Perdilius

"Good evening, I do apologize for the insensitivity of my men. We have been traveling all day and they have only now begun to properly stretch their legs."

"Ay, is no bother so long as ye don' go pissin' 'n corners 'n brawlin' like animals 'ere."

A chuckle was heard, presumably from the same smooth voice from before. "I can assure you that my men are no such creatures. They will behave, won't we?"

A sudden chorus of mumbling yes sir's and of course sir were suddenly heard, echoing down the hallway where Felix stepped lightly. He swallowed, brushing his hair and inhaling. By the sounds of it, there were a lot of men downstairs.

"Now, I do believe drinks are in order?"

"If ye got the coin."

"That which I do. Give my men as many rounds as they desire." Now he heard the sound of cheering and laughter, drowning out anything else he could manage to hear from his position. Darn, well no use keeping myself against the wall here, he thought as he stepped down from step to step.

With each step down, his view was increasing as did his heart rate, what was once an empty bar had found itself filled with laugh and plenty of men, leaving no tables unfilled. Some of the men were left leaning against the wooden pillars as well, snorting and scowling at being left without a seat. He noticed one rough looking man reaching for his mug of ale, his adam's apple bobbing with each gulp whilst his eyes had found his. The bushy eyebrows and ragged shadow on his face certainly left him looking dirty and mean, Felix simply nodded before looking away. Out at the table, he noticed that of the numerous soldiers around, only one man stood out in terms of dressing attire. Rather than wearing metal armor, this man carried a fancy looking silk robe, complete with a red sash on his waist. On his back was something that looked to him like an image of the sun with a red chalice in the foreground. At the base of the chalice was a white ribbon wrapped around it, complete with odd symbols woven into it.

The strange man had sat himself besides Reta and was currently speaking with Nyitzcha, who seemed to be nodding her head as she listened to him speak. The selves behind her were now empty, and a moment later she raised her hand to excuse herself before leaping out of the bar top and disappearing among the legs of the crowd. Reta spun around, leaning her arms back against the bar before noticing Felix and signaling him to approach her. He nods and walks towards her, pushing past numerous loud men and noticing the man in the silk robes notice him.

"What's up? Decided a drink was better than Kuli? I can't blame you, I'm here too after all." Reta smirked, taking a sip of her half-empty cup before seemingly gulping the precious liquid down. Sighing in relief, she wiped her mouth and covered it to relieve a quick burp. "So, guess this place got popular now."

"Looks like it." Felix noted, looking around. "Where's Janette?"

"Move aside!" He jumped back as one of those large barrels slipped between them, before making its way behind the bar. In a moment, that barrel was lifted onto the bar top, and Felix was amazed to see the dwarf was able to carry something nearly twice her size with ease. Well almost with ease, as she rested against the barrel and wiped the sweat of her brow with a rag. "These barrels be feelin' lighter each time, I got a feelin' they be scamming me with this!"

"I can have some of my men assist with the rest." The man offered, whistled to a trio nearby and whispering into the ears of one man. That soldier then shared the message with his buddies before all three headed to the corner and retrieved a barrel each.

"Where to, madam?" One of the younger men asked.

"Jus' leave 'em behind here wit' me. I can handle the rest." She waved her hand off as the men nodded and did so.

"Thank you. You may leave now, and let the others know to switch with the others outside once they have had their fill."

The soldier nodded and walked away, leaving the young man to move his attention to Felix. "Ah, a local. I do apologize if we made quite a scene just now."

"No, it's fine." Felix replied.

He smiles, hands held together on his lap holding a cup of clear liquid before taking a sip.

"Enjoying the brew?" Felix asked.

"Ah, my men most certainly are. I myself am not adjusted to drinks of the like, just the purity of water is enough to quench my thirst." He chuckled in his reply, tilting his head slightly as he began to eye him. "If I may, do all the locals around here carry such fascinating and unique eyes like yours?"

"Glad ye asked, I been noticin' he got dem fancy eyes. Never seen 'em like that before." Nyitzcha added, now leaning in with curiosity.

Reta opened her eyes wide, now alert with Felix feeling a bit nervous. He had forgotten the side effects, his eyes had changed into a unique shading of brown and yellow. He swallowed and stuttered, trying to think of a response.

"He's not a local actually, just passing through. Said he's from a tribe way out actually, the uhhh something something ancient tribe." Reta announced, a sudden hiccup interrupting her sentence. This did enough to sway the young man's attention as he nodded his head in return. However, Reta wasn't taking any chances for a follow-up. "Say, what's with the fancy robe and letters? What are ya, some kind of priest? Haha."

"I am, actually, and I do thank you for taking notice." He spoke back with a grin.

"When do priests have so many bodyguards?" Felix asked.

"Not bodyguards no, I am on route so to speak, but the specifics of such is matter that shall remain private, yes? It's a matter of good faith, that is all."

"Never seen a church with that kind of... sun picture, thingy -hic!" Reta muttered, cupping her mouth as her face began to wield a nice blush to it. Felix wiggled his nose and frowned, her breath was beginning to smell of Sake.

"Yes well, it is a rather common misinterpretation. This is no sun, it is meant to be a golden flower. An ancient one at that, an extinct specimen we unfortunately no longer have in our time. Worth of great importance to the ancestors, according to my father, the red chalice meant to symbolize the purity of man coated in the blood of our sins, of our corrupted. Filthy degenerates who succumbed to the arms of monsters, falling from grace and driven by lust under a false pretense of a cursed romance. In fact, plenty of those who do fornicate with these demons would inherit the devil gene from their captors and share characteristics such as their strength, their agility, and a common one being a mutation within their eyes." He mentioned, staring directly at Felix as he finished. Felix stared back, refusing to back down but admittedly feeling uneasy within his presence. A lot of harsh words this man had just used to describe Monster Girls.

"Reta, I think maybe we should go upstairs."

"What?" She cried out, sticking her tongue. "But I jusss' got started, not when you just got here! Have a drink with me." She giggled, waving her empty cup before it was snatched away by the barkeeper.

"Gimme that, those giggly fits be tellin' me a different story. Yer out of coin, which means yer out of drink, missy. 'N I don' do favors."

"Pfft, your such a drag. Whatever, c'mon Felix we can have our own party upstairs, in the bedroom." She chuckled, kicking her legs up and nearly losing her balance. Felix hooked an arm under her knees and another on her back, lifting her up rather easily as the young man looked on, amused.

"Felix then, that is your name yes? A pleasure to have met your acquaintance, Felix."

"Yea, sorry I couldn't stay and chat any longer, misterrr?"

He smiled a rather creepy smile, sending a cold feeling through him. "It's Perdilius. I hope to meet you again soon, Felix."