more while Marlena will travel accross the sea to establish her business in White Harbor. In Auron's opinion, White Harbor is a good place to start his business. They can easily buy barley from Reach, then they would transform it into a fine beer. They also plan to establish a new tavern in White Harbor where they could sell food from the modern world. He will just have to teach Marlena how to make them before she leave for Westeros and start the business.

Among the things they bought, he managed to find a few peculiar things. One of his favorite is the dragon bone he bought for 10 gold coins. He didn't care about the price or if he was scammed. He just had a strong feeling that it is a real dragon bone and he was so fascinated by it. Can you imagine? This 12 inch piece of bone in his hand was once part of a colossal creature that brings terror and chaos. He's like a kid who saw a cool gundam toy for the first time.

They roam the streets like a tourist, trying some delicacy here and there. Auron even caught three attempts of pickpocket kids flicking their nose as a punishment until they turn red.

In the afternoon, they came back to the blacksmith shop to buy an armor. They didn't do it on the first day because it require some fittings which took time and they are already dead tired at that time.

Auron chose a leather armor for a simple defense. He tried a dozen of them before deciding on a dark brown sleeveless leather armor.

After shopping for a whole day, Auron realized that his money is depleting rapidly. His initial money was 300 gold plus his pension of 50 gold from the retirement. Now, only 303 gold remains. Even though he still have more few hundred gold coins, for him it was still depleting fast. It was just their second day and they already spent almost 50 gold. Auron decided that this couldn't continue so he thought of plan to earn while traveling. The plan is what he is good at and that's storytelling.

Along the way returning to the inn, Auron bought a lute and scouted the location of the pub. They didn't enter it, just looking at it from a far, memorizing the route towards the establishment.

When the night came, Auron went to the pub adorn with his cloak with hood covering his head. With his get up, he attracts a lot cautious gaze from the drunkards. He brought his lute with him but he didn't start right away. He just sat there at the corner, eating his dinner and quietly drinking his ale.

After eating his fill and finishing his mug, he went towards the owner of the pub and sat down at the front counter.

"My goodman, I look around yer pub and it feels like it's rather bleak. There's something missing here which hinders your business tonight."

"What are you yapping about, lad? I don't see anything wrong in my pub."

"No no no.. it seems that we're having some kind of misunderstanding here my goodman. I didn't say there's something wrong in your pub. What I said is there's something missing that loses the liveliness of your pub. No worries though, I got a solution for ya, interested hearing me out?" Auron put the best Jordan Belfort smile in his face while activating 'Eloquence'.

The owner of the pub looked around at his customers then he look back at Auron. He thought for moment before nodding.

"Alright, lad you have my ears."

"Excellent choice my good man. You see, I happen to be good at stories and music. If you allow me, I could perform here attracting more customers for you. Just nod your head and I'll do the rest. I'll share five percent of my earnings to you when I'm done. What say you?"

"Ten."

"What?"

"I said ten percent and I'll let you."

"Greedy aren't we? You're not doing anything, just standing there doing your usual work and then you'll earn additional money and you still want ten percent?"

"My pub brat. My rules."

"Ahhh.. then we're going to have a problem my friend. The other pub down the block offered three percent, maybe I'll just go over there then. Pleasure meeting you."

Without hesitation, Auron turned around to leave the pub.

Seeing his potential moneymaker walking away, the owner gritted his teeth and relented eventually.

"Fine! Fine! One-fifth, no coin less."

Auron made a beautiful turn around before beaming with a smile.

"Splendid. Now if you'll excuse me, I have many customers to disturb. Hehehe."

Auron, still adorned in his black cloak and hood went towards the center. He stood there conspicuous, sticking like a sore thumb. Suddenly, the pub went quiet as all the customers stared vigilantly at him.

He smiled at the effect his entrance made before saying in a loud voice.

"Good evening goodman and goldwives. May I have your attention please.. Oh I think I already have it. You may be wondering why I am standing here before you, Aye? I noticed that everyone here is having the world of their own so I'm here to shatter it and create a world where both you and I immersed in it. Say, are you interested in a story no man has ever heard? I guarantee that this will be the most interesting night you'll ever have in a pub, it will be worth your time and ale."

No one answered him but he still got all of their attention.

"Hmm..quite a reserved type, Aye? But no matter, I'll take it as Yes then."

Auron stepped forward, enough distance to engage the customers.

"Ahemm..Long long time ago.. there was once a legend from a distant sea. A terrifying legend that sailors seek in order to gain fame and glory. It is said that if you are able to claim that legend, you'll gain its riches like no other.

The legend is about a big black ship that sail the sea without any crew called The Shadow...."

He took his time unlike when he did it at the camp. He purposely slow down the progress to maintain the suspense. At first the drunkards were non-chalant, but as the story goes on, they began to immersed in the legend. Still having his hood covering his face, Auron smiled due to its success. The fishes were hooked. He didn't know how many times he heard the door of the pub opened and closed. The sound of the door became frequently that he didn't noticed the pub was full and there are others who are standing eagerly listening to his story.

One of the customers couldn't take it anymore and urge him to continue, "Quickly, what happen next? What's the story of the blind old man?"

"Ahhh~ I would love to continue but my throat seems having some problems, cough cough."

Auron grabbed an empty mug, fished out a coin and dropping it inside before coughing once again. The sound of the dropping coin fills the air and instantly all of them understood his intentions.

"Any amount you can spare will definitely help my throat relax back to normal."

A man grunted clearly annoyed of the sudden fee just to hear an unknown story but someone eventually dropped another coin to the mug until it was filled to the brim.

"Thank you so much for your patronage, since your are all enjoying my story, I'll continue.."

Auron began to play his lute like the last time. The atmosphere in the pub changed once again towards the story like he had the ability to transport them inside the tale.

Right after the song, he brought the cliffhanger ending.

"When the old blind man finished his story, my ancestor took a swig from his ale to wash away his fear but when he looked up once again, the old blind man disappeared without a trace."

When he finished speaking, he can literally heard a gulp sound from a man upfront. Auron bet that the guy peed a little as he was shaking his feet nervously.

"That's the end of the story for now.. I hope you guys enjoyed it and deemed it worth your coin. I'll be staying in Volantis for another night, if you wanna hear another great story, same place, same time. Just prepare a few coins to spare or else many of my favorite whores will starve to death. I'm sure you don't want that, right?"

Hearing that this mysterious to robed man still have a great story to tell, they become happy and excited. They can't wait to hear it began to anticipate the spectacle for the following night. They are very satisfied and even laughed at his remarks at the end.

Auron bowed slightly and the grabbed the mug filled with coins. He went towards the counter and count it there. Then he passed the one-fifth of the total earnings to the owner with both them having a smile in their faces.

"Pleasure doing business with you. So..tommorow night?" Auron shook hands with the owner to a successful deal.

"Yes, I'll drag you here myself if ye transfer to another pub. I've never seen my pub so full before. Wait here for a moment."

The owner went back inside and when he came out again, he offered a mug of Ale for him.

"Here, to finish the night. On the house."

Auron accepted the gesture and smiled as he drank it recklessly.

While Auron was enjoying, noticed someone sat beside him in his right. If it's only that, he wouldn't even care. But he noticed the owner shifted his eyes nervously and left, finding something to do.

Auron frowned and he turned his eyes towards the uninvited guest. What he saw was a woman with a red hair wearing a red dress, and red cloak. The way she donned her hood was proud showing her face unlike Auron's where you can't see half of his face.

He had already guessed who this woman was as she kept staring at him. Then he heard her say something that skipped his heart a beat.

"What are you doing here, young black dragon?"