The wooden door at the back of the church was weather-worn and had clearly seen better days. What had once been a metal door knocker was now little more than a corroded stub, and the rickety hinges rattled loudly as Jackie unceremoniously rapped his hand against the wood.
"Jackie, shouldn't we be a tad more courteous considering you didn't give this Sister Esse word that we would be coming? At the very least, shouldn't we be worried about waking up sleeping children?"
Jackie turned away from the door and dismissed Roth's worries with a wink and a thumbs-up. "Don't you worry, Roth. Esse is always happy to see my handsome face and no one around here would pass up free meat, so we got nothing to worry about. In fact-"
"In fact, you should have heeded your far more handsome friend's warning. You have certainly roused the children and I have no doubt that the more adventurous among them are watching us. Rumors as to why you're missing your right sleeve will have filled their minds by breakfast time". This new voice came from the doorway, where a woman in her 40's stood with a hand on her hip and an exhausted smile on her face. She wore a nun's habit, with fine white hair peeking out from the cloth.
[I wonder, was her hair always that color or did the stress of raising people like Jackie simply grey her young? If my hair didn't already have a silver hue to it I'm sure Jackie would give it one over time.]
"Come on Esse, don't act like you aren't happy to see me," began Jackie, "who wouldn't want two dashing young gentlemen to come and bring them gifts?" Jackie's comment was punctuated by a hearty slap on Roth's back, an event Roth had already grown more than accustomed to.
"Always a complete lack of courtesy with you, Jackie. You still haven't introduced me to your friend." Sister Esse turned to Roth and extended a hand towards him in greeting. "My name is Sister Esse, but feel free to just call me Esse. I run this humble church and am the caretaker of this orphanage. As you may have gathered, I was once young Jackie's guardian."
Roth took her hand with a smile. "Very nice to meet you, Miss Esse. My name is Roth, and I found myself here in Mosswell early this morning after losing my way on my travels. I was fortunate enough to meet Jackie after accepting a job hauling lumber."
Jackie lit up at the mention of the day's work. "Esse, you should see Roth haul those logs around. That big body of his isn't just for show, he's concealing some serious muscles underneath those weird robes. Saved me from the bear too."
Esse's eyes narrowed and the smile fell from her demeanor. "Bear, Jackie? Tell me Jackie, why did you need saving from a bear? I've told you time and time again to only hunt herbivores and small game. So tell me, how did you encounter a bear?"
The blood left Jackie's face and the stammered excuses coming from his mouth didn't make for a complete sentence, much less an explanation.
[This nun might just be more dangerous than the bear, and the situation will only get worse if Jackie tries to excuse his behavior as something he was doing for the church.]
"Excuse me Miss Esse, but I think I may be able to explain. The bear in question was visibly sick and behaving erratically, even for a starving animal. It had likely contracted a magical disease of some kind. Jackie and I were hunting turkeys when the beast ambushed us. No amount of caution could have prevented it."
"Is that so? Well then, if it couldn't be helped then I guess I can let him off this time. Please, come in."
"I'm sorry Miss Esse, but I have things that I must attend to so I will have to decline your kind invitation. Jackie, is it alright if I leave carrying the meat inside to you?"
"Oh yeah, sure. But since you're so adamant that you don't have plans with some woman, tomorrow you'll have to tell me what was so important that we couldn't spend the night at the logging cabin."
"And deny you the opportunity to invent impossibly fantastic tales about my misadventures? Nonsense. I'm looking forward to hearing about what it is you think I'm up to, since my actual plans are dull and pedestrian. I really should take my leave though. It was very nice meeting you, Miss Esse."
Jackie made Roth promise to meet up behind the church the following morning, and with his plans solidified Roth made his way back to Dart's. He wasn't lying about the wholly ordinary nature of his plans for the night, nor of their importance. He needed the townsfolk to see him eating dinner, renting a room at Dart's, and spending the night like anyone else would. Mosswell was small enough that rumors of a strange traveler would circulate quickly, so it was in Roth's best interest to appear as normal as possible. As human as possible.
