Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Chapter 118 Grand Hotel

"You should just call me Locke."

Cindy walked around to me with a grin on her face, her sharp fangs shining with pride. She turned the dagger with aqua blue magic runes on it twice in her hand and then obediently slipped into the scabbard hanging on her thigh.

"You are not that alert. I have been following you since you entered the castle, and you didn't even notice me until you got into the house. If I were an assassin, you would not be able to survive no matter how many lives you have."

The girl's curvy body was wrapped in a black tights, with a hood with dark red lace hanging behind her head, and her short blond hair tied into a playful pigtail. Cindy sat next to Rigel and stroked her belly. The girl looked like a vampire except that her skin was a little whiter than before.

"I should be safe in this fortress."

"How could you have such a naive idea? It's a good thing you're still alive today."

Cindy lay on Rigel's belly, like a little girl playing coquettishly with her sister, totally lacking the aloof temperament that a killer should have. She didn't even bother to look up at me, but just stretched out her index finger and waved it left and right.

"I can tell you that successfully assassinating a target in a heavily guarded place or in public is the highest honor for a killer. Many people in the Dark Brotherhood are pursuing this."

"Come on, Cindy, don't scare him anymore. Help me get up and walk around. I'm tired of sitting or lying down all day."

Rigel patted Cindy's head, supported herself on her arms and stood up, and slapped away my hand that I extended to support her.

"Cindy told me last time when I came here that after you became a knight, your worth had risen to eight thousand Septim. The other party refused to increase the money, so the bounty was cancelled. But my Lord was so busy that I didn't have a chance to tell you."

"Yes, Locke's title was promoted too quickly. If I want to buy your life now, it will probably cost tens of thousands, right?"

Just like in the cave under the pine watchtower, Rigel and Cindy teased me with each other, even though our identities had changed drastically in just a few months.

"By the way, Cindy, can you help me check the intelligence of these two people?"

"Of course, the lord level is 5,000 Septim, and the baron level is 2,000. Pay half of the deposit first."

"Not that high-ranking. One is called Hrata, a Nord, male, and the other is called Ariana, a Redguard, female. They may have made a living by hunting in the past, but I don't know anything else. I want to know where they are from and whether they have any criminal records. Two hundred Septim for each."

Cindy pursed her lips.

"A mission like yours is just a waste of time and doesn't help my position in the organization at all."

Although she said she was disgusted, she still agreed to investigate and said that as a VIP client of the Dark Brotherhood, it would not cost any money to investigate two minions. Rigel smiled but said nothing. Of course, I was not hypocritical enough to be polite to the child's mother, so the matter was settled.

Perhaps because this little sister was out there alone, Rigel was obviously more interested in her experiences than mine. Although Cindy had hooked up with a big client like the Lord's wife, she was still just a low-ranking member in the Dark Brotherhood. In addition to coming to Helgen Town once a month, she usually dealt with some simple tasks, such as assassinating some civilians who had no combat power or investigating intelligence. The most complicated thing she had done so far was to scout for other people's actions.

As for when there are no missions, she doesn't always stay in the base to practice martial arts. Cindy and another vampire in the organization will go to Whiterun from time to time. The two top hunters dress up and wander in the dark corners in the image of prey, patiently waiting for those fools dominated by primitive desires to take the bait. The two guys will also compete in hunting results based on the appearance and taste of the food. It is said that young girls and cute lolita are currently evenly matched. It can be seen that the orientation of male creatures in Skyrim is still diverse to a certain extent, which also confirms Stein's statement to Savilla from another aspect.

But speaking of vampires, I became interested.

"Are you still in contact with the vampires of Haima's Shame?"

This question was very serious. Cindy bared her teeth and looked like she wanted to eat someone.

"How dare you ask? Because of you, I was scolded by a dog for more than an hour!"

The vampire family of Haima Shame made the same judgment as me. They asked Cindy to keep her bloodline secret and contact them only when no one knew. The last time Cindy went to the family's hideout, she saw a big gray dog ​​lying on the altar of Will and talking. Before she could figure out what was going on, Atrus pulled her to her knees. Barbas, the chatterbox, finally got a chance to speak freely. He spitted for a long time. Cindy finally understood the other party's intention from the upside-down nonsense.

