Hearing that, Talon was instantly intrigued. At first, he expected the tower to have some kind of importance to the settlement. But, never did he think it was this important. Apart from spraying the outskirts of the city with Blue Elixir, it also was the headquarters for the organization that keeps the city safe from all kinds of threats.
It was a 2-in-1 structure with enough roles to be the most pivotal ce in the entire city. Naturally, that also made Talon even more curious as to what is truly inside of it.
''Breeding Sand Eaters… That sounds like a hectic thing to do especially with this ridiculous quantity of blood being sprayed every single second. How many worms are being bred and killed a day I wonder?'' He thought to himself.
He was sure that the tower was pumping hundreds of gallons of blood every single second which should be at least the same amount of blood one Sand Eater would have inside its body. That is at least one worm per second being killed which puts the number in the tens of thousands at least.
"I can see that picked your interest." Emino smiled when he saw Talon fall into deep thought.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I am actually quite intrigued by it. So, the Sky Seekers guild is also responsible for breeding and killing Sand Eaters, I suppose?"
"Yeah, you can say that. Although, it''s a little bit moreplicated." Emino thought for a moment before replying with a weird expression.
''What does he mean?'' Talon frowned slightly and was about to ask when Remi arrived at their table with 7 tes in both of her arms.
"Finally! I couldn''t wait any longer!" Seeing his food, Emino smiled as he took it and stared at the dish with hungry eyes.
"Me too!"
"Give it to me!"
The entire group immediately focused on their tes as if they were the only important thing there out of everything.
"Hahaha, dig in, dig in!" Remi smiled proudly as she watched them.
Talon curiously stared at the te in front of him. It wasposed of three things; meat which he assumed belonged to the Sand Eaters. Some kind of red and green vegetables that he had never seen before and a white grainy substance that he assumed was an extra-dimensional rice or something like it.
''This does look and smell amazing.'' He thought to himself. He wasn''t familiar with any of it, but he didn''t mind trying it purely by smell.
So, he slowly picked up the spoon to eat, only to stop for a moment as he looked at the boy next to him. For a second he forgot about Arryn, the boy had been so quiet with his head looking down the entire time.
Talon could easily guess what the boy was going through and he could only feel bad.
"Psst, do you want some food?" Tilting to the side, he whispered to Arryn secretly.
"Huh? Oh, no, it''s fine, please eat." The boy shook his head with an awkward expression.
But, Talon didn''t immediately take those words and instead looked away. "Can I please get another te of those wrapped for pick up?" He asked.
"Sure thing, boy!"
"But, uh, I have no way of paying you yet…" He realized his blunder really quickly. Talon didn''t even know what kind of currency they used in this city.
"Oh, don''t worry about it, kid. Consider this a gift from me to you two." Sheughed.
"Thank you." Talon smiled with gratitude.
"Talon… You didn''t have to-" Meanwhile, Arryn was panicking inwardly. He didn''t know why Talon did that.
"Shh… You can eat it once we find a good ce to settle down." He said.
That made the boy blink in shock. He kept staring at Talon for a while before he shifted his eyes and smiled. This gesture, as simple as it was, made him quite happy. He could see that Talon saw him as a friend even without saying that.
He was the first human he ever talked to and somehow, he wasn''t a terrifying monster as he thought he was.
With that, the group started eating as if nothing happened. They assumed that Arryn was simply shy and didn''t want to eat in front of the others so they didn''t mention it.
Surprisingly, the food was very great. In fact, Talon was sure it was one of the best meals he ever had in his life. Everyponent of the dish was vourful and tasty. He understood why this ce was as popr as it was.
When everyone was finished with their tes, they finally left the Diner.
"I''m sure you two are quite exhausted from all the walking. There is a good inn nearby. I will pay for your first week there as a gift of my own, haha." Emino said with a heartyugh.
