Chapter 362 - Intrusive Visitor.
Immediately Hal was inside the building, eyes turned to him because quite frankly, he was a definite new face.
Since this particular circle was still subject to a certain amount of reservation, there was not that long a list of those who made use of it.
It was not that Hal's young look did not fit the bill because even though he was a tad bit younger than should be expected, in a world where age could not exactly be determined by looks, he could as well have been well past the Five hundred year mark.
However, whatever they thought of Hal's visage as well as that face that did not seem possible by virtue of how good it looked, they retained a fairly professional attitude... Which is a nice way of saying that they were snobby.
"Who are you?" Asked one of them in a cool voice that shows he had little to no opinion of this blue-eyed young man.
Hal smiled lightly,
"My name is Hal" he said.
"So what?" Asked another of the three present.
He seemed to be of the thought that Hal was stating his name to highlight some Importance as well as status, but since the name had no meaning whatsoever to the trio, they merely frowned.
Hal sighed silently before he said
"I'm here to make use of the Teleportation circle. I've got a long journey planned" he said in an effort to show that he really was not interested in being invested in what was turning out to be an interrogation.
The trio looked at each other and even though it was unnecessary to even check if there was someone else who wished to make use of the Circle apart from Hal, they still looked around to 'ascertain' and then,
"Oh yeah? Let me ask, do you see your sort of people here?" Asked one of them.
Hal chuckled to himself,
"Well, that's a little hard since this place is so empty" he said. Making a point to point out the obvious.
However, he was in no way prepared for their change in visage as they glared at him and stood up as one,
"What is that supposed to mean? That we have a problem with our vision?" Asked the one in the middle.
Hal had been ready to simply withdraw his Rank token and put an end to the annoyance but paused when he saw they were getting riled up. So he instead crossed his arms and stared them down,
"And what are your statements supposed to mean? 'My sort of people'" he asked with mild annoyance.
'You really seem to have a problem with attendant Runemasters don't you?' Grimoire could not help but comment.
Hal mind shrugged,
'It's not my fault they are always snobby assholes is it?' He retorted just as the three frowned,
"Our statements meant exactly what we said. We do not admit people of YOUR status and are tired of people like you coming in here and hoping something falls between the cracks of our imperfect security and reservation systems." Said the one on the right as the three took their seat once again without their visage changing.
Hal could now see that this was a simple case of transferred aggression with them being angry at whosoever had upset them. Especially for people of their profession whose only area of authority resided in a single building.
An authority that was to be used liberally of course and definitely not against those who could take it away.
However, while all that was well and dandy, he still felt it was absolutely no excuse for the way they were acting towards him in particular.
He retrieved his Rank token and presented it to them in a way that they could observe it with both their vision as well Astral sense to ascertain its authenticity,
"How about now?" He asked with a smirk that he could not and did not bother to hide.
The three looked from the token to him before taking a deep breath. However, they had already gone very far in berating him. So far in fact, that they saw no way to simply change the way their faces were in a second. And trying very hard to smile after all they had said to him, literally hurt their face.
Clearly, these were not individuals quite adept at hiding and shifting emotions,
"You're an Alchemist?" Asked one of them.
"This token says I am, so I must be" Hal said and drew back his hand.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?' Asked another while the other two cleared their throats.
Hal rolled his eyes at them,
"Oh I don't know, Maybe because you were berating me from the moment I got here and gave me no chance to"
"Ah, yes. We did do that, didn't we? Anyway... Sir, you are surely of enough importance for admittance but it is still very expensive" said one.
Hal frowned,
"If I took the time to show you my token, surely, I can pay the fee" he said.
They nodded so fast, they looked like woodpeckers.
"Where do you wish to go?" One of them asked as he pulled up the runeslab interface to begin putting in the coordinates.
"Doxon" Hal said and the runemaster proceeded to input in the location.
"Very well, that would be 10000 Blue gems" said another.
"Eight thousand of the blue gems would be used to power the Teleportation circle while the rest is the percentage tax to be paid into the Duchy's coffers." Said the third who was looking at Hal with a skeptical expression and Hal's next words confirmed his skepticism,
"How about a discount?"
The three looked at him as though they could not believe what was coming out of his mouth right now,
"I thought you said you were good for it" said one and Hal stared that one in the face,
"I AM good for it. But I have absolutely no interest in forking out 10000 Blue gems without having been assured that it could not be reduced.
"Well, that just sounds like you're cheap" said the one with the interface who was already done inputting the coordinates.
'Ha ha ha, oh you don't know the half of it' Grimoire burst into laughter.
'Will you shut it?' Hal told it and then to the runemasters he said,
"Well, I really want a discount"
"Sorry, but there isn't one. Inter-Duchy travels are always expensive and range in prices depending on how distant the departing and arriving Duchys are from each other. Neighboring Duchys such as Silva and Doxon are the cheapest.
With this particular circle, the journey will take two days.
So once again, there is no discount. Unless you can provide evidence that you are undertaking this for official purposes. Then the 2000 Blue gems for the Duchy will be scrapped and you will only need to provide the Eight thousand to power the teleportation circle."
Hal went into deep thought.
So cheap and willing to shave off 2000 Blue gems was he, that he considered going over to the Alchemy Organisation for some kind of evidence of official purposes in Doxon.
Or maybe even ask from the Princess, although that seemed to have a lower level of success.
"Oh alright then" he said and finally gave in to provide them with the required gems.
Then with a heavy and aching heart, he stepped on the circle, activated it with Cosmic energy, and was sucked into the void.
...
Meanwhile,
While Hal was attempting negotiation, Elsa who left him only moments ago was arriving at Rose Petal Restaurant. A journey that really only took her so long because she was really taking her time and was not in that much of a hurry.
The one she was here to see would not leave so soon.
Hal had been right that asking him of his trip to the Dane territory was not really what she was curious about but that did not change the fact that hearing him call someone his fiancee without an ounce of falsehood visible on his face was quite... uncomfortable for reasons she had no intentions of divulging.
What she had actually wanted to ask him was what he wanted with the person she knew he had met inside this restaurant just the day before. However, as she could see how that could be viewed as intrusive, she resorted to asking from the other half of that meeting.
She walked through the doors of the restaurant and while ignoring the looks she got from those present, looks ranging from salivating from males and disapproving from females who felt her clothing was a little too skimpy for their conservative tastes, she noted the backroom which she made a beeline for.
Before she could actually enter into it, however, her path was blocked by the large muscled form of Ehrlich who knew not to let this strange and erotic-looking lady enter.
"Out of my way" Elsa said before Ehrlich could make a sound and with a casual ease that did not even interrupt her confident stride, she walked past the muscled man just as a repelling force flattened him against the wall.
The backroom was empty but that hardly mattered as she found a door, pulled it open, and began climbing the stairs towards what she assumed on account of who was most definitely occupying it, was a beautiful room on the restaurant's top floor.
A room that was in a whole section on its own and could not be entered through the corridors, doors, and other openings of the top floor.
Without actually announcing herself with a knock, Elsa walked in to see Tanya seated in front of her mirror and brushing her hair,
"You were never one for respecting people's privacy, were you Elsa?