The inn was called the Fourth Inn for a single reason.
Actually, the Anglerfish were simple people. There were five inns in total, one for each expansion. So the first was the oldest, going back to when they first moved here, and the fifth was the newest, which was constructed a few decades ago.
Actually, they were so simple that when they settled on land a few hundred years ago, they named their new home Angleford.
As in Anglerford without the r. Actually, the reason they refrained from completely naming it after themselves was because of their soulless ancestor's heritage and the resulting culture.
In other words, they were humble folk. Which is strange; logically speaking, they're apex predators that have extendable jaws as well as bioluminescent lures to catch prey. But, it seems complete sentience and self awareness managed to harness that instead. After all, this little anglerfish here was crying a few seconds ago because of her toad partner.
…
In order to reach the Fourth Inn, they had to go up a few winding paths, which led them to the top of a hill; the whole west side of their town was visible from here, if the snowfall were to allow it of course.
The limestone building was four stories high and each story was separate, a bit to the side, and lightly overlapped with the previous one; it was like puzzle pieces but with space in between. They were each connected with inclosed walkways and each story was supported with thick beams of limestone. The whole thing was rigid with sharp corners and square windows, most of whom were dark. Most buildings were like this actually—carrying the same sort of aesthetic and design.
When they arrived, they all gawked at the structure. It was completely unlike what they had seen before, including someone like Ran. He hailed from a city of glass, where everything was in view on the outside; this place seemed to be the opposite. One definitely couldn't see their own reflection walk with them with this kind of material, he thought. Back home, you could see someone walking from several blocks away, but here it was the opposite. It was like the reflections were drawn inside the building itself, protecting it from harm. They were all compelled to enter its cold, hard, embrace.
With the chime of a bell, they opened the heavy door and entered. The door was actually taller than this anglerfish here, so it suggested that she wasn't even the tallest one among them. Rab could smile bitterly as he hoped for the worst.
When they entered, an orange glow hit their eyes. The bar was practically empty with only one person cleaning the counter. Unlike seemingly everything else, the chairs and stools to sit on were cushioned with cotton and covered with leather, though everything else was indeed stone—they were rounded at least. Yet the warm color of the lights seemed to soften everything up; everything was quite cozy actually.
At the moment, the male anglerfish had just finished cleaning the counter with a rag and was checking to see how good its reflection was by giving it a toothy grin. Hearing the bell toll, and a bunch of people approaching, he immediately straightened up his back.
However, seeing a giantess with them, and this one specifically, its face contorted in frustration.
"You really like leaving your old man worrying, huh. Well?" It sent a fatherly glare at her, as if to say they would be lectured all night if they didn't give a satisfactory answer.
"Papa I… I'm sorry; I had finished attending to the frogs when I ran into an accident…"
"Accident?" It didn't have eyebrows to raise, but its skin was still moved upward.
"Yes I… I don't know how, but the ground shook and hole opened up; papa, I lost Peppy!"
At that point, her emotions got the better of her and she sought her fathers embrace. Yet, the next second, everyone was shocked!
She cried and reached out to hug her father, and as she did so, she pulled him out completely. He was only about two feet tall!
Oh dear god! This anglerfish was so tilted she directly ripped her fathers upper body from his lower body!
…
Wait… why was there any blood. And why was the fathers knees wearing shoes?
Hold on, don't tell me… that was his actual height!? Even as the author, this is too much isn't it?
And yet… ah that's right, sexual dimorphism.
Basically, sexual dimorphism, in this case, is just the difference in size as well as the difference in each biological sex's birth rate—how many females to males, or vice versa.
Right now, it was about a dozen males for each female. In the distant past however, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was several hundred males to one female. As for the size, I think that explains itself; though, the males' bodies were still proportional, so they don't appear squished.
Actually, this made up their entire culture. Well, sexual dimorphism was only a part of it. The real thing laid in their sexual symbiosis—yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. The tiny male would latch onto the big female; their bodies then fuse and their souls commingle into oneness. This was their heritage.
In fact, their structures paid homage to this. While each story of a building could stand strong on its own, only by connecting with others could they all stand tall.
So yes, in the end, the father was indeed the size of Rans leg. This would have made him jump up in joy, if it didn't concern other people's feelings. Finally, there was an adult shorter than him.
Heck, if I wanted to right now, I could use this as a plot device to trigger a breakthrough in Ran, as I have done before, but… there are more opportune times for it. But this segway is already too long.
"You lost… Peppy?" Immediately, while holding his daughter within his tiny embrace, he felt he failed as a father. How could he let his own down break down like this, he thought. Moreover, what the fuck is a Peppy!? He didn't know! It seems their work had created a rift between them.
"Yes papa, my toad Peppy jumped into the hole!" Recalling the scene, more emotions burst forth and it took a moment for her to calm down—she liked Peppy.
"You know what honey, I'm sorry that happened. How about this; tomorrow, early in the morning, we'll both go and find Peppy together. How does that sound?" His voice was almost like butter as he spoke to console her, to which she could only nod.
Only after all of that happened did the both of them remember the small crowd of people that waited for their little show to end.
"Ah yes, welcome to our Fourth Inn, how may we help you on this fine… ah who am I kidding. It's the middle of the night, what do you lot want?"
He rubbed his hands together, business was always good no matter the time of day… night.
Ran went up to the counter, placed a core (rank-5 of course) on its hard surface, and said "we want to spend the night; we're all tired and we won't be here for long."
"Hmm, and you lot want separate rooms or…" he looked at them all, there were nine in total.
Ran was left astounded. He turned back to look at the rest, who were also looking at each other.
"Sure, we'll get separate rooms."
"Alrighty then." He took the core as payment, thinking it was simply a rank-8 core, which was more than enough to pay for everyone's shelter for a day. Yet, when he picked it up and felt the aura of the juice inside, he was astounded—wait, I already used that word.
He was absolutely flabbergasted!
The father looked at his daighter rather sternly; the fuck were these people!? What's with this flaunting of wealth?
"Um, sir—"
"Right, no, I don't have any change. Don't worry about it, keep the change." Ran shrugged and waved his hand as he looked at the stunned father.
The father blanked out for a few seconds, before finally coming to a conclusion with a sigh.
"Alright, fine. How about this; you can stay here for as long as you want, and we'll even feed you."
He had to concede, otherwise, how would his daughter think of him? He was not one to take charity.
And before Ran could have the chance to retort, though he was actually going to agree, the father handed him nine numbered key cards made of stone.
The father then quickly consoled his daughter one time, leading her behind the locked shelf of alcohol where they both had their own rooms.
And so, with this interaction done, everyone walked up the steps to the right and looked for each of their rooms.
As it turns out, Ran and Fluffy had their rooms next to each other on the fourth floor.
He rubbed her head and said, "Fluffy, you've finally been promoted to head pillow! Now you can sleep on other pillows, and you even have your own room. I'm so proud of you!"
Fluffy gave him some side eye before ignoring him and pressing the rune‐engraved key card on the stone door with her mouth. Spiderweb-like runes appeared on the door, a locking mechanism, before the door slid open with a stony screech.
As she went inside, she didn't look back, but she did say goodnight, which warmed Rans heart as he entered his room.