Shortly after paying for the treatment, Esrael and Gilroy started discussing the weird young man, they had recently seen in the inn.
—Mother of Zeus!— Esrael, completely petrified by the case had occurred and scratching his head in confusion, exclaimed.—Did you see that?! Holy Hera! That's unbelievable! He just swallowed forty God damn pieces of ice! He's definitely somewhere from the north. Well... Maybe even further. Don't you think he's a weirdo?
—I bet he's odd sort of a chap,—Gilroy agreed, warming his hands with his breath.—I think we have to trace him for a while. Who knows what's on his mind... The innkeeper told me that he's pretty frequent in this place, and he hasn't seen this guy drinking even a drop of alcohol ever! Even on weekends! —Hmm... I smell something really suspicious happening out here,—said Esrael thoughtfully.—I would have understood if he doesn't drink because of work or family matters. But even on the weekdays, being in the inn? He's definitely concealing something... Damn! I completely forgot about my military service. Today's gonna be a tough time for me. Let's meet this evening at the inn, shall we?
—Deal!—Gilroy smiled.—Good luck out there. Don't let yourself work too hard—you can go on fire.
—You asked for it!—Esrael, running away from his friend, shouted. And that's how our heroes decided to have an evening appointment.
***
It was the end of the day already when our devoted friends had an evening rendezvous in the garden near the inn. Having kindly greeted each other, they rapidly headed towards the most amiable place to rest in. The innkeeper, standing at the door and watching the snowflakes slowly falling on the dirty pavement, suddenly noticed his frequent visitors' approaching and happily invited them to come in. Watching his clients tiredly stepping into his tavern, the owner gasped friendly and said:
—Oh! It's nice to see you again, lads! What can be more delightful than a nice big cup of bubbling ale in the evening, right? Or you wanna' surprise your livers with something new tonight?
—Well, I guess we will be more conservative this time,—Esrael replied exhaustedly.
—As you wish, my friends,—the inn-keeper said joyfully and headed towards the bar shelf. It has to be admitted that his actions, the way he was moving the cups, showed his great attentiveness to his job, his true love to business and his determination to treat his guests as good as possible. The owner grabbed two cups and with the speed of cheetah splashed warming bubbling drink into them.
—Here you go!—the man whispered happily, putting two freshly-prepared drinks on the table, spilling some drops on the desk.—Help yourself without any hesitation!
—Sure we will!—replied in chorus two friends, having made two big gulps of fresh drink. Shortly after, the innkeeper smiled and went away from the desk to look for something in the cellar. Having gained a favorable opportunity to discuss further actions, two mates nodded and started whispering.
—So,—Esrael said, having wiped out the ale's cream from the lips,— remember the plan?
—Oh yeah,—Gilroy replied.—It's clear as a bright summer sky.
—Good. Just remember—behave normally and stay sharp, okay?
—Aye aye, sir,—Gilroy smiled.
At that moment, when the thick wooden cups of our heroes were nearly drained to bottom, all of a sudden the young man, whom our worried fellows had seen the day before, entered the inn, letting chilling winter wind inside. Everyone, including the recently appeared inn owner, silenced. Meanwhile, stranger, without paying any attention to Esrael and Gilroy's suspicious behavior, plunked down on the chair and asked the innkeeper to bring a glass of fresh orange juice with sixteen pieces of ice in it. Friends looked at each other in a puzzle, but, nevertheless, didn't show their desperation to see how things would turn out to be. In the meantime, the inn owner poured juice into the cup and passed it to the stranger, smiling unwillingly. The young man thanked the keeper, made a few gulps from the mug and drained it completely, without stopping even for a second. Shortly after finishing the drink, the strange fellow made another order, asking the owner to bring him a piece of lamb.
