Rio approached the door, noticing a sign stating Open *I hope we can sleep there. I do not think we can move any further at this moment* Rio thought, looking at tired Helgar with empathetic eyes.

 "Helgar, you stay behind. I will go in first. if it is safe, I will call after you."

 Helgar nodded, pushing his body on the wooden wall. He was exhausted but did not want to burden Rio with that too. Instead, he placed his palm to his tired face, hiding it away from his Pal.

 Stealing the seconds, Rio gazed at the only person he considered a sincere friend. He scanned Helgar's whole figure, looking at his white torn shirt, which was carelessly buttoned to expose his neck and muscled chest. His pants, which had slits on both knees due to the fall, were also utterly ragged from the edges. And finally, his once white shoes were in miserable condition and full of dirt.  

 Rio's heart bent, he was able to save the guy standing next to him. He took off his jacket and offered it to Helgar. "It's cold here, wear this."

"I'm fine Rio, just go," Helgar replied, gently pushing the jacket off with his hand.

"I am not asking you Helgar, just wear it. It is an order". Rio scolded him, shoving the jacket to his chest.

 At that moment, the door opened. A young lady appeared, holding a gun with her hand that pointed towards the two of them. Both Rio and Helgar froze in place.

 "Raise your hands!" The woman shouted at them. Her gun was still pointing at their direction. Rio kept his jacket in one hand as he raised both of them slightly up. Helgar sighed and raised his hands as well, his intuition telling him that she was not a danger.

 "What are you both doing here?" She asked with a suspicious gaze.

 "It said, it is open so we thought we can stop here," Rio replied sarcastically.

 Her anger decreased, realizing that they are not a threat. "Just two lovers standing behind the door for too long," she murmurs.

 "What!? We are friends!" Rio snapped at her. "Where did you come with your crazy conclusion."

 "You can only drink something here and go, if you don't have money just go away. It's not charity". She replied to him, uninterested in the first argument or the miserable situation they both seemed to have.

 Rio pulled his purse, opening it wide to prove that he has the money. "Now can we come in?"

 She opened the door with a stretched arm. "Just for one hour, I want to close soon," She answered with an emotionless, cold voice.

 Rio snapped his wallet closed while his lips curving into a smile. he stepped with his injured feet forward, wincing his left eye in pain. Immediately, Helgar jumpped to help, giving him a hand to lean on as they both get in.

 The young lady follwed behind. She looked in her mid-twenties, wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt that reached down to a thick belt which was holding both her gun and a purse around her waist, a short pale jeans hiding barely the upper part of her thighs, and high leather boots reaching up to her knees. 

 Not only her clothes were attractive, but she also had a beautiful face with soft fringes covering her forehead, brown hair pulled back in a long wavy ponytail that reached the end of her back. and a figure that gave an excellent impression of a capable independent woman for running such an intimidating place with enough courage.

"What would the men like to drink," She asked, as she approached the table that they had chosen.

"Would appreciate two beers for me and my pal, please," Rio answered looking at her with skeptical eyes "You don't look from Aeramen territory. What are you doing here?"

 Helgar's attention immediately was caught at Rio's rude question. *Don't we have enough trouble to worry about her?*

 The woman ignored Rio and headed back to the bar in order to fill two glasses for them. "That will cost you twenity Konnitas."

  Konnitas and Gekones were the official currency in Kingdom Promesus. One man in Aerman would need to slave a whole month to get close to a hundred Konnitas. Gekones, on the other hand, was pure gold that molted and poured into coins. In a poor region like Aerman, konnitas was the common trade.

Rio laughed "ahoi ahoi, that would make a rent for a half month to me."

"Well if you sleep in a shelter, then that would be more than enough," She responded to him sarcastically, her attention diverting toward the silent guy, Helgar.

"You do not know anything about the prices in Pyroville" Rio frowned at her rude answer.

"Pyroville? You have lost your compass, boys". She served the drinks to the table, glancing at the uncommon crimson glow in Helgar's eyes. 

Helgar noticed her and turned his head away to stare at the window, trying to skip an eye contact with her.

"Your friend, does he speak at all?" she wondered, still looking at the face that moved away from her.

"Do you know where we are now?" Rio countered her question with another one. "You know we lost our way in the road"

"And a fight with someone it seems." She laughed lightly at his last statement, looking at their miserable situation. "You are right boys, sadly you are still in Aeramen territory. This is Brassfield, it's hundreds of miles away from Pyroville."

"Brassfield, we should be close to Brass town then," Rio murmured in a barely audible voice before he opened his wallet and slid a paper of twenty Konnita on the table close to her.

"That's right Brass town is thirty miles away from here," She confirmed, grabbing the money and trying one more time to grasp a look at Helgar's suspicious eyes through the reflection of the window. "So you boys are from Pyroville?"

Taunted by the fact, Rio felt the urge of telling her that they are not originally from Pyroville, but why would he do that. "That's where we have lived, correct."

Noises from vehicles interrupting their conversation came from the outside. The three of them became fully alert.

 She gazed outside, her eyes dimming. It was hard to see clearly, but she was still able to spot black-uniformed soldiers through the window. 

"Promesus Warriors." She whispered, moving away from the table and getting close to the door. She opened it and walked out of the bar.