They were warriors representing Clavicus Vile, who came to call for justice and accuse the family of acting rashly and inappropriately.

"What is your position in the family? Do you know what their purpose and plan are in hiding in Haima's Shame?"

Cindy paced the room, trying to be mysterious. I waved my hands helplessly.

"If you don't know, forget it. Just pretend I didn't ask."

"Who said I don't know? It's just that I can't tell anyone outside the family. Otherwise, will you let me take a bite?"

The long fangs were unsheathed, shining with a cold light.

"No need, I suddenly don't want to know those things."

The vampires in the other world keep the same tradition of seclusion as in the legend, and their whereabouts are secretive. Although they will not be my enemy for the time being because of Helgi, I still hope to find out as much as possible about their background. If these guys have big plans like "ending the tyranny of the sun" like the Valchiha family, then it is inevitable that we will meet in battle in the future. But when it really comes to that, how will Cindy deal with it?

There was a knock on the door, and a maid bravely asked a question outside the door.

"Ma'am, Miss Murray has brought dinner. Would you like to have it now?"

Cindy bared her teeth at me, and then she suddenly disappeared. Rigel sighed, straightened her clothes, sat back on the bed with her arms around her belly, and then asked the maid to invite Murray in.

The two maids quickly set up the table beside the bed, lit the candles, and placed a set of shiny silverware in front of Rigel. Murray led the two little girls to serve the dinner. There were not many kinds of food, but it was very rich. The two maids tried hard to control the sound of swallowing saliva, but my brows were getting tighter and tighter.

The staple food was two steamed buns and a small plate of steamed dumplings, and the main course was a large roast pork chop and two small deer chops, with a small dish of pickled cabbage, a bowl of fish soup, a large glass of honey wine, and pickled apples cut into small pieces as dessert. This table was full of oil and salt, and I felt sick of it, let alone Rigel, who had very little activity every day? The operation of giving alcohol to pregnant women made my eyelids jump.

The little saber-toothed tiger and her dinner looked at each other in bewilderment. It wasn't that she was proud of her status, but she really couldn't eat. After a long time, she finally decided to send me away first.

"Lord Locke, please go back."

I walked to the door, but couldn't help looking back.

"Forget it if you don't like it. I'll get you two dishes."

Rigel waved his hand impatiently.

"I'm fine, but you guys, you're all alone out here, so you have to be careful about everything."

She deliberately emphasized "you guys", and naturally drove Cindy away as well.

"Take me to Eddie."

Judging from the fish soup and steamed dumplings, dinner should be Eddie's. But he is not in the hotel. I don't know where he went.

"Brother, the boss has had a poor appetite recently, and Eddie is very anxious. Do you have any new dishes? Please teach us."

Seeing my uncertain expression, Murray was also very panicked. She and Eddie still used the name they used when they were gangsters in private. The two of them, plus Cindy and me, could be considered Rigel's "own people". Although everyone went their separate ways, they did not forget their roots.

"The menu does need to be adjusted. I'll talk to Eddie. The key is that the eldest daughter is not moving around enough right now. You guys should think of a way to get her out of the fortress every day and take a walk in town. This will be good for her health."

I took a few deep breaths and tried to convince myself: Eddie had done his best, but his efforts were just too wrong.

As he led the way, Murray introduced that Eddie was now a big boss. He hired his former younger brother Joey to run the Helgen Hotel. He bought a large piece of land, opened a big hotel, and concentrated on expanding his territory in the catering industry.

This three-story building is the most impressive building in Helgen besides the fortress. It seems that the decoration inside has also been very well thought out. The layout of the first floor is in traditional Nordic style. The tables and chairs are all made of light-colored stone. There are no complicated decorations. It is simple and heavy. It is dinner time. The room is full of diners. The three waiters are busy and happy. The oriental shouting sounds from time to time add to the excitement.

The main color of the second floor is yellow, the furniture is made of pine, there are potted juniper seedlings in the corner, and various animal head specimens are hung on the wall. It seems that the decorator hopes to create a Richman style without the bloody characteristics here, but it looks a bit out of place at present. Eddie has obviously realized this. He is sitting around a table with several Richman from the old man's guard, eating and chatting. Looking at the way these people are pointing and talking in the room, they should be discussing improvement plans.

