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Published at 13th of November 2019 08:45:12 PM


Chapter 144

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'What is this depth of flavor!' Ponzu exclaimed inwardly. He had watched Robin carefully, and he was sure the only thing she had added to the meat was a sprinkle of salt. But the meat had a flavor as if it had been marinated in gravy. Moreover, the meat was so tender...Ponzu began to wonder why he had never tried snake meat before.

The others had begun to smell the tempting aroma coming from the heat vent, and were glancing Robin's way from time to time. They especially paid attention to Ponzu's expression as he tried a small piece of python meat. Was snake meat really that good?

Of course, right after Robin passed Ponzu a piece, Skye began clamoring for the rest of the meat on the skewer in Robin's hand. She chuckled and gave it to Skye.

"Careful, it's hot!" She warned. But Skye didn't seem to have any problems with eating the steaming meat.

"It's okay. As you are my master, I am privy to the same resistances you have, including heat resistance." Skye told her.

"You rascal! So you chose me because of my affinities?" Robin playfully scolded.

"It's a good bonus. But, even if your affinities were all at 100 percent, if I did not approve of you, I would not choose you." Skye said, as it finished its skewer. "We flying cats take our oaths seriously, after all, and no one wants a foolish master."

"So you prefer a master that can feed you delicious food, huh?" Robin asked.

Skye licked its lips, and stared hungrily at the other skewers. "Are there any more finished ones?" It asked, eagerly.

"Hold on...Ah, here we go. This one should be done." Robin took one out.

To be exact, Robin had to dismantle and barbecue twenty-seven pythons of various sizes from 15 to 40 feet long. With her swordsmanship skills, the dismantling was done quickly. But, the vent was only so big, and they only had an hour.

Thus, it wasn't just one layer of snake meat sizzling on top of the vent, but several layers, each layer placed atop a barrier. Currently, it sort of looked like a large jenga tower of snake meat. Each layer was added atop the last as soon as Robin had strung together enough skewers.
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The heat barrier would ensure that it would be just as hot at the top of the tower as it was on the bottom of the tower. But Robin wanted to ensure that the skewers wouldn't only cook on one side, as heat was prone to rise.

She decided to add another barrier around the layers. This one made the skewers magically spin in place, slowly. Robin stepped back a bit and surveyed her magic contraption. It might be a bit crude, according to Jasmine, but Robin was having fun working with magic again.


She turned around to be greeted by an entire company of hungry eyes.

-----

"I can't believe you people ate half of the snake meat in one sitting!" Robin exclaimed, frowning.

"Tch! We would've eaten more if you hadn't stored the rest away in your bracer." Gerard grumbled.

"What happened to your 'It might have eaten people' distaste?" Robin rolled her eyes, as she retracted all the barriers except one.

"Food prejudice is just as bad as people prejudice~." Quinn replied cheerily.

"You would say that." Robin sighed. "Well! We've rested for an hour. It's time to move on, I suppose."

"What!? It's been an hour already? But I'm too stuffed to move!" Gerard complained.

"I thought you said you could still eat more?" Robin recalled.

"Too stuffed to move, but there's always more room in my stomach for good food!" Gerard asserted.

"I see. Then for your punishment, we are walking at double pace the rest of the way." Robin grinned angrily. The entire company groaned.

--------

As they got closer to the city, the smell of sulphur became more prominent. Soon the Jungle gave way to a bit more rough, rocky terrain, with steep rocky cliffs and climbing vines.

Finally, the city came into view in the distance. It was a city with many layers, kind of like Minas Tirith. Walls separated each circle, securely fortifying the center towering section of the city. They arrived at the city gates a half hour before sunset, almost collapsing on the ground.

"Halt! State yer name and bizness!" The guard at the gate barked.

"My name is Robin, and I wish to acquire an audience with Protectorate Throm. However, my main issue currently is finding a place of rest that is not surrounded by pythons." Robin replied.

The guard burst out laughing. "Oh, Ye'll find that here, aye! But as for acquiring an audience with tha Protectorate...well, that might be a bit difficult, considering he's out on one of his patrols."

"Any idea when he'll return?" Robin asked.

"If yer lucky, a week. If yer unlucky, a month." The guard shrugged.

"I'll settle for finding lodging, then, I guess. Do you have any place you recommend?" She asked, handing him two silvers.

The dwarf grinned, pleased. "Sure! Just look fer The Kicking Mule. Best Tavern in town."

The other dwarf glanced over Robin's company. "From the looks of yer party, yer from Ekkinshire?"

"That is correct." Robin replied.

"Then, I suppose ye know about this new hero fellow tha's popped up agin?"

Robin nodded. "I do."

"What's he like? Have you seen 'im? Did he seem like a shifty character to you?"

Robin's eyebrows rose in amusement, and she turned to Christian with a twinkle in her eye.

"I'm not too sure. I didn't see when the hero arrived. Hey, Christian. You saw the hero, right? What's he like?" Robin asked mischievously.

Christian looked at Robin, noticing the mischief he was involving him in.

"He wasn't what I expected." Christian said. "Not shifty or false. But he was very different than regular folk. Unprejudiced, honest to a fault, oddly wise for one so young, unassuming, and rather quiet: in addition...he had a strange sort of calm. He was calm to the point where, despite his commoner background, he could comfortably hold audiences with princes and kings as if it were normal."

"As expected of a hero. Does he have a prejudice against dwarves, ye think?"

"So far, I have not seen him have a prejudice against anyone. This has my admiration." Christian's eyes were on Robin the whole time.

'Huh? Is this what he really thinks about me?' Robin thought, unwittingly locking eyes with Christian.

This was the first time she had asked for someone's opinion on her. Now she knew that he thought highly favorably about her. This both pleased, and slightly terrified her at the same time.

Robin broke eye contact first, turning her head so that Christian couldn't see her blush. It didn't work. Christian could clearly see Robin's ears turning red.

"Robin, are you okay?" Jasmine teased. "You're face is turning red."

"It's hot. I'd be more surprised if my face wasn't red." Robin replied, frowning at Jasmine. Jasmine covered up her mouth, but could do nothing to hide the smile in her eyes.

"Hmmm. Well, thank ye fer tha information. Ye can enter. Remember, look for the Kicking Mule. Welcome to Ragnok!" The guard nodded. Humans arriving for the first time were indeed strangely delicate. He didn't want another scolding for having another human fainting at the gates.

The walls outside were tall, thick, and sturdy. The city inside was an even more impressive display of grandeur. Carved statues and reliefs could be seen upon every building,

Made of stone and polished wood, the normal buildings were only one or two stories high. A giant, barrel-like structure sat off to their left. It was most likely a tavern of some sort. But, out of all the more prominent structures, the tallest were the forges.

These goliaths towered over the regular houses, three times taller. Such that Robin almost mistook them for chapels. Marble statues and golden bejeweled reliefs decorated every inch of the outside of the forges, displaying the image of the ancestor blacksmiths whose families still plied their crafts within.

"Lodging. Food. Then, hot springs." Robin warned Jasmine, who was looking about with a purpose.

"Haaah...Got it." Jasmine resigned herself.

"I thought you were too hot for hot springs." Christian noted.

Robin cheekily replied. "I made some ice to cool down, and now feel a bit chilled. A nice soak in a hot spring might do me some good."

"You..." Christian uttered, shocked at Robin's display of utter shamelessness.

"What 'me'?" Robin looked at him and blinked innocently.

"...Nothing." Christian looked away, unable to face Robin's innocent expression without feeling butterflies in his stomach.

Behind the two, Chelsea smiled expectantly, looking up at the city. Many things would happen here. Many good things.




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