"Ah, no, nevermind." Aldred hid the golden emblem in his pocket. He did not want to be embarrassed by anyone here.
The woman on the other hand had her eyes lit up when she noticed the emblem. "Excuse me, respected sir. May I take a look of that emblem?"
"No, no, it's okay. We will take our leave now."
"Please, sir. I just want to take a look."
Aldred hesitantly nodded and took out the golden emblem out of his pocket.
The beautiful woman's eyes lit up. "Sir, are you looking for a place to stay?"
"Yes, we actually do."
"In that case, you can stay in our inn."
"No, that will be fine."
"It's okay, sir. You can stay here as long as you like free of charge."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. My name is Avre Heartdancer. I am the owner of the Golden Scales Inn." She bowed slightly, and her eyes averted towards Aldred with a sweet smile on her face.
'This man has the Golden Emblem that was only owned by one of the ten founders of this nation. If the stories were right, nine of the founders were a dragonkin, but one of them was a human. For thousands of years, nobody knew where the dragonkins were gone.
But this man... perhaps he was the son of the founder.'
"Not only am I the owner of the Golden Scales Inn, but I also owned the Golden Treasury. I collected unique treasures from all around the world, and the items I have is only one of a kind. If you wish to take a look you can tell me about it. For now, let me guide you to your accommodation."
Avre then led Aldred to the 90th floor where the room was so spacious and beautifully furnished.
Aldred and his wives looked around, but they didn't seem so impressed. Avre almost made a mistake of shooing them away. Thankfully, she kept her professional attitude in front of them, and noticed the golden emblem.
If not for that, she could have offended one of the most important person of this city.
As they looked around, Aldred feeling bored and summoned a Spirit Fruit out of his inventory. Then he ate it.
Avre widened her eyes. At first she had doubt that she met the son of the founder, but after watching Aldred grabbing and eating a Spirit Fruit so nonchalantly, she believed it was true.
A few seconds later, she saw everyone grabbed a Spirit Fruit of their own.
This shocked her even more.
"I liked this place. We'll take it. But are you sure we can use this place for free?" Aldred asked.
"Yes, you can use it. But I would like you to see our Golden Treasury as well."
"But how can I pay for it?"
"Sir, you can use the Golden Emblem. If my guess is correct, there should be an enormous amount of wealth in it."
"Oh, I see." Aldred nodded as he recalled Herakas' face.
***
Avre guided the party to the Golden Treasury, and showed them some of the treasures. The treasure chests were made out of gold, silver and ivory. And inside the treasure chests were even rarer treasures such as magical swords and orbs, gemstones and rare books.
Aldred's eyes were sparkling like stars. He couldn't stop himself from drooling. His wives were equally ecstatic, as their eyes shined brightly with awe.
After seeing that the treasury contained many valuable items, Aldred asked how much it cost.
"The treasury has many floors. The treasures on the first floor at minimum is priced at 100 Epic Mana Crystal. The next floor is priced at 200 Epic Mana crystal, so on and so forth."
Aldred and the others were of course speechless when they heard that.
"The first floor is probably too cheap for your taste. Why don't we go down to the fifth floor where the treasure are 500 Epic Mana crystals at minimum."
Aldred gulped.
Mary looked at him. "The Golden Emblem will pay for us. I am sure there's a lot of Epic Crystals in there."
Aldred nodded and agreed to go down to the fifth floor.
Two men in fancy traditional robe bowed. "Welcome lady Heartdancer."
Avre ignored the guards as she led Aldred and the others inside.
Aldred was surprised that the fifth floor was larger than the fourth floor, but at least it wasn't as big as the first floor. Avre took them to a treasure chest in the center of the floor, which was locked with golden padlocks.
Avre touched a golden lock and whispered a command word. The lock opened. The door opened too.
Aldred's eyes lit up at what was inside the treasure chest. The treasure chest contained many different things such as jewelry, weapons, armor, shields, artifacts, magical stones and rare books. There was even a golden shield in there that seemed to be made of gold metal with golden dragon wings attached at the back, a sword with a golden scabbard, and a spear with a golden tip.
Aldred was staring at the spear when Avre tapped on his shoulder.
"This is the spear that the founder of this nation used."
Aldred turned his eyes back to Avre.
"Well, it was only an imitation. But it was made by a renowned blacksmith of this city long ago. Many people tried to imitate the founder's weapons, but he was the closest to do it."
Aldred looked at the spear and knew that its power was far from Herakas' weapon. Herakas could literally slice space with his spear. Aldred did not believe that anyone could create that spear. Except for Dobbs.
Aldred believed that Dobbs could create anything as long as his power increased. He had to make sure to keep Dobbs in his rank so he could create better weapons not only for him, but also for his army in the future.
"I would like to take that spear." Aldred said. "Do you have any other weapons that could match that spear?"
Avre nodded as she took out several spears that matched the size of the real spear from the treasure chest.
"How about this spear?" Avre asked. "It is a replica made by a talented an apprentice blacksmith. It is still good though."
"Hmm... I do not think this will match with my spear."
"Then how about this?" Avre said as she pulled out a golden scabbard with a spear inside it. "It is also made by a skilled blacksmith. It is a replica though."
"No. I don't think so."
"In that case, may I take a look at your weapon?" Avre asked.
Aldred raised his hands and summoned his Phantom Doomblade. Avre gasped when she saw that Aldred was wielding the most powerful sword in this world. Avre had no idea how Aldred had obtained such a powerful weapon.
Avre looked at her hands nervously and then looked at the Phantom Doomblade in front of her. She didn't dare touch it, especially when Aldred held it so proudly. Even the soldiers who had traveled with Aldred for a long time still looked at that blade with such admiration.
"I am sorry, sir. But I don't think every weapon in my treasury could match your weapon."
