Illuminaria [LitRPG Fantasy Healer Adventure]

38 - New Nest

For someone who had spent a week on the beach, she looked almost exactly the same. Her skin was still pure white. The only change was that her sapphire hair looked just a hint lighter.

"Did you enjoy your downtime?" he asked as they stepped out onto Skill Street.

"It was quite relaxing. After three commissions in a row, your's included, then the hunt for Night Skinner, followed by the cramped sea voyage, I needed some time just to myself with no demands on it," she stated, languorously stretching her arms and back. "I cannot recall the last time I had enough free time to read a good story longer than a penny dreadful. So, what shall we do today? Spar? You can show me what you've learned over the last few days."

"We could do that, but honestly … wanna come apartment hunting with me instead? I'd like to grab a place of my own before Founders Day. I've been told that if we wait much longer, everything will be booked, and we'll have to wait until after the holiday. What'ya say?"

"I think that is an outstanding idea. I would like to settle in myself. For a time at least. The winds here are chatty and merry, though they whisper of a dreadful storm on the horizon. I feel no reason to let them carry me away any time soon. Let's find us a good place to roost." She extended her elbow, and Joe looped his arm through it.

His first stop was the recommendation Joe had received from the desk clerk at the Captain's Glass. The Copper Kettle Boardinghouse was a large rambling structure, three stories tall, with four to six units per floor. Being a temporary home, it had a lot of wear and tear. Creaky stairs and doors with loose hinges. Threadbare rugs and chipping plaster.

On the plus side, it was very clean and smelled of sea air, not people. The few tenants Joe and Hah'roo had encountered seemed pleasant, and the landlady, Missus Hedriek, was genuinely sweet and welcoming, until she spotted Mojo.

"Oh dear, I can't believe Bea steered you to me. I've tried to allow pets, but it leads to too many troubles. It's not damage to the rooms or anything like that. It's the sheer volume of parrots and dogs and what other exotic critters you folk have with you. That and fights. I've had a few nasty scraps between companions over the first few years. Since then, I'm afraid I've had a strict no-pet policy. I am so sorry."

Joe realized that, actually, it was Samshee who recommended the Copper Kettle, and he did so before Joe had Mojo. "Do you know any other places around where we could find rooms that would allow Mojo, here?" he asked.

"That I can!" she exclaimed, looking much happier. Joe regretted not being able to stay, as the woman seemed like she would have been a very sweet landlady. She was so crestfallen having to say no to them.

With her generous equilibrium restored, Missus Hedriek grabbed a piece of parchment and, after flipping it back and forth a few times to make sure it wasn't important, scribbled down eight names and addresses. None of them were listed as boarding houses. She was quite adamant that such a lovely couple should by no means settle with the riffraff that filled those establishments. Sailors were the lifeblood of Fort Coral, but they made terrible neighbors, according to the talkative landlady.

With plenty of the afternoon left, Joe and Hah'roo worked their way down the list. The first two were nice but wrong for different reasons. The first one was tucked behind a large warehouse, giving it no view of the ocean. The second one was huge; two whole floors over a map-maker's shop. There was far more space than either of them wanted alone. It would be great if they planned to live together, but that was not what either of them was looking for.

The third spot Joe almost left unseen, but it intrigued Hah'roo. The rooms were on the top floor of a toweringly, tall building on the corner of two lanes. It was one of the few unplastered stone buildings in the city. This gave it a darker air, which reminded the rope-dancer of her home in the far-off mountains on the Sapphire Coast. Inside, heavy wooden beams held the upper floors. The sills and shutters were made of dark wood. Joe found the place dour compared to all the bright, airy places he had visited in Fort Coral so far, but Hah'roo was quite taken with it.

Mojo clambered up onto the sill to look out, almost giving Joe a heart attack as the shug-monkey hung out looking down the far drop to the road below. That was the last straw for him. Grabbing them both, Joe dragged the pair out of the lofty apartment.

"You had to pick the gloomiest room in the whole city?" he huffed.

"I liked it. It was much like the homes where I grew up. It was even on the top floor. The best to hear the gossip the winds will whisper," she retorted. "If we find nothing that suits us both, I will be quite happy there. I will not have you impugning my potential new abode," Hah'roo bumped him, making Joe misstep as punishment for his unwanted opinion.

"To each his own," he shot back, regaining his stride.

The fourth entry was a pair of small one-room apartments with gorgeous balconies. They did not have quite as nice a view of the ocean, but Joe could see a bit of blue water around the corner of a neighboring building. What really sold the place to Joe was the neighborhood. The house stood on Loom Street, a quaint little lane with a cafe, some small shops, and a bakery. The bohemian vibe of the lane spoke to Joe.

They decided to look at the rest of the places on the list anyway, even though they could both see themselves in the Loom Street apartments. The next address took the pair to the eastern end of the city. They reached the border between the merchant / crafting district of Kilning and the old city district of Rockpoint. When they reached the designated location on their list, all thoughts of the prior places were forgotten. They both grinned at each other before looking back on the flower-bedecked complex in front of them.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The building on Serra Lane was two stories tall in the shape of a squared 'U'. The tenants shared a stunning central atrium. A fountain burbled merrily in the middle of the courtyard, and red wooden trellises covered in vines formed a loose green lattice overhead. Purple and red flowers hung from the living canopy like bunches of sweet-smelling grapes. A balcony ran around the inside of the courtyard. As a bonus, the building was on a small rise and angled so that two sides of it had views of the sea.

