Placing the unconscious baby dragon inside his coat pocket, Michael walked along the bustling streets while looking for a tavern. Various shops including smithies, bakeries, bookshops and other miscellaneous stores were opening their doors to start the business, if this was any other day, he would have entered one or two stores to check what they were selling but today, his sole focus was to gather any information he could about the Doctor and save the baby dragon.
"Look, over there" while he was navigating through the labyrinth of streets, Gaya pointed at a name board that had the name 'Old Ship tavern' written on it.
From the outside, the tavern looked cheerful, clean, and modest. Small stones and intricate stone carvings made up most of the building's outer structure.
It was near impossible to see through the stained glass windows, but the entertainment from within can be felt outside.
As they entered the tavern through the heavily used, metal door, they were welcomed by excitement and clapping hands.
The bartender was a red-haired middle-aged woman who was clearly buried in orders but still managed to welcome them with a wave.
It was as enchanting inside as it was on the outside. Squared, stone beams supported the upper floor and the large candles attached to them. The walls were littered with so many different memorabilia.
The tavern itself was packed. Travelers like them seemed to be the primary clientele here, which was often a good sign. Several long tables were occupied by what must be separate groups who have bonded over great food and conversation. The other, smaller tables were also occupied by people who were probably starting to reach the point of having drunk too much, though nobody seemed to mind. Even most of the stools at the bar were occupied, though none of them looked to be minding more company.
The air inside the tavern was filled with freshly baked bread, boots, and ale. On the other side of the large tables, people, mostly drunks, were dancing and singing along with the band of bards. Michael and Gaya managed to find stools before the bartender.
"What can I get you two?" the bartender woman finished serving the others and came to Michael,
"Information" Michael slid a gold coin toward the woman, he did not waste any time exchanging pleasantries given the dire situation.
"And water with lime, if you have any '' Gaya ordered, since Michael didn't drink any liquors, she also stopped drinking them, and instead, she got used to just hot water with lime, just like him.
Putting the gold coin into her pouch hanging on her hip, she grinned brightly,
"What do you want to know, young master?" She changed the way she addressed him because of the gold coin, obviously, a commoner or a typical adventurer wouldn't just give a gold coin just like that.
"Tell me everything you know about the Doctor"
"Another one" the man behind Michael snickered, taking a long sip from his mug.
"Ignore that one young master" the bartender glared at the man, wordlessly telling him to mind his own business.
"Well young master, no one know much about the Doctor but I'll tell you what I heard about the doctor, it might be just a hogwash or god's honest words" Even if they were just hogwash, Michael had no choice but to listen to them.
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At the moment, Michael and Gaya were waiting in a dark alley between two large buildings. Back at the inn, the bartender told them everything she knew and heard about the Doctor, most of what she told them seemed outright exaggeration or simply lies spewed by some drunkards because who would believe an angel with pure white wings came from the sky and healed a drunk in the alleyway. In one story the bartender told them, the Doctor brought a dead man back from death, although Michael was desperate, even he couldn't believe that one could bring the dead back to life unless that person has a system that's fully upgraded, which was impossible.
However, the conversation with the bartender was not all waste as Michael got the names of everyone who's claiming that they were healed by the Doctor. For another extra five gold coins, the bartender gave the names and where to find most of them.
Creak!
While they were waiting in the dark alley, a back door of the building left to Michael opened vaguely revealing a figure of an old man. Gaya stepped towards the old man with no expression on her face, despite the darkness in the alleyway and the old man's age, he grinned instantly looking at the young girl walking towards him.
"Are you lost, little girl?"
Boom!
In a flash, Gaya's hand grabbed the old man by his neck, slamming the old man against the wall,
"Answer my questions or" she placed a dagger on the old man's wrinkly throat,
"Any...any..thing" the old man got his hangover cure just like that,
"What do you know about the Doctor?" asked Gaya. The old man shuddered to look at the vertical slit pupils which resembled the eyes of a venomous snake glowing in the dark.
"Where and when did you meet him?" Michael asked the old man with a soothing voice to calm the old man down a bit.
"Near...near the orphanage...I saw...i...saw someone...healing...an orphan..." In the story the bartender told them, it was this old man who got healed by the Doctor, not an orphan.
"Tell me what he looked like?" Gaya still had her dagger touching the old man's throat while asking,
"I didn't...see...his face..." She instantly saw the old man withholding something by sensing the slight change in his voice. She had dealt with politicians and powerful cultivators ever since she was born, so she could find out when a commoner like the old man was lying to her face.
"You don't want to hold back anything, trust me," she said, this time her voice was colder,
"I...heard...music...music..."
