Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 023 - The Fully Ignot (Patreon)

“That is an interesting name,” Kaen declared with a heavy dose of sarcasm in his voice.  “Why would someone choose a name like that?”

Kaen thought he saw for a moment Hess’s cheeks turn red.

“Are you embarrassed or anxious about going in there?”

Hess shook his head and groaned.

“It is a long story, but I need just to go in and face the possible crap storm that might be inside.”

Smirking, Kaen started to walk toward the door and motioned for Hess to join him.

The building had the standard stone exterior of all the town's buildings.  Hess had informed Kaen earlier that morning that all houses in this area were built from stones provided by the town.  With so many people living this close to each other generations ago, the city wanted to reduce the risk of a fire taking out the town and the population.  The downside of these bricks is that no paint would stick to them.  Now the town was a sea of homes and businesses using signs and people outside them to showcase their small differences.

The only real thing that told someone it was an inn was the noise from inside coming out the open door and the huge wooden sign that featured a golden ingot that seemed to expand and shrink a little.  The words even sparkled regardless of where the sun was at.

Hess moved quickly and stepped in front of Kaen as they got to the open doors.  Laughter and music could be heard, and the smell of something amazing cooking wafted from inside.

Kaen’s stomach growled, and he chuckled.  It had been a while since they had eaten this morning.   He was ready to enjoy whatever might be inside.

As they walked past the bright gold-colored wooden doors that were pushed inward, Kaen saw the room was fairly bright.  There were small light globes like the one Hess had hidden away in the floor of his room.  People were sitting in booths around the walls and along tables, laughing and talking as over half a dozen women brought out food in outfits that were a little tight on their fluffier bodies.

“The women here are a little larger than the inn back at home,” Kaen whispered to Hess.

Hess grunted, moved from where he had stopped, and headed for an empty booth along a wall.

There was a bard playing on a flute and tapping his feet to the quick melody.  A large stone bar ran the entire length of the back wall, and there were caskets and bottles of liquid behind it, and two dwarf men could barely be seen above the bar anytime they moved.

Hess sat down and took the seat facing the main door, allowing Kaen to sit and watch the rest of the inn.

Elves, humans, dwarves, and some other short race with long noses were laughing and getting along.  Card games took place, and the air of excitement and fun-filled the room.

“Those dwarven men are awfully short,” Hess stated as he pointed at the bar. “Why do they keep popping up and down as they move along the bar?”

Hess glanced over his shoulder and chuckled.  He turned back and shook his head at Kaen.

“First, there is only one dwarf man there.  The other is a dwarf woman.”

Kaen glanced over again and started to speak, but Hess did not wait for him to talk.

“Yes, they both have beards.  The difference might seem hard to tell at first but notice how the one on the right has curves where a man does not.”

Kaen leaned over, squinted, and saw that when the dwarf appeared above the bar while giving drinks, indeed, she did have curves the other one did not.”

“Wow… I had not noticed that.”

Hess nodded and motioned to a waitress who was looking at them.

“They pop up because they are standing on blocks at the bar.  When they go to get drinks, they move around behind the bar.”

Nodding, Kaen realized that should have been an easy thing to figure out on his own.

“What can I get for you, fine gentlemen,” a red-haired waitress called out as she deftly wove her way between two chairs that led to their booth.

Smiling, Kaen grinned like a fool at the woman. She was easily thirty but looked prettier than any of the women from back home.

“My friend and I will take a serving of today’s special as well as something to drink.  Give him some milk or water, and I’ll take whatever ale the house is serving today.”

The woman nodded and bent down to wink at Kaen.  As she did, her extra helping of bosom almost fell out of her top that seemed much tighter than it should be on a woman with curves like her.

“What would you prefer?  Milk or water?” she asked with a wink.

He could feel the color rising in his cheeks as he tried to keep his gaze up at her green eyes.

“Wa.. water, please!”

She giggled and then winked at Kaen before she sauntered off to the area near the bar.

“Oh, they are going to have a field day with you,” Hess teased.  “They like giving young ones like yourself a little extra attention.  It will get even worse once they find out you are testing tomorrow.”

Kaen coughed as he tried to clear his throat.

“We did not have women like that in our town.”

Hess shook his head no and sighed.

“No, Kaen, we did not.  Nothing like a woman with a full figure and some meat on her bones.  I don’t mind the skinny ones, but I was always afraid I might snap one in half.”

“How would you do that?” Kaen asked as he watched their server talking at the bar.

Hess suddenly choked and held out his hand.

“Uhmm… We have had that talk, right?”

Laughing, Kaen nodded.

“We did, but if I remember it right, you chose to use the cows as an example.  Not the best illustration for a young boy, mind you.”

Hess bit his lip and grinned a second later.

“I’d like to say I did that on purpose, but I actually believe I had no idea how to explain how that stuff works to a young teen.”