"This is it," Joe uttered as he walked around the shaded courtyard. "I hope the rooms match the exterior."

"I agree," Hah'roo breathed, her eyes half closed, listening to voices that Joe couldn't hear. "The breezes here are happy, and the building is well-kept. This is a good place for a zephyr."

The interior quad was clearly the heart of the structure. There were benches and planters, some with flowers, some with herbs. Joe saw baskets with various items sitting under the eaves, safe from the rain but clearly unafraid of theft.

After a few minutes, an older human man stepped out to meet them. "May I help you?" he asked. He had the feel of a retired sailor about him. Joe's wound-sense nudged for his attention, drawing his eyes to the man's arthritically swollen hands. They must have been causing him a good deal of pain for Joe's healer instincts to push that hard.

"Hi," Joe replied. "Missus Hedriek from the Copper Kettle said you might have rooms to let. I would love to see one if there are any."

"We have three. There, there, and there," the man pointed, first to a door on the lower floor away from the ocean and then two on the second floor at the back of the courtyard. "The name is Halten Rigg. And who might you two be?"

"I'm Joe. This is Hah'roo. The courtyard is what caught our attention. It's beautiful."

"Shore is. My wife was a druid. She created the lattice and grew the climbing abaaka. This was her grove."

He spoke as if she were gone, but his tone was more wistful than mournful. Joe wanted to offer condolences, but he was not confident enough in his guess. Instead, he chose to reaffirm his feelings about the flowering atrium.

"It really is amazing." Joe could not help but run his gaze around the space as he spoke to Halten.

"You'll have access to it, as do all who live here, but you mistreat it and yer out of here. Understand."

"Of course," he replied immediately as Hah'roo nodded in confirmation. Mojo, on Joe's shoulder, copied the huntress, bobbing his little head up and down. "The apartments on the second floor look like they would have views of the ocean," Joe continued. "May we see one of those, please?"

"Good choice. I was going ta suggest em," the old man stated as he led them to a set of beautifully carved wooden stairs. "I have an elderly lady who might be moving from her place on Finger Street. Stairs are becoming tough for her, so she wanted a spot on the ground floor even though we're on a bit of a hill here. I haven't heard from her in a few days, though, so maybe she found somethin' else."

The banisters had been sculpted to look like they were wreathed in vines. While the tops of the rails had been worn smooth by years of hands, the vertical panels were in near-perfect condition. The wood was a deep reddish color, which matched the building's doors and sills.

At the top of the steps, Halten drew a ring of keys from his belt and unlocked the door to one of the back apartments. Joe stepped out of the dappled shade of the atrium and was greeted by light. The wall in front of him was mostly filled by a large window, with shutters wide open. They stood in the center of an expansive sitting room with a dining table off to the left. A sofa, coffee table, and a padded bench were placed near a tiny fireplace. Given how warm the environment was, Joe doubted he would ever really need a fire, but it would be fun to have one on cooler days or just for the ambiance.

Past the dining table was a small rectangular kitchen. It had wooden counters with several recessed stone cutting slabs. One of the slabs was a reddish stone carved with runes. Joe had seen these in eateries and the previous apartments. The runes, when activated, projected heat, much like the heating element of an electric stove. Joe had learned that they did not have the variability of a modern stove; the rune was either on or off. To offset this limitation, there were clusters of runes; if you needed more heat under a certain pan, you would activate more runes in that spot.

The sink was a stone basin equipped with runes, too. Instead of a water faucet, there was a large blue crystal also inscribed with a sigil that created fresh water. The Loom Street apartments had two such runestones, one for hot and one for cold water, but this kitchen just had the one.

The last major feature was an ice chest also powered by pale blue runic crystals.

The countertops were made from attractive gray stone slabs, and the wall cabinets were crafted from the same red-hued wood used throughout the rest of the building.

Beside the kitchen was a small bathroom that consisted of nothing more than a commode, a sink, a single cabinet, and a mirror. Joe would have loved to have a real shower, but he was willing to trade it for this place. Between his charms, bathhouses, and the Adventurers Guild, he would have plenty of ways of staying clean.

The bed in the bedroom was a good size. It was not as big as the queen-sized one from the Captain's Glass, and he discovered as he flopped down on it, not nearly as comfortable. Still, it would do. Joe was more than happy enough with everything else that a slightly lumpy mattress could be tolerated and replaced in time.

The neighboring suite was almost identical, with differing painted embellishments and slightly different furnishings. Instead of the first apartment's couch by the fireplace, this one had two high-backed wingchairs and two end tables

This place is great," Joe explained, walking between the two apartments..

"Quite so," the huntress agreed in her breathy voice. "How much, sir?" she asked, even though Joe wasn't sure he cared what the answer was. This was where he wanted to stay.

"Six gold a month," the man replied, which was on par with the rest of the rents they had seen so far.

"Deal," Hah'roo announced, having noted Joe's agreement. He reached into his coin pouch and drew out a dozen gold coins, handing them to the old sailor.

"It was six, Boyo." Halten corrected, handing Joe back the extra currency.

"First and last," Joe blurted instinctively.

"First and last what?" the elder inquired, his bushy eyebrows rising up into his forehead.

"Never mind," Joe scoffed at himself. There were so many similarities to home that he had assumed two months' rent would be one, too. Feeling a bit silly, he pocketed the extra coins while Hah'roo paid for the apartment next door.