The room was the exact same as it was all those months ago, even down to the unmotivated doorman who checked us out while yawning. I smiled at the familiarity as we stood in the now glowing circle that would transport us into the one of the most popular cities in the entire Haliborn Kingdom, Kleotis.
Kleotis was a port town, situated on the edge of a massive river that ran almost through the entire continent. That river, bluntly nicknamed the Maine River, was the main source of transport across the continent, providing far faster shipping than a wagon would without the problems that arose with teleportation gates.
The main problems that stemmed from transportation gates could be split into three different things. The first was cost, teleportation gates were expensive for the average person to use as they were monopolized goods owned by those in power. This monopoly allowed them to charge exuberant amounts of money purely for the privilege of being able to use them. The second problem also stemmed partially from the monopoly.
The second problem was the small number of teleportation gates. Teleportation gates were a rare occurrence in the world, and only a miniscule amount was allowed to be constructed, as those in charge wanted them to be a luxury good. This helped them gain copious amounts of wealth simply by selling access to those gates.
Both of these problems could be fixed fairly easily, at least, in theory. The way to do so would be to simply break the monopoly. Which was far easier said than done, as the teleportation gate monopoly has stood strong for the entirety of the existence of the gates, meaning it had never once been overturned. And since they had full control, they also had access to all of the acquired wealth from the gates, making them nearly unbeatable as a company.
However, even if those first two issues were fixed, problem three cannot be. The third problem arises when you try to use the gate with any perishable goods, mainly food and drinks. Since the teleportation gate has to coat you in excessive amounts of mana, that mana seeps into its surroundings on arrival. When this rampant mana burrows itself into foodstuff it changes the food's properties, shifting it in random ways.
Since there is a high chance of the food becoming poisonous to humans, people have halted bringing any sort of food item unless they had a powerful enough mage to wrap it in mana of their own and keep the wild mana from seeping inside.
Which was coincidentally exactly the task I was doing as the circle brightened, taking away my vision. Having already experienced this twice now, I simply closed my eyes and waited for it to be over, making sure to keep my backpack separated from any mana in the process.
The teleportation was over quickly, as a fuzzy, unnatural feeling washed over me signaling the completion of the transport. I opened my eyes, taking in the darkened area I had arrived in. The room we had arrived in was the exact opposite of the teleportation gate room in the Academy. Instead of just having a large, run down gymnasium full of teleport gates, Kleotis has a small luxurious room.
Complete with soft fur rugs, fancy adornments, and various different jewels and other sparkly substances, this room stood out greatly. It was obviously created to catch the eye, showing both the wealth and prosperity of the city. It accomplished its goal well, as the room seemed like a pompous rich royal had decorated it.
A figure had approached as I was admiring the room along with Mimi, he had gotten close enough to converse comfortably, but was just standing there, bowed, with his eyes on the ground as we gazed at the sparkly room. I decided not to keep him waiting, and approached him first.
The attendant saw my shadow and bowed deeper before speaking, not even turning his face up. It was as if he was speaking to someone far higher in stature than himself, which had confused me for a moment before I realized that as 'Heroes' we were practically the Holy Goddess's proxies so our stature was the highest possible in this world, even higher than a King.
"Welcome to Kleotis, great ones. I have been assigned to guide you to your hotel, please follow me." He got straight to the point, staying bowed, but turning back around and beginning to walk practically hunched over. Mimi looked at him in both shock and worry before calling out.
"U-um, mister… You can stop bowing, there's no need." The moment she said so he straightened, as if he was waiting for that exact command. He didn't stop his stride while doing so, forcing us to rush slightly to keep up with him. Not that I cared, rushing was not a problem for me.
We walked quickly through the hallway that was connected to the teleportation room, reaching a door that, when pulled open, led to the outside fairly quickly. The door opened to a bustling cobblestone street, with a thick crowd of people all moving in different directions. The street was lined with buildings, most of them having signs on them indicating that they were stores.
The attendant didn't hesitate, he just jumped into the flow of people, pushing through them like a river. I didn't want to lose him, so I grabbed Mimi's hand in order to not become separated and pushed my way through as well. Thankfully, my newfound height was taller than average, so I was able to keep my bearings and follow the attendant without too much trouble.
We had taken quite a few turns in order to get here, at some point shifting from the overcrowded cobblestone street to a nicely paved stone road that had far less people. Since the crowd had died off in this area, there was no need to keep holding Mimi's hand, but one look at her bright red face convinced me that I should keep hold of it, teasing her further without her knowledge. I simply played it off as if I had not realized we could let go yet, and she showed no signs of letting me know herself.
