"?!?!"
"!!!"
Just as the life-threatening landing seemed inevitable, Zane glanced to the side and flinched, making eye contact with some random shocked man—who honestly had to be out of his mind walking out of the safety of the building to the balcony of a five-story building in the middle of a massive storm like that…
But it was also an outrageously lucky opportunity that Zane could not miss...
...mostly because he would not live long enough to regret it...
In the span of a single second, as he was rapidly approaching the ground, Zane waited until the man on the balcony was on the very edge of the range of his ability before activating it - because of his position, that being mid-air at the level of the second story, the monstrous servant didn't instantly become the size of a building, but he did become large enough for the possibility of the impact of the fall to be handled by his legs.
"UGH...! NGHHHHHHHH...! HHH...! GHHHH...!"
Meaning - Zane was able to awkwardly decelerate by hopping and skipping his way to a safe halt.
"...haaa… haaa… haaa…"
The monstrous servant breathed out, only partially comprehending that the danger was gone.
"...haaaaaaaah…"
Only after breathing out and slowly looking down to confirm the safety of the two girls in his arms - and barely acknowledging that the suitcases made it too - Zane breathed out in relief.
"Ffffffffffhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…!"
He breathed out and plopped down, placing his precious cargo on the pawed ground and returning to his normal height.
"...I thought we were going to die…"
Zane breathed out, laying on his back and placing one arm over his eyes, conveniently covering how shaken he really was.
"Naah… You had this… we all pulled our weight…"
Melinda plopped by his side with Adrianna in her lap, smiled weakly, and gently patted his side.
"...it would best if we would find a shelter from the storm… preferably somewhere where they can provide some first aid…"
Melinda took a few deep breaths before perking up and looking around at the storm-ravaged city where everyone wisely hid inside sturdy buildings.
"I believe that's an inn right there…"
Zane sighed, pointing at a five-story building they passed by.
"...but… my legs feel like jello, sorry. I'll stay right here until I get better."
"Don't be stupid."
He decided but was scoffed at by the gold-haired girl.
The young noble then proceeded to push the maid onto Zane and grabed the suitcases and motioning at him with a meaningfull expression as she lowered her arms.
"You grab Adi and hop on. As long as you don't try to slam yourself against me, carrying weight depends on strength, not defense. I checked. Luckily, in this game, stamina wasn't a separate stat."
"...oh... I mean.. sure... Thank you."
Melinda decided and pointed out before picking her servants into a princess carry and walking towards the inn.
….
The biggest storm of the century hit the Emeraldios Empire's Chainlink port out of nowhere and without the slightest warning.
Everyone in their right mind lock themselves right up in their houses with only a handful of madmen trying to secure their ships and boats.
The owner of one of the biggest inns offering lodging for the sailors and dockworkers had no reason to be one of the latter.
He locked the main door and was starting away form the windows about to go to the room in the back to get some rest…
"...excuse me…?"
"?!?!"
But ended up stopping right in his tracks when someone knocked on his door and called out in a terribly worn-out voice.
"Excuse me, do you, by any chance, have any rooms available?"
"..."
The unexpected visitor in that horrible weather called out, sounding very much in need, but the innkeeper hesitated.
"..."
Still, he did feel at least a bit sorry for anyone caught in the freak storm that no one predicted.
In the end, he decided to just take a peek, and if it turned out to be some ruffians trying to use the opportunity, he was going to shut the door right in their faces.
Bearing the risk in mind, the innkeeper secured the door with a chain so that they would open just a little bit and unlocked the lock before pulling on the handle.
"Ah! H-hello!"
"!!!"
The person outside turned out to be a drenched young girl carrying two wounded people and some suspicious suitcases, immediately setting off the alarms in the innkeeper's mind.
"Thank goodness, I was worried that it was closed."
"?!?!"
The man immediately tried to shut the door, but the relieved girl turned to the side and pressed against it with her back - causing the innkeeper to slide away together with the door while the thick chin the man had put so much faith in broke apart as easily as if it was made out of wet paper as the wood it was attached to cracked and splintered.
"If possible, the room for three, please… and any healing supplies you can offer."
"Mister, don't make that face. We are proper guests. You will not get scammed."
The drenched girl asked with a troubled smile, troubled by the innkeeper's frightened expression. But then the man much larger than her, whom she carried seemingly with no effort, spoke up, opening a drenched leather pouch and shining its abundant contents in front of the innkeeper's eyes.
"!!!"
The sight of the shining golden coins with the visage of Perseverance, the goddess of the main religion in the Emeraldios Empire, changed the innkeeper's mind in a flash.
"By all means, noble guests! Please, please let me guide you to your room. I will offer you the best service in the entire Chainlink! I will deliver the healing supplies as soon as possible... Ah! By any chance, do you wish for some food to be delivered to the room, too? I will wake up the cook while I'm at it!"
The innkeepers expression brightened so much it was difficult to recognize him and he immediately started bowing while leading the way.
"Yes, please. That would be… welcomed. Do the rooms have separate bathrooms, too, or is it a shared one for each floor?'
"Of course, it's separate, of course! At least in the room that you will be staying in, noble guests!"
The gold-haired girl asked, and the innkeeper hurriedly nodded with just the widest smile.