"Crikey! I dunno wot the old codger's on about sometimes!" Yangus said, as we were walking towards the stairs leading to the upper level of the town. "But I s'pose we'd better do wot 'e says."
"Well, he did give us why the reason we're seeking him." I reminded.
"This town is pretty big, though." Youmu observed. "Where should we start looking?"
"Oh, don't worry. I'm the best there is when it comes to lookin' for people." Yangus spoke up. "It's my 'piece de resistance', as they say." … I was surprised that Yangus was able to speak French so well.
"Aw, and I was just about to go around asking people…" Aya sighed in disappointment.
"Yeah, and doing that while probably taking embarrassing pictures of them as always." Reimu rolled her eyes.
"Hey!"
After sweatdropping at that moment, I decided to ask Aya, "Say, there's something I've been wondering about you, Aya…"
"Really? And what is it?" Aya asked.
"How did you make your wings disappear from your back all of a sudden?"
"Oh, glad you asked! See, I'm able to make my wings appear and disappear at will! Like this!" She then made her crow wings pop out from out of nowhere, before retracting them back as she turned around to show me that her wings were really gone again.
"Wow… Cool!"
"Heh heh, I know!"
"Well, anyways…" I changed the subject and addressed Yangus, "Where do you suggest we go first, Yangus?"
"I suggest findin' the town's bar." Yangus replied. "From my experience, we can find all sorts o' info there wiv no problems, guv."
"Then it's settled. We're going to the local pub." Once up at the upper level, we immediately saw a sign with a big mug of ale printed on it with a little swishing arrow. Just from seeing that mug of ale on it, I could tell that we've arrived at the bar and so we went around to the side, where the entrance to it was. "Oh, wait…" I stopped and turned to the girls. "I'm afraid that you girls will have to stay outside."
"What? Why?" Marisa asked.
"Basically, children aren't allowed in bars since they're illegal to drinking. And even if some of you girls are many years old, you still have the appearance of children, so you might get kicked out instantly…"
"Ohh…"
"Well, fine, we'll wait out here." Remilia said. "But you better be quick about it!"
I blinked a bit at Remilia's sudden commanding tone, but I nodded back and then I and Yangus entered the pub.
Lively music from a piano and the strong smell of ale immediately greeted the two of us the moment we went in. The bar wasn't filled to the brim with people that much, but it was just enough to make the place lively and loud. There was also a single Bunny Girl, who works as a barmaid, flitting about filling up the customers' mugs.
"Well, 'ere we are." Yangus said. "Now we just 'ave to find information about that Rylus geezer."
"Right." I replied. "I'll be going to the counter." and so I walked over there, where I saw a middle-aged man with afro-like black hair and wearing what seemed to be orange and red gypsy clothes sitting in front of the counter while interacting with the barkeeper. Because I was just a few feet away from him, I could clearly see that this man looks like he's been getting piss drunk for a long while, as there were several empty bottles on the counter around him and he sported a flush red face.
"Haven't you had enough, Mr. Kalderasha, sir?" the barkeeper asked the man, who's apparently named Kalderasha. "I'm sorry but I've got a business to run. This, er, haphazard fortune-telling of yours is costing me a fortune in free drinks!"
"WHAT!?" Kalderasha yelled, slamming his glass cup onto the counter angrily, spilling liquid all over it. "My fortune-telling… HAPHAZARD!? Are you a complete fool!? Let me tell you something for free. All fortune-telling is 'haphazard'! What do you expect!?" Then, he proceeded to mumble what's possibly drunken monologue. "Anyway, so what if I saw it? So what if I foretold the fire? If I'd tried to stop it, then what!?" 'Fire'? Oh, he must be talking about the burnt down house I saw earlier. "It would only have led to another disaster, that's what!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kalderasha, sir. I don't follow…" the barkeeper trailed off. "If you're saying you knew about the fire, shouldn't you at least have warned Master Rylus?" Hey, that's the one we're looking for! I immediately perked my eyes the moment I heard the name and continued to listen to the conversation.
