Chaos Crown

Chapter 11, Greenwood's Favorite Hotel

The hotel has a very special position in the country. In almost every medieval or Western fantasy novel, the protagonists of the story will always sit in the hotel, meet various people, and come into contact with all kinds of people. For work, fill your stomach with ale, bread, and barbecue, rest for a night, and set off.

Even most of the time, the protagonists recruit teammates not in the Adventurer's Guild, but in hotels.

Are the protagonists out of their minds?

Actually not, the real reason is that hotels (bars) are more suitable for recruiting partners than adventurers' guilds, because the innkeeper's interpersonal network is more reliable than adventurers' guilds. He can always help you find the right teammates and provide the right guarantees.

Similarly, a large carriage hotel like the Karan Hotel has actually surpassed the category of an ordinary hotel.

The fortress with a three-meter wall owned by the innkeeper Tamar Qiaoya not only serves as a hotel and tavern, but also a cargo station and part of a trusted supply chain.

The innkeeper is also a merchant and a notary who also provides custodial and bank-like services.

The hotel is also a trading center, especially the large carriage hotel in the wild. Merchants often conduct some trading activities here. The hotel is also a post station, where the kingdom's messengers will stop and the patrolling army will rest here.

Finally, the hotel is also an important place for social exchanges in the country. People socialize here, share knowledge and exchange opinions with each other. It is a hotbed of culture and politics. Some secret associations often appear in hotels, bathhouses and other places.

This is true in the kingdom, and it is true in the Middle Ages and even in modern times.

"When German comes from the tavern..."

———Classic joke

Sometimes these associations are kind and beneficial. For example, the priests of Irmaat, the most revered God of Suffering, often appear in the hotel to raise funds from the rich and give magic spells and necessary alms to the poor.

Sometimes these societies tend to engage in clandestine activities, such as clerics on the evil side who are always trying to please their gods at all costs.

To sum up, the innkeepers who own a large hotel have a very impressive status in the country. They are often very charming and influential people, and they are all stars in the local area. powerful allies or at least status servants of the local aristocrats, who also acted as surety notaries and deal brokers.

Therefore, when Tamar Qiaoya, the half-elf innkeeper, held Aaron's arm and wanted to introduce him to everyone in the hotel lobby, Aaron had to give him face.

Open the door of the hotel, there are about [-] to [-] long tables in the wide and far-reaching lobby, at least [-] passengers are enjoying dinner in the lobby, including three elves, they are dressed as if they are Japanese from Comanthor The elves, this group of racists who have always been known for their arrogance, couldn't help but look at the radiant Aaron a few more times, and wondered, thinking that there are not no handsome men and beautiful women in human beings, but there are relatively few of them.

Candles and kerosene lamps have been lit in the hall. Aaron was surprised that there is such a high ceiling in the lobby, and there is a gorgeous crystal chandelier. The aroma of ale, the smell of food, and the There was a foul smell of wood rot and human excrement, a complex smell of sweat, urine, bad breath, and body odor.

The innkeeper had tried his best to use rose petals and lavender to mix this scent, but Aaron noticed at a glance that the pastor, who had a very strong perception, still frowned.

The last Salian stood under the chandelier, greeting everyone in the hotel.

"The dragon flew over Cormyr, and the war horse galloped through the birch forest. Aaron Salian, son of Manuel, greets everyone in the hotel, Cormyr welcomes you!"

His charisma quickly conquered most of the people present. When he expressed his hope that everyone would have a good night, there were even intermittent applause from a dozen long wooden tables.

At this time, the sky outside was completely dark, and the bard who was interrupted because of Aaron's appearance played the tambura and oud, telling the famous epic "Archmage Elminster and Xin The Amorous History of Queen Boo.

Elminster is a legendary great wizard known to everyone in the entire country. He is the chosen one of the second generation of Goddess of Magic and the owner of Silver Fire. Creation Three Creation Four Creation Five Creation Net text Anyone who knows the country knows Elminster's name.

