Chapter 183: Traveler’s Respite
“Heh, so much nonsense.” The strange bird stared at him for a moment, then changed tone, “You don’t look too bad, so I’ll say a few more words.
After going in, don’t tell anyone your background or real name, and don’t let anyone touch your teleportation medium. That’s it, pay up, ten pounds of gold or equivalent items.”
Gold is hard currency in the multiverse, with higher circulation than ordinary gemstones.
“Uh, okay, thanks.” Anse didn’t ask more, squatted down, counted out five hundred and fifty gold coins from his money bag, and placed them on the ground.
Fifty gold coins weigh about one pound, but considering the purity and wear of different coinages, he gave an extra fifty gold coins.
The strange bird opened its mouth and sucked all the gold coins into its belly, then nodded in satisfaction: “Go in.”
With a click, the door opened.
Anse took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and noisy sounds immediately flooded his ears.
There was no waiter to receive him outside. What met his eyes was a hall over five hundred square meters, laid out somewhat like bar booths, relatively sparse, but each booth had a different design style: simple, gloomy, rugged, mysterious, bloody…
Moreover, they varied in size, obviously to accommodate different creatures’ sizes and habits.
The place he emerged was at the edge of the hall, with dozens of other doors nearby, which should be teleportation entrances and exits, while the counter was on the opposite side, requiring him to cross the entire hall.
Anse strolled into the hall and found only a few booths occupied by “people”, but the number still exceeded a hundred, with strange races and attire.
Not only that, the decorative ornaments, plants, and such in the hall were all bizarre, and he didn’t recognize most of them.
He didn’t know how to describe this place; it wasn’t luxurious in the human sense, but a form of civilization different from Faerun, yet with some similarities.
As he passed a semi-enclosed private seat, a female elf’s eyes lit up, and she waved at him: “Hey, little boy, come over and drink with me, it’s on me.”
She spoke in Dragon Speech, very standard.
Anse turned his head and met a pair of eyes blooming with star-shaped twinkling light.
‘Astral elf.’ He recalled the race with this feature after a moment’s thought.
A very, very long time ago, a group of elves migrated from the Feywild to the Astral Plane to get closer to their god. Life in the silvery void infused sparks of divine light into their souls, so their eyes always showed star-shaped twinkles.
Anse smiled at her and quickened his pace to the long curved counter.
Unfamiliar with the place, he felt it best to be cautious.
“First time here? Food, lodging, or a drink?” （Dragon Speech）
The speaker was a satyr standing behind the bar counter, dressed in a red formal wear, shaking a wine glass in hand, eyeing Anse with interest.
Anse’s appearance clearly related to dragons, and since others opened with Dragon Speech, it saved him switching languages.
“First time here. What are the rules, services, and prices?” He got straight to the point.
The satyr seemed accustomed to it, bent down to fetch a stack of tattered pamphlets from under the counter, and slapped it on the counter: “Read it yourself.”
Anse sat on a high stool by the counter, carefully picked up the pamphlet, which had a giant beast illustrated on the cover, filled inside with text he didn’t recognize in any language he knew.
“You can’t read, can you?” The satyr suddenly leaned over, smirking, “This shop provides translation service, one pound of gold per minute.”
At this moment, Mei Fu quietly rubbed against Anse’s ear.
“I recognize it, thanks.” Anse firmly refused.
The satyr looked a bit disappointed and walked away with his wine glass.
‘Meow, this is Giant Speech, rarely used, they’re doing it on purpose.’ Mei Fu said huffily.
‘Normal. Help me look and tell me what it says.’ Anse chuckled, unconcerned.
Traveler’s Respite prohibits spellcasting; except for storage items, most magical items are also ineffective. Safety is secondary; mainly it’s to make money, and the prices are very steep.
A simple translation service dares to charge one pound of gold; if he were really a little sorcerer wandering in, forget his savings, he’d lose everything.
‘Traveler’s Respite is built inside the corpse of an astral giant ship beast, drifting in the Astral Sea, never staying in one place, open for over three thousand two hundred years…’ Mei Fu translated the pamphlet’s contents to him sentence by sentence.
‘Hiss, astral giant ship beast?’ Anse was greatly startled.
Astral giant ship beasts are colossal monstrosities, challenge rating 21. Since the birth of the multiverse, they have soared through the mists of the Astral Sea, seeking to devour every creature they encounter.
Killing one of those things is no small feat.
‘No fighting allowed inside Traveler’s Respite, violators fined… No damaging shop items, violators compensate at full price…’ Mei Fu continued translating.
Anse secretly curled his lip; so the inn doesn’t post notices, just waiting for people to break rules.
But in detail, these rules aren’t particularly harsh; if careful in word and deed, the chance of violation is low.
Services mainly include accommodation, dining, medical care, shopping, transaction mediation, quest commissions, etc., with very high prices for each.
Accommodation settled daily, twenty pounds of gold or equivalent value per day, which comes to one thousand gold coins a day.
Whereas in Faerun, a few gold coins a day get the best suite with full servant service.
However, this thousand gold coins isn’t wasted; just sleep once, and body status recovers to optimal.
If the body has disabilities, poisoning, or curses, the inn also has treatment capabilities, charged separately based on the condition.
Traveler’s Respite’s food and wine aren’t ordinary either: either exquisite taste, very rare, or with special effects like sustained buffs, supernatural buffs, or protective charms.
Prices are similarly beautiful. A bowl of seven-layer paradise cocoa soup is twelve pounds of gold, granting seven days of cold resistance after drinking.
But all food cannot be taken out; must be eaten or drunk on the premises.
The inn’s second floor has shops; a small portion of goods are sold by Traveler’s Respite itself, most are consigned by others, all appraised by Traveler’s Respite, with 15% handling fee.
Follow the passage behind the counter all the way in to reach the trading center.
Here you can set up a stall, sell anything: slaves, corpses, materials, magical items, etc. But since many can’t stay long-term, you need a ghost shop assistant to help sell, same handling fee as consignment.
Here you can also trade intelligence or post various quests; no restrictions on taking quests. After all, everyone who enters is a professional; even elite professionals are considered bottom-tier.
After a quick look, Anse felt he had the lay of the land.
‘Isn’t this just a secret astral adventurer’s guild?’
He put down the pamphlet, walked along the corridor behind the counter, turned a corner, passed through a large door, and a vast trading market came into view.
The trading market was very orderly, no messy stalls, all large display cases with counters, each numbered and with a magic lock, ghost shop assistants or sellers behind the counters, all in good order.
Some display cases had enclosed storage rooms behind, probably for bulk goods.
‘Does Traveler’s Respite have this many people?’ Anse was somewhat surprised.
But on second thought, Toril where Faerun continent is located is already vast, let alone Kingdom of the Heavens, and who knows how many astral systems like Kingdom of the Heavens there are.
“Hey, little sorcerer, is your cat for sale?” A frivolous voice sounded by Anse’s ear.
