Chapter 863: The Magician And His Assistant

"Do you remember that festival in Almere?" Julian asked Rowena when they were below the deck. The space they were given was a bit damp, and even a little musty, but it was less likely to feel dizzy.

"Yeah. It's where you stole my money pouch." Rowena chuckled as she sat down on one of the crate boxes. "How could I forget?"

Julian coughed and cleared his throat. He was guilty of that crime so he didn't try to refute her words. Come to think of it, from the way they met for the first time, who would have thought they would end up becoming good friends and even travel together.

"Well… Excluding that, there were a couple of really nice performers. Even though it was to celebrate the goddess and the harvest, most were there for business and entertainment. Did any of them catch your eye back then?"

"Oh, there was that magician." Rowena thought about it and smiled. She remembered that she pointed it out to Lady Liz before. "His skill with sleight of the hands was amazing. He managed to steal and replace the gold coins with similar-looking ones while the unsuspecting people were watching."

"Woah, I knew you had a good eye, but I didn't expect it to be that good." Julian laughed. "I was going to bring up the same performer and tell you about his tricks, but you've already figured it out."

Rowena shrugged. "It's rather easy if you pay attention." 

"Easy? It seems like your definition is a bit different than mine." Julian chuckled. "Anyway, the magician, Mister Jack, makes it a point to be distracting as he interacts with the onlookers. He's got fancy little smoke and other delights so people will be laughing and not notice it like you do."

"I see, it's an act of misdirection." Rowena nodded then rubbed her chin. "It's surprising that you know him. Are the two of you friends?"

"I'm not even sure if his name is actually Jack." Julian grinned. "It's probably a showmanship name. Since he's getting a lot of money, he needs to use a fake name like us to avoid getting tracked down by people."

"Do you think he calls himself that because he's a jack of all trades?"

"... Now that you mentioned that, it seems like that's the reason." Julian chuckled. "But as for my relationship with him? Do you want to take a guest?" 

"Did you become his apprentice?" Rowena's eyes widened.

"That's too formal. I would have not ended up where I am today if I was his apprentice, so it's a lot more casual." Julian replied.

"Casual?"

"Well, you could say that I helped him out before and ended up learning a couple of neat tricks."

"And this ties into your plans, right?"

"Yeah. That's why we gotta rehearse a couple of lines."

***

It was around late night when their ship finally arrived in the port of Kilshade. 

Contrary to their expectations, it wasn't quiet or dark at all and instead filled with a multitude of lanterns, torches and other lights that filled the streets. People traversed the busy roads from happy families, loving couples, and all sorts of individuals.

"Woah, the streets are packed." Julian muttered in surprise then turned to Rowena. "Do you know why?"

"Well, there's not much strong relations between nations across the sea… the king is not too fond of it," Rowe

na said. "But it seems to be some sort of festival like Almere. Some deity…"

"This is the festival of the fire god," Tel suddenly said as he and the rest of the merchants passed by them and headed down the ship's gangway. "The fire god who chased away the darkness so even the night is busy."

Both Julian and Rowena looked at him in surprise. His presence was so weak that it was not easy to notice him at first. Rowena smiled. "Is that so, thank you?" 

"Excuse us, we'll be leaving now." Tel coughed and then rushed down.

"I guess he's not so bad?" Rowena said once Tel and the others disappeared into the crowd of the city. 

"I don't know. It's not like we're going to see him again," Julian shrugged. "But sure."

Rowena rolled her eyes. "Let's just find a place to stay for the night."

"Okay." Julian smiled. "I'm glad we're finally getting off this ship. I'm not boarding one again."

"You say that, but we'll need it when we travel again."

"Let's just find something else. I heard that there's a legendary kingdom where you can ride on dragons. It would be cool to ride dragons when we travel."

Rowena and Julian descended down the boat, avoiding the merchants, and immediately found an affordable inn to stay at. They were lucky enough to have a nice stable for their horses.

"Good evening. How may I help you?" The innkeeper greeted the two with a friendly and bright smile when they came in. "The two of you look quite young to be travelers. Are you here for the festival?" 

"Yes, we are. We'd like to have two rooms please," Rowena said. 

Like always, Rowena and Julian chose to rent two rooms for one another. Since they traveled from Ashland, the two made it a point to have separate rooms. It wasn't that Rowena didn't trust Julian, but she also wished to give each other privacy.

They could also afford this much.

"Oh my apologies, we only have one room." The innkeeper apologized profusely and bowed his head. "The festival has brought so many visitors that we could barely keep up with all of them. One room was vacated this evening so you guys are incredibly lucky."

"Do you want to try and look for another inn?" Julian glanced at Rowena. He wanted to prioritize her comfort and ease, so he said. "We might be able to find another place that has enough rooms."

When Julian remembered Rowena asleep on his poor bed all the way in Almere's forest back then, he made it a point to be more considerate of her needs. It wasn't because she was a princess, but because he genuinely wanted her to get some rest.

"I'm afraid that other inns would be quite in a similar situation, young man."

Rowena looked at Julian and said. "If what the innkeeper says is true, we might not have any other place to go. If we leave now, he might give it to someone else. What do you think? I don't mind it myself. We'd be able to cut back on some expenses."

"The two of you are siblings, right? What's wrong with sharing a room?" the innkeeper asked.

Julian laughed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. He glanced at Rowena's golden hair and knew for a fact that they didn't look similar at all. 

The innkeeper probably only said it to make a sale, so he eventually said. "Well, let's settl

e down now. We have much to discuss, my assistant and I." 

"Assistant?" 

Rowena smiled a little and shook her head. But since Julian already called her an assistant, she might as well reveal it. While she personally didn't mind being referred to as Julian's sibling, she clarified the innkeeper's assumptions. "We're traveling magicians."

"Really?" The innkeeper looked delighted. "Do you have a couple of magic tricks?"

"Ah, we just don't give anyone a free show, sir." Julian chuckled. 

"If you'd like, we'll be finding a stall to perform in," Rowena added with a smile. "You can watch us there."