What the bard told was supposed to be the epic story of the legendary great wizard, how he used the remaining power of the second generation of goddess of magic to defeat Bane, kill Melkor, lead peace, and fight against evil during the turbulent years.

However, the part that Aaron wanted to hear was all briefly mentioned by the bard.

Instead, it is how Elminster hooked up with Queen Simbu, one of the Seven Sisters of the North, how he used various drugs, and used the "magnifying technique" on himself to let Queen Simbu know that his sword is not old The content is very detailed.

Especially the process of hooking up between the two, the glamorous Queen Aglaron who is always wearing tattered clothes and disheveled hair, Simbu, one of the mysterious Seven Sisters of the Northland, and Elminster, who was in the How did the two legendary wizards who have been active in the mortal world for more than a thousand years and left behind countless epic myths hook up, how did the thunder catch the fire, how did they have a tryst in the Cormanthor forest, and how did they enjoy vacations in the valley? a detail.

The bard even made a few ambiguous gestures on the stage, which immediately aroused applause.

Aaron smiled helplessly and had no choice but to applaud.

He was really very much interested in the famous Elminster.

He didn't know much about the Forgotten Kingdom in his previous life. Except for the familiar gods and the turbulent year that almost every author would write about, Netheril, there are actually only two people who have heard the name of the Forgotten Kingdom in the official setting. , one is Drizzt, the drow ranger, and the other is Elminster, the great sage of Shadow Valley.

Twisted Drizzt has almost no chance of appearing in the online articles, and it seems that the authors don't like him very much.

As for Elminster, the great sage of Shadow Valley in the online article has severely divided evaluations.

Some authors believe that Elminster is a great sage, a guardian of peace, and a great mage. He played a pivotal role in many major events, and he can be called Gandalf the White Robe in the kingdom.

Some authors also believe that Elminster is a coward who is a waste of iron. He has obviously received the love and power of the goddess of magic, but he has hardly taken any action. As the top wizard in the country, he rarely Do it yourself, always appoint and guide novices to die, usually this great sage always hides in his wizard tower in the valley of shadows to enjoy tobacco and fine wine, as well as the long life brought by the power of the goddess of magic.

Aaron wanted to hear Elminster's stories, not Elminster's lace!
Aaron ignored Miss Pastor's fierce aura of keeping people away from others, and pulled her to sit down in the corner of the lobby, always smiling.

She wanted to hammer him, really wanted to.

"You guys like this one, right?" Miss Priest was obviously in a bad mood because of the previous incident, even through the mask, Aaron could feel the displeasure in her tone.

Not far away, Ferrara, Montero and the others were obviously in high spirits. They were in a great mood and clamored loudly. They must ask the bard to describe what posture Queen Simbu likes. One after another, the former king The gold coin on the photo of King Yasan IV was thrown onto the table, and the bard smiled happily.

"Otherwise?" Aaron signaled the waiter to come up to order. The handsome Viscount Salian, with a purple-gray light in his eyes, asked with a smile, "Then let the bard talk about the operation of the great sage and the great sage?" The magic of the great sage, how the great sage mediates the major forces, and balances the good and the evil through the harper alliance, do they understand? Even if they understand, do they like to hear it?"

Miss Pastor was silent. She pursed her pretty lips, nodded unwillingly, and turned her attention to the bard who had won applause from the hall and received many rewards: "I know, he wants to eat, he wants to live."

More than [-]% of the human population in the country is illiterate. The highest literacy rate in the whole country is Waterdeep City and Silvermoon City of the Northern Lords Alliance. The literacy rate in those two places is as high as [-]%, and the rest are also illiterate.

People can't understand things that are too complicated, those mysterious magics, those intricate forces, and they don't like to hear them.

All you need to do is to order, Aaron didn't go on, he handed Eleanor the menu brought by the waiter: "If you want to eat something, just order it, it doesn't matter."

