Vivian had a smile on her face as she stepped outside the Adventurer's Guild building and was headed to the tavern run by Shirley.
I can finally rest…
I just hope I have enough money for lodging and food…
When saw the tavern, she had mixed feelings.
The building was a two-story building made of wood and it looked exactly what a typical fantasy medieval tavern is depicted in books, movies and etc. from her original world.
It looks so cheap…
She saw a glimpse of the people, especially the customers, inside the tavern from the entrance.
The people inside were between the ages of 15-30 years old. And some of them, especially the men, had menacing faces.
Is this...
Is this the slums…?
She looked around her surroundings.
Back in Vivian's original world, although she was a man, she had no interest whatsoever in visiting the slums. As a matter of fact, even at the age of 24 years old, she could count on one hand the number of times she visited the slums by accident.
She returned her gaze to the tavern.
Is this what the typical adventurer life looks like…?
She recalled the faces of the people she met that she believed were adventurers.
Well, the woman back in the Adventurer's Guild did say that most Copper and Silver ranks use…
So basically, this is where the bottom of the food chain adventurers gather…?
But is it safe…?
If the cost of lodging and food in this city is really affordable, then I'm going to a better place…
Only God knows what kind of diseases I might catch…
She hesitantly entered the tavern.
Immediately, her nose was assaulted with the smell of old wood, alcohol, food and something rotten that she couldn't tell because it was like a combination of body odor, blood and vomit.
Vivian suppressed the urge to cover her nose as she looked around.
There were waitresses dressed in civilian clothing serving food and drinks. There were also what she could assume were adventurers based on their attire sitting around the tables eating, drinking and chatting.
I still don't see any demi-humans...
Where in God's name are the sexy demon women...?
Or vampire women...
Her eyes glanced at the utensils.
The mugs, plates and what she assumes is a spoon were all made of wood. The same goes for the tables and chairs.
There were no fluorescent bulbs, but she could see some dusty old lamps hanging in the corners. Although the sun had already started to set, it was still bright enough so they weren't yet lit.
The floor wasn't covered in cement or wood. It was just pure dirt.
I can only imagine how dirty this is when it rains…
She continued sweeping her gaze around and saw what looked like an information desk, counter, bar or whatever it was. And behind it was a fat black woman with short dark-brown curly hair in her late 40s dressed in civilian clothing sitting down and wiping herself with a piece of cloth hanging on her shoulder.
Beside the counter on the left side, there was a set of wooden stairs heading to the second floor. Meanwhile, on the right side, there was a door that was covered with nothing but a thin and short sheet of cloth, revealing what looked like a kitchen because a waitress came out with a tray of food and drinks.
Compared to the first floor, the second floor seemed quieter and she didn't see anyone climbing up or down the stairs.
Vivian approached the fat black woman.
"Hello, excuse me."
The woman stopped wiping her sweat and turned to her. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for lodging."
The woman noticed the pendant around Vivian's neck and then looked at her up and down.
"Never seen your face around here. It's 3 coppers a night in a shared room with women. Water and toilet are free outside. And if you want a fresh damp cloth and a bucket of hot water, that's another 2 coppers."
Vivian recalled that she had 3 silver coins and 7 copper coins with her.
"How much for a single room?"
"One silver and only a maximum of 3 people are allowed inside. And no pets allowed or else I'll kick you out myself. And no refunds."
"I'll have one room," Vivian said and placed a silver coin on top of the counter.
The woman took that coin and was looking for some keys.
"By the way, if I want to avail the service of the fresh damp cloth and a bucket of hot water, can I use it inside my room?"
"Yes, someone will send it to you," the woman said and placed a key on top of the counter. "Upstairs, number 6."
Vivian glanced at the key and saw a symbol engraved on it.
So that's number 6…?
No matter how much Vivian looked at it, she couldn't read the words and numbers here because they were more like symbols rather than letters and numbers and had no identifiable similarities to the languages that she could read and write back in her original world.
The only thing she could tell was that the language here was written horizontally. However, she couldn't tell if she should start reading from left to right or right to left.
That's how lost she was.
"Okay," she said and placed an additional 2 copper coins on top of the counter and grabbed the key before turning away and climbing the stairs.
***
Vivian opened the door to her room.
There was one window. There was also no chair, table, cabinet or even a lamp. The only thing that was there was a mat on the floor with what looked like a thin layer of hay underneath it.
The hay looked like it used to be thick based on some corners. But after several uses, it became flat.
Vivian's mouth was left open.
"Where's the bathroom?"
Given that Vivian didn't have any extra clothes, not even a handkerchief, when the woman downstairs told her about the fresh damp cloth and a bucket of hot water service, she was immediately interested because she wanted to use the cloth to scrub herself.
She exited the room and immediately headed downstairs to the woman.
"One of my employees is still heating the water, just wait," the woman said to Vivian when she saw her.
"No, that's not why I came here. Where is the bathroom and toilet?"
"Bathroom? You go outside by the well and wash yourself. The toilet is outside as well. Just go through this door," the woman said and pointed to the door beside the counter.
Vivian's face became slightly pale and she slowly turned her head to the door that the woman pointed. It was covered with nothing but a thin and short sheet of cloth, revealing what looked like a kitchen.
"I… I see, thank you…" Vivian said and headed for the door.
When she stepped inside, her nose was immediately greeted by a strong stench of blood and spices.
Pots were boiling and there was a fat, sweaty and tall man wearing a dirty apron that was supposed to be white already turned into dark brown chopping vegetables.
Beside him was a chopping board that looked like it wasn't washed for days and one could even see the blood dried on it.
There were also flies flying around and landing wherever.
Vivian almost vomited but suppressed it and rushed to the exit of the building where she could see a well and some clothes being hung outside under the sun.
When she got out, she immediately tried to catch some fresh air.
However, she could still smell a faint stench of blood so she quickly distanced herself from the door.
She swept her gaze around.
She was in a piece of lot that was as big as a quarter of a tennis court.
In the middle, there was a well. Beside it, there were three buckets and one of them was tied with a rope that was connected to the well.
On the right side, there was a line of clothing being hanged.
And on the left side, there were three mini-compartments made of wood and their doors were left open.
Vivian slowly approached them.
When she got close to them, her face turned ghostly pale.
Vivian couldn't tell if it was a pig's den or not.
The only thing she knew was that this was supposed to be the toilets.
Although there wasn't any smell, everything looked worn out, there were no lamps and there were flies flying around. There were no hooks where one could hang their clothes or a place to put the soap. There wasn't even any toilet paper as well. And as for the toilet seat, there was none. It was the squat-to-the-ground type and then aim at the hole. But at least it was a hole that led to somewhere else so the things didn't pile up.
Vivian bit her lower lip and forced herself not to shed a tear as she looked away and headed back to her room.