Chapter 67: Grey Tower Town

The distant building was growing larger, slowly revealing its full outline from what had first been a tiny speck—it was a gray-white stone tower, thick-bodied, with a low wall ringing its top, and behind that wall several flags could be seen flapping in the wind. Below the tower, a ring of city walls connected to it, their surfaces covered in marks eroded by wind and sand.

At the city gate, several stone pillars stood on either side, carved with runes similar to the defensive runes at the Academy Training Ground, but far more worn. Some runes were already missing, making it hard not to doubt whether the city’s defensive formation still worked at all.

The Flying Boat began to slow. Xing Ye walked out from her room and looked at the people on the deck. “We’re here. This is the first city we’ve encountered on our way to the Central Continent. It has no official name, but the locals call it Grey Tower Town, named after the stone tower at its center. It counts as a well-known place in this region.” She raised a hand to gesture at the town enclosed by walls below the tower. “It’s getting late. We’ll rest in Grey Tower Town tonight. Tomorrow morning we’ll set out from Grey Tower Town’s Teleportation Station and go straight to our destination.”

The Flying Boat descended onto an open area on the outskirts of Grey Tower Town. During the landing, the hull barely swayed, and the entire vessel touched down smoothly. Xing Ye was the first to jump down from the deck. After everyone had landed, she raised a hand and waved it at the hull. The small silver-white boat began to shrink, contracting from bow to stern, the portholes, deck, and mast folding back into the hull one after another, the body slowly returning to the palm-sized object it had been when they set out, landing in Xing Ye’s palm.

She tucked it back into the inner pocket of her Academy Uniform, fastened the button, then turned to glance at the Team of Five. “Let’s go. Find somewhere to make do for the night.” Everyone headed toward the gate of Grey Tower Town. The guards at the gate were wrapped in thick robes. After one look at the emblem on their Academy Uniforms, they stepped aside to let them through. The streets of Grey Tower Town were narrower than they had appeared from the sky. The buildings on both sides were mostly gray-brown stone structures, their roofs covered with dark red tiles to block the heat, the edges of the tiles worn white by wind and sand. There were not many pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, a figure wrapped in a thick cloth robe would pass by with head lowered, and some would look up to size up this group of strange outsiders. A faint smoky scent drifted through the air, mixed with the aroma of meat soup and spices. Elsa’s stomach let out a small, traitorous sound, especially conspicuous on the quiet street. She paused mid-step, glanced down at her own belly, then looked up and pretended nothing had happened.

The others walked ahead without turning back, but the expressions on their faces were restrained, clearly not wanting Elsa to know they had noticed.

Xing Ye stopped in front of a three-story stone building by the roadside. Its facade was wider than the neighboring houses. Above the doorframe, the inn’s name was embedded in the wall, but the characters had been eroded by wind and rain until they were blurry—impossible to make out what was carved there.

Xing Ye told Xuan Xi and the others to wait outside, then pushed the door open and went in first. The entrance hall was small. Behind the counter sat an elderly woman of another race, with gray-white hair and ears longer than a Dragon Race’s but not the pointed kind of an Elf Race—likely a local mixed-blood resident of Grey Tower Town. She was flipping through an old book with her head down. Hearing someone push the door open, she looked up and swept her gaze toward the door, but saw no one (except the baffling few standing at the entrance). She lowered her head again, about to continue reading.

“I want to book rooms, hey!” A youthful voice came up from below the counter.

The old woman stood up and looked down over the counter, only then seeing the small pink-white-haired figure standing in front of it. She was stretching on her tiptoes as much as she could, both hands on the countertop, with only half her face showing. The old woman blinked, then set down the book in her hands, her voice carrying a note of apology. “Sorry, I didn’t see you just now.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it,” Xing Ye said. “Three rooms.” She fished a silver coin from her pocket and placed it on the counter. The coin landed on the wooden surface with a crisp ring.

The old woman took the silver coin, pulled three iron keys from a drawer, strung them together on a thin hemp rope, and handed them over. “Third floor, end of the hallway. Ideally the three rooms next to each other.” She glanced at the Team of Five behind Xing Ye (who had just run in after sensing something was off), and added, “It’s almost dinnertime. There are still some ingredients in the kitchen. I can make something for you in a bit.” Her gaze landed on Elsa, probably having guessed her hunger. “Consider it an apology to our guests.”

Elsa wanted to say “No need,” but before she could get the words out, the old woman had stood up and was already heading toward the kitchen on her own. “Go put your luggage away first. By the time you come down, it should be ready.”

The Team of Five went upstairs. The wooden floor was probably about as old as Xuan Xi, creaking softly underfoot. Xuan Xi pushed open the door to the room at the end of the hallway. The space inside was reasonably spacious, with a window facing west that looked out onto the distant stone tower. She set her backpack on the bed. Sitting down, she could feel that the mattress here was firmer than the ones in the Academy Dormitory. From the hallway came the sound of Elsa and Reggie talking, muffled through the wall, the content unclear.

After sitting in the room for a while, Xuan Xi pushed the door open and went downstairs. On the stairs, she could hear the clatter of spatulas and the sizzle of oil from below. The dining room downstairs had already lit its lamps, warm yellow light falling across the wooden tabletops.

The old woman carried out a deep ceramic pot from the kitchen, white steam rising from its rim, giving off a rich meaty aroma. She set the pot in the center of the dining table, then turned and brought out several small dishes from the kitchen. There wasn’t a lot in them, but it was enough for them to eat.

The table was full—six people seated around the wooden table. The old woman brought out another basket of toasted bread from the kitchen, said “Call me if it’s not enough,” and went back to the kitchen, lowering the door curtain behind her.

Stewed in the ceramic pot were meat and vegetables. The meat had been cooked for a long time, falling apart at the lightest touch of a fork. The broth was thick, mixed with fragments of spices. Xuan Xi forked a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. The saltiness of the broth melted across her tongue, blended with the fat of the meat itself and the sweetness of the vegetables—a thousand times better than the grilled fish and thick soup in the Academy Cafeteria.

Xing Ye sat at the head of the table, eating faster than any of them. When she finished, she gathered up her bowl and utensils, then took a sip from the cup beside her to help with digestion. Outside the window, the sky was gradually darkening, the outline of the tower blending into the darkness. Something rang in the distance—a bell toll, carried from far away, dong, dong, dong, very clear, as if it were striking the heart of each person present.

After the bell fell silent, only the clink of knives and forks remained in the dining room, occasionally one or two brief exchanges, then back to the fine sounds of chewing and swallowing. The warm yellow lamplight gave everyone at the table a soft halo.