Do Not Seek Absolution 𓇼 Seungin

8 𓇼 Politics 101: Avoid Angering Warlords (Optional)

His hand felt weird. Sort of tingly underneath his skin, ever since he touched the statue in the center of the port. Needles and pins that pricked along his palm, unsettling regardless of the times he washed his hands to rid himself of any lingering feelings jammed into the cracks of his hand. Weird. Must've been an allergic reaction or something of the type. He's never touched real bronze so, maybe he really was allergic to the precious metal. Then again, he's not sure what kind of allergic reaction would cause him to hallucinate the silhouette of a man inside of his eyes, but who knows with this weird ass world. Alternative solution is he's super mega ultra gay and horrifically touched starved (More likely).

Whatever. It's not that big of a thing to worry about anyway.

That night, when they had found stable accomodations in the back taverns of the port city (Split up into twos, in which somehow he ended up drawing lots to share the same room as Changbin), he nearly cried upon seeing a real bed. A bed. A mattress. A mattress with pillows and comforters. Not blankets padded against a hardwood floor. Not hammocks hung to freak with every bounce of the galleon in the ocean troughs. A BED. A REAL BED. Somehow, he withheld his tears, but the odd looks he was given for falling to his knees and kissing the mattress told him he was probably better off crying after all. Simple luxuries. Jeongin really was horrifically spoiled his entire life. Sorry. But he loves sleeping, and he hasn't been able to do so comfortably for a hot minute.

AND A BATH. A HOT BATH. HOLY SHIT.

Never before had he been so grateful to soak in a prehistoric version of his own bathtub at home. Like a sheet of mud, dirt, sand, saltwater, sweat, and grime peeled off of him. The aches in his muscles? Gone. His worries? Non-existent. Bruises? No more. Clean? Fresh. Hotel? Trivago. He was satisfied.

This trip to Miroh wasn't looking all too bad after all!

Or, he should've bit his tongue about that, honestly.

Because, as soon as he started thinking that everything was calm and great and alright with the world that following morning, once they had eaten their fill of eggs on seasoned rice in the morning and goat milk (Which, not bad! Different than normal milk but he didn't think it was all too horrible. He could drink it straight up at least, which he couldn't do with normal cow milk without gagging), Chan struck. As he does. As the fae folk do. He barged into Changbin and Jeongin's room at the top of the inn they had bunked in right as they had finished settling in their room (Jeongin for a nap, and Changbin was doing one thing or another), Seungmin in short tow on his heels. Closing the door behind him as the four of them were then locked in the room and Chan began to explain to them.

They came to Miroh, to Port Vitória, for a reason. To find out more about this supposed sea serpent the King of Miroh was ignoring. The sea serpent that suddenly appeared and is large enough to crush ships, but isn't, according to the others, large enough to be a leviathan. Why the creature only appeared under the cover of the night. Why the creature showed itself in the first place. And why the King hasn't done anything about the serpent despite word of it's existence terrorizing the port reaching farther than what was considered politically acceptable. Separatly, whatever it was that the King seem to be hiding in a fortress by the sea, along the east cape and to the south of Port Vitória. Or if there was another reason, and somehow they were connected as Hyunjin implied.

The trouble laying in not knowing where to begin their search for information. Whether the information is how to find the serpent to slay the creature to scrape and trade off the scales for profit, or whether the situation would turn up with some sort of convoluted secret that Miroh suppressed. First, they needed intel. Ideas. A hint of where to start. A hint of how to find where to start. And, of course, since it seemed like the King did know of the serpent, yet wasn't doing anything to help out his citizens, Chan came up with a brilliant idea he shared with the three of them. Go to the King first. See what information he was willing to give. Since the capital of the Kingdom was only a day's ride or so out from Port Vitória, they could seek counsel with the Warlord first. Which, honestly? That's so valid and reasonable. That's the easiest plan Jeongin has heard in his lifetime.