"What kind of music?" asked Gaya, "like...like...deeeeengggg" Michael didn't know whether to laugh or slap this old man for his music knowledge.
"Knock him out and threw him the dumpster"
"Wh-"
Chadak!
The old man's world completely became dark before he could even raise a finger. Just as he told her, she knocked the old man and threw him into the nearby dumpster.
"Next one" after many days, only now his lips slightly curved upwards because finally, he might have gotten an actual lead to finding the Doctor.
"I heard a sound"
"Music heavenly music"
"Soul soothing tune"
"I've never heard of something more beautiful"
After the old man, both of them continued to interrogate the people who claimed to have been healed by the Doctor. They used violence for some and gold coins for some but the end result was the same, everyone had heard some kind of music coming from the Doctor.
Afterward, Michael brought all of them to a place where the nobles of the Royal land gather to listen to music. It cost him 2000 gold coins just to enter and stay for an hour. The garden he was walking through was filled with colorful flowers, exquisite fountains, delicately crafted benches for the nobles to sit, and the beautiful status of various musical instruments such as violin, zither, veena, etc.
The deeper he walked into the garden, the louder the music became. Michael could understand why the nobles spent so many coins here as even he felt refreshed by hearing the soul-soothing music in the air.
But he was here neither to enjoy the scenery nor listen to this soul-soothing music, he was here to find out what kind of music these people behind him heard. By identifying the musical instrument the Doctor used, he would be one step closer to finding him, of course, there was a possibility that the Doctor didn't use any kind of musical instruments and they all just heard some kind of magical vibrations but Michael wanted to stay positive, for the sake of his baby dragon.
Just as he was crossing by a statue of the musical instrument veena, the sweet melody of a veena being played could be heard in a nearby pavilion. Almost as if the music had an enchanting ability, the moment anyone heard this melody would feel as if their heartstrings were resonating along with the veena.
"That's it"
"It's the same"
Few of the people behind Michael, including the old man who got knocked off by Gaya shouted, some seemed relieved as they could finally be free from these two youngsters.
The moment Michael and Gaya heard the sound of the veena and the people behind them, they stopped walking and turned to look toward the source. They could only see a woman wearing a red colored glistening robe with her back facing them in the pavilion. Her jade white fingers could be seen dancing along the strings of the veena as the sweet melodies rang throughout the area. Few nobles sat on the bench near her, eyes closed, submerged in the ocean of music.
Walking toward the pavilion, Michael quickly approached the back of the red-robed woman. Her black hair hung behind her shoulders down to her back. A white veil covered her face so that he couldn't see her appearance.
The part of the girl's face that could be seen could only be described as a stunning beauty.
In a flash, she finished playing the ballad and turned to look at him. "Does my lord enjoy the sound of the veena as well?" The girl spoke with a sweet gentle voice, almost too gentle as if one wasn't strong enough, then they would be enchanted after hearing her voice.
With a light smile, he replied, "The second sister's ability with the veena is quite amazing. Although I would love to sit and listen to you playing, I have a life to save, so can you please answer my question?"
The girl first seemed puzzled by Michael's words but soon, she smiled sweetly, speaking with a gentle voice, "I thank the Lord for his praise and please, ask away, anything to save a life"
He continued to smile at her, then pointing his fingers at the people behind him, he asked while carefully noticing her facial expressions, "Miss, have you met any of them before? They say they heard a piece of music that soothed their soul and surprisingly, healed their wounds" the girl looked all of them who were in ragged clothes one more time before shaking her head,
"No lord, I have never met them but what they told you is true, a piece of music that can heal, only one who achieved the realm of perfection in veena could do that" As far as Michael and Gaya could tell, the girl was not lying. The girl continued,
"I am quite fond of the four arts and studied them studiously when I was young, but I am still far from the realm of perfection, while the sounds of my veena are quite soothing, it was mostly because of the veena itself." The girl's delicate finger stroked a string on the veena as she muttered, "Although this veena is a copy of the Angel's Veena, it uses a variety of rare parts, including the Soul Energy of the one who wields the Angel's Veena, Lailah Alden. If one could have done what you said, it would be her but I doubt she left the rainbow islands and came here to heal them" her last words contained a hint of scowl as she had already whiffed a smell of ale coming from some of them in the group. She put it mildly to sound respectful but she seriously doubted that Lailah Alden, the wielder of Angel's Veena gave the blessing of hearing the sound of Angel's Veena to these drunkards who weren't even worthy of breathing the same air as Lailah Alden does.
"Angel's Veena? Lailah Alden?" Michael asked with confusion while Gaya seemed like she knew the person the girl was talking about