"Just order, are you sure?" Miss Pastor took the menu, and she saw the first line of the recommendation list on the menu at first glance.

"Ginger bread with premium jam—imported from Xianglong Empire, 2 gold lion coins per ounce."

In the kingdom, bread is divided into eight grades in total, and the hard, dry and unpalatable black bread that many people are familiar with is not even considered the lowest grade of food.

The best bread is rich dough, fermented with finely screened pure wheat flour, spices, butter, jam, fluffy and delicious "Queen's Bread", with a sweet and delicate taste.

Afterwards, with the degree of screening of wheat flour, the grade of bread decreases successively. The less wheat flour, the more bran, and the more barley flour, the harder and darker the bread is. In the end, it is the familiar black bread.

But black bread is not the worst bread, for under barley there is rye, and under rye there are buckwheat and oats, and under buckwheat and oats there are even peas, ferns, soil, sawdust, oak The "dark bread" made of ground seeds is the real worst food.

The pastor, who has always lived on vegetable porridge, fish, bacon, fruit, and black bread, retracted her hand as if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake when she saw this high-end bread. How many poor people could be saved by replacing it with the same amount of ordinary black bread?

Thinking of this, Miss Priest looked at Aaron differently.

is the enemy!
Aaron, is the enemy!

"Don't look at me like that." Aaron raised his eyebrows: "I remember that the most high-end cheese popular in the kingdom seems to be the 'death cheese' made by the monks of the Silver Virgin in the swamp area at the junction of Zambia and Cormyr. 'Right? You sell it so expensive, you can't buy one piece for five golden lion coins. When I was a child, I could only cut a small piece on the Holy Day of the Silver Virgin."

"The huge profits brought by Death Cheese are an important source of income for Cormier's branch of the Church of Our Lady of Silver, right?"

"..." Miss Priest was speechless again, she was so angry that she gesticulated on the menu for a while, and then sneered: "Aren't you afraid of me messing up? I remember someone seemed to be in the holy place of our Lord Admit it at the gate of the altar, you can't afford the money for the miracle technique at all, why are you pretending to be a rich man here now?"

"You're right, but my trip is on business." Aaron interlocked his fingers, his eyes glowing slyly: "My food expenses can be recorded, and the royal family will write it off for me later."

Our Lady of Silver is here!I want to hammer him right now!Now! ! !
The menu was thrown on the table, and Miss Pastor's attitude changed: "No, I'll just order my own."

"Then let's order two according to the knight's standard customary set meal. Oh yes, I want a little more bread and two glasses of mead." Aaron handed the menu back to the waiter.

"Miss Eleanor, your funds are not from the Goddess of Wind, we must learn to use limited funds in key places." Aaron said kindly: "Even if it is my insignificant grace to save your life Thank you, how about it? Let me ask you, a good body and rich nutrition will allow us to better serve the great Silver Virgin."

"Everything is for the great Mother of Silver, eat, Ms. Eleanor, this is our duty!"

"..." Ms. Pastor found that she was speechless more times this day than in the previous year.

She knew that Aaron was playing tricks, but she couldn't find anything to refute. She even knew that Aaron was making excuses for her.

Let's eat, let's eat, Miss Priest is tired.

The waiter quickly brought out two standard meals for knights: roast lamb with onions, rabbit broth stewed with beans, leeks, bacon, corn and cheese, soft and delicious buttered bread, two large glasses of mead, and pickled pear pudding with cinnamon and cloves.

After the meal began, neither of them spoke again, only the sound of bards playing music, the laughter of everyone in the lobby, and the footsteps of the waiters could be heard.

Where Miss Pastor couldn't notice, Aaron put away the smile on his face.

Although he had guessed before, today's encounter made him understand some of his problems.

He cannot increase his strength by killing.

After many people crossed, they were bound with the same ability as the "Son of Slaughter", and they could gain strength and improve their own strength through continuous killing.