"Yes… Poor Rylus… How many times I argued with the old man… I cannot believe he is gone…"
… Did he just say 'gone'?! I almost couldn't believe my ears. Rylus had died in the fire, and it was all because he didn't listen to Kalderasha's warning. All my hopes of trying to get a clue about Dhoulmagus now seemed lost for me. But who would even burn Rylus' house down anyways? I really wanted an answer for that. So I approached Kalderasha, and it didn't take too long for him to immediately notice me:
"What!? What is it?" but before I could reply… "Hmm!? … You!" Kalderasha suddenly pushed himself out of his chair and leaned in very close to my face in drunken wonderment as I, bewildered and a bit freaked out, immediately backed up. Sheesh, that's the second time someone invaded my personal space…
"Um, s-sir… Personal space, please…" I murmured uncomfortably.
But Kalderasha just ignored me and creepily added, "Come, show your face to the Great Kalderasha! Yes! Yeeesss!" Ugh, was this prolonged "yes" really necessary…?
Just then, the bar door was thrown open in a loud bang, catching everyone in the bar's attention as they turned over to see a man standing at the entrance.
"Q-Quick, quick! Everyone come quick! There's a monster in town!" he shouted in despair.
My face went pale. " Oh, no… " I thought, as I knew exactly whom he might be referring to.
"What!?" one of the customers exclaimed in alarm as he stood up from his seat.
"Just come and see! The whole town's gone crazy!" the man said shrilly, and then I watched as all the customers in the bar (except for Kalderasha) sprinted out of the bar, following the man.
I quickly ran over to Yangus. "Yangus! Did you hear all that?" I asked.
"I did. This don't sound good." Yangus replied, then his eyes widened in realization, "I wonder if that monster they 'ad 'ere was…!?"
"No doubt about it. Let's go get the girls and then we'll see it for ourselves!"
With that, we both ran out of the bar and out of the alley, where we spotted the girls looking down at the town's lower level. The girls heard our footsteps and turned around to us.
"Oh, there you are!" Reisen exclaimed, then she pointed down at the square and asked, "What's going on down there?"
"No time to explain! Hurry!" I ushered as I and Yangus raced down the stairs, with the girls following us. Down there, we stopped by the fountain where we were met with a huge, ear-deafening mob that filled the entire court.
"Wot the…!?" Yangus gasped. "This ain't good!"
Cirno then flew up a bit, possibly to take a look at what was in the middle of the crowd (and thankfully, no one seemed to notice her), and then she replied to us, "Hey, they're gathering around that ugly green toad king that's with us!"
I sighed as I facepalmed. "That's what I've been dreading about…" then I removed my hand from my face and told everyone, "We'll just have to force our way into the crowd and help him!"
As we proceeded to force our way through, we could already hear some of the disgusted reactions from the citizens:
"Urgh! It looked at me!"
"Ewwww! It's hideous!"
Then, the same man who busted into the bar barked, "Get out! Get out, monster! You're not welcome here!" and… they all started throwing rocks at poor Trode as he cowered on the floor helplessly while crying in pain.
Suddenly, a horse neigh was heard and the rock-throwing fit stopped as much to everyone's surprise (and mine as well), Medea had fiercely stepped in front of Trode to shield him from the mob's sight, glaring at them with a valiant look. I soon snapped out of my awed trance and continued pushing my way through the crowd while saying, "Excuse me… coming through…" and once I, Yangus and the girls finally reached Trode and Medea, I went over to take Medea's reins while shooting the mob a stern look, while Yangus picked up Trode and then we all proceeded to take our leave.
"Get out! Out out out out!"
"Get out of 'ere!"
"We don't want your kind 'ere!"
We heard the jeers of the crowd behind us as we were leaving the town, and these sounds were only drowned out after the entrance gates shut once we were back outside.