"Whoa! Now that sounds interesting!—Esrael thought.—If he eats it instantly, without even holding his breath for a moment, I will put my armor in the closet and spend rest of my days as a monk". Luckily for him, his words weren't heard by Zeus, otherwise, he was up to spend rest of his days praying in a temple far far away from his motherland as a bold monk. Young man, having received his long-expected meal, dealt with it in a blink of the eye, nearly stuffing it inside himself, to explain the situation more carefully. Approximately, it took him about five minutes to finish his piece of lamb. Having seen the performance, worth for a circus, old inn-keeper was so startled, that he fell unwillingly on the chair, luckily standing right behind him, without uttering a single word. Once having welcomed the mayor of Tempestwind, whose appetite seemed to him truly wild, he couldn't believe that there were people who could have outcome His majesty's hunger. Esrael and Gilroy, more suppressed in feelings, kept sitting on their places, sipping their drinks, thinking over the situation, happening next to them. That spectacle was definitely the most extraordinary they had ever seen in their entire lives. Meantime, inn-keeper finally brought himself back to his senses, got up from the chair and came closer to the client.
—Dear sir,—owner began the conversation, stammering a little. Having seen young man turning to him, he smiled unwillingly:—That's not in my power to interrupt you, but I sincerely ask you to answer one little question — are you feeling okay after such an enormous dinner?
—You don't need to worry, sir!—stranger exclaimed convincingly.—That's my daily portion,—at that moment young man crunched a piece of delicious brown bread, continuing to look into keeper's eyes. Now that was an unexpected turn in the road for everyone in the tavern: in a blink of an eye inn-keeper heavily gasped; his legs shook of startling words he had heard and at that very moment hospitable host of the lovely place fell on the dirty floor of tavern unconsciously. Gilroy's reaction didn't hold for long: at the same second he splashed the drink, he had recently gulped, and googled his eyes on the stranger, without having even a short explanation of what had happened. Esrael, without uttering a single word and watching very odd client, was terribly shocked for a while, but, being brought into senses by the terrible cough of Gilroy, instantly rushed towards the inn-keeper.
He was lying pale, as a white owl's feather, on the cold scratchy wooden floor, weakly gazing at the ceiling, unable to pronounce a single sound. Having grabbed him under arms and sat on the chair nearby, our heroes started to bring the owner into senses. The oddly looking young man spat silently and dashed to the inn-keeper as fast as he could.
—Oh god! Did I say something wrong?—the stranger asked himself confusingly, desperately trying to bring poor owner into his senses.
—I definitely didn't see that coming!—Gilroy exclaimed with petrifaction, lifting the old man over the floor.—He should have stayed in bed in such a ripe old age, soothing hot tea, rather than holding a tavern!
—Listen, man, I was always curious about your job. What kind of things you do to bread-win yourself?—Esrael suddenly questioned the stranger, having brought into senses the inn-keeper, whose poor weak sight was desperately managing to focus on one spot.
—I'm a forger,—young man replied.—You know... just making different metal stuff for His Majesty the Lord. Not a dream job, honestly, but it's enough for living.
All of a sudden, suspicious young fellow raised his eyes on Esrael, and how surprised the last was, seeing the eyes of his interlocutor changing into ultramarine-reptile ones! He couldn't believe his eyes and was deeply shocked by seen, but another second the stranger's eyes turned back to a normal state.
"Oh for Zeus's sake!—Esrael thought to himself, trying to conceal his true emotions by smiling unwillingly.—What the hell was that thing?! Relax, bro, just relax... Draw a deep breath... Count to ten... Few! I've never seen such shit before. It's all that damn ale's fault! It's time to tighten strips once and for all".
—We should bring him upstairs: he needs some rest,—thoughts of our hero were interrupted by the unknown young man, who grabbed inn-keeper by his arms.—Would you kindly do me a favor by helping me?