"It''s ok, we really don''t want to put any more weight on your shoulders." Talon tried to deny the offer since he already felt quite bad making them feed him and then pay for his lodging. He wasn''t someone that liked too many favors at once even if they were necessary. He would feel bad if he couldn''t pay them back. That was a part of his nature that he can''t get rid of.
"Please, don''t worry about it. Consider this an investment on my side for the future."
"An investment?"
"Haha, Emino sees quite the potential in you. He wants you to probably join the Sky Seekers Guild and be a Sky Seeker of your own." Michi exined as he snickered.
"Oh…"
"Yeah, you seem to have the knack for it and I would love to see you join our lines in the future. Of course, if you have other ns then that''s also fine. We won''t force you to do that as it is still a very dangerous job and you might really lose your life if you aren''t careful enough." For the first time since they met, the man showed an expression that was very serious.
Talon could even see a weird glint sh across Emino''s eyes for a split second that made him frown slightly.
It was a look that Talon was familiar with and why wouldn''t he be? After all, he still had that same exact look on him. The look of someone who lost something very precious to him. Talon would recognize that anywhere. He also noticed a mix of fear and hesitation in there too.
''What did he see?'' He could only wonder.
For a man as happy as Emino, he could only guess what side he was hiding from everyone else. A side that would perhaps unravel the darker corner of this upation.
''Joining the Sky Seekers Guild, huh? Well, that''s certainly a viable option. I want to gather information and that ce is probably the best starting point. I can also just move on my own but that might take longer with the amount of knowledge I have about this ce.''
Talon didn''t forget about the month period of time he had before the Divine Piercer would descend to the ground. If he missed it, it would be another year before he could get another opportunity to get to it and he would rather die than wait that long before going back to Earth.
So, that only left him with the first choice: To Join the Sky Seekers Guild. But, before he would do that, he wanted to actually see what this guild is all about and then make a decision.
If they were shady enough to take his freedom, then he might as well just ignore them. He wouldn''tpromise his freedom for some money and a stupid title that had no worth to him.
"Well, I will have to visit the guild''s headquarters first and then I will see if I can actually do it or not," Talon said with an awkwardugh. "I''m not that confident in actually being good enough for such a job."
''Bleh, I can''t even lie with a straight face.'' He thought to himself.
"Don''t underestimate your talent, boy. Ehem, in any case, just take some time to rest, and then you can visit the guild any time. It''s not a problem."
"Thank you for understanding."
With that, the group finally reached their destination. A small inn in the corner of one of the smaller streets on the west side of the city. It wasn''t as bustling as the main street. Walking inside, they were weed by an old-looking reception with an antique wooden table at the end and a sleepy old woman behind it.
"Wake up, granny!" Walking to the reception, Emino tapped on it, snapping the woman out of her small nap.
"Huh? What? Who?"
"It''s me, Emino."
"Oh! If it isn''t Emi boy. What brought you here today?"
"Tsk, I told you before not to call me ''Emi Boy'', I''m a grown-ass man now, granny."
"You are still 100 years too young to be a man! Tsk, I still remember you running around here with a small wooden stick and a ball!" The woman retorted with an angry look.
That made the rest of the group look away as they held theirughter.
"I heard you, I swear to god, I heard you! No resting tonight, it is! We are shifting!" He yelled as he turned around.
"What?! No!! That''s unfair, Emino!"
"Evil! That''s evil!"
"Don''t take decisions for yourself," Lefa added with a cold expression.
As the groupined loudly, Talon watched from the side as he tried not tough. This group was quite funny without even trying to be so. They seemed to share a deep bond between them like that of a family.
''That''s nice to see.''
"What an interesting bunch," Acryphamented casually.
"Yeah, they are very interesting. I''m d I met them of all people here. At least I won''t have to worry about killing anyone for now." He shrugged.
Acrypha gave him a side look before goingpletely silent. Nobody knew what was going through her head at that moment.
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don''t forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!