After a few moments of walking, with me practically pulling a bright red Mimi along, we reached the inn we were lodging at for the day. We still had a few hours before the long awaited night market, so we had the time to get accustomed to the room and relax for a bit before we went out to explore the town.
I even kept hold of her hand in the lobby of the building, subtly keeping an eye on her ever growing crimson face. The attendant paid us no mind, instead he simply walked up to the counter and spoke to the front desk attendant. Our previously stone faced uninterested guide had smiled slightly when he spoke to the female front desk clerk, I watched as his eyes sparkled slightly as he gazed at her.
Her's did the same, her attractive orange eyes adorned her petit face and brown hair well. They obviously liked each other, and normally I wouldn't care about such things, but the front desk clerk had a huge pair of mounds sitting on her chest. The size caught my eye, and I tended to take things that caught my eye.
I walked up to the attendant and the front desk clerk, pulling Mimi with me. "Excuse me," I said as I approached. The attendant's smiling face quickly reverted, but the clerk's face did not, she was still smiling brightly as I approached. "Can I ask something?"
The lady spoke up before the attendant could, keeping a bright smile on her face as she spoke cheerfully. "What is it?"
"Well, you know how this inn has a personal maid package, right? We paid for it, but can we pick our maid?" My question was a normal one, most nobles wanted to pick their maid's as well, and this inn was the one offering the maid service, so they were used to picky nobles.
She nodded, "Of course, you may choose anyone from the staff to attend to you." Her smile was both bright and fake, her real smile had faded a while ago but she had let it become replaced by a fake one in order to keep her customer service expression going. I admired her commitment.
"Um, then can we choose you? You seem close to our guide which means you must be a good person. And you are very friendly, so it would be nice if you were our maid." Her smile didn't even slip as she listened to my request before bowing her head.
"I would be honored to attend to the 'Heroes.'" She said with her head bowed. I watched as the attendant bit his lower lip lightly but held his tongue, keeping his thoughts to himself. If I had been someone of lower stature, I'm sure he would have spoken up, rejecting my request. But as the Holy Goddess's chosen, he couldn't do that so instead he simply held his tongue and accepted the situation.
I turned towards him on my own, shooting him a grateful smile. "Thank you for leading us here, you may return now, I'm sure you are busy." I shooed him away politely, turning back towards the clerk as soon as I did so. "What is your name miss?" I asked, not wanting to keep referring to her as a clerk.
"I am Kayla, great one." She said, still keeping herself bowed. I was about to tell her to raise her head, but I stopped when I saw her chest hanging freely below her. Because she was very well endowed, they were quite noticeable, even through her clothing.
I admired the view as I spoke, "No need for this great one stuff, just call me Caesar. And she's Mi- no, she's Jasmine." I almost had her call Mimi by her nickname, like me, but I remembered that Mimi only really liked me calling her that, so I stopped myself and used her real name.
Kayla nodded, pressing a hand to her chest as she did so. Her breasts bounced with her sudden movement, attracting my eyes. But before I could stare more, Mimi spoke up.
"U-um, you can straighten, Kayla. There's no need to stay bowed…" She seemed uncomfortable with the overly respectful attitude. I was fine with it, in fact I kind of enjoyed it, but Jasmine was not, she seemed to not like the attention.
Kayla followed her word, standing up straight but keeping her gaze lowered, she fit the obedient maid image perfectly. "Then can you lead us to our rooms? We'll be resting for an hour before we go out." I quickly had her take us to our chambers.
We had booked two separate rooms, one for each of us. Each room was complete with its own bathroom and common area, not all that different from our Academy dorm. I let Mimi go ahead of me, letting her explore her room while I had a different idea in mind.
"Kayla, I would like to take a bath, prepare it for me." She nodded, going into my room with me before turning to the bathroom. I put my luggage down carefully, letting it sit in the corner, before I went to the bathroom myself. She had just finished filling the tub with heated water when I entered, closing the door behind me.
"Good, you're quick." I said, seeing how fast she was preparing the bathroom. Then I began stripping, right in front of her. I peeled my top off, revealing my perfect abs and chest before I began unbuttoning my pants.
"U-um sir… I'm still in here…" She was obviously confused at my behavior, but that didn't matter to me. I kept stripping, pulling my pants down, leaving me in just my underwear.
"So?" I said with a tilt of my head, as if she was the weird one. "You are going to be bathing me right?" I spoke as I dropped my undergarments, revealing my semi-erect member to the open air.