At this time, the sky had already darkened, and they had no idea what time it was.
Because there were no watches or clocks, Ivita couldn't determine exactly what time it was in the evening.
After all, most people in this era couldn't accurately distinguish time either; they could only rely on the sun to judge morning, afternoon, evening, and night.
Ivita glanced at the Old Witch and found that she was indeed very old, so old that he hadn't envisioned a person could live to such an age.
She was over two hundred years old and yet still hale and hearty, full of ambition.
Thereupon, he became even more eager to learn magic.
The three of them were traveling through the forest when they came upon a four-story wooden house in the dense woods, with a lantern on, and a crooked sign hanging on top.
Upon seeing the light, the Demon Hunter Black Wolf instinctively drew his greatsword, but when he saw it was an inn, his expression relaxed.
"Whew, finally we can rest a bit."
Glitter appeared in the Old Witch's eyes as well, "Your Majesty, we can conduct the ceremony there."
"It's relatively safe."
In the end, she had always wanted to confirm Ivita's identity.
Witches are both suspicious and cruel.
Ivita curiously asked, "Why would someone open an inn deep in the woods instead of alongside a major road?"
"Wouldn't that mean missing most of the potential customers?"
Slicing through thorny bushes with the back of his sword, the Demon Hunter Black Wolf said, "Your Highness, you sure have a naive way of speaking, as if you've never been outside before, completely unaware of the world."
The Old Witch stiffened momentarily, casting a wary glance at Ivita.
Black Wolf explained, "That's because the owners of these sorts of inns are specifically looking to avoid the average person."
"These inns cater to adventurers."
"There's only so much land within the kingdom to grant, and because the land available for feudal allocation is limited, many nobles and sons of big capitalists become adventurers, seeking opportunities as mercenaries and brigands in various regions."
"Over time, full-service facilities catering to these adventurers begin to emerge."
"Inns like this one, located deep within the forest and away from the main roads, are one such establishment."
Ivita nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite, recalling from the original owner's memories that the mob that had usurped his kingdom and the Imperial Guard seemed to have also employed quite a few adventurers.
These adventurers were like bandits scurrying across the Black Forest, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake wherever they went.
In fact, many towns maintained professional patrol squads explicitly to guard against these roving adventurers.
He remembered that in the Middle Ages of his original world, there were several instances of adventurers roaming around, usurping territories, and even kingdoms.
The most famous were the Normans of the Duchy of Normandy and the Seven Kingdoms of England, as well as the House of Auterville of King of Sicily and the Antioch Duchy.
So, the adventurers of this world are probably a similar bunch of dangerous folks.
The trio knocked on the inn's door, and immediately an old man with a hunchback, his face hidden by a black hood, opened the door and peered at the guests, "How many rooms do you need?"
"Do you require food?"
"Well-acquainted with the place, Demon Hunter Black Wolf said, "Give me a plate of beef stew flavored with extra rosemary and Centaurium, a slice of lemon, and some wine to season it."
"Also, bring me the cheapest glass of wine."
"Three rooms for us, for one night."
The hunchback saw that the Old Witch and Ivita had no intention of ordering anything and indicated, "Three beds, sixpence. For three separate rooms, that's three pence. Three cupboards, three pence."
"Hot water for bathing and drinking, three pence."
"For feeding the ox, two pence."
"And for the meal ordered, that's four pence."
"That brings the total to twenty-one pence!"
He paused, then added, "Of course, you can choose to pay one shilling and nine pence instead."
The Demon Hunter Black Wolf rolled his eyes, "Why do we have to pay separately for the beds, cupboards, and hot water when we've rented three rooms?"
Unmoved, the hunchback spoke as if he were a robot, "These are the rules of our humble establishment. You can choose not to purchase and instead sleep outside in the bone-chilling cold of the night."
"I spend about the same amount on armor maintenance each time," Black Wolf grumbled.
"The prices at your establishment are indeed too high."
Unperturbed and indifferent, the innkeeper listened as patrons inside began to jeer.
Ivita then addressed the hunchback, "Sir, if that is the case, we will not need the beds and cupboards in the rooms we've reserved."
"Could you please have someone remove the beds and cupboards from our rooms?"
