Ace's smile grew almost imperceptible when he noticed that Caine didn't even try to hide the fact he was enjoying the affection quite a bit. Well, at least he would have a way to annoy the other man, if it came to that. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't. Not that he didn't like annoying people, since it was actually one of his favourite pastimes. Usually, though, he could just turn around and leave whenever he got bored or he annoyed the other person too much that it became almost dangerous to continue. But with Caine, this wasn't really an option. Not if this job was as interesting as he imagined and he wanted to keep himself sane enough while working with this group, since it was obvious that he wouldn't get along with the princess that still hadn't returned. He could be just polite enough for that, with Caine, at least. He definitely would have his entertainment with Crusty.<br/><br/>The mercenary's attention returned to his current companion, though, when he sat down besides him. Ace couldn't help the soft chuckle as Caine began to answer him. Such a humble man, he could almost be fooled.<br/><br/>The map the other showed him, however, was truly impressive. It was finely drawn, and Ace had followed a few maps on his life, most of them doing more harm than good, the roads and the land points annoyingly inaccurate. However, not that one. The ink showed all the roads almost exactly as he remembered them, and Ace was willing to admit his memory was probably the one failing. Even the less known roads, and roads he himself never knew existed, all shown in the map. Impressive didn't even begin to describe it. He cared very little for the technicalities of maps and such items, but even him could appreciate when it was finely drawn. Specially since it meant they wouldn't get lost.<br/><br/>The mercenary could feel the weight of Caine's eyes on him, and while he said nothing about the map and just sat quietly, listening to the other, he made no attempt to hide his amazement. Ace knew he was probably fuelling the other's pride, and it definitely didn't need it, but he guessed sometimes it wouldn't hurt.<br/><br/>When Caine made a small pause, Ace turned his eyes on him, resting his elbows on the counter. mimicking the other, and waited. He frowned, running a hand through his head and biting his lips for a second. Foreign interest. Opportunities on the road. That could mean so much. And as much as that intrigued him, he found himself not actually caring, deep down. They could use the monsters for terrible experiments, to unleash chaos into the kingdom or bring everlasting peace. It didn't change his life that much. Chaos was already what he lived in, and peace would never, ever reach his life, not anymore. But any place that caught a lot of interest was bound to have some secret, and sometimes those secrets meant monsters to be killed. Others, precious or powerful items to be found. Since he was in this to satisfy the morbid kind of curiosity he had acquired and he wasn't quite sure he liked to embrace so freely, no matter the answer he would be satisfied.<br/><br/>"Oh, don't worry. The only business I have with royals is when they end up impaled on my sword." he said, almost sourly. "And I don't quite enjoy broadcasting my hunts to competitions, either." he did enjoy making himself known, though, even if only to provoke a fist fight inside a tavern. But he was careful not to ever let useful information about his hunts leak. He didn't need people noising on his business, specially when it was his own life at line.<br/><br/>Ace eyes darkened briefly at the mention of a Cockatrice. Quite the nasty thing to kill, that was for sure. His encounter with one had ended up disastrous for both sides, and he still had the marks of his fight with one on his shoulders to remind him about how he almost bled to death. Not the worst out there, but dangerous anyway. And he had been quite inexperienced back them, so that was also that.<br/><br/>"You're right, I don't care much to people's opinions." Ace answered, shrugging slightly. "But I do have things to remind me of every single fight. At least the ones that are worth remembering." he simply raised his hand, showing the thin scars there and a circular one, stronger than others, the size of a huge teeth. He lowered his hands again. "Werewolves, chimera, sirens, a dragon... They all left a... memento." true, the dragon had been a very young one, less than 100 years old, but it had left a huge burn in the left side of his torso, so he would count it in.<br/><br/>"But despite the fancy armour, I don't see any flashy accessories on you, either." Ace said, a smile forming on his lips. "And I doubt you are not without your fair share of kills, since you did get this job."<br/><br/>His eyes, however, were now running across the room, and he wasn't all that interested in the others answer, since he probably knew what it would be. The tiredness of the day was weighing in, and now he wanted to find someone and go to bed. In places like this, it was easy. People didn't care how many scars one had because they had as many. They didn't care about appearances, because they rarely got to be picky. Most were just loners, looking for a brief company - and maybe more, sometimes. But even those people had no reason to believe they would achieve anything longer than a night, two on the best days. They didn't expect it. And it meant that Ace could find someone to keep him company during the night and, in the morning, he would leave like nothing had ever happened. Sometimes, it would be him to rise first - he liked to make sure the other person hadn't stole anything and, if needed, steal something himself. But other times, the other person would beat him to it. He had lost some things like this, but, thankfully, nothing he couldn't replace.<br/><br/>"So, if you excuse me, I'll get myself settled for the nigh, and we can resume our conversation tomorrow." he said, only half paying attention to Caine when his eyes fell on a man with a few mugs on the corner of the room, sitting alone and looking quite sour. The last three inns he had chosen females companions - or they had chosen him, it didn't matter - so he wanted something extra for a change. This was another perk of such places. If the man had anything against it, he would probably be too lonely to care. And if he was truly offender by the thought, Ace was sure he could win a fight against a drunk man and it could serve for him to find someone else. "Are you going to wait for Your Highness out there?" he asked as an afterthought. "It's freezing and it wouldn't do for the princess to get a cold before we leave this place. Not the safest road for being sick."