Jack looked down the street at the clock tower to see the time.
"12:30."
He tapped his pocket to hear the chink of the silvery Albus in his pockets; this was a big addition to his savings.
Jack began to walk down the street as he looked around it. It was filled with people, some simple carriages moving cargo, and the road was paved with cobblestone.
Standing around, he observed his hunger. Unlike before, it didn't affect him anymore on an emotional level; it was like a fuel gauge on a car.
He also no longer felt exhaustion, or any form of tiredness on that matter. Whatever the pressure did to his brain changed his perception over all things energy-related.
But whether or not this was a good change or not was yet to be answered by Jack.
He walked down the street and saw the apothecary shop that he had visited, and he decided to enter it yet again, but it was closed.
As soon as he pushed the door, markings at the edges of the door appeared on the frame and the edge of the door: plus and minus signs. He felt as if he had seen them before.
He remembered the warehouse that Varen owned; it had a similar locking mechanism.
As for the reason why Jack desired to enter the shop, it was because he wanted to buy more candies, as well as change his Albus coins to smaller denominations.
He checked his pockets yet again and numbered the coins he had in his pouch he received from Varen; there were 24 left inside.
He then decided to walk towards his workplace to find Aldric, who still owed him the last day's pay of 15 Flora.
12:46. Jack was now in front of Captain Varen's ship and found Bren scrubbing the deck clean.
There were sailors on the ship, but they were resting.
Do employers in this world get tax breaks for providing jobs? I can't find a good reason why Varen doesn't just order his crew to do all this work.
Jack greeted Bren and asked about Aldric. Bren was overjoyed to see Jack was fine, especially after what had happened the previous day.
He was told that Aldric was preparing for a holiday held by the Church of Mardrago and that he, as a trainee deacon, had to participate.
"Ah! Aldric told me to give you your pay from yesterday if you came by." He handed Jack his pay and went back to work. On his way out, Jack saw that Bren was quite friendly with Varen's crew; they even invited him for a drink as they chatted about the gossip around the harbor.
On his way out of the port, Jack went towards the Sixth Tavern. He wanted to eat some food other than bread, and due to the blockade, he couldn't buy anything else at a reasonable price apart from fish and salt.
13:00. The tavern was emptier than before; the songs were no longer playing. The clients were still at work, after all; it was the middle of the day.
Compared to the last time he was there, Chel's girls were not inciting anyone to drink or offering their special 'services.' They were either cleaning, preparing food behind the counter, and a few of them were rubbing mint on the tables.
Chel himself was nowhere to be seen.
Going to the counter, Jack saw the same girl that had gently pushed him to make way while being an escort for one of the drunk customers upstairs for her 'services.' Jack took a better look at her compared to last time.
Her clothing was as revealing as before, but her facial features, the unique hair and eye color, and even her eyebrows told him she was not a local. This was the same for the other girls as well.
Her features were very similar to the ones the Nuns of Salvation had. Jack assumed that they were also from the north, from where the Salvation Church was from.
She was incredibly beautiful; she had very luminous, clear skin, but what caught his attention was her light blue hair and eyes. It wasn't painted; it was very natural.
It was like the flowing waves of the ocean. He looked at the other ones. Some had normal dark hair while some had reddish hair; they all looked foreign and not of this land.
Jack ordered a lobster and a serving of wine. He was very surprised to find the lobster cost only 16 Flora, the wine serving costing him another 4, bringing his Flora budget—removing the Albus—to a whole 19 Flora!
He ate the food happily at one of the tables and asked one of the girls if she wanted to eat with him. When he offered 4 Flora, they didn't refuse, especially since he also provided food.
But apparently, the girl who accepted—a dark-haired woman about 25 years old who was clearly tired and sleepy—was not allowed to drink alcohol since Chel would beat her if she was discovered.
Hearing this, Jack remade his entire perception of Chel. In his eyes, a man that abused women was not a man at all.
What Jack wanted to learn about was where they were from and how they had ended up in this situation.
From what he learned from her, she and the rest of the girls were from one of the four Nordic Kingdoms that sat above the Mehatot River Line.
She specifically told him that she was from the territory of Baronet Mcreude and that she was actually sold off by her parents. By ship, following the east Behatot River that went down south, she found her way to this kingdom before she was sold to Chel.
After they ate, Jack thanked the girl. She herself thanked him even more, and they parted ways.
It was now 14:00, and it was hot. Jack's mood was low, and he was saddened by the circumstances of the girls at the Sixth Tavern.