Aaron can't do it, because Slaanesh doesn't like fighting and killing. The Prince of Pleasure regards killing as a low-level and boring experience, so unless it can bring Aaron a fresh experience and a sense of near-death crisis , otherwise killing is meaningless to Aaron.

So how can Aaron improve his strength?
Today's encounter has already explained the problem: when Aaron used magic missiles to kill those jackals, he found that he had not gained any promotion, but when Ferrara and others looked at him with adoring eyes, he felt It was time to absorb some chaotic energy.

When the bard narrated the legendary epic of Elminster on the stage, Aaron's body was even more restless. This restlessness did not come from Aaron, but the power of Slaanesh in his body.

Slaanesh likes this feeling of being famous all over the world!

Slaanesh likes to be famous, likes to spread his stories everywhere, likes to show his coquettish deeds to others, and likes to have people tell his legends in every corner of the country.

Slaanesh wanted Aaron to be the prettiest boy in the realm, like Elminster.

Slaanesh wants Aaron to be famous!Only in this way can he increase his strength and unlock more powers of Slaanesh!

This is almost the opposite of Aaron's plan of "sustaining stable development and coming out to play in a group later".

But does Aaron have a choice?
He has no choice. He knows that using the power of chaos requires a price. He knows that the power of chaos is a cup of poisonous poison, a chronic poison that can quench thirst, and he can only drink it.

This is a racing competition, either he succeeds in absorbing the power of the four gods with the priesthood of chaos before the four gods come to the door, or he will end up in destruction.

So Aaron didn't communicate much with Miss Pastor before, but after meeting Ferrara, he teased Miss Pastor from time to time, annoyed her, made her angry, and left her speechless.

Slaanesh likes this exciting feeling!

I'm not afraid of you crying, I'm not afraid of you laughing, I'm afraid that you won't cry or laugh!

And...Miss Pastor is really cute, Aaron thought to himself, thinking that Miss Pastor was undoubtedly sent by the Church of Our Lady of Silver to monitor him. If the relationship between the two parties is bad, he will be restrained no matter what he does next. On the contrary If Miss Pastor can be dealt with, it will be much more convenient for him to do anything.

Now that I have broken through Miss Pastor's inner defense, the next step is the second step of the plan...

Think for a long time and want to know, knowing is complicated and thirsty, but the holy and treacherous, don't be trapped!
While Aaron was thinking about his "big plan", something changed in the hotel lobby.

While the bard was going down to rest, a young man in a gray robe with a string of tooth pendants on his chest rushed up to the stage. He waved his fists and shouted at the crowd present.

"Cormyr, honorable Cormyr, hear me!"

"Today, I am standing here, warning you, and advising you with the truth from my heart."

"Our nation is losing its centripetal force!"

"Despicable Alice Searle, Suzall's regent princess, is depriving us of our freedom, our pride, and our Cormyr dignity!"

"We are not slaves to the royal family, we are free..."

The young man was only halfway through speaking when two heavily armed guards suddenly appeared and pressed him directly to the floor, stuffing his mouth with a rag.

"Queen's Blade, sir, please come with us."

"Woooo~ You have no right to do this... I... woooo~" The young man was beaten unconscious by the two empresses, and then dragged away.

Aaron twitched his lips.

Can German really be heard in the beer hall?
However, this was not the end. A bureaucrat in military uniform who was obviously of higher rank walked out from the inner side of the lobby and came in front of Aaron.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen's Blade, Captain, Hendry."

"Your Excellency, Viscount Aaron Salian, regarding your mission this time, we have received an anonymous report that you have colluded with Dark Sun and even some outsiders, and murdered Hicks, the Battle Mage Apprentice, and Patrol Captain Walker. suspicion."

"Can you please cooperate with our investigation and answer a few questions?"

　Updated, please recommend tickets in the new week~
　　


(End of this chapter)