When they saw me coming upstairs, everyone at the table stood up. The members of the Rich Guard were all refugees, and they respected me as their savior. Someone immediately brought a chair and invited me to sit with them. Eddie hooked his arm around my shoulders and smiled as he pushed everyone away.

"Lord Locke must have something to tell me. If you really want to treat me, please come earlier next time."

I didn't want to lose my temper with Eddie in front of so many people, so I just asked him to take me to the kitchen.

"And that's all?"

I looked at the food in the room and was speechless. There were only four kinds of fresh vegetables: pumpkin, onion, carrot and potato, and the quantity was not much. Most of the meat was pickled. Murray whispered to Eddie, probably reporting what happened in the fortress.

"Brother, I know I didn't do it well. But you see, at this time of year, I only have these things here. I just planted this year's vegetables, how can they grow? Our Tianji has this climate, and everyone has come through this, so I can't do anything about it."

I pointed to the fish and some rabbits in the house.

"Why don't you give these fresh game to the eldest daughter? Pork is so greasy, how can she eat it?"

Eddie waved his hands.

"You can't give her these to eat!"

Rigel has his own explanations for his current menu, which are said to be based on experience gained from many sources. These explanations are quite in line with the essence of "like cures like", and can be said to be a collection of feudal superstitions. For example, pregnant women cannot eat rabbits, otherwise the baby will be born with cleft lip; they cannot eat fish, because fish have protruding lips and bulging eyes, and the baby will become ugly; the bulging backs of shrimps will cause hunchbacks in children; the twisted legs and feet of crabs will cause bow legs; and snowberries are absolutely not allowed to be touched, because they will cause large red birthmarks on the child's body.

There is a real example of this saying about snowberries. A friend of a neighbor in Eddie's hometown had a distant relative whose nephew's wife loved eating snowberries and did not avoid eating them even when she was pregnant. As a result, the child was born with black and red patches on his body, looking like a demon. In the end, the child was killed as a monster, and the mother committed suicide out of guilt.

There are so many different things.

I was so frightened by Eddie that I wanted to refute him, but I felt guilty. It's not that I believe these nonsense, but there is no prenatal checkup in the other world. If the child really has this or that problem in the future, it will inevitably be blamed on me. But Gale's behavior today is really heartbreaking.

"Then you have to change your diet. Use beef as much as possible, and stop drinking wine. Replace it with milk. Also, add fresh vegetables and fruits. If you don't have them, go buy them. Go to the Bloody Throne to find the Tiger Caravan and ask them to help with the purchase. The vegetables in Skyrim have just been planted. Have the vegetables in Valenwood and Elsweyr also just been planted?"

Eddie looked troubled.

"That would be too expensive..."

"Fuck you! You've built a restaurant this big, but you're reluctant to spend money on a few dishes? By the way, I remember the accounts you gave me said that the hotel is only making a small profit. Where did you get the money? Did you cook the books?"

"No! I wanted to tell you, but you came in with a gloomy face, so I didn't dare to tell you. Brother, come with me."

I was led to the third floor of the hotel, which had ten private rooms. To be honest, after seeing the decoration of the first two floors, I was quite curious about the style of these rooms. Eddie pushed open a door and let me in.

This was a rough-finished house with a table and a few chairs randomly placed in the middle of the room. Eddie scratched his bald head, feeling a little embarrassed.

"I haven't decided what to make these rooms look like yet, so I'll just leave them empty for now. Brother, if you have time, help me think about it."

I miss you, you big head ghost! I moved two chairs and placed them opposite Eddie, waiting for him to confess first.

"Brother, let's not beat around the bush. I'll tell you the truth. This restaurant was invested by someone else. It has nothing to do with the boss or you. It happened more than a month ago. A Yalong man came to me. His name was Gululu or something like that. He said he was a broker who specialized in helping rich people find investment opportunities to make money. This guy took a fancy to my gin and mead, and said he could help contact the mead farmers and share sales channels... What the hell!"

Before Eddie could finish his words, he screamed and fell to the ground.