“You did fine, and anything else I was missing was taught to me by Cale and Patrick.”

“That is not the place to learn anything good, son,” Hess howled in laughter as he spook.  “Those two could barely swing a pickaxe, let alone have any idea how to care for a woman.”

Shrugging, Kaen motioned to their server, who was returning.

“One water and one tankard of ale for my favorite patrons of the day,” their server said with a wink as she put down two giant wooden tankards on the table.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I realized I never found out your name,” Kaen stated as he leaned toward the woman.  “I always like to know the name of a beautiful woman when I meet one.”

The woman broke out in a fit of laughter and leaned backward with her hands on her hips.  Her whole body shook, giving quiet the show to those interested in one.

“My, my, my.  What has this man across from you been teaching?  With a tongue like that and a body like yours, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble,” She said with a wink.  “My name is Beatrice, and if you feel like finding out how much fun that trouble can be, you are welcome to find me later tonight when I am off work.”

Kaen could feel his cheeks burning up.  He had not expected her to say anything like that at all.  The girls in town had always gotten embarrassed and blushed when he had spoken like that.  Were all the women here like Beatrice?

“He will need to rest tonight and the next few days,” Hess interrupted as he moved his drink closer to him.  “Kaen will be taking the first day of the adventurer's test tomorrow.  No point in wearing the boy out so he can barely stand.”

Beatrice smiled and giggled as her eyes went wide with excitement.

“A soon-to-be adventurer?” She asked in a lusty voice as leaned against the table toward Kaen.  “Do you think you will pass the test on your first try?”

Hess smiled as he watched the woman prepare to pounce on Kaen.

“He should pass it easily if they make him take it at all.  Last week he killed twenty goblins and three orcs all on his own.”

When Hess had spoken those words, Beatrice spun on her heel to look at Hess.  As she turned, she saw that Hess had pulled out his gold adventurer token and let it hang against his shirt.

“You aren’t lying, are you?” she gasped as she saw the token on his chest.

Hess shook his head no and smiled.

“Ask Kaen if I am telling the truth.”

Beatrice turned and leaned close to Kaen as she smiled, so close to him that he could feel the heat from her breath as she spoke.

“Is he really telling the truth, Kaen?  I can call you Kaen, can’t I?” Beatrice asked as she supported her chest with an arm against the table.  “You managed to kill all those awful and horrible creatures on your own?”

Kaen coughed, grabbed his cup, and took a drink for a moment.  His eyes never left hers lest she think he was a letch.

“I did, ma’am.  I used my bow and the training he taught me.  I did have a little help with one of the orcs, though.”

Beatrice leaned her head back and laughed so loud that the patrons in the room nearby had hushed to turn and see what could bring such a reaction from one of the serving women.

“Brave, strong, and modest.  Not many men would offer to share the fame of killing an orc.  Come stand by me for a moment while I share your success and the news of what you will be attempting tomorrow.”

She grabbed Kaen’s left arm and yanked him from his spot, not giving him a choice.  Kaen could hear Hess chuckling and barely caught a wink from him as Beatrice drug him behind her toward the bar.  As they made their way closer to it, the room got exceedingly quiet as everyone knew something worth sharing was about to be yelled out.  Beatrice held up her hand as she walked, waving it around in a circle multiple times.

Once they reached the bar, a few other serving women made their way nearby.  Kaen tried to smile as he saw all these round and curvy women start smiling at him for no reason that he could figure out.

“PATRONS OF THE FLUFFY IGNOT, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!”

Kaen whipped his head and saw the female dwarf had almost magically appeared on top of the bar and was shouting to everyone in the inn.  Now that he knew what to look for, he could tell that it was indeed the female dwarf.

“Beatrice has something she wants to share with you all!”

The female dwarf nodded, and Kaen saw that Beatrice was beaming as she put her arm around Kaen’s shoulders.  He was by no means short, standing just a hair under six feet, but she was a few inches taller than he was.

“I have a special friend with me!  This young man is Kaen, and he will be taking the adventurers test tomorrow!”

The entire inn clapped, and men, women, and servers all cheered loudly.  Many called out his name as a chant!  Soon a loud banging of cups echoed through the entire inn for almost half a minute.  As the people chanted and cheered, Beatrice pulled his head close, and he felt his face brushing up against the exposed skin of her chest.  As much as he wanted to pull away, he felt it would be rude to do so and let her hold his head as she bobbed up and down for a moment.

She waved her hands for a moment, and suddenly, a sharp shout came out from the bar.

“Oi! Hush it so she can talk!” cried the female bartender.

Laughter broke out, and everyone quieted down quickly.

“Now it gets even better, let me tell you, fine citizens of Ebonmount!  Wait till I tell you what he has already accomplished!”

Link to chapter 24

https://www.patreon.com/posts/dawn-of-last-024-86977956