Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1262: I never knew

The view was quite nice, as the stretch of highland between the location of Spring City and the resort, was on one hand half covered in snow, but on the other hand, it revealed patches of grass and flowers peeking out from below the cold blanket.

30 Minutes later they were able to see their resort from the cabin on the back of the massive white snake. The divine beast of Senior White was quite adept with movement in the snow and plains as it slithered along with incredible speed.

The resort they had booked was a Hot Spring Resort, a style that was common in Sigma and Omega, where thermal wells were rather commonplace. Seth had often heard about these in the media, but he never had the chance to visit one before the fall of the districts.

Before the apocalypse, the furthest he was ever away from Avernum, his home district, was a beach vacation in Ypselon. After his parents died, he had not left A-City at all. Forget Gamma or Sigma

even Ypselon or Cerebellum had been too far away for him.

So this was the first time for Seth to experience a hot spring resort in the style of northern Urth, even if the architecture was more that of the system worlds, than that of Urth. It just helped make the large structure of wood and stone look more enchanting.

It was built along the mesa of a mountain, where the hot volcanic water formed large, clear pools. The giant snake easily passed through the fortified barrier of the resort before coming to a halt at the foot of said mountain.

Once they and a few other guests got out of the cabin, another set of visitors entered, to return to Spring City. They watched the snake set off, quickly vanishing in the direction of the Guardian tree at the horizon, before facing the way up.

A winding set of stairs led up to the resort, through the beautiful little forest set up at the foot of the mountain. Of course, apart from the scenic route, there was also a magical glass elevator set up, that could bring them up to the resort, along a cliff of the mountain. Both ways up looked enticing.

“How about we take the elevator up for now and use the stairs to come down tomorrow?” the blacksmith suggested, unwilling to walk up the long flight of stairs. Although the stairs seemed quite quaint, he was sure the view the elevator would give them was going to be breathtaking, too.
As both agreed they entered the elevator with a few other visitors. There were only two buttons, up and down. Once the up button was pressed, the elevator began its ascension slowly, accelerating as the altitude rose.

““Woah...”” Minas and Fin couldnʼt help but exclaim together with the other tourists. Even if they were used to using flying mounts and the look of the guardian tree, even Seth felt touched by the scene revealing itself to them.

The vast plain covered in snow and flowers, the massive figure of the guardian tree in the distance, between mountain peaks, and the soft, warm light of the slowly setting sun illuminating the whole landscape from the side. He had seen a lot, but some views were just unique.

“Itʼs a shame Puffles and Tatzel couldnʼt come. I bet they would love this, too” Fin mumbled at the side. Mina nodded at her notion, not taking her eyes off the picture before them. Seth hugged them a little closer.

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“Hmm, yeah. Itʼs a shame Puffles was busy and Tatzel was still asleep when I went to check on him,” he agreed with a sigh, leaning his head against Minas. Fin was a little too short to do that to her, even in her human form.

Everyone on the elevator was so enchanted by the calm scene, that it came as a frightening surprise when the elevator suddenly halted. Unwittingly, they had already reached the top of the cliff. Behind them was the arrival platform for guests and a beautiful paved way that led to the resort, partially built into the side of the mountain.

They entered an expansive lobby with wooden carved pillars and floors of polished stone. it was hard to imagine they had managed to build something like this in the short time since Spring City existed, but it was just another sign of how system skills and modern building techniques could work wonders together.

On the sofas to one side of the lobby, they could see other guests in leisure clothing reading magazines as they probably waited for the bar to open, or the next snake to return to Spring City. The entrance area had a cozy, yet luxurious atmosphere, something this resort was praised for.

“Hello, how may I help you?” the receptionist asked, as they stepped toward the dark wooden counter. Surprisingly, the owners went to the trouble to employ a beautiful, female elf for the front desk. Very tasteful and a sign that they didnʼt shy away from expenses.

“We have reserved a private suite for the next three days under the name of Moor, “ Seth answered friendly, playing his hand on the counter, making sure she spotted the sigil ring of Minas Mar on his finger. her eyes glinted when she spotted their crest.

The reservation was actually made by Leana through the guild, but it would have been for naught to hide their faces with they now announced to be people from Minas Mar. Even if people didnʼt know who exactly they were, it could be annoying if people found out. After all, not everyone part of the guild got a sigil ring like this.

“I see, you are the special guests that rented the penthouse. Please wait a moment,” she asked and crouched down behind the counter. She was a professional and explicitly didnʼt mention anything more about the reservation as she came back up with three key cards and a special key.

“These are for the elevator. The penthouse can only be accessed with these cards through the elevator. We prepared one for each guest. This key is for the terrace and private bath area. The outdoor area is secured with its own secondary barrier to protect your privacy, which is why it needs a secondary key like this,” she explained with a bright, professional smile. The owner must have spent a lot, to get a well-trained elf receptionist from another world.

After explaining the usual point, she looked around to make sure nobody in the lobby paid any attention to them, then she brought another five cards from below the counter. These were not plastic key cards or anything, but colorful invitations.

“I went through the trouble to personally prepare access to some of the exclusive activities for your lordships. They are closed parties and events that require an invitation, happening in Spring City during your stay. Please feel free to use these to visit whatever picks your fancy,” she explained, giving the three an ingratiating smile.

Seth shared a look with Mina and Fin, before accepting the invitations and key with a smile. It seemed like this elf had some ambitions to get even further than just being the receptionist at a well-received resort.

Seth felt a little bad for the resort owner, but he couldnʼt help thinking of recommending her to Mary. Whether this led anywhere depended obviously on background checks and tests any member of Minas Mar had to go through, but if she was as capable and trustworthy as she seemed, they may steal her from this place.

“Thank you very much,” Mina gave her a bright smile and collected the key cards, key , and invitations, distributing them to Seth and Fin each. “ if you will excuse us, we will now go to our room,” Fin supported her and ended that conversation there.

As they maneuvered him towards the elevator, the blacksmith wondered what was going on for the girls to abruptly cut off the conversation like that.

“You shouldnʼt flirt with cute elfs, “ Fin chided him with a whisper, surprising Seth.

“What are you saying?” he asked confused. Was the elf more assertive than he thought? Did he miss some signals from her...?

“Donʼt you know what exclusive parties mean?” Mina asked after they were inside the elevator and the doors closed behind him. She helped up the invitation cards, giving him an idea of why they were reacting weirdly.

“A private charity auction, a Soiree requesting evening attire, a secret rave...” Seth named a few of the invitations he had glanced at. most were for special events in clubs or high society. Mina gave the cards a surprised glance.

“What exactly were YOU thinking these things are?” he asked with a gloating smile. he pulled Mina into a tight embrace, looking her deep in the eyes. It wasnʼt he who had misinterpreted the situation.

“Did you think she invited us some kind of orgies? You girls have such a dirty mind. is it because we didnʼt have much time together lightly?”

“Itʼs nothing of the sort!” Mina said but blushed embarrassed.

“R-Right! Nobles do these kinds of dirty parties all the time. itʼs not wrong to assume-” Fin accidentally confirmed what Mina tried to deny.

“Hoho, then I know what we are doing tonight~”