Rebirth of the Phoenix God

The city of Araram was the first semblance of an advanced civilisation that Fen saw ever since leaving Akhaz. All the supply points beside the road could be considered to be more of a local trading place than real settlement, operating on an entirely different set of rules than a proper city like the one spanning before Fen's eyes right now.

Obviously, some of the marks of the region attached itself to the town itself. Instead of being completely enveloped by the walls like Akhaz to the south, only the castle district was protected by the fortifications, with the rest of the settlement left completely open. 

But it wasn't anything unexpected. From what Fen learned by picking his eyes while travelling and hunting, this part of the empire could only be described as desolate. Outside of several dense spots of population and urbanisation, most of the central area of the country was relatively free from the human touch. 

The cold climate of the south allowed only for several merchant cities to sprout up, for those who were daring enough to use the southern coast to participate in huge-scale trade. Outside of several spots like that where the geographic conditioned the appearance of civilisation, the entire imperial core oscillated around the imperial highway.

Starting all the way back in the Royal Capital, it connected the far west of the empire with its eastern part. Once the path trailed far enough to the north where the climate turned more comfortable, more and more highly populated cities continued to appear. Outside of the second big pocket located to the south, the Closed Sea area where Akhaz was located, this was the golden route of the country.

And right now, Fen was one step closer to reaching said highway!

Walking down the merchant's road, Fen didn't need to do anything before the open space of the vast plains to the west and the dense woods to the east turned into small buildings of the less income-wise fortunate part of the town.

Without the walls to limit its growth, this place had to develop naturally, with the rich folk taking over its central part, turning it into a huge marketplace. In just a few steps, those few rundown buildings gave way to the elaborate shops presenting their wares from behind the thin, metal bars. Once the young man reached the further part of the street, he could even see some of the shop owners flaunting their wealth by using glass to expose their products!

'I need to find a place to stay…'

All the glory of this peculiar place aside, Fen still had secure lodging for the night. While the last month made him quite an experienced walker, the distance he had to cover during the last stretch of his journey still took the young man some time to cross. Right now, Fen could still feel the warm light of the sun on his back, but the angle at which it was falling indicated the day would soon be over.

Taking the turn into one of the side-alleys leading away from the castle district, it took only a moment for Fen's surrounding to drastically change. All the splendor of the main street disappeared, replaced by the convenient and practical but definitely not pretty solutions to all sorts of building problems.

Yet, even here most of the buildings were focused on the trade, as if just those few people who would bother to venture into the deeper parts of the city would still make it worth to have a business outside of the main street!

Thankfully, after traveling down this alley for a bit longer, Fen could finally see the signs that couldn't be mistaken for anything else. Guided by their sight, the young man quickly approached an averagely looking building before pushing its doors open.

'Woah, it's surprisingly clean!'

Taking Akhaz for the baseline, by straying that far from the main areas of the town, Fen shouldn't expect anything out of infested bed and cold meal here. But to the young man's surprise, the interior of the Inn that he stepped into, wasn't that bad!

'Speaking about the taverns��� I wonder what the prices will be here.'

There wasn't any informative cardboard that would make things easier for the customers in regards to the prices. In fact, even though Fen learned how to read and write a bit back in the school in Akhaz, he never reached the level of being comfortable with doing so. 

'I guess I never really had any choice to begin with…'

Letting out a sign of surrender, Fen took his hood down before approaching the counter. Behind, a burly man was cleaning the glasses while watching over the stove in front of which a young girl, most likely his daughter, was mixing a stew in a huge pot.

"Isn't this strange to prepare food right before the night?"

It wasn't as if this world didn't allow anyone to waste even the tiniest bit of their resources. As long as someone was either crafty or hardworking enough, a place on the floor beside the fire along with two hot meals a day were almost guaranteed. For someone actually owning a tavern like this one, even if in a rather remote location of the town, the money had to have a diffrent value than to travelers like Fen.

But it didn't mean they would just willfully waste their resources for nothing! 

What one earned from a family establishment like this one amounted to how much one could save on everything while profiting as much as possible from the guests. Obviously, for a trade-oriented city like this one, an innkeeper like the man in front of Fen couldn't really rely on the loyal customers, as it was the travelers that would bring him the most money!

"Just wait about an hour or so and you will understand."

Without even moving his hand away from the glass that he was polishing so carefully, the man whispered his words heavily, as if answering any questions regarding anything else but the requests for more food or drinks was way below his bottom-line. 

"Anyway, I'm looking for a room to stay. One night, a warm meal once you will be done with that stew and something for tomorrow's morning. How much would that cost?"

With no other way to obtain this basic type of information, Fen could only resign to actually asking the innkeeper. This by itself placed him in the bad negotiating position, as by not knowing the prices the young man was unable to gauge whether he was getting a good deal or if the innkeeper was attempting to scam him.

"Room for the night and two meals. Would you like to add the bath?"

Given how Fen spent the last month of his life traveling mostly through the forest and sleeping whenever he liked, his smell might be the reason behind the innkeeper's question.

"Might as well."

Nodding his head, Fen stopped himself from asking the innkeeper about anything else. Rationally speaking, if the young man bothered to find out the standard rates for the services in the area, then he could also ask the innkeeper to get someone to fetch him a new set of clothes. While his disguise as the hunter was close to being impeccable with how uncontrolled and free-spirited people in this line of work were, but just in case that someone managed to catch his trail, changing his persona every once in a while was a must!

"Adding everything together, it will round up to one silver and three bronze coins. Would you like to have my daughter warm your bed tonight?"

Asking this ridiculous question as it was the most obvious thing in the world, the innkeeper didn't even flinch or stop polishing the glass cup in his hands.

But what this words of the older man managed to achieve, was to push Fen into recalling those few memories he made with the girls back in Akhaz. The helpfulness of Firo, the warm embrace of Kaisha… Rather than getting him aroused after nearly a month of abstinacy, the innkeeper only further reinforced Fen's focus on his current escape!

It wasn't strange at all. Every time Fen would recall anything from his time before the escape, the young man would force himself back into the shape. It was as if Fen saw even the slightest derivation from the regime as a betrayal towards everything that he had to sacrifice by escaping!

"Once he get's a bath of course. Even here I can smell how he stinks right now…"

Not even bothered enough to turn her head around, the young girl commented as she continued to stir the content of the pot.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. On the other hand, if you could be so kind and tell me, do you know when will the next caravan to the city of Nulukhund departs? I'm kinda in a hurry there…"

According to the intel that Fen managed to gather during his time on the merchants' highway, this was the furthest city to the west that people in this place would talk about. If his understanding of the context wasn't wrong, then it could be also called a gateway to the north, as it was located right beside the place where the road branched off to the north, leading to one of the countries rivaling the Empire!

"To Nulukhund? While it's quite far away, the caravans frequent that route, so you should be able to find someone willing to go there within two or three days. Would you like to extend your stay then?"

Sensing the chance to increase his income, the innkeeper instantly latched on it, even going as far as putting his perfectly polished glass away, taking some kind of bowl and pouring a generous portion of the stew right into it. Putting it down on the counter along with a small piece of bread, the innkeeper looked at Fen, awaiting his answer.

"I'm sorry, but I can't declare myself right now. For now, one night will suffice, and if I will like it, I might stay for as long as necessary."