As Roth entered Dart's and made his way to the man behind the counter, he could feel stares on him not unlike the ones he felt this morning. The fear crossed his mind that some rowdy inebriate might harass him, but he made it to Dart without incident.
"Good evening Mister Dart, I was wondering if could rent a room."
"Oh, its you. The new guy with the strange clothes. The fellas you were working with earlier told me you can carry quite a lot. Good. Strong men find work easier."
"That was very kind of them to say, but I was just doing what I could to help. Nothing more. Hopefully future jobs I find in Mosswell go equally well."
Dart snorted under his breath. "Hmph. How many nights are you staying here? Its 25 piece a night."
[My wages from the lumber job counted 50 piece total, so living at the inn should be tough but achievable. No one will think its strange if I came to town with a little bit of money on me anyway.]
"That's fine. I'll stay for a week," said Roth placing a small pile of coins on the counter, "that should be exact change. Is dinner still being served for the evening?"
Dart picked up the pile of coins and counted them with a practiced quickness. "O' course it is. You think the drunks in here don't eat? Just take an empty seat and the barmaid will be around to take your order. Here, this is your key. Upstairs, last door on the left."
Roth pocketed the key that Dart had thrown down onto the counter and graciously thanked him before deciding on a seat. A small table with a worn down finish stood unoccupied in the corner and Roth decided it was as good a choice as any.
[Is there no sign in here telling me what there is to order? I would have at least expected a notice stating how much it is for a meal. I guess I'll just get a recommendation from the barmaid.]
Roth's abnormally sharp senses alerted him to the barmaid's approach without him needing to look at her, so he awkwardly feigned surprise when she approached the table and asked him for his order. The woman was of medium height and build, with hazelnut hair tied neatly into a ponytail. The apron and uniform she wore had likely been light blue in the past, but were now a patchwork of just about every color you could find on a dinner plate. Despite the chaotic air in the room around her, she carried no sense of urgency and Roth felt comfortable taking up a bit of her time.
"Miss, do you have a recommendation for dinner? I'm fine with most anything."
"If you're fine with most anything I don't see why you need a recommendation. I'll just put you down for some arbor goat and greens. Drink?"
"Just water, please. Thank you very much."
Order placed, Roth decided to eavesdrop on the locals while waiting for his food. Much of what he heard was similar to Jackie's gossip, and several conversations he overheard shared topics with Jackie's ramblings. None of it struck Roth as being of any relevance to him until he heard a discussion centered around the mysterious traveler who had shown great strength at the lumberyard. Realizing that one of the men partaking in this conversation was intent on approaching Roth's table, Roth mentally prepared the same fake surprise he'd tried to fool with barmaid with.
This preparation would prove unnecessary as the man sat down across from Roth without greeting him, which left Roth genuinely shocked.
"Excuse me," said Roth in a deliberately cordial tone, "I don't think we've met. My name is Roth. And you are?"
The man spat on the floor before answering. He was chewing what Roth assumed was tobacco of some kind and his black spit stood out clearly against the pub's light brown floor. "The name's Phil, but that doesn't matter. I'm here 'cause I heard you were making a fool of my friends at the lumberyard today. Heard lots of 'em weren't too happy about you showing them up."
[If he was going to try and intimidate me, he could have at least gotten the facts straight ahead of time. The men I worked with earlier were all quite happy when my strength gave them more down time. Phil is clearly angling to shake me down, and it doesn't seem like this is his first time.]
Phil spat again. "The way I see it, since my friends are gonna have a harder time finding work with you around, you should pay them back for their trouble. You know, to make it right. But you're in luck, you don't have to go through the effort of finding them. You can just give the money to me and I'll make sure it gets to the right people. I think 20 piece a day is a good start."
The clatter of a ceramic plate and wooden mug impacting the table rang out in between the two men. "Phil, I don't know what you're doing at our new guest's table, but I'm sure it's no good. Kindly get your ass back to your own damn table."