"We do not require the services of the beds and cupboards, nor the hot water."
The hunchback was taken aback. "This..."
The jeering patrons inside the inn instantly fell silent, for they had never imagined someone could be so penny-pinching and shamelessly thrifty.
The hunchbacked old man frowned. "Can it be done this way?"
Ivita nodded very matter-of-factly and said, "Hmm, first of all, we all dislike hot water, beds, and cupboards."
"If you provide us with such services, it would be detrimental to our interests."
The hunchbacked elder seemed to still be pondering when someone behind him said, "Fine, okay, I agree."
"Hunchie, go help the guests lead the cattle into the stable and lay out some ordinary quality fodder."
"You may come in, guests."
"In this case, you only need to pay 9 pennies."
The speaker should be the inn's owner, a man with a scar running across half his face, his expression fierce.
He stood behind the wooden bar, poured three glasses of wine, then called a human beauty dressed in a bikini and bunny ears to serve the drinks.
"This is a gift for the three of you, free of charge."
"I hope you have a pleasant evening at our establishment."
"Dusser, you take the three guests to their room."
Black Wolf took the wine served to him, downed it in one gulp, not one to pass up a free drink.
He pulled out money from his pocket, handed it to the beautiful waitress, and then said to Ivita, "Your Highness, this bill should be added to your tab, I have advanced the payment for you."
"Also, the bill for the weapons I lost in the battle while protecting you, you'll need to pay me for that as well."
"However, congratulations to you for just saving yourself 12 pennies."
Ivita blushed slightly at that, well, I owe you money, so be it.
How does the saying go, if you owe enough money, you become the other person's god.
If I were to die, Black Wolf would never get the money that belongs to him.
As Ivita passed by the wooden bar, he also thanked the owner behind it, and the owner returned the gesture.
The adventurers inside the inn, they all looked at the owner in amazement.
After Ivita and his group had gone upstairs, the other patrons, raising their glasses, began to question the inn's owner.
"Heartless Rayli, this isn't your usual style of doing things, you've never allowed such behavior before!"
"There's no beauty among them, what's the matter with you? Are you drunk?"
"Could it be that Heartless Rayli wants to change his nickname? To Foolish Rayli? Ha ha ha…"
Rayli glanced at them indifferently. "Go drink your drinks, you have no insight at all."
"The three who just entered here, let's not speak of the young kid for now, but the two by his side are big shots."
"That black-haired Demon Hunter is the notorious Black Wolf, it's said that he once killed all his associates at Fort Regen over an uneven divvy of loot."
"That Old Witch, by my observation, should be The Great Witch of Hearthstone Castle."
"I have no life to spare to provoke these people."
The patrons were stunned.
Some even dropped their glasses on the floor without noticing.
One murmured in fear, "The Witch of Hearthstone Castle, her reputation is not good; who knows how many people have died at her hands."
"I... we... were so close to her just now."
A brawny man beside him chuckled and looked at him. "Such a coward, and you call yourself an adventurer. But I also didn't expect, we were so close to these important figures."
At this moment, the Old Witch who had scared a whole bunch of adventurers silly on the first floor was spreading out a map in front of Ivita.
"Your Highness, we can start the ritual now."
"But the ritual can't be performed in this reality, so we need some additional steps."
"Moreover, the ritual is quite lengthy and can't be disturbed."
Ivita said, "We can let Black Wolf protect us."
"To prevent any accidents—I'm a little uneasy about your Demon Hunter guard, I feel his capabilities might be inadequate."
The Old Witch, recalling how the original Ivita died at her hands, could not trust Black Wolf.
In her eyes, this Demon Hunter had a shady history.
The Old Witch said, "Your Highness, so let me ensure your safety."
Ivita frowned. "But aren't you supposed to be conducting the ritual for me? In that case, how can you do two things at once?"
The Old Witch raised her remaining left hand to her chin, then pulled hard with her left hand, and with a 'crack,' her head actually separated from her body.
Holding her head in her left arm, her body stood up and said, "Your Highness, to conduct the ritual, my head alone will suffice."
"My body can keep watch around us."
"This is also to prevent the Wild Boar Knights Group from catching up with us."