Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"A little on the nose don\'t you think…" Lucius muttered towards the sign.

"Welcome to the best food in town!" Jen said loudly, ignoring him.

When they walked inside the two-story, wooden building the entire first floor was filled with circular tables and half of them were filled with people. The smell was…less than pleasant to Lucius\' senses, but did not hold a candle to that awful jerky that Jen had been chewing on when they met.

Many of the people inside were clearly the adventuring type and had many different kinds of builds, equipment, and injuries. Some people were missing eyes, other\'s limbs. All in all, it was quite the eclectic bunch of people.

Jen guided them through the maze of feet and tables to take a spot near the back of the room and right next to a set of stairs that went upwards. It seemed that the stairs led to the rooms that one would stay in if they rented a room.

"Oh, hey Lucius do we want to rent a room here?!" Rena asked excitedly. Her eyes shone like they were filled with glitter, which made him feel a little uncomfortable with the fact that he had to tell her no.

The primary reason, they did not bring enough pocket money for dinner and a night\'s stay thanks to her excited hurrying out of the manor this morning. The secondary reason is that he did not want to be part of any rumors that suggested the young lady of house Petra spent the night in some seedy inn with her bodyguard.

"Maybe next time, Rena. For tonight, we should return to the manor and speak with Lord Petra regarding our actions moving forward." Lucius said with a sigh.

"No fun…"

Their back and forth brought a lot of laughter to their new friends who were content with watching the two kids bicker. Such events seemed like they would be commonplace after joining up with them. Jen placed an order for the table for a round of drinks, and juice for the two younger ones. She also ordered several plates of food.

"Alright, tonight\'s on me. I know, I know. She\'s the lord\'s daughter, but as long as you ain\'t wearin\' a dress, girlie, I\'m gonna treat you like an adventurer. As such, tonight\'s celebration is on me." Jen stated with a confident smile.

"Whoo!"

"Yeah! Drink up!"

"Not you two idiots, you pay for your own shit." Jen glared at her cohorts who thought they also got a free pass for the night. This response quickly deflated their moods, but when a cute serving girl brought over the table\'s first round of drinks, their tune quickly changed.

"You\'ve got a deal Jen." Rena agreed.

"Right, so introductions. You know me, Jen. These two beside me are my party. We\'ve been a group of three since we joined up a few years ago. The elf is Lethel, prefers the simple sword and shield. Like most elves, got a knack for that wind magic stuff."

The elf gave a short wave with his hand since his introduction was given while he was mid-sip of his foul-smelling drink.

"The other one is Paul. As you can also tell from his own weapon, man is an archer, and a damn good one. Till now, he was also our tracker. He\'s pretty good at that too, but his shooting is better. No offense Paul, but Lucius here is taking over tracking and scouting."

Paul simply grunted in affirmation, but he had a slight smile which told Lucius that it was not going to be a problem.

"And so that\'s us." Jen said with a mock bow, or as good as one could give when sitting down. "So, your turn."

"Wait! What about your party name?!" Rena asked excitedly.

"Pft!" Paul laughed. "You\'re too pure kiddo. Parties don\'t do the whole name thing. The ones that got \'em were given one. You don\'t name it yourself."

Rena\'s shoulders slumped thanks to the information that had deflated her excitement a little. But she recovered quickly and began to explain who they were.

"I am Rena! I\'m a mage, but I fight midrange. And this is Lucius! He\'s my best friend and he fights with a single-handed weapon and a damn good scout and tracker."

"We can see the machete you know? Plus, Jen told us. Kiddo uses Forsaken Arts. Might wanna do something about hiding the weapon you carry." Lethen stated.

"Right, gives too much away just by looking at you. It\'s fine for us, but for you, not so much." Paul agreed.

"Right, thank you." Lucius agreed. They were right. He could do a better job of hiding what his weapon of choice was. Honestly it was a dead giveaway to what his Arts were and besides giving him a disadvantage in a fight, it also affected how others would view him from a single glance.

The group spent the next couple of hours eating and drinking to their hearts content. Since they were still young, and Rena\'s father would literally murder him, they personally only drank juice and water. However, they devoured their own fair share of food.

Honestly, for a seedy looking place the food was fantastic. Even Rena was even enjoying herself and she was raised exclusively on professionally prepared meals.

"Anyway, so I guess we should call it a night!" Jen shouted. Lucius had no idea how she was still standing, but that was not really his concern.

"Right, meet you tomorrow at the guild? First light?" Rena asked.

"If you pull my ass out of bed at first light, I will fight you." Paul groaned. He was a rather quiet man, but as he drank more, he talked more.

"Ha, got it. Catch you guys tomorrow." Lucius agreed before heading back to the manor with Rena walking by his side. She had a skip in her step and a huge smile on her face. To be honest, she was rather cute like this. When they were at the estate she was a reserved and quiet girl, someone befitting her station. But in private like this, with Lucius, she was childish and sweet.

This was who his best friend really was.