Phil's attention shifted from Roth to the barmaid, who was standing with a scowl and an outstretched arm. She was pointing in the direction of Phil's original table and tapping her foot impatiently.
Sensing that his troubles may be spreading to the barmaid, Roth silently employed a subtle magic taught to him by his younger brother Sitri. Phil rose from his chair and pulled his arm backward, as if preparing to slap the barmaid. At the moment his hand reached the height of its backswing, Phil lost his balance and veered in the direction of his hand. A painful crash pierced the din of the pub as Phil found himself splayed out on his back.
The spectacle of Phil getting acquainted with the floor immediately drew attention from the other patrons, so Roth made sure to undo the magic before walking over to Phil and helping him onto his feet. Roth spoke deliberately loudly and with a chuckle in his voice while aiding Phil, as to prevent any on-lookers from perceiving his ill-intent.
Back on his feet, Phil fruitlessly searched for the words to continue extorting Roth but quickly stormed off in a huff upon realizing his business would be impossible with all eyes on him.
Roth turned to the barmaid to make sure she was alright, when he was interrupted by the woman herself.
"That trick, how did you do it?"
[I'll just deny any involvement. She can't possibly be sure it was my doing.]
"What trick? I won't deny it was lucky for me that Phil took a spill, but I certainly didn't touch him."
"You pretended to be surprised when he fell, but you were making a big show of helping him up at just the right time for the whole damn bar to see. Whole thing's a little too convenient to be coincidence. Especially since the men working lumber this morning all told us you can use magic."
[If I continue to pretend Phil's accident had nothing to do with me she'll just get more suspicious. Might as well nip this in the bud.]
Roth shrugged. "Alright. You got me," he said with a wry smirk, "but I was just trying to resolve the situation as peacefully as possible. I plan on getting along with everyone while I'm here in Mosswell but that doesn't mean I want to get shaken down by half-drunk punks like Phil."
"I knew it. Tam."
"Excuse me, miss? What is Tam?"
"My name. It isn't 'miss'. It's Tam. And if you're as good at controlling disorderly idiots as you seem, you're more than welcome to eat here while you're in Mosswell. Your food is on the house tonight too. Putting an asshole like Phil in his place is worth far more than a meal, considering all the trouble he causes."
No sooner had Tam finished speaking than she turned and walked away, returning to her regular duties. Roth finally got to enjoy his arbor goat with greens and, other than a few rather choice jokes at Phil's expense, Roth overheard nothing else of any interest before making his way up to his room.
A simple wooden clothing rack affixed to the wall was the only fixture in the room other than the bed and window. After locking the door, Roth opened the window and awaited a visit from the hare, Ipos. Ipos was the familiar of Grem, his assistant and most trusted subordinate. She had strongly opposed his venture into human territory but had nevertheless agreed to send him word of events in the Demon Empire so that he might stay informed and relay his decisions and policies back to her. Ipos was the chosen messenger and appeared at Roth's side almost instantly once the window was open.
Messages relayed through familiars function as a sort of telepathy, so Roth only needed to hold Ipos to receive Grem's communications and give Ipos his replies. Watching the small black hare scurry back out the window before disappearing into smoke reminded Roth of when Grem had first learned that he kept four familiars. It was taboo for demonic nobility to keep more than one familiar due to the association with peasants who kept many familiars for use in manual labor, and Grem was beyond upset that her beloved prince had contracted with four different demonic beasts.
[I wonder if more nobles will contract additional familiars now that I'm emperor? At the very least, lesser nobles might stop discriminating against commoners who need multiple beasts for work.]
With Grem's messages replied to and his identity as a perfectly normal traveler maintained to all but Jackie and Tam, Roth climbed into bed to sleep. His feet hung off the end of the bedframe but he thought little of it since he was a head taller than most of the men in Mosswell. Despite the chaotic events of the day, Roth slept soundly and without incident.