—Oh yes... For sure,—Esrael replied with freezing politeness, having rubbed out the odd thoughts from his head.—Let's get back to business, shall we? They took the owner by his arms and legs and continued going up the ladder. Taking the heavy keeper upstairs was, slightly to say, very exhausting process: seventy kilograms of surplus weight to lift was a pretty tough mission for our heroes to accomplish, even for trained soldiers as Ezrael and Gilroy. All of a sudden, the young man, nearly having reached the second floor, startled two friends by asking the question mysteriously: "By the way, guys, don't you mind going to the mountains tomorrow? It is said that dozens of rubies and gold are left there unattended".
—Why should we trust you?—Esrael reasonably wondered.—We have met you only for a second time today. We don't even know who you are: murderer, thief or a kind of a robber, who is ready to catch easy prey? Nah! We are not that sort of guys, right, Gilroy?
His friend silently nodded, crossing his arms on the chest.
—Well... It seems to me that your slightest desire, poisoning your mind right now, is easy money. And, what's more, there is no one else who could have led you to that place: the road is very crooked and pretty dangerous, I should say,—the stranger thoughtfully replied.—Secondly, I have been always dreaming to find something golden and shining to get easy money. You saw that coins on the table yesterday? Yeah... You know where did I bring them from, don't you? C'mon, guys—times are very rough these days, and what can help you more than shining golden coins, trembling in your pockets?
—Hmm... I don't know, man,—Gilroy thoughtfully replied, scratching the back of his head.—Winter is very cold this year and it is hard to have a coin in your pocket... Alright — deal!
—Marvelous! And what about you?— the young man turned to Esrael, who was standing on the last step of the ladder and nearly turned on the left, straightly to the room of innkeeper. Esrael thoughtfully looked upon Gilroy. He was desperately trying to convince his friend to choose the right decision by winking with his right eye. Reaching the doorstep, which led to the owner's bedroom, Esrael asked his friend to help him with opening the door. —So,—Gilroy impatiently asked, removing the door's latch,—are you going? Esrael didn't say anything in response. Instead, he entered the brightlyilluminated bedroom, holding the inn-keeper, who was still unconscious. He didn't have any idea how to respond to such an invitation. On the one hand, his mind was insistently shouting to him that this tour would not end well, because the stranger was a dark horse himself—no one could know his true identity. But on the other... These treasures were too sweet for the eye to give up without giving a try!
—Well... Do we have an accord?—the young man asked insistently when the owner was finally put down on the bed. Esrael was still a little bit submerged into his own thoughts, but at last the overwhelming desire to fill his pockets with shining golden coins took over his mind.
—For sure,—Esrael replied, watching the stranger's smile crawling in every part of his face.—So... When do we start?
—Tomorrow morning, when the sun will set,—the young man, whose eyes instantly glowed with happiness, told.—Just make sure you grab everything with you, warm clothes and food as a necessity. I will be waiting for you near the inn.
—Alright,—Esrael said and thrust his hand to the stranger. Having nodded in a friendly manner, he accepted the friendly gesture from his comrade's side. Shortly after doing so, the strange fellow turned around and, saying: "Don't forget—it's tomorrow morning!" — ran out of the room. Our heroes were left alone, confusingly staring at the doorway.
—What do you think of this guy?—Esrael asked his friend.—He seems really weird to me... Do you think he's gonna' cheat on us?
—Don't think so,—Gilroy, having come to the doorstep, replied.—I saw his sight. Believe me — it's too kind for a criminal's. I think we can truly rely on him.
—Well, if you are really sure he's not a complete bastard,—Esrael, having clapped Gilroy's on the back, said,—why shouldn't we risk, right? All in all, it's getting boring for me to hang out here without any reasonable purpose all day long without being interrupted by something truly magnificent.
—It couldn't have been said better,—Gilroy admitted and headed towards the stairs, leading down to the ground floor, which was already suffering heavy rapid steps of Esrael, thinking of next day's fruitful adventure. But our courageous heroes did not expect that the next day will reveal secrets, they have never known before throughout their entire lives. The true adventure was about to begin.