Valar woke to Viktor softly kicking his foot. Elaine certainly hadn’t been lying. The sofa was one of the most comfortable things he had ever laid on! Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end, and so did Valar’s sleep.

  It wasn’t all bad though... He had actually somehow managed to get in! The semester would be starting in two days, so he wouldn’t need to loiter around for too long either. Sure, the method had been disastrous, but he had still gotten into the academy!

  He still felt quite bad about letting his secret slip so easily. The way that it had slipped played a big part too, as it only happened due to his own childishness and inability to control himself.

  “No need to frown so much, Valar. You got in and managed to get a gold rank healer too. Neither of us knew that this could be a possibility, so don’t fret over it.”

  Viktor’s words made Valar feel better about himself. True, he had messed up, but everything had turned out relatively well. Not perfect, but well enough.

  “I know we already ate earlier, but would you like to have dinner before you get your dorm room?” Viktor asked. “We need to burn an hour or two before everything is handled.”

  Valar nodded enthusiastically. The orphan boy would not say no to food, no matter the time of day.

  The academy would have lunch and dinner available once the semester started, but that was in two days. If the two men wanted food to eat, they would need to head back to the city. That meant walking.

  The good thing about walking was that Valar could finally take in the sights. They were not in a rush anymore, so the boy took his time. The central tower wasn’t that interesting, but the skybridges were exactly the opposite. Being so high up and having the ability to gaze down upon the city was entirely new for Valar. To his own surprise, he wasn’t afraid to look down in the least.

  The experience was novel to the teenager, as he had never been so high up in the sky. Sure, he wasn’t at the very top of the tower, but that didn’t matter. He would be in the academy for several months anyway, so he was sure that he would find his chance eventually.

  Being high up behind a window was great and all, but the best part was definitely peoplewatching. Seeing all kinds of citizens going about their days in the city below was fun, and Valar learned about the city at the same time. The only real problem was that he could only look at the affluent part of the city, but that couldn’t be avoided. The city was massive and he couldn’t look everywhere at once. Valar would have to go explore by himself at a later time…

  Earlier, when he had complained about the size of noble estates, Valar hadn’t even truly realized how big they were. Some of the bigger estates spanned areas that were bigger than entire city blocks, lavish gardens and even small lakes decorating their outdoor areas. Every single estate had a mansion, the size of the houses going to ridiculous extremes. The noble families were even seemingly competing with their houses’ sizes, as some of the mansions had huge additional wings that were clearly built after the mansion itself.

  After some time, Valar’s sightseeing had to come to an end, as Viktor informed him politely that they had been standing still for almost half an hour. That got them moving again, the pair leaving the academy grounds shortly after.

  They didn’t need to go far in the city due to Viktor’s knowledge of restaurants around the academy. This time they weren’t going for street food, as they would have had to go back to the less affluent areas for food like that. The city borough near the academy didn’t apparently appreciate easy-to-grab snacks.

  Neither Valar or Viktor wanted to actually go to a fine restaurant. Viktor because they weren’t dressed appropriately, and Valar because he was afraid that he would act ‘wrong’ inside such a fine establishment. He had embarrassed himself enough for one day…

  “There’s an alright pub pretty close from here,” Viktor mused. “It’s hidden away in an alley, but the food is pretty great. Would that be alright for you?”

  “I’m not the one paying, so I’ll go if you think it’s good!”

  Their decision was a pretty easy one, as practically every other restaurant in the neighbourhood was a finer one. There were a couple of cheaper establishments meant for academy students, but they weren’t open yet. Maybe the owners were gathering energy for the coming wave of students?

  Viktor led Valar through a couple twists and turns, eventually leading him to an alley, although Valar wasn’t even sure he could call it one. This one seemed more like one of the streets in Lyndale, as the alleys Valar was used to were way more worn down than this one.

  Still, there were less people and the assorted shops weren’t quite as expensive. This was seemingly the rich peoples’ ‘cheaper’ area. It doesn’t feel cheap at all though… Everything is well kept after and there are no homeless people on the streets. It feels more like a facade than an actual poorer area.

  That being said, Valar’s opinion on the alley didn’t matter. It had food and he was hungry. Viktor led them past the numerous shops, finally stopping at a staircase going down under the street level. They walked the stairs down, ending up at a wooden door with a sign: The Iron Owl. Viktor opened the door and they walked in.

  When Valar had seen the pub’s location, he had imagined an empty and run-down place. Walking in, he didn’t see anything of the sort. First of all, the pub was packed full, servers and customers alike bustling between the wooden tables of the restaurant. Secondly, the pub wasn’t run down, just the opposite.

