Zuo Si answered directly: "I need to find a hotel, have a delicious meal with local specialties, and rest in the best room for a night. In addition, this guy needs to send a message to let his men collect the ransom."
"If that's all, you can let me arrange it. My name is Apke, and I'm the leader of a thieves guild in Port Kalin." The bald fat man took the opportunity to introduce himself.
Although there are quite a lot of arcane spellcasters in Calimport, almost half of the royal guards are mages or warlocks.
But that was all controlled by the government and the royal family.
It is quite difficult for an underground organization like the Thieves Guild, which has gangster characteristics, to recruit a powerful spellcaster.
Generally speaking, only those second-rate mages would choose to give up learning and exploring profound magical knowledge and start serving the leader of the Thieves Guild.
Apke has a wizard under his command who can cast third-level arcane spells, so he knows very well what amazing power a high-level spellcaster can unleash at a critical moment.
Apart from anything else, the method Bernard just described of resurrecting hundreds of undead in one go is enough to directly change and reverse the outcome of a guild war.
So he wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could get closer and find a new ally for himself.
"Oh? Is that okay? It's not too much trouble, right?"
Zuo Si pretended to be ignorant and blinked his eyes.
He was not a fool, so he naturally saw the intention of the bald fat man in front of him.
But it doesn't matter.
Anyway, Zuo Si had no plan to stay in Port Kalin for a long time.
After receiving the ransom, he will set off north.
First go to Amn to see if you can help Bernard solve the problem of the Chamber of Commerce inheritance rights, and then go to Candlekeep or Waterdeep to learn magical knowledge.
"No! Of course not! It is my honor to have the chance to meet a powerful spellcaster like you. What's more, Captain Bloodhand and I are old friends."
As he spoke, Apke turned his gaze towards Hallett, who had a decadent look on his face and exuded a sour smell.
The latter rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, "Don't be so affectionate. At best, we are just using each other. We are not friends at all."
"That makes me very sad."
Aipke covered his chest with his hands and looked heartbroken.
But soon, he couldn't help laughing and teasing: "But you look really embarrassed now! Hahahaha!"
Faced with the ridicule from an old acquaintance, Hallett was furious and cursed angrily: "Damn it! You bastard, just laugh as much as you want! There will be a time for you to cry.
Just wait and see, I'll be able to make a comeback soon.
By the way, please help me pass on a message.
Have Eric bring enough gold, plus any books and scrolls in his collection, to redeem me in Calimport.
You should know how to contact him."
"Don't worry, I'll get the message to you, and it's free."
Apke agreed without any hesitation.
Just from this point, it can be seen that the relationship between the two is much better than what was shown just now.
At least the leader of the Thieves Guild did not take advantage of the situation, nor did he intend to capture the person and send him to Amn to exchange for a reward after the ransom was paid.
After paying the dock officials the berthing fees, berthing fees and a small bribe to make them completely ignore the contraband in the cargo, everyone left the noisy and smelly dock and handed the ship over to a dozen thugs from the Thieves Guild to take care of it.
After passing through several busy and heavily trafficked main roads, Aipke soon stopped in front of an inn called "Happy Hour".
Through the half-open door, one could vaguely hear the music coming from inside, as well as the excited screams and shouts of the guests.
When he pushed the door open and walked in, the originally lively atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
And those guests who were in an excited state in the previous second all closed their mouths and sat down and kept quiet in the next second.
Because everyone knows that the bald fat man who walked in and his Thieves Guild are the real rulers of this street, controlling the life, death and destiny of everyone.
Without a doubt!
This is the deterrent effect of power.
Likewise, there are more than a dozen thieves' guilds of all sizes in Port Calim, fighting each other with deceptions and killing each other, trying to get what they want at all costs.
Apke undoubtedly enjoyed this scene very much. He deliberately slowed down his pace and took half a minute to walk to the bartender. He ordered directly: "I will use the second floor to entertain several important guests. I will give you three minutes to clean up the entire second floor, and then ask the chef to stop his work and prepare his best dishes for me."
"Understood! Please rest assured, I will make arrangements right away."
The boss, who looked to be in his fifties, was obviously frightened. He rushed to the second floor and drove out the guests who were dining without saying a word, and did not even collect their meal payments.
At the same time, the male employee in charge of serving dishes also went into the kitchen and informed the busy cook to immediately give priority to meeting the guild leader's request.
The whole process was so efficient that it is hard to describe in words.
In just about fifteen minutes, the group was sitting around a table by the window on the second floor, enjoying the restaurant's most distinctive delicacies while appreciating the busy scene on the street outside.
Apke even called up the dancers downstairs to feed Hallett, who was unable to eat on his own.
During the meal, Bernard, Apke, and Hallett, who had become a prisoner, were all secretly observing Zuo Si's eating movements, habits, and reactions to dishes of various flavors and ingredients.
They wanted to find out from these details where this "Necromancer" who always gave people a mysterious feeling came from in the continent of Faerun, whether he had received any education in the use of rituals, what preferences or weaknesses he had that could be exploited, and so on.
But unfortunately, Zuo Si's performance was almost impeccable.
As for dining etiquette, he received professional training when he was on Earth, and he used the knife, fork and spoon in a pleasing way.
During the whole process, he neither touched the food with his fingers nor left any soup in the corners of his mouth.
They are also very careful to separate public tableware from their own tableware to eliminate any possible direct contact.
Not only that!
After the meal, the waiter was asked to soak and disinfect the used tableware, bowls, plates, etc. in boiling water.
Her elegant manners, movements and terrifying hygiene habits were so elegant that even Harlet, who was born into an aristocratic family, couldn't help feeling a little ashamed of himself.
In the eyes of the pirate captain, the etiquette displayed by Zuo Si would not be disrespectful even if he went to the royal palace for dinner.
Apart from that, no matter what flavor or ingredients the dishes were made of, his expression always remained normal, without any trace of surprise, joy or other similar reactions.
Many dishes that were considered delicious by others were not touched a second time by him after just one taste, obviously because he thought they were unpalatable.
This is true even if these dishes are added with many expensive spices and seasonings.
You know, in Faerun, spices are absolute luxury goods.
A small bag of relatively expensive spices is equivalent to the total income of an ordinary person from work for almost half a month or even a month without eating or drinking.
Those who can often eat spices are definitely nobles or wealthy people.
Summarizing the above, the three people who were observing secretly could basically conclude that Zuo Si not only had a very wealthy background.
Moreover, the requirements for food quality are very high, almost to the point of being harsh.
They had no idea that the dishes that Zuo Si didn't eat were simply made with random spices, making the whole dish taste very strange and not at all in line with the tastes of modern Earthlings.
(End of this chapter)