27 Flexing

Mikax was wandering through the semi-chaotic town still trying to find an Inn. Most towns had a few inns and always near the entrance gates to attract more customers, for some reason, it appeared that this town only had a single Inn located at the center of town. Once Mikax had found it he strolled inside.

To claim that this was a normal inn would have been blasphemy it was much bigger and fancier. What Mikax found out was that this was an auction house and inn combo and not the run-down shady type either.

This gave Mikax the idea that he should build an auction house in Redgate when he got back. It would be easy to remodel most of the town so that he had an extravagant auction house at his disposal. This would create unique opportunities for the members of the guild to make money, not only selling items they could acquire but also escorting rich pigs back and forth. Not to mention it would need 24/7 guards. He added this to his list of ideas he was keeping for the future.

As Mikax approached the front desk the woman behind the desk gave him a complicated stare. She recognized the man from the posters but wasn't sure how he even got into town if he was wanted.

"Just 1 room for the night please." Mikax placed one of the kingdom's gold pieces on the table. He had snagged a few from Mr. Akkar so he didn't have to give his own out before he had left. "Oh and if you know the meaning of secrecy you can keep the change."

The woman slid the gold coin off the counter into her hand. "Welcome to the Violethedge Inn, Mr. Spellman." She gave Mikax a huge smile. After filling out the occupant ledger and getting him his keys she called for a replacement at the desk and escorted him to his room personally.

"If you need anything at all during your stay ask for me, my name is Sebrina." With that, she smiled and winked at Mikax before heading back to the desk.

For once one of the women who was hitting on Mikax was actually near his type. He was considering seeing if her offer was genuine, it had been too long since he had some nighttime company. For now, though he would just relax for a little before heading downstairs to eat something.

Mikax wanted to search through his pouches for something that would make his life easier until this 'misunderstanding' was cleared up. Since everyone in Redgate had accepted him and the guild he hadn't faced any issue but he wasn't looking to destroy entire towns to get his way if he didn't have to. Finally, he had found an item that should work temporarily, it was an event item from the very first April Fools Day event back in E2.

It was a mask that could change the facial features of the wearer. It was only effective on people up to level 100 which is why it was rarely used in E2. The majority of the people he had encountered in Bedel would easily be fooled by it though. After he put the mask on, Mikax adjusted his features slightly to make sure he no longer looked similar to himself on the poster. He was now Mr. Spellman.

He made his way down to the lobby to begin looking for the restaurant area of the Violethedge Inn. When he made his way downstairs Sebrina looked at him with confusion. He was dressed exactly like the man she took upstairs earlier but it didn't look like him. After the man looked around confused for awhile he made his way directly towards her.

"Ah. Sebrina where can I get some food here?" Mikax spoke to her like old friends.

"Is that you Mr. Spellman?" She hadn't ever seen anything like this before. If he could change his appearance why wouldn't he do that from the start? She was unaware that Mikax wasn't the greatest at planning ahead.

"You caught me." Mikax laughed, "So can you have a meal with me and answer some questions? I'll reimburse you for your time."

Sebrina's face turned red. It wasn't the first time that she had been asked on a date by someone staying but never by a wealthy patron like Mikax. She was in her late 20s and had been widowed shortly after marriage. Having no money or her innocence any longer it was near impossible for her to find anyone willing to make an honest woman out of her. That was how she ended up working for the Violethedge Inn, it didn't mind women of all types as long as they were pretty and polite and knew how to take care of customers.

"Of course, I will let my boss know you requested me I am sure that he will be fine with that." Sebrina then made her way thru a door not far behind her to return a few minutes later with an older well dressed gentleman.

"My dear Sebrina here tells me you wish for her to accompany you to our restaurant is that true?" The man asked politely with a smile on his face.

Mikax simply nodded his head. He had dealt with people like this before, he could smell the scent of greed around him.

"That will be 10 silvers an hour since she will not be able to work for us while with you, 20 if you take her to your room. We will need the first hour upfront if you don't mind." The man held out a hand with his palm facing up waiting for his payment.

Mikax removed 3 gold pieces from his pouch and placed them in the man's hand. "I'll expect her to stay with me until this time tomorrow if neither of you mind."

Both Sebrina and the older gentleman stood in shock momentarily. The gentleman recovered first making a deep bow before reassuring Mikax that if he needed anything at all to let him know. Sebrina had now seen 4 gold coins pass hands today all to or for her. She hadn't earned that type of money over the last few years, not even mentioning a day.

Mikax held his hand out and offered it to Sebrina. "Shall we have an early dinner then?" She simply nodded her head and took his hand. The flirty confidence she had earlier was gone. She understood that Mikax practically owned her at this point, anything he wanted to do with her she would be forced to do at the risk of losing her job or worse.

Although Mikax had given her the gold coin earlier she was required to turn it in and she would receive only 10% of it as part of the agreement she had made when she was hired. So today she only had made 40 silver coins while the owner had made 3 gold and 60 silver. It wasn't enough to live on for long so she couldn't afford to lose her job.

Sebrina and Mikax didn't take long to find their way to the restaurant section. Once they had sat down he began to ask questions of the woman in front of him to learn more about how things were done here. She was happy to answer anything that Mikax had asked since it was almost all common knowledge for the town. She was pretty surprised he hadn't ever heard of them seeing as they were the 3rd biggest auction house in the Azran Kingdom.

There was an auction every Saturday that would be considered small and have average-type items, on the first of the month would be a medium-sized auction having more unique and rare items, lastly once a year was a special auction reserved only for VIP and wealthy clients. This final auction had rare items and was a 3-day long extravaganza that brought plenty of business to town.

Mikax wasn't interested in the items because he was confident that he would have things worth this entire town by themselves being unused in his pouches currently. Sebrina expressed how she regretted it not being that time of year so Mikax could participate. She was sure with his wealth he could buy an item or two.

The night drew on as the two sat and conversed. Mikax had learned of the struggles Sebrina had endured after her husband died and how she had come to work here. He danced around the topic of himself anytime she brought it up in return. When she asked what he did he explained he was the figurehead of a recently formed guild in Redgate. This surprised Sebrina as she hadn't heard anything about it. Mikax wondered if the King was actively trying to suppress information on his guild.

After hours of drinks and conversation, Mikax expressed his desire to head upstairs to bed. Sebrina's heart began to pound. She enjoyed the man before her, the company and attention he had given her was more engaging than anything she had experienced since her late husband. She was worried that once the door closed he would be like all of the other lecherous men who had paid for her time. She couldn't dwell on that now because she had a job to do.

"Mr. Spellman, would you mind if I met you there? I don't want to be in the same clothing all night, if it is okay with you I'd like the change." Sebrina timidly asked expecting him to demand her to follow him immediately.

"Sure whenever you're ready. I'm sure you have a spare key, just let yourself in and lock the door behind you." Mikax smiled at her before leaving money on the table for their tab. He then disappeared upstairs to his room.

Almost immediately the older gentleman appeared by her side. "Why are you here? You are to accompany him for all of his needs!"

"I am changing sir before going to the room with him." Sebrina was barely audible as she spoke.

The man grinned from ear to ear hearing this, "Excellent, make sure to treat him extra special, go into the back and put on something nice for him."

Sebrina swallowed hard as she knew the outfits back there were almost non-existent. They revealed almost everything to anyone who would see her. She didn't disobey though and went to change her clothing.