  The wooden tables were expertly made, cushioned chairs and sofas made of the same wood littering the area. The flooring was made of wood too, but it seemed to be a lighter toned one. Most surprisingly, the pub wasn’t lit by oil lamps or other similar implements, magical lights keeping the place well lit instead! Even Valar knew that they were freakishly expensive. The only places where he had seen some were the academy and Lyndale’s infirmary, both establishments that were known for their wealth.

  A server approached the pair at the door, the short woman in her thirties greeting them with a smile on her face.

  “Good day to you both! My name is Sadie, and I’m your waitress for this evening! Would you like a table for two, or are you expecting company?”

  “A table for two would be wonderful, Sadie,” Viktor answered, his tone warm and polite.

  “Then you are free to choose a table that suits you! I’ll be bringing you our dinner menu and some bread shortly.”

  The pair thanked Sadie and looked around. They didn’t have a huge variety of places to choose from as the pub was quite full, but they managed to find a table that was in a relatively good spot. The tables around them didn’t seem to be particularly noisy, so that was good at least.

  Shortly after they sat down, Sadie arrived with the promised bread and menus. She said that she would be back when they were ready to order and left, rushing to another table right after. It was a busy day for the waitress, large groups demanding her and her colleagues’ attention pretty much permanently.

  Interestingly, when Valar inspected the serving staff, each and every one was an iron ranker. It wasn’t that rare, but still stuck out to him.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Why is everyone working here at iron rank?”

  “Oh, you noticed that?” Viktor smiled. “The owner himself is at iron rank and he only hires iron rankers. He doesn’t say why, but I like the sentiment. Iron rank is the rank where most are at, but usually affluent people only hire people of higher ranks. For jobs like this one, it shouldn’t matter anyway.”

  After Viktor’s explanation, the pair got to reading the menu. It wasn’t a long one, but each and every dish sounded great. There were a couple of options for meat, veggies and fish—some dessert options at the bottom of the menu. The drinks list was much more extensive, but Valar’s interest was mainly in the food.

  “You said that Rhondell was a good place for fish when we were in Lyndale, right?” Valar asked.

  “Oh yes. Now that Carla isn’t here, I must say that I think Rhondell’s fish are much better than Thornton’s, but don’t say that to her please. She will hunt me down!”

  Valar hadn’t eaten fish many times in his life, so he wished to test it rather than the meat and vegetable options. Especially vegetable dishes weren’t that interesting to him, as the orphanage didn’t have a lot of money. Vegetables had been quite a big part of his fare for years, and now that he had a chance to eat something else, he certainly wouldn’t be dining on leaves.

  There were two fish dishes available and they both sounded delicious. One was a fish called an alabaster trout, lightly smoked and served with roasted roots. It had a creamy peppercorn sauce and sounded delicious. The other option was a more classical one—fried eastern vendace with fried potatoes. The dish was served with something called an aioli, a term that Valar hadn’t ever heard of.

  “What’s an aioli?”

  “A creamy sauce made from garlic and oil, although some like adding eggs to cheat with the consistency. It doesn’t actually have any dairy in it, even if it looks like it,” Viktor explained. “Are you trying to decide between the fish dishes? We can take them both and share if you want.”

  That sounded absolutely wonderful to Valar, the option not even having crossed his mind. It was the best of both worlds, as he would get the chance to test out both dishes.

  “Are you sure? I want to test both, but do you? I don’t want to be an inconvenience…”

  “Don’t worry about that, Valar. I can eat whatever I want after tomorrow when your semester starts, so let’s go by your tastes until then. Besides, I’ve visited here a couple times and haven’t tested the fish yet, so I’m a bit curious myself.”

  Sadie seemed to be an actual mind reader. She appeared next to their table practically instantly when the pair had decided on what they wanted to eat, already holding a small notebook and pen in hand. Viktor ordered for them both and the woman scurried off. That meant it was time for bread.

  Valar tried to not fill himself with bread, he really tried… The problem was that the bread was way too delicious by itself! The slices of rustic whole grain bread with salted butter were too much to resist, and Valar ended up eating three whole pieces before their food came. Not a good starting position to gorge himself on fish, but he would try his best regardless.

  Frankly, both dishes looked and smelled absolutely fantastic. The smoked alabaster trout was much more finely plated, the flaky fish resting on top of the roots, creamy sauce served in a cup next to the plate. It was quite a fragrant dish, fine aromas of smoke and peppercorns making Valar salivate.

  The vendace dish was plated in a much more rustic way, the mountain of vendace surrounded by pieces of fried potatoes. The aioli was in a small metal cup, the cup itself on the edge of the plate. The smells coming off from the dish were much simpler, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t good. Fried food always smelled good, and the vendace was no exception.

  Valar started with the much less adventurous vendace, picking up a small fish and crunching down. The coating of breadcrumbs had crisped up while protecting the fish inside, making for both a juicy and crispy bite. It was absolutely delicious, especially when the fish were dipped in the aioli. The potatoes were good too, having crisped up nicely when fried, but the fish was the clear star of the dish.

