Stepping into the inn where they had been staying for a week now, Paul walked up to the counter to ask if any additional rooms were available. Shaking his head, the innkeeper informed Paul that they were booked up for the next few weeks. Acknowledging this, Paul stated that he would need a few extra blankets for his two wives and his second daughter.
"Unfortunately, I had to rent your room out to someone else because the funds you had would not cover the new rates.", the innkeeper told Paul, "You will need to find new accommodations elsewhere."
Asking the innkeeper to repeat that, the man told Paul that he no longer had a room rented out in this building. Looking at him with a blank expression, he waited a moment to see if he was joking before exploding on the man.
"What do you mean you rented our room out to someone else!?", Paul shouted, slamming his hands on the counter, "I paid for two weeks and it has barely been a week, what is going on here?"
"If you have not noticed, today several vessels came in from West Port full of Adventurers and Merchants. All of them need a place to stay so the rates went up as a result.", the sleazy innkeeper stated, with a smirk, "Since rent went up, you only had enough to cover your first three nights here. Instead of making you pay for the rest of the nights you stayed here, I am being generous and not charging for them. Am I not a generous man?"
Laughing at his words, several of the patrons agreed that he was indeed very generous.
"You cannot increase the amount after I already paid for it!", Paul berated him, reaching for his sword, "Give us our room back now!"
Placing my hand over the hilt of his blade, I told him to think carefully before acting. If he drew his sword on the innkeeper, he would end up in jail and his family would still be out in the cold. Telling Paul to listen to what I was saying, the innkeeper suggested whoring one of his wives out to come up with the extra money he would need for a room. Laughing at his words again, their laughter only enraged Paul even further.
"You bastard!", Paul spat.
"Paul, let me handle this. You are the breadwinner for your family, do not forget that. If you do something rash, it could end up costing you more than just your freedom.", I remarked, motioning to his two daughters who were visibly shaken by his actions.
"I…very well.", Paul conceded, backing away from the counter.
"Glad you see things my way, mister.", the innkeeper said, acting like I was on his side.
Grabbing him by the collar, I pulled him onto the counter and punched him in the mouth. Swallowing a few of his teeth, the man began to scream for someone to help him. Rising from their seats, several Adventurers moved to assist him but collapsed to the floor when I turned my head to face them.
"Sit down.", I ordered them, in a cold tone.
Scurrying back to their seats, the patrons turned their heads to avoid my gaze. Once all of them were seated, I turned my attention back to the innkeeper.
"Since you retroactively increased their rental fees, I assume you did the same for all of the other patrons right?", I asked him, with a smile, "Seeing as how you did not have a scratch on you when we walked in, I am guessing you did not. Since you unjustly targeted him because of his financial situation, pay him what was left of his rental fees…at the rate it was when he checked in."
"You…you cannot make me hand anything over!", the innkeeper told me, "Damn it, Lars, what am I paying you for!! Do something and help me!"
"I uh…no thanks!", the bartender said, shaking his violently, "You pay me well, but not that well!"
"Let me put it this way, unlike him, I have nothing holding me back.", I warned the innkeeper, "I will burn this building to the ground unless you pay him the remainder of his rental fee. You are stealing food from children's mouths, and I do not take that crime lightly…"
Forming a Cruel Sun over our heads, the patrons screamed bloody murder and immediately scattered. Jumping out windows and barreling out the backdoor, within moments, only the innkeeper and our group were left in the building. Calling me a madman for threatening to burn the place to the ground, I shrugged and told him I frankly did not care.
"Call me whatever you like, one way or another Paul is getting his money back.", I assured him, "Whether that ends with you having a business or not is your call."
"Fine!", the innkeeper relented, "I will get him his money!"
Releasing his collar, the innkeeper went under the counter to get the money. Handing over the amount the innkeeper believed was correct, I had Paul confirm that it was indeed right. Giving him a moment to count up the money, he nodded his head and confirmed it was right.
"It is okay Cole, this is the right amount.", Paul said, putting the coins in his pouch, "Let us get out of here. This place makes me sick."
"Right behind you.", I agreed, allowing the magic to dissipate, "It would be wise to not try this again innkeeper. You never know what may happen…"
Leaving the inn after that, we stepped outside to discuss our next move. Setting Zenith down on a bench, Paul let out a frustrated sigh as he did not know what to do now. Taking the innkeeper at his word, as the inn was filled to the brim, he felt the increased prices would be the same anywhere he went. Worried about where his children and wives would sleep tonight, Paul asked if we had any suggestions.
"Sauros is speaking to a friend about staying at their mansion for a few nights. I am sure he will not mind if a few other people join us.", Hilda stated, looking at the two children, "Both of them need a safe, warm bed to sleep in wherever you go."