  Next, he sampled the other plate, picking up some smoked trout with his fork. It was quite a different experience compared to the other dish, but Valar thought that he liked it. In many ways, the dish was completely new to the boy. He had never tasted the particular fish nor had he tasted smoked food. The flavors worked well together but… Valar liked the fried food more.

  Viktor chuckled as the teenager started devouring the simpler dish, pulling the plate of alabaster trout to his side of the table. Fortunately Viktor was more of a fan of the alabaster trout and was just fine with leaving the vendace for Valar.

  The rest of the meal was spent in silence, both the men too interested in their food to talk between bites. The ambient sounds of the pub were loud but that only added to the good feel of the establishment. People were having fun, starting their evenings with a good meal in a nice place. It was a weeknight, so most people who were drinking were moderating themselves at least somewhat. Unfortunately, there were bad actors too…

  “What do you mean you won’t spend the night with me?” A rotund man dressed in lavish clothes yelled. “I can pay you handsomely, young lady!”

  Sadie, their waitress, was evidently getting harassed by a drunken slob. If Valar had to hazard a guess, the man looked like a merchant. The fine clothing and round belly told Valar that at least the man wasn’t an adventurer. His greasy brown hair, moustache and stubble of a beard showed that if he truly was a merchant, the man was not doing well. He was a bronze ranker, but still…

  “I will repeat one more time, please leave this establishment before you humiliate yourself further, sir,” Sadie’s seemed to almost gag out the honorific, but soldiered on. “If you continue to harass the staff further, I will have to get the owner involved. He does not enjoy getting involved.”

  “You dare insult the great Polnagor merchant family? I, Robert Polnagor, will personally use my family’s great wealth-”

  The hand that came swooping in wasn’t fast. By all reasonable logic, the bronze rank man should have had the reaction speed to dodge or even block the grab. He did not.

  A pale, gaunt hand crashed against the fat merchant’s neck, pushing the disgusting man against the wooden wall of the room. The room, already mostly silent, quieted down even further. Valar was sure he could have heard a pin drop.

  The thin man that had grabbed the merchant was well dressed, the sleek black suit and white dress shirt accenting his refined features well. Interestingly, he was wearing quite a bit of jewellery, although every single piece was made out of iron instead of precious metals like the jewelry surrounding nobility or other rich folk.

  The man had long black hair held up in a ponytail behind his head. The iron earrings he had on contrasted the bright green eyes staring right at the merchant’s ugly face.

  “As my wonderful staff member just said, you are not welcome in my establishment. You will leave promptly after this small discussion, and you will not return to this room afterwards. Ever,” The pub owner’s tone was quiet. He did not need to be loud, the overwhelming silence letting his voice carry across the whole pub with relative ease.

  Interestingly, the bronze rank merchant did not fight back. Even though the pub owner was only an iron ranker, the merchant’s gaze held a slight undertone of fear as the gaunt man’s bright green eyes observed him, unblinking.

  When the pub’s owner finally let go of the rotund fool, the man scurried off with his entourage in silence. The whole scene was quite surreal. Only when Valar looked around, he got an inkling on why the man hadn’t fought back.

  A large part of the diners were putting away drawn weapons, bronze and even silver rankers staring at the retreating man with malice in their eyes. In some ways, the Polnagor merchant had been supremely lucky to get kicked out by the owner who let him walk out on his own. Valar suspected that the scene wouldn’t have been so calm if one of the diners had decided to interrupt the incident instead…

  “I apologize for the trouble, fine folk of Rhondell!” The dark-haired man broke the silence with a grin on his face. He was holding a coin pouch in his hand, jingling it above his head. “Fortunately, our dear guest Robert Polnagor left his coin pouch with us, and I think it has enough coins to fund a fresh round of drinks for all of you!”

  The pub erupted with cheers, nobility and rich folk laughing raucously at the merchant man’s expense. The serving staff got right to work, collecting drink orders from everyone who wanted something to drink. Valar and Viktor ordered two drinks, not about to let a chance for a free drink pass.

  The owner was hard at work, making drinks and pouring pints of ale with the rest of the staff as more and more orders came in. He had a smile on his face, joking with the patrons and staff members while he was hard at work. Overall, the mood had just improved after the incident, even Sadie going around with a smile on her face.

  “The owner’s name is Sebastian Vern,” Viktor said. “I’d recommend you keep that name in mind, as he’s quite an influential man despite his rank. He’s known as one of the best businessmen in Rhondell, and I’d hazard he’s also one of the wealthiest.”

  As he looked on, Valar could believe Viktor’s words easily. The owner got on with everybody and seemed to respect his staff greatly. All in all, he seemed like a genuinely great guy.

  He’s a powerful man, that’s for sure.