Pulling my phone out to look at the time, I said we should probably head back to the fountain in the market to wait for the others. Nodding her head in agreement, Hilda said we would purchase the items she was looking for at a later time. Picking Zenith back up, our group went back to the market to wait.
—Two Hours Later—
"Paul, it is good to see you again my boy!", Sauros laughed, hugging his relative tightly, "I am relieved that you escaped that tragedy mostly unscathed."
"It is honestly thanks to your friend Cole here that Aisha, Lilia, and Zenith are here with me now. Up until a few hours ago, it was just Norn and I fending for ourselves.", Paul admitted, "I heard about what happened back in the Asura Kingdom from Hilda, I cannot believe James stabbed you in the back like that. Philip always felt something bad would happen once James took over as the family head, guess he was right."
"I hate to interject here, but I do not think the two little ones are going to hold out much longer.", I spoke up, noticing that Aisha and Norn were beginning to sway, "Were you able to secure our accommodations?"
"Oh right…", Sauros said, taking a moment to collect his thoughts, "Unfortunately, my friend turned us away at the door. Even though I have been cleared of any wrongdoings by the King of Asura, public opinion is still against our family. Sheltering us in his home would potentially negatively impact his family business so he declined to let us stay there. Not only that, taking a boat to West Port is also out of the question. Every captain we spoke with said they are all chartered for the next few months."
Hearing this, Paul looked at his two daughters with concern. If it were just him, he could rough it out in the woods but he could not do that to his daughters. Asking if anyone had another suggestion, Ciri looked at me expectantly.
"Ahem, do you have any suggestions…oh Mighty Sage?", she giggled, "You have plenty of them, right?"
"You know, I am starting to wonder if leaving you at home would be a better decision for me.", I stated, shaking my head at her, "Since no one has any alternatives, we can go with Plan B in this case."
Opening a portal to the Special Region, I motioned for the group to follow me. Nervously following me through, we stepped into one of the inns Drakken had told me about that opened recently. Surprised by how quiet and clean the inn was, Hilda asked where we were.
"A close friend of mine told me about this place recently, it comes highly recommended.", I told her, with a wink, "This territory is called the Special Region, it is where I hail from."
"Oh!", Hilda said, surprised to hear I had taken them back to my home nation, "This place must be expensive though, are you sure you are okay with spending so much on all of us?"
"Our rates are only five copper a night for a single bedroom and 1 silver for a double bedroom. Meals and access to the hot springs are included in the price.", the innkeeper said, walking up to us from her backroom.
"One silver a night!?", Paul gasped, not believing what he heard, "That is a ridiculously low rate! A room with a double bed in the Asura Kingdom costs five times that amount!"
Insisting that the prices she gave were accurate, Paul quickly booked a double room for his family. Asking her what was on the menu for dinner tonight, the innkeeper said her son was making a meat stew and fresh bread. Paying for Ghislaine, Hilda, and Sauros' rooms, Hilda asked why I was not booking a room for myself.
"His Majesty does not need to stay in our inn, he has a beautiful castle to stay in.", the innkeeper remarked, with a confused look.
"Castle?!", Paul and Sauros said, with a confused look.
"Why did she call you His Majesty, are you a nobleman?", Hilda asked, in shock.
Before I could respond, the innkeeper told her the truth.
"Cole is the King and Protector of the Special Region, he is also the Archduke of the Melromarc Kingdom as well.", she said, with pride.
"KING!?", the adult Greyrats shouted, realizing they had been shoulder to shoulder with King.
"Calm down, just because I have that title does not make me special. I am the same Cole I was ten minutes ago, you do not need to stand on ceremony with me.", I sighed, "I would have put you up in the castle tonight, but I thought you might have a heart attack if I offered it to you."
"So then when you said a friend of yours recommended this place…", Ghislaine inquired.
"It was my right-hand man Drakken who told me about this inn. He said that the hot spring here is especially therapeutic for aches and pains. I thought maybe Ciri would disappear if she took a dip.", I chuckled.
"Shut up!", Ciri replied, punching me in the shoulder, "Just for that, I am going to rack up a big tab on your account. Bartender, can I have a bottle of your finest wine please?"
Handing over a small pouch of platinum coins to the innkeeper, I asked her to make them as comfortable as reasonably possible. Promising to do so, she thanked me for my patronage and asked if I had taken my wives to the new shop that some Devils had set up in the capital. Asking her what she was talking about, as Drakken had not mentioned anything to me about it, she said that some people I knew set up a store that sold women's clothing just a few blocks away from here.
"I believe their names are Serafall and Leviathan, but I am not sure.", the innkeeper stated, "You do know them, right?"
"Yes I do, they are part of an interesting group of people.", I said, wondering why they would open a store here all of a sudden, "I will need to check it out for myself, and see what they are doing."
Putting that on hold for the moment, I walked over